No Motivation to Help Others
I constantly feel guilty about not doing "my part" to help society. I do absolutely nothing proactive in that respect and I can't seem to turn that around. My first question is a philosophical one - do you think that's why we're here - to help those in need - or do you think it's one of those things that "will happen when it happens..." and in the meantime as long as we are following ethical routes and help when the opportunity presents itself, things will work out. Second question is do have any advice about how to start doing something? Basically I need a boot camp motivator to get me going.
Dear Lazy Jerkoff,
I think people have an innate drive to create harmony in the world. Harmony is what happens when you help bring joy to the world. It merges you with others, with the environment, and with the universe. The innate drive gets frustrated when we fixate excessively on our worries.
Warning: weird analogy ahead. It's like we have all have this pipeline that runs through us carrying urges to live in harmony with our surroundings, but the pipeline gets clogged up by all the shit we think we have to do to secure our future and our individual social status. Wait. It gets weirder. We are the pipeline! Helping others by offering them some joy, levity, humor, or rest unclogs the pipeline and helps things run smoothly. You know you're on the right track because it feels right. Don't ask me to define "right" because I can't.
Is this a philosophical argument? No, but I don't think philosophy will ever shed any insight on healthy living, morality, and priority. The more we look at the universe, the more we see that it lacks inherent design and intended direction. From a traditional philosophical point of view, there is no purpose to anything. So instead of calling this an argument, lets call it a hunch.
If you want to get started, just go and do something. Don't dwell on it too long, just do it. Set up something right now. Go to http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/advanced.jsp and search for something to do this weeken that seems slightly interesting. Call a friend and tell him or her that you signed them up took the liberty of signing them up as well. Don't worry if it's not perfect or seems boring.
I think people have an innate drive to create harmony in the world. Harmony is what happens when you help bring joy to the world. It merges you with others, with the environment, and with the universe. The innate drive gets frustrated when we fixate excessively on our worries.
Warning: weird analogy ahead. It's like we have all have this pipeline that runs through us carrying urges to live in harmony with our surroundings, but the pipeline gets clogged up by all the shit we think we have to do to secure our future and our individual social status. Wait. It gets weirder. We are the pipeline! Helping others by offering them some joy, levity, humor, or rest unclogs the pipeline and helps things run smoothly. You know you're on the right track because it feels right. Don't ask me to define "right" because I can't.
Is this a philosophical argument? No, but I don't think philosophy will ever shed any insight on healthy living, morality, and priority. The more we look at the universe, the more we see that it lacks inherent design and intended direction. From a traditional philosophical point of view, there is no purpose to anything. So instead of calling this an argument, lets call it a hunch.
If you want to get started, just go and do something. Don't dwell on it too long, just do it. Set up something right now. Go to http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/advanced.jsp and search for something to do this weeken that seems slightly interesting. Call a friend and tell him or her that you signed them up took the liberty of signing them up as well. Don't worry if it's not perfect or seems boring.