Darkover
Archangel
- Jul 29, 2021
- 5,040
From birth, we come into existence with no knowledge, no understanding, and no built-in tools to navigate the world. Everything we learn comes from experience, often through trial and error, which inevitably involves pain, frustration, and suffering.
If humans were born with essential knowledge—such as language, math, or survival skills—it would lessen the burden of learning. But instead, we start from zero, forced to accumulate knowledge through a process that is often slow, difficult, and sometimes traumatic.
Additionally, our default state isn't happiness or contentment—it's need. A baby is born crying because it immediately requires warmth, food, and comfort. This sets the stage for life as a never-ending attempt to satisfy needs and escape discomfort.
In essence, pain is the default, and relief is temporary. Life is not structured for lasting happiness—only for fleeting moments of satisfaction before the cycle of need begins again.
The natural world doesn't function with any intention of caring for the well-being of creatures. Trees don't grow with an intention to nourish animals, and the seasons don't change to provide comfort.
From the moment we are born, we are vulnerable. Babies, for example, can't survive without the care and attention of others. They don't have the inherent knowledge or abilities to protect themselves. Many animals are born with the instinctual tools to survive, but humans are one of the few species that must learn everything from scratch.
There's no universal guidebook that tells us how to live or how to avoid suffering. We are forced to experiment with our environment and learn through experience—often through painful mistakes. In many ways, we are born into a world that requires us to navigate it without any natural skills that ensure our survival.
Whether it's food, shelter, or even emotional fulfillment, resources are limited. The world does not provide these things out of care, but rather because they are necessary for the continuation of life. We must work hard to meet our needs, and even then, failure to meet them can lead to significant suffering.
There is no guarantee that the environment will provide what we need. We cannot predict if the next season will bring famine, or if we will be affected by a disease outbreak. Even a lifetime of preparation can't ensure protection from unexpected calamities.
Many aspects of survival are determined by factors out of one's control—such as being born into poverty, illness, or an unstable environment. Success in life is often based more on chance than effort, with some people born into conditions that offer them more opportunities, while others are left with fewer. Nature offers no fairness or equal opportunity.
The environment doesn't reward goodness or effort. Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to people who may not deserve them. Nature doesn't offer justice—it simply is.
Nature operates without concern for individual well-being. The environment doesn't nurture us; it simply presents the conditions in which life exists, often demanding struggle and suffering. There's no built-in fairness, no inherent protection, and no guarantee that our efforts will lead to success. We are forced to adapt, survive, and seek meaning in a world that offers none by default. In this sense, the environment's default state is neglectful—not malicious, but indifferent.
This neglect can leave people feeling that existence itself is a burden, one that must be endured with little hope for lasting fulfillment or relief.
one where existence itself feels like a struggle from the very beginning. the nature of our inception: that we come into the world as blank slates, without any innate skills or knowledge to navigate the complexity of the world around us. Rather than having basic tools to help us survive, we're thrust into a world where learning is required for everything, even the most fundamental aspects of life. This lack of inherent knowledge, like basic language, math, and survival skills, can feel like an overwhelming handicap. Life, in your view, starts off as a deficit.
The frustration lies in the fact that we're born with no meaningful guidance to help us meet the challenges ahead. Instead, we are left to learn things like language and math through trial and error, often relying on a school system that, isn't always equipped to fill the gap. Your parents, typically the people you'd expect to provide this foundational education, are often caught up in their own work and struggles, leaving their children to the educational system, which can be flawed, impersonal, or uninspiring.
From a broader perspective, the default state of life is seen as suffering because of the endless cycle of striving to satisfy needs and desires. These needs, like hunger or sex, may be biological, but they create a constant state of tension within us. We are never fully satisfied, and this sense of unfulfilled want seems to define much of human experience. When we can't meet these basic needs, it produces emotional pain and suffering, further highlighting the inherent struggle of being human. Not only do we feel physical hunger, but we also endure emotional hunger—the desire for connection, understanding, and purpose.
What makes this suffering even more relentless is that it doesn't feel like there's a real end. After one desire is fulfilled, another emerges, creating an endless cycle. Even when we achieve something, the feeling of fulfillment can be fleeting, often replaced by a new need or want. It's as if life is a series of temporary solutions to an ongoing problem that never truly resolves itself.
And then, you turn your attention to the environment itself, suggesting that it's not supportive or nurturing enough to prepare individuals for this constant struggle. Parents, caught in the pressures of work and survival, aren't always able to provide the nurturing that might help their children succeed. Instead of being given the tools to thrive, children are left to figure it out on their own, often encountering obstacles that are difficult to overcome. This neglect is not just about physical absence but emotional and intellectual absence as well. It's a neglect of the soul, of the mind, of the heart.
The whole system—whether it's the family dynamic or the societal one—feels broken, like an environment that is more focused on the mechanics of survival than on the flourishing of the individual. In this view, life feels less like a gift or a process of growth and more like a series of burdens that one must learn to carry, with little support or hope of relief.
If humans were born with essential knowledge—such as language, math, or survival skills—it would lessen the burden of learning. But instead, we start from zero, forced to accumulate knowledge through a process that is often slow, difficult, and sometimes traumatic.
Additionally, our default state isn't happiness or contentment—it's need. A baby is born crying because it immediately requires warmth, food, and comfort. This sets the stage for life as a never-ending attempt to satisfy needs and escape discomfort.
In essence, pain is the default, and relief is temporary. Life is not structured for lasting happiness—only for fleeting moments of satisfaction before the cycle of need begins again.
The natural world doesn't function with any intention of caring for the well-being of creatures. Trees don't grow with an intention to nourish animals, and the seasons don't change to provide comfort.
From the moment we are born, we are vulnerable. Babies, for example, can't survive without the care and attention of others. They don't have the inherent knowledge or abilities to protect themselves. Many animals are born with the instinctual tools to survive, but humans are one of the few species that must learn everything from scratch.
There's no universal guidebook that tells us how to live or how to avoid suffering. We are forced to experiment with our environment and learn through experience—often through painful mistakes. In many ways, we are born into a world that requires us to navigate it without any natural skills that ensure our survival.
Whether it's food, shelter, or even emotional fulfillment, resources are limited. The world does not provide these things out of care, but rather because they are necessary for the continuation of life. We must work hard to meet our needs, and even then, failure to meet them can lead to significant suffering.
There is no guarantee that the environment will provide what we need. We cannot predict if the next season will bring famine, or if we will be affected by a disease outbreak. Even a lifetime of preparation can't ensure protection from unexpected calamities.
Many aspects of survival are determined by factors out of one's control—such as being born into poverty, illness, or an unstable environment. Success in life is often based more on chance than effort, with some people born into conditions that offer them more opportunities, while others are left with fewer. Nature offers no fairness or equal opportunity.
The environment doesn't reward goodness or effort. Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to people who may not deserve them. Nature doesn't offer justice—it simply is.
Nature operates without concern for individual well-being. The environment doesn't nurture us; it simply presents the conditions in which life exists, often demanding struggle and suffering. There's no built-in fairness, no inherent protection, and no guarantee that our efforts will lead to success. We are forced to adapt, survive, and seek meaning in a world that offers none by default. In this sense, the environment's default state is neglectful—not malicious, but indifferent.
This neglect can leave people feeling that existence itself is a burden, one that must be endured with little hope for lasting fulfillment or relief.
one where existence itself feels like a struggle from the very beginning. the nature of our inception: that we come into the world as blank slates, without any innate skills or knowledge to navigate the complexity of the world around us. Rather than having basic tools to help us survive, we're thrust into a world where learning is required for everything, even the most fundamental aspects of life. This lack of inherent knowledge, like basic language, math, and survival skills, can feel like an overwhelming handicap. Life, in your view, starts off as a deficit.
The frustration lies in the fact that we're born with no meaningful guidance to help us meet the challenges ahead. Instead, we are left to learn things like language and math through trial and error, often relying on a school system that, isn't always equipped to fill the gap. Your parents, typically the people you'd expect to provide this foundational education, are often caught up in their own work and struggles, leaving their children to the educational system, which can be flawed, impersonal, or uninspiring.
From a broader perspective, the default state of life is seen as suffering because of the endless cycle of striving to satisfy needs and desires. These needs, like hunger or sex, may be biological, but they create a constant state of tension within us. We are never fully satisfied, and this sense of unfulfilled want seems to define much of human experience. When we can't meet these basic needs, it produces emotional pain and suffering, further highlighting the inherent struggle of being human. Not only do we feel physical hunger, but we also endure emotional hunger—the desire for connection, understanding, and purpose.
What makes this suffering even more relentless is that it doesn't feel like there's a real end. After one desire is fulfilled, another emerges, creating an endless cycle. Even when we achieve something, the feeling of fulfillment can be fleeting, often replaced by a new need or want. It's as if life is a series of temporary solutions to an ongoing problem that never truly resolves itself.
And then, you turn your attention to the environment itself, suggesting that it's not supportive or nurturing enough to prepare individuals for this constant struggle. Parents, caught in the pressures of work and survival, aren't always able to provide the nurturing that might help their children succeed. Instead of being given the tools to thrive, children are left to figure it out on their own, often encountering obstacles that are difficult to overcome. This neglect is not just about physical absence but emotional and intellectual absence as well. It's a neglect of the soul, of the mind, of the heart.
The whole system—whether it's the family dynamic or the societal one—feels broken, like an environment that is more focused on the mechanics of survival than on the flourishing of the individual. In this view, life feels less like a gift or a process of growth and more like a series of burdens that one must learn to carry, with little support or hope of relief.
Last edited:
