Does the fact that your genes and environment heavily if not completely determine who you are and your capabilities ever bother you?
You will never be able to accomplish tasks that others can simply because they got lucky genetically.
When i find myself struggling to do things i know others can do better than me with minimal effort because of their genes i stop bothering.
How have you learned to deal with these facts?
I forget about it but it always creeps back when i try to learn a skill.
yeah sometimes it sucks like how I enjoy weight lifting and playing tennis but i'm only 5'10 so I couldn't play professional tennis and my joints are very injury prone :(
but overall doesn't really bother me in our current age of the internet. you can find plenty of alternatives to customize life to your likings tbqh
Start using steroids.
yes, it bothers me
but ive also experienced self-acceptance first-hand and it was pretty blissful.
the way i achieved it was i simply stopped thinking. its not easy to do, especially if youre used to chronic overthinking and beating yourself up, but it is possible. if i was able to do it, anyone can.
not thinking is not the same as being stupid. in fact it actually increased my intelligence because i was in a way unclouded and was better able to focus my attention calmly on things outside myself rather than constantly being anxious and inwardly focused - self-critical, self-conscious.
it's afternoon, you're lying in bed, and the room is quiet, nothing is happening, and you're thinking 'what am i gonna do about all this?' about all what? there's nothing happening at all. and yet you think there is. you're being visited by phantoms from the past, visions of the future that never, ever occur the way you think they're gonna occur, judgments about yourself that nobody but you thinks.
for about a good week i was about to silence all that, return to the moment, and live in a way that seemed to come naturally rather than more like a performance, which is how i normally am. im back to being my old self, but im trying to quiet my mind again and get back to where i was.
p.s. "be yourself" isnt bad advice. you know when you're being fake and when your actions are more like a performance. there are actions that come out of you from your head, because you think it'll cool/funny/smart to act that way, and there are actions that come from a deeper place when you turn that stuff off.
>it's afternoon, you're lying in bed, and the room is quiet, nothing is happening, and you're thinking 'what am i gonna do about all this?' about all what? there's nothing happening at all. and yet you think there is. you're being visited by phantoms from the past, visions of the future that never, ever occur the way you think they're gonna occur, judgments about yourself that nobody but you thinks.
holy shit this is me every night. how did u get past this?
i was miserable and thinking a lot about suicide, but i decided i was never actually going to kill myself. but if i was never going to kill myself, then what was i going to do? i felt stuck. i decided, you know what, screw it, its over for me, im done trying to work my problems out, im just gonna stop thinking, and it will be a kind of suicide. what i didnt expect was that after i did this - after i gave up - i became a lot happier.
basically, just stop worrying about shit. i wrote a whole bunch of stuff but i deleted it because i didnt want to sound like a guru acting like i know what im talking about. but the bottom line is i was able to put those distressing past/future thoughts to rest and just live life as it came. sounds like something youve heard a million times, and ive heard it a million times, but hearing it a million times didnt mean i was practicing it.
thank you so much for this. I'l keep trying
im sadder about knowing there are millions of utterly beautiful women out there and i cant have any of them in my lifetime, why do i have to have such an appreciation for beautiful things
No, because even if I just do anything I'm doing more than 95% of Americans. It's like that read 5 pages a day pasta.
i needed to read this, god bless you
>Does the fact that your genes and environment heavily if not completely determine who you are and your capabilities ever bother you?
No because mine are both pretty good.
No OP, you are responsible for your life. Not your genetics, not your environment, only you are responsible for your own happiness. I sincerely believe that every human being has the potential to be content in them and to realize their place in this existence.
Not that user.
I get up and sit down in a different room from my bed and start and focus on some sort of short task. It can be as simple as drawing a picture that you throw away when you're done.
Focus on something in the present and finish it and then go to bed. Briefly occupying your mind will cut your train of thought off and you can go to sleep hopefully forgetting whatever it was you were thinking about.
I do understand what you anons are talking about. I want to join the marines and my mind seems to jump between
>what will I say to the recruiter if he asks me this
>if one of my platoon members doesn't make his rack right will I bug him to correct it? Yes I will because I want our platoon to be the best.
>If it still gets called out for being shitilly made will I volunteer to do push ups with him?
>how could I help fix this, certainly I can't make it for him or help him make it all the time, that won't make him a reliable marine.
>can I inspire him to try his best some way?
I plan on talking to a recruiter for the first time next August...
Or thinking about social encounters I had literally 6-8 years ago in highschool.
>How I'd redo assignments to be way cooler than how I did them before.
Science determines everything. The natural world determines everything. It doesn't quite give a shit that humans can write poetry.
You will never escape physics, and that is something that the Romantics simply couldn't understand, and it is the reason the world has gone to shit post-Enlightenment.
Barring extreme genetic shortcomings like hereditary diseases, you're likely just blaming your failure in life on something other than ineptitude.
Genetics play less of a role than you would believe (depending on what you're even talking about). An entire bloodline of worthless degenerates can still produce a great individual, stop passing the buck.
> you are responsible for your life
When you say this, does it also include the countless people on this earth who weren't lucky enough to be born in first world countries and struggle simply to survive for most of their life till they die? are they responsible for the predicament they found themselves in?
people differ genetically, some people are taller and so have advantages not available to those shorter than them.
There are genetic differences between people and those differences manifest themselves in differences in capability.
You are not responsible for the environment you are born in, you are not responsible for the genes you are born with, you are not responsible for whether or not your specific set of genes are favored by the environment, but you
believe people are responsible for their lives?
So you believe that the entire world is happenstance and that no one did anything themselves and it was all genetics.
Believing that poor kids in India or child soldiers in Africa can change their own lives through decisions and effort is by far less ridiculous than believing the Wright brothers crafted the first man made flight, or Edison harnessed electricity out of some sort of genetic lottery.
Believing in the power of human ingenuity, effort, and determination is by far the more moral of the philosophies as well. You're being a fucking coward if you think you can't accomplish anything great because you came into life aimless with no shining traits of character, talent, or family inheritance to guide you.
Congratulations you get to be the first one in your family line to make your own path in the brief time we have on this world.
>Does the fact that [I'm a self-pitying loser] ever bother you?
Not recently.
>When i find myself struggling (...) i stop bothering.
I usually try harder. I guess I got the good genes.
You should stop posting on Veeky Forums for 6 months. Find a physical activity you enjoy. If you don't like yourself, it will shape how you experience our collective identity. Try LSD. Experiences with suicide & depression allow you to connect with others across demographic boundaries; these memories can make your writing more powerful, too. A lot of well-integrated people never get that opportunity.
That being said, it's a long journey from where you appear to be right now. Remember that all living beings are connected and you're making us all miserable by being a little baby on the internet. the search for identity is a profound and arduous journey so why don't you fuck off
>So you believe that the entire world is happenstance and that no one did anything themselves and it was all genetics.
Give me an example of ANY FUCKING ACCOMPLISHMENT EVER that wasn't the product of genetics and environment.
I'd fucking love to see it friend.
>countless people on this earth who weren't lucky enough to be born in first world countries
>some people are taller
You're not empathizing with them. You're making generalizations based on stereotypes. Until you actually go talk to a starving African kid or whatever, you have no business telling me how he perceives his individual struggle. you're just wasting effort.
>you are not responsible for whether or not your specific set of genes are favored by the environment,
You are responsible for your own perception of it. Your subjective experience, and the story you have to tell, is what's important. Right now you're selling me some bullshit objective view of your life's context being shit and how can you (we) even live with yourselves, you'll never amount to anything. Bill Gates isn't in this thread so why does anyone bother? Go buy some paracord off Amazon and tie the noose, I guess.
Yeah man, that's determinism.
It's tough not to think about, but put it this way: accomplishments don't mean anything because your abilities are physically determined.
There's no reason to feel inadequate or whatever because it doesn't mean anything. It's bullshit.
>determinism
>i'm only 5'10 so I couldn't play professional tennis
You're right you couldn't but your height is just an excuse, plenty of professionals are 5'10", some even smaller
The only thing to do about attributes you cant change is forget about them. Move on. Move past them. Dwelling on them is perfectly natural, but its not the smart move. It doesnt solve anything.
There are circumstances that really are weighing you down, and circumstances that are not. Part of the problem is unrealistic expectations. You cant change how smart you are, you can sharpen up to a certain extent by training your attention span and thinking critically, but you're about as intelligent as you're gonna get. You're never gonna be shakespeare or einstein, and if youre living your life in a way that says 'I refuse to accept anything but recognition of my genius, and if I don't get it, I can't be happy,' you're holding yourself hostage. Better strategy: accept your IQ, whatever it is, low or high. Youre not gonna be executed by the state for not being a genius, so this isnt a life or death matter. Its a matter of you holding yourself to a standard you cant meet and then chastising yourself for not meeting them. You may think youre pushing yourself by holding yourself to that high standard and not accepting anything less, but youre not. Youre ensuring that you'll always feel not good enough.
Anyway this is long I'll cut it short bottom line is yes push yourself to be better, but if you wont accept anything but what youre not capable of, youre just being stubborn. Accept your limitations, and I dont mean be complacent or dont try to better yourself. Its possible, for example, to be both content with the way your body looks, that is not worried about it, and also dedicated to a workout program that improves your body. May sound paradoxical but its not. Alright cutting this off hopefully it makes sense.
>libertarianism
>Youre not gonna be executed by the state for not being a genius
He will be if I have my way
Just to add to this here are some thoughts you might have and what you should think instead
>I dont seem to be capable of writing the greatest novel ever written!
>What am I capable of doing? Why do I want to write a novel to begin with? Am I actually interested in the technique of writing or am I doing it hoping to win literary glory? Maybe there's something else I would enjoy doing more, that comes more naturally to me.
>Ahh this well-regarded meme book confuses me, I dont like it, what if I'm a pleb or stupid?
>OK, so i dont enjoy that book. What books do i enjoy? i should go discover what I actually enjoy instead of trying to enjoy what I think I ought to enjoy.
Etc
>>OK, so i dont enjoy that book. What books do i enjoy? i should go discover what I actually enjoy instead of trying to enjoy what I think I ought to enjoy.
Oh wow holy shit. Reddit
Opinions dismissed
>product of genetics and environment.
>product of JUST genetics and environment.
When Lycurgus of Sparta banished gold and silver from the hands of his people was that genetics or environment?
When he commanded that every citizen should eat as one and that no one should dine privatively within their own home was that genetics or environment?
When his people saw his examples and cast aside their greed and individual vices was that genetics or environment?
When he made his senators swear to uphold his laws until he returned from the shrine of Apollo and he wrote a letter saying the oracle believed his laws to be gifts of the gods in which he afterwords fasted himself to death having lived a complete life so that his senators could never be released from their oaths.
Did he have no choice? Did his actions and character have no meaning?
If you believe character, point of view, and actions in life are all simply dictated by forces beyond your control then I don't know what to say. Its like you completely ignore the millions of people that change their conditions by personal choice every day and change the "environment" of other people too.
The sands of Persia could have blown a furious sandstorm as Alexander the great crossed the deserts in order to meet Darius in battle but they didn't. Alexander made a choice to come after Darius at that day, to cross the desert against his advisors wishes. By most accounts Alexander was a cocky, arrogant, chad that could have died a thousand times but his decision to toss the dice against all odds and survive until nothing was left to conquer gave him the name Alexander the Great.
>genes
>enviroment
"Find a kingdom of your worth my son for Macedon is too small for thee."
"My son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself; Macedonia has not room for thee."
"Look now, men! here is one who was preparing to cross from Europe into Asia; and he is upset in trying to cross from couch to couch."
some winning genetics
>When Lycurgus of Sparta banished gold and silver from the hands of his people was that genetics or environment?
Yes.
I didn't read the rest of your post you stupid ass faggot
>LARPing
This is why start, don't end with the Greeks
Novels are for fun. It's a leisure activity. There is no good reason to read a novel you don't take pleasure in reading. This isnt some dog-whistle genre > literature argument either. I read all kinds of stuff, but when I read classic novels, its not to keep appearances up, or to make sure im getting my veggies, its because they're fun to read.
Think about if you inherited good genes and then all your accomplishments are just due to your parents, nothing you did is completely yours. Since you started with bad genes, it's more of an accomplishment if you manage to get somewhere with your life. :)
Take it from someone whose father is a surgeon - hard to top that.
Please stick to /sffg/ you indomitable retard. If you can't see a plethora of worth in reading novels past your infant desire for immediate entertainment you sincerely don't belong here and it renders anything else you say suspect
Holy shit. Are you retarded?
So are you trying to tell me none of those things are the product of genes and environment?
If the earth was not habitable, would they have even existed to have these accomplishments?
If they died at birth due to fatal genes, would they have lived long enough to have these accomplishments?
Do you honestly believe that character, point of view and actions in life aren't dictated by environment and genes? If so, please tell me what this thing is.
Your soul
meant for
He could have easily chose to be decadent, accept his selection as king of sparta, and fuck hot bitches all day.
Instead he chose to pass on the throne to the rightful heir and travel the world in exile learning of other governments so he could better sparta upon his return.
These threads make me so fucking angry.
I don't understand how people can just pass off all responsibility for their own actions. Theres so many people living in the real world that overcome their own self created adversities and external adversities and change their lives for the better. Yet there are people brainwashing people into thinking they have no control over their own choices and actions and they should just be content being miserable self pitying pieces of shit.
>I'm the edgy one for believing in humanity pushing their own boundaries and overcoming nature itself,
I'm totally sure it was in our genetics to be able to read and write image and text data to DNA using inventions and ideas that have existed for less than 5 decades.
>Instead he chose to pass on the throne to the rightful heir and travel the world in exile learning of other governments so he could better sparta upon his return.
Guess something about his genes and experiences up to that point led him to take that option
Nigga I didn't say you were edgy, just wrong.
He couldn't have chosen to do that because it wasn't within the capacity of his character formulated by his genetics and environment.
Like outside of your genetics and environment, what do you think there is?
Show me where the free will is located.
Well I'd say the burden of proof is on you for saying that people have souls.
But let's assume they do. Are souls unrelated to genetics and environment? Are souls beyond time and causality? Because either way you don't choose them.
If you have a 'soul' that decides your 'choices,' but you didn't choose your soul to begin with, then that's as far from having free will as just genetics and environment
If i cut a portion of a persons brain and take away their ability to speak, have i cut a portion of their free will off?
His choices also lead to those experiences that created the choices that led to those experiences.
We don't even understand genetics.
If someone has a drunk father I believe its up to the person whether to follow in his footsteps or end the cycle of addiction and seek a better life.
If the person chooses to hang around druggies, if he chooses to drop out of school, he can chose to blame his father or genetics for it. Therapists and Psychiatrists will be happy to tell people its not their fault and that they were set up for failure.
I've seen people with the same shit parents, the same shit friends, and the same shit circumstances choose a different life.
You can't use the scientific method on life. You can't set up perfect cases or environments and humans aren't thinks you can qualify and balance like a math equation. Whats impossible has been proven to be impossible has been broken so many times in human history.
Still you'll be completely content to accept whatever the current modern sciences theory is on determinism or nurture/nature and let it dictate your life for you on the basis that those humans are infallible gods.
can you give your opinion on my question?
No. Not any more than removing the legs of a runner.
He can will to run, that doesn't mean he will run.
so if i cut up a persons brain and take away their ability to speak, see, move their body,hear i have not in any way limited their free will?
Free will not existing isn't dependent on the social sciences, it's the other way around.
Free will not existing is a philosophical issue and a pretty obvious one at that. But most agree that you as an individual must live your life as if it does exist. This is because you're wrong, humans can theoretically be balanced like a math equation. However, most variables in this equation are beyond our knowledge, and at the individual level it'll probably be that way forever. So you must live as if you have free will, even though it is illusory.
Recognizing something as illusory doesn't necessarily allow you to step out of the illusion. Objects are mostly empty space but that doesn't mean you can walk through walls, it just means human perception is flawed and you shouldn't base your opinions on personal experience if possible