Original subtitles

If you frequent the internet

you have likely seen memes in videos with a character known as Doomer and or any of his counter characters boomer bloomer and

Zoomer if you have not these are them each of these characters represents a distinct personality type usually associated with a specific

Generation within current society. The Doomer character is especially popular and is what we will be focusing on here

The Doomer is an individual who was typically in their 20s and male

Although a Doomer in the philosophical sense does not need to be either

he or she does however need to be someone who feels a sense of aimlessness and

loneliness and is consequently

stricken with a deep despair for life

For the numeron life is meaningless

And the world is inevitably doomed by humanity's ignorance greed and futility as a result

The do mercy is little to no reason in engaging in traditional pursuits and thus retreats from society into apathetic isolation

This character is often used in videos and memes to illustrate various

Experiences that come with this pessimistic sense of life things like working a dead-end job

Struggling to maintain or get over romantic relationships excessive drinking and smoking feeling alienated from one's friends and family, etc

This characters popularity and widespread relatability is very telling about the conditions of the modern person

specifically that of the current young adult generation it reveals the depth of pessimism and nihilism being

experienced a hopelessness for both the now and for the future

one of the dimmers counter characters is the boomer the name being derived from the term baby boomer an individual born between 1946 and

1964 two generations or so before the Doomer however, the age and generation of a boomer does not necessarily matter

What does matter is this characters contrasting outlook on life?

opposed to the Doomer the boomer possesses a

Positive can-do attitude more specifically in the context of the meme the boomers attitude exists in a naive

Blissful ignorance of truth the boomer chugs along and they're ignorant delusion unaware of the reality in which they live

Mistakenly thinking they have it all under control where the Doomer is aware of the world's conditions and consequently pessimistic about them

The boomer is unaware and thus ignorantly blissful unlike the baby boomers

The Doomer was born in or around the 90s and grew up through an era when technology

Developed at an unprecedented rate in an exceptionally small amount of time

The advent of the Internet as well as affordable Internet devices would completely change the way people could experience and understand the world

During this internet generation children and young adults had access to a completely open and constant flow of information

An ability to see/hear talk with an engage in the entire world in real-time all the time

The world would shrink down to fit in the palm of one's hand allowing one to easily

See just how absurd chaotic and meaningless

it truly is as

A result a huge portion of an entire generation would realize early on that things weren't all good that the can do positive

Attitude of the boomer was outdated and ignorant of what was really going on

with lingering counterculture narratives from the 60s and 70s a decreasing popularity and Christianity following the Second World War and an

increasing access to information

This generation would be left with no traditional

Meaning or hope to fall back on the generation where many find a piece of themselves in the Doomer

So now what are we doomed to exist in a world where the options are either blissful ignorance or informed?

Melancholy in order to better understand and deal with growing pessimistic and nihilistic tendencies

It is helpful to refer to the work of 19th century philosophers Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche

Arthur Schopenhauer is often regarded as the philosopher of pessimism

Arguably the original Doomer like the dimmers outlook for Schopenhauer life is in fact riddled with unavoidable pain

Meaninglessness and absurdity for Schopenhauer we are prisoners to our unconscious instinct to survive

Reproduce in sustain existence and in the traditional sense everything we do in life is merely a product of this irrational force

Void of any purpose other than to continue to sustain itself as a result

We live a life of delusion

Constantly in a frenzy trying to impress sexual partners in order to reproduce and trying to accomplish things in order to find happiness

Schopenhauer writes there's only one inborn error and that is the notion that we exist in order to be happy so long as we persist

In this inborn error the world seems to us full of contradictions

for at every step and things great and small we are bound to experience that the world in life are certainly not arranged for the

purpose of maintaining a happy existence in

Schopenhauer's mind we want so badly to believe that we exist to be happy and to have specific purpose but with an honest

Examination we realize we do not this perspective does not fall far from that of the Doomer

Arguably neither the Doomer nor Schopenhauer are necessarily wrong in their assessments of life life is in fact linked with K

Ah, Spain and fundamental meaninglessness the real problem. However is not found in this realization, but how this realization is handled

Schopenhauer offered two solutions for the realization of life's meaningless suffering

asceticism and art

Asceticism is the disciplined avoidance of pleasure an overcoming of the unconscious desire and pursuit for the selfish immaterial be it things like sex

Vanity money social status, etc

Schopenhauer felt that by obtaining control over the ceaseless yearning for things one can find a form of happiness in the present moment

however

Schopenhauer also acknowledged the sheer difficulty in accomplishing this feat

for it is not enough to merely realize the senselessness of one's behaviors in order to stop them from occurring the level of discipline and

Commitment required would prove immensely difficult for even the wisest of individuals

Alternatively in Schopenhauer provided one other solution engaging in the aesthetics of art and philosophy as much as possible in this Schopenhauer

Suggested that things like poetry theater music paintings literature theory, etc

Have the power to reveal and share truth a truth that liberates the individual during the moments he or she is engaging in it

By expressing our pains and sufferings or engaging in the expressions of others

we feel less imprisoned and less disillusioned in ourself with this one does not need to find anything worthwhile or ultimately meaningful in the

Materialistic or traditional world beyond the mere expression of one's disinterest and pain within it in expressing pain and absurdity through arts and philosophy

The pain and absurdity is transmuted into wonder and purpose for oneself as well as others

Interestingly enough the Doomer meme itself embodies this idea

the creation sharing an engaging of Doomer content is an example of a Doomer expressing their sense of Doom and

Translating it into something enjoyable and meaningful in an attempt to take this idea further

We will look to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche a philosopher renowned for his nihilistic take on life

nihilism is the belief in nothing the principle that nothing has any

Fundamental meaning at the end of itself and that life is and will always involve a suffering through this meaninglessness

During his life in the 19th century

Nietzsche found that traditional religion ceased to help the modern person in dealing with the pains of life and that nihilism was the only rational

And practical approach that remained

However for Nietzsche the meaninglessness found in Nile is did not suggest that we should give up and retreat into a dull

Apathetic life rather the realization that life is meaningless permits the individual to look inside him or herself and create their own meaning and self-identity

The world is full of systems and pressures to conform to the collective

Religions traditions and mass movements that attempt to lead us in certain arbitrary directions

The individual Nietzsche writes has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe

If you try it

You will be lonely often and sometimes frightened but no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself

the pressure of accepting mass

Methodologies and principles in life is has and will always be immense the resistance of such comes with feelings of alienation

And hardship however for Nietzsche the pain of caving in is infinitely worse in the context of modern times

Perhaps the Doomer feels a heightened alienation from the world because the internet compounds the weight of social pressure and a sense of detachment

however

This experience of alienation and despair is not unnatural nor without value rather one must walk deliberately through the mud of life

realizing that there will be ongoing pains and challenges in their

Self-actualization and instead of turning away from them lean into them and face the sufferings head-on

Developing themselves and their personal meaning no matter how uncommon or hard it may be

Nietzsche felt that the key to suffering is knowing how to use suffering I

Assessed the power of a will by how much resistance pain torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage Nietzsche rides

By inviting suffering in and recognizing it as an opportunity to develop wisdom and resilience

We utilize it as a method of creating our own purpose and greatness in the fundamental pain and meaninglessness of life

We must not find ourselves with an indifference that renders us

Lethargic and paralysed away from caring about anything but rather an indifference that inspires us to create meaning and care for things we deem enjoyable

and engaging

for both Nietzsche and Schopenhauer

The greatest reason for life is found in the self

Realization and self expression of one's unique truth the utilization of the suffering and chaos in life and turning it into wonder wisdom and greatness

With this in mind if we square away our life as best

We can accepting the inevitable chaos and suffering if we obtain the money we can want to need to sustain our life

attempting to keep a close eye on our unconscious irrational desires and if we live with an interest to create personal meaning in

And expressive activities then we can build a life worth living even in the face of apparent chaos doom or futility

this attitude can be found in the hopeful Doomer character bloomer a

Character who in the meme possesses the awareness of the sad and painful realities of life

but still sees that there could be purpose to it all still sees that there's an opportunity for meaning and wonder to be created and

experienced and that however messy the world may be it is still worth playing in and trying to make the most of

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