Why is life called a "rat race"?

oatmeal said:

but "greed" / money is always in the way. We need to somehow abolish money / currency systems.

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If you abolish money can you abolish greed?

I don't want to think you believe greed is a synonym for money.

Defined as;
The unpleasant life of people who have jobs that require them to work very hard in order to compete with others for money, power, ...

Showing my age here;

oatmeal said:

but "greed" / money is always in the way. We need to somehow abolish money / currency systems.

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money is just a paper.. its just a tool to achieve your life goal. but people do the opposite, they work for money

HenryObi said:

Being realistic. There's no point for human lives on earth. We're actually not doing anything here. It's funny but for real, I've thought about it alot.

What I mean, at the end nothing js really achieved as we all end up dying even the ones we leave behind will eventually follow suit. That's why I like to take the Bible's version of why humans were created because it gives it a little sense and meaning.

Irrespective of what kind of job you do, that serves as your occupation. There isn't much difference at the very end of the day. So what's the point of trying to conform to othet people's ideas when it'll eventually not change the ultimate outcome of everyone.

What's best is; doing what you love. Doing the kind of jobs you love, be they 9-5 jobs or running your own show. It doesn't matter.

What matters is that you're happy, fulfilled and satisfied with the little time granted to you on the surface of earth.

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Absolutely agreed.

HenryObi said:

Being realistic. There's no point for human lives on earth. We're actually not doing anything here. It's funny but for real, I've thought about it alot.

What I mean, at the end nothing js really achieved as we all end up dying even the ones we leave behind will eventually follow suit. That's why I like to take the Bible's version of why humans were created because it gives it a little sense and meaning.

Irrespective of what kind of job you do, that serves as your occupation. There isn't much difference at the very end of the day. So what's the point of trying to conform to othet people's ideas when it'll eventually not change the ultimate outcome of everyone.

What's best is; doing what you love. Doing the kind of jobs you love, be they 9-5 jobs or running your own show. It doesn't matter.

What matters is that you're happy, fulfilled and satisfied with the little time granted to you on the surface of earth.

Click to expand...

You are contradicting yourself here mate, first you say there is no point and then you bring happiness, and doin the thing you love, but what is actually happyness meaning for you and other people? WHatever the answer is - it is the "state" the "process" , the fleeting short moments in your life . Basically anything people do (earn money, bang girls, build empire ffs etc ) it is the race for expereincing that "state".
So , in what you wrote, now it appears that there are "sparks" of meaning in our life. But what it really is , can you quantify happiness in any units ? And find a way to increase its amount in your life?

So, as I mentioned before, I brought example of 2 people, one is rich but unhappy, 2nd is poor but happy. Suppose the rich man has everything in his life, millions $ cash, but he still unhappy, one day if he scrolls his life book he realizes that he lived by someone else's commands and dint listen to his inner self. He is in a trap of "Fake" reality built upon ideas which rule in the modern society.
When we were small kids many people would say we were happy 80% of the time, you have no borders , then comes school , university , work , we are told that the grades, money etc are important , million of other things ...The information is a dynamic thing and it programs your mind and body . And we lose that initial state bit by bit .
Then when u are grown up , you already set in a mind prison , you are experiencing reality in a certain way . Like in a rat cage ,And each day it seems dull and gloomy .
That's why most of people come to drugs , but it's not a way out and it will ruin their life even more harsher .
The only way to increase happiness in our life is to return that child state and become borderless again . By eliminating all the trash programmed by the society which keeps you away from this state .

maslryu said:

You are contradicting yourself here mate, first you say there is no point and then you bring happiness, and doin the thing you love, but what is actually happyness meaning for you and other people? WHatever the answer is - it is the "state" the "process" , the fleeting short moments in your life . Basically anything people do (earn money, bang girls, build empire ffs etc ) it is the race for expereincing that "state".
So , in what you wrote, now it appears that there are "sparks" of meaning in our life. But what it really is , can you quantify happiness in any units ? And find a way to increase its amount in your life?

So, as I mentioned before, I brought example of 2 people, one is rich but unhappy, 2nd is poor but happy. Suppose the rich man has everything in his life, millions $ cash, but he still unhappy, one day if he scrolls his life book he realizes that he lived by someone else's commands and dint listen to his inner self. He is in a trap of "Fake" reality built upon ideas which rule in the modern society.
When we were small kids many people would say we were happy 80% of the time, you have no borders , then comes school , university , work , we are told that the grades, money etc are important , million of other things ...The information is a dynamic thing and it programs your mind and body . And we lose that initial state bit by bit .
Then when u are grown up , you already set in a mind prison , you are experiencing reality in a certain way . Like in a rat cage ,And each day it seems dull and gloomy .
That's why most of people come to drugs , but it's not a way out and it will ruin their life even more harsher .
The only way to increase happiness in our life is to return that child state and become borderless again . By eliminating all the trash programmed by the society which keeps you away from this state .

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You have an interesting thought here.

But I'd like to correct two things:
1. I don't think I was contradicting myself in anyway. The essence of my first paragraph was not to point to you what happiness is or how to attain happiness. It's just to remind you everything isn't really serious. The spark you're talking about isn't a purpose for something. For example a pastoral farmer rears his animals for primarily food. Now picture humans as these animals existing a space you'd understand there's no purpose for all of them in that space they occupy.


2. I think we grossly misunderstand children and their happiness. Children are only happy because of ignorance. They are very much unaware of a lot of things, they aren't really happy because they chose to or because it's really easier being happy as kids but because they lack the knowledge you have. Some of these knowledge aren't programmed into you by the society as you claimed. No, you see they come to life in your very presence.

kids1412 said:

this video summed it up quite well:

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Yeah, this really sums it up really well...

HenryObi said:

If you abolish money can you abolish greed?

I don't want to think you believe greed is a synonym for money.

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Agreed. Money is not the only source or object of greed. Many other things also. But clearly we are heading towards a world and a future where money is starting to be redefined. Unless there is some sort of dystopian/apocalyptic twist in the near future that sets us back, the path we are heading on his leading us to abolish money or at least how we understand it. With everything improving at an ever fast pace, technology, automation, information, and the interface of information transmission (think Neural link), soon, the majority of people will automate their income. I won't get into what I mean by that, but it's going to be automated, meaning, that we as humans will spend less time working to make money, and spend more time simply pursuing our interests, hobbies, passions, and things that will improve our lives and the world we live in, etc. In other words, money will no longer be the great driver of our existence and reason why we work (survival). Think about what UBI (universal basic income) is the precursor to. That's just etching the surface.

HenryObi said:

Being realistic. There's no point for human lives on earth. We're actually not doing anything here. It's funny but for real, I've thought about it alot.

What I mean, at the end nothing js really achieved as we all end up dying even the ones we leave behind will eventually follow suit. That's why I like to take the Bible's version of why humans were created because it gives it a little sense and meaning.

Irrespective of what kind of job you do, that serves as your occupation. There isn't much difference at the very end of the day. So what's the point of trying to conform to othet people's ideas when it'll eventually not change the ultimate outcome of everyone.

What's best is; doing what you love. Doing the kind of jobs you love, be they 9-5 jobs or running your own show. It doesn't matter.

What matters is that you're happy, fulfilled and satisfied with the little time granted to you on the surface of earth.

Click to expand...

Very introspective points. I do agree. I don't know if you believe in pre-determinism, but it's kind of like playing a video game such as civilization or sim city. I've played those games a thousand times over growing up. Our lives is basically like that, except it takes a lifetime (real years) to get through
what would take us about 10-15 minutes in Civilization game.

I would always look at the year in the game and when it says 1950 and jumps to 2000 and then 2050, in a blink of an eye, millions of lives just came and gone in that span and I would wonder about all those citizens lives in my cities and what their lives must've been like full of so much experiences and stories, yet for the gameplayer, it went in a blink of an eye, just 2 or 3 turns LOL.

Even the pursuit of technology, better lives, new discoveries, etc., ultimately leads to nothing in the end. The inevitability of the end is always the same, no matter how the game is played. You can play it over a million times and it will always end the same. So what's the point of what humans do? Nothing. There is no point. It's just a rat race and we are here today and gone tomorrow. So it makes you think, there must be a real or more meaningful reason why we exist and do what we do. Is it simply to play out this pre-determined game? Nah, it's more likely what you pointed out.....which may get into a more religious/philosophical debate, but I do agree, that the way out of the rat race is to truly find meaning to your life....to do what you love, maybe what you were gifted or called to do....not because of money, or power, or fame, but because all this is just a precursor to what is really important, and that is if you believe in the afterlife. If one doesn't, I suppose
no matter what you do and how you live your life, you are still in the rat race and will end up in the same place.

oatmeal said:

Life is often referred to as a "rat race".
I have an idea of what that means but I was curious about any other interpretations?

I believe it's referring to life as a rat race in that we are all like rats, living out our lives
in a lab being controlled by the scientist(s), following the rules/boundaries/structures set
in place for us (our cage) and aim is to get the cheese (9 to 5 work life), get married, pop out
some kids, pay your taxes, until death.

So is the goal then "not" to be a rat in this race we call life? Do we want to become the scientist(s)
or something else? Or is there no way out of the rat race, just an inevitable and inescapable
fate?

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Rat race means, even after going through your struggles and winning the race, you are still a rat - just a winner of a small game which doesn't add any real value to your life - still stuck in the same game - no freedom.

oatmeal said:

Life is often referred to as a "rat race".
I have an idea of what that means but I was curious about any other interpretations?

I believe it's referring to life as a rat race in that we are all like rats, living out our lives
in a lab being controlled by the scientist(s), following the rules/boundaries/structures set
in place for us (our cage) and aim is to get the cheese (9 to 5 work life), get married, pop out
some kids, pay your taxes, until death.

So is the goal then "not" to be a rat in this race we call life? Do we want to become the scientist(s)
or something else? Or is there no way out of the rat race, just an inevitable and inescapable
fate?

Click to expand...

Go live in San Jose, Ca. for a few years. You will be an expert on "Rat Race"