Life feels like a pointless drag

A lot of the time I feel like I just exist, and then I get sad about how basically all my life will be is working to pay taxes which are spent poorly and then I'll die.

I can't believe this is all there is, and it shouldn't be. But modern society is kind of broken, and the social contract is getting worse over time. In many ways we are less free than medieval peasants. Everything has become very controlled with governments bloated beyond belief and managing every aspect of people's lives, like rats in a cage.

And despite all the modern luxuries, we are disconnected from the things that matter. Everything is focused around simple quick pleasures, which are not rewarding or fulfilling long-term. The reward centre of the brain is getting messed up by all the scrolling, social media, video games, fast food, instant access to all music, TV etc. The hedonic treadmill starts to feel empty.

If this is true of you and you want to change it, what you basically have to do is go out of your comfort zone and distort the expectations of the simulation. Do something you never did before, take a different route somewhere, shop somewhere else, buy different things, cook different meals, get outside and interact with the world with your hands, talk to someone you never would normally, take risks, and actually pay attention to every detail of it and be in the moment. This is hard for autistic people who resist change and like routine and why I basically never take this advice.

A lot of the time I feel like I just exist, and then I get sad about how basically all my life will be is working to pay taxes which are spent poorly and then I'll die.

I can't believe this is all there is, and it shouldn't be. But modern society is kind of broken, and the social contract is getting worse over time. In many ways we are less free than medieval peasants. Everything has become very controlled with governments bloated beyond belief and managing every aspect of people's lives, like rats in a cage.

And despite all the modern luxuries, we are disconnected from the things that matter. Everything is focused around simple quick pleasures, which are not rewarding or fulfilling long-term. The reward centre of the brain is getting messed up by all the scrolling, social media, video games, fast food, instant access to all music, TV etc. The hedonic treadmill starts to feel empty.

If this is true of you and you want to change it, what you basically have to do is go out of your comfort zone and distort the expectations of the simulation. Do something you never did before, take a different route somewhere, shop somewhere else, buy different things, cook different meals, get outside and interact with the world with your hands, talk to someone you never would normally, take risks, and actually pay attention to every detail of it and be in the moment. This is hard for autistic people who resist change and like routine and why I basically never take this advice.