# isn't this silly?



## OneSADClown (Apr 14, 2004)

this is not one of those "SA doesn't exist" threads or the like.. i've been thinking about this for quite some time, and today, after watching a British documentary called "What We Still Don't Know" (highly recommended), it just further cemented my belief that all our problems, no matter how big or how small, are just not important, on the large scale of things..

i'm sure there are a lot of philosophies that share this view (nihilism comes to mind), but i don't necessarily share their belief system.. there's also a similar view proposed by H.P. Lovecraft with Cosmicism, that i feel has more relevance to what i'm trying to explain..

here's the deal.. we're tiny. in the language of the universe, we -- and i'm talking about the human race -- might as well be nonexistent. there is simply far too much going on around us that we simply don't understand yet, for us to be concerned with "i hope she likes me" or "i wonder if i sound like a dork". there are trillions and trillions of planets, stars and galaxies, and an unquantifiable amount of matter in our universe alone. *and that just accounts for roughly 15% of what our universe is made of.* the other _85%_ we have no idea about, and haven't even begun to understand how it works, where it comes from, or even what it is. it's been dubbed Dark Matter and Dark Energy, but everything else is just speculation. to make things more confusing, there's the multiverse theory, the lengths of which we're not even capable to imagine.

this all might seem non-interesting to you, but consider the size of it all. the relative insignificance of our own big blue world, and everything on it. consider what we go through everyday, what we do, feel, say, think... it's pretty much pointless. now, i'm not saying we shouldn't worry about it and feel like there's no consequence to anything we do, because that's just destructive in nature, and i'm not proposing that.

my point is to try and take matters in perspective, and think about the things we feel are running our lives (like SA in our case), and just try to not give it anymore thought or attempt to consciously downplay it with this way of thinking.

i know what i'm saying is pretty much impossible to achieve, but thinking about this has really helped me cope with my concept about this disorder, and has helped me overcome it on a number of occasions, if only temporarily.

just yesterday, i was scared to death to pick up the phone and call this girl i like, and thinking about the insignificance of it all, and thus my worries about it, i proceeded to call her, even though i was a nervous wreck while talking  hehe.. but at least it pushed me into making the first move, which we all fear so much..

i'm really interested in these cosmological aspects, so it'd be great if anyone has something to add..

just a thought.. 

also, here's a great video that's related to what i mean.. it's the intro to the movie "Contact" (highly recommended, as well), and it beautifully puts things in proportion, just enough to make your head hurt about the vastness of it all, but hopefully, enough to make you think twice about your problems as well..


----------



## loner1 (Mar 17, 2006)

Whoa.

Yeah, that puts everything into perspective, all right. 

I'm reading "Awakening the Buddha Within", a introduction to Zen for Westerners. It says the same thing, that the things we worry about not only mean nothing, they don't even exist. We don't even exist the way we think we do, our physical presence here is just a reflection of our soul.

Did you watch the South Park episode where Kyle achieved enlightenment? He became everything and nothing at the same time.

But I digress. Thanks for the video and the post, I'm going to look at it from time to time.

Thanks again,
Sarah


----------



## Runningirl (Dec 8, 2006)

I agree...I have found it helpful to think about how small I am in this huge and beautiful world. A friend sent me a link to some photos that I like to look at on those really bad days.

http://home.att.net/~hideaway_fun/442/planet.htm

enjoy!


----------



## Farren (Jan 5, 2006)

Nice post, OSC. I was thinking this recently when re-watching the film _Apollo 13_. I wish I could be in a shuttle in earth's orbit or space just once to see earth and human life from such a far-off, detached perspective. How beautiful. How humbling.


----------



## generalf (Dec 14, 2006)

I think about this often too, nothing really matters, my worries are just a waste of time. I get quite irritated on people that take themselves so serious, people that have strong opinions on what is wrong and what is right... I think to myself that nothing really matters. I'm not worth anything, you are not worth anything...I could kill myself right now, or I could run naked out in the street and screem halelujah...it really does not matter at all. Still...I am just a slave to the rythm...a slave that does not work like the rest... If I have had a bad day I try saying to mys self "F.... it, it doesnt matter, in a 100 year it is all forgotten"


----------



## Optimistic (Nov 4, 2006)

Well, I like to think that we are all very significant on this rather insignificant bluish ball in this vast universe we call space.

But, Sadclown, I kinda see your point. A lot of what we do fizzles in the vastness of it all. There's a lot of stuff, maybe even embarrassing, that may seem earth-shattering to us, while in reality, it may not be acknowledged or remembered by anyone else. Positive thinking, or memory loss--which is sometimes what I fortunately go through--will divert us from this embarrassment and really it becomes trivial.

Today was a particularly rough day. I figured I've lost someone with whom I used to socialize, and I'm troubled with a predicament which I don't fully understand. However, I know that today's effect on me will be swallowed up by the vastness of it all, and I'm positive that I'll find greener and maybe even more meaningful pastures.


----------



## Eimaj (Aug 2, 2006)

*re: isn*

I also think there is a vastness inherent in human beings. How do you explain subjective consciousness? What connects us? I think we know a lot more than we think we do and at the same time we know a lot less than we think we do. I think we are connected to the vast cosmos. Each of us individually are just as important as the whole universe collectively. So we are meaningless and at the same time full of meaning.
All we have is each other.


----------



## michaelmyke (Dec 20, 2006)

But if we are always postive thinking, then are we forgetting about the things that require negative thinking? Like bad people or things that hurt us. Do we just have to forget the bad stuff and only focus on the good stuff? And if we do that, then are we just fooling ourselves and making our selves more foolish than we think? I always think that if I don't worry about these things and spare the painful stress, then I am not facing the real facts about stuff. Like I'm ignoring it. For instance, if I have a health issue and it doesn't go away...do I ignore it and think "okay, everything is fine". Or do I face it and do something about it - even if it means go to the doctor again and have it checked out. It could be something, right? I don't know for sure, but it's hard to ignore things like that. And it seems like I keep diagnosing myself more and more, then worrying more and more about it. Did I even make sense describing any of this? HAHA


----------



## OneSADClown (Apr 14, 2004)

michaelmyke said:


> But if we are always postive thinking, then are we forgetting about the things that require negative thinking? Like bad people or things that hurt us. Do we just have to forget the bad stuff and only focus on the good stuff? And if we do that, then are we just fooling ourselves and making our selves more foolish than we think? I always think that if I don't worry about these things and spare the painful stress, then I am not facing the real facts about stuff. Like I'm ignoring it. For instance, if I have a health issue and it doesn't go away...do I ignore it and think "okay, everything is fine". Or do I face it and do something about it - even if it means go to the doctor again and have it checked out. It could be something, right? I don't know for sure, but it's hard to ignore things like that. And it seems like I keep diagnosing myself more and more, then worrying more and more about it. Did I even make sense describing any of this? HAHA


well, they say "ignorance is bliss" and we could surely use some ignorance ourselves.. the thing with SA is that it makes us susceptible to even the slightest detail, whereas "normal" people have an inherent ignorance towards trivial aspects in life..

sometimes i wish i was stupid or ignorant, just so i can forget and ignore the things i go through everyday.. but there's nothing i can do about my personality now, except try and mold my way of life around it, and try to test myself every now and then.. i've made some progress, though everyday still feels like a gigantic struggle..


----------



## Softy785 (Apr 16, 2006)

Thanks for reminding me that I'm not at the center of the universe. Cuz sometimes I feel like I am. The truth is, it doesn't matter what we do or say. Nobody is going to even remember it 5 or 10 years down the line. The universe is so vast and there are millions and millions of other people on this planet besides me. So what I do just doesn't matter.


----------



## lissa101 (Apr 28, 2006)

This video is AMAZING and I completely understand the point you are making. In the end nothing matters. Whether I'm nervous, sad, or even alive. This world is far too great for me to sit here and think my little problems are so important that I need to dwell on them day to day.

This concept has helped me also thru rough times. Sometimes we give in to the anxiety so much to the point that we begin analyzing even the slightest things.. (how heavy we breathe, the sound of our voice)
We emphasize on insignifcant aspects of life which in turn really have no effect on this world. So it makes my anxiety silly, something completely irrational and pointless. When my mind gets thinking this way I feel 10 times more motivated to get up and make a phone call or do whatever it is thats causing me anxiety at the moment. I think we should also remember that we need to connect with the world instead of becoming less and less part of it.

Okay I think I've stopped making sense now.
Thanks for the video, it was very calming.


----------



## falling snow (Jan 10, 2007)

....


----------

