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The root of all problems can be traced to one thing: resources are scarce. The Wikipedia page on scarcity reads, “Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human wants in a world of limited resources.” I might be happy if I had access to unlimited resources.
On the other hand, that does not solve the problem of mutual association. I.e., the people I would like to associate with will have different preferences for their own social groups. I’ve always considered that to be an insurmountable impediment to heaven or utopia. It cannot be perfect for everyone as long as space is shared, and thus resources are limited.
There are three possible solutions to answer this conundrum:
(1) heaven is a unique instance for each individual; everyone with whom an individual interacts is purely a figment of their imagination;
(2) everyone in heaven is a clone with the exact same preferences, and the preference is to associate with a group of individuals identical to themselves; or
(3) utopia is only possible for an individual who prefers to be absolutely alone.
Today’s warm and windy weather was the first hint of summer this year, with the season off to a late start. I had finished my golf lesson in the morning and was walking down to a local park to play some basketball. I noted that there were many more people at the driving range today now that the weather was warming up, compared to the previous few weeks which had been cool and rainy. I prefer playing basketball in the morning because the court is usually empty and the kids haven’t come out yet. I was taking advantage of the scarce resource to suit my preferences, which were to play and practise in solitude. I had an epiphany of sorts as I was walking down the sidewalk.
Resources are scarce and must be shared amongst many people and perhaps other stakeholder groups, if any, that we can reason with. Resources include air, light, time, space, land, minerals, oil, timber, labour, etc. Each person taking their share diminishes the available pool for the next person. There are not enough resources to satisfy the needs and/or wants of everyone. A selfish person has little regard for the resource deficiencies of others, and only cares about their own share.
I am a resource taker. To date, I do not consider myself to have contributed to creating resources in any meaningful way. I hunger for wealth and increasing my personal resources. Yet I cannot give back the same amount I wish to take. I am not a selfish person, and am very self-aware and self-conscious of my position. I do not wish to get in the way of others, yet each piece of the pie I take means less for others.
While my marginal impact and share of consumption may be small, I do not feel comfortable as long as I am part of the problem. It is like one car’s contribution to traffic; all drivers are collectively responsible for congestion, and no single car can be excused from blame. The same is true for a pedestrian walking down a crowded sidewalk, or another person joining a long lineup. Space is limited and we are forced to share, whether we like it or not.
Creating resources is hard. I think it is more than merely the cumulative value of all trades (equivalent to the GDP on a national level). What it is, exactly, I cannot say right now. But I just have a feeling that I, along with perhaps most people on this planet, cannot expand our limited pool of resources. The only resource that comes from beyond earth is sunlight; everything else is restricted to this one planet. This might change some day if humanity is able to colonize other planets before we become extinct, but I remain quite skeptical of that happening.
I concluded that this was the reason I hate myself. I am joyless and insignificant. My very existence creates a problem for others. I don’t want to stand in the way. I offer to concede my share of resources to others who may value it more. Otherwise, as long as I am still around I will continue to hunger for my inordinate share. And my lack of success will only fuel even further despair.
 
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In Total Annihilation, the metal patches never run out, but it's still a dystopian future full of war. How can you explain that? Yo, maybe you should stop hating on yourself and start appreciating yourself because sometimes like one driver sees something crazy like a giraffe and he crashes into a stop sign and then it jams up all the traffic cuz everyone wants to see the guy's smashed-up car, so it's really ain't yo fault that traffic is bein' jammed up, it's the giraffes, ain't it?
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So go research cold fusion or other renewable energy. The sun will continue to shine for billions of years.
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You could renounce the material life and become a monk. Not even kidding. People think it is ridiculous now, but not too long ago (and probably still in other countries) it was a perfectly respectable thing to do. Consume a bare minimum of food, clothing and shelter... cultivate compassion and unselfishness as "resources" that you can share with others, without having to consume and compete. Compassion and understanding are resources that are sorely needed in an increasingly materialistic world.
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Try to think about "resources" as processes, rather than things. This helps to think about the problem. You don't "create" resources, and "consume" resources, you participate in cycles.
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On May 11 2014 15:44 bookwyrm wrote:
Try to think about "resources" as processes, rather than things. This helps to think about the problem. You don't "create" resources, and "consume" resources, you participate in cycles.
You channel their energy for your purposes?
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Just be more efficient at using resources than other? Then your existence is much more valuable than others according to your value system, which seems fucked up but who am I to judge.
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We don't create resource, we add value to them.
Economics is about allocating these resources among infinite wants.
Take your driving as an example.
If everyone stopped driving, the world will suffer from much slower and inefficient way to deliver and receive materials and resources that could have turned into much more valuable within a much shorter time.
Problem leads to solution, the quest of finding solution brings knowledge and understanding.
Your self hate is truly the only thing that makes all resources you used wasted
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Edit: I really didn't mean for this to offend anyone or start a controversy.
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On May 11 2014 18:38 Entirety wrote:
So resources are always exchanged; that means the only way for resources to be truly 'consumed' or 'lost' is through natural process. People die, tools rust, food rots, that's consumption of resources. Nature consumes resources, not you.
Why isn't he part of nature? This is a very silly thing to stay. I mean your entire post is very silly but this is a particularly silly paragraph. When he does stuff, it contributes to the entropy being generated by the system.
On May 11 2014 18:38 Entirety wrote:
the Invisible Hand Theorem.
Oh dear lord. I wish they would actually teach Adam Smith in schools, so people wouldn't say things like "The Invisible Hand Theorem."
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Yes, we all contribute to entropy. But so does everything else. The point is that the OP believes his lifestyle choices are selfish because he "hungers for his inordinate share" but if we discount natural entropy, no lifestyle choice uses more or less resources than any other. And if we do count natural entropy, every lifestyle choice contains inevitable resource decay, so it's not a matter of lifestyle choice. It's an existential crisis of being born in a world with increasing entropy.
I won't bother responding to your second comment because you didn't actually make a point.
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On May 12 2014 06:38 Entirety wrote:
I won't bother responding to your second comment because you didn't actually make a point.
The point is that there is no such thing as "The Invisible Hand Theorem."
On May 12 2014 06:38 Entirety wrote:
no lifestyle choice uses more or less resources than any other..
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It seems like the main problem here is that you feel your life isn't accomplishing anything; the use of resources is more like a secondary problem. If you were using a ton of resources I might agree that it is more significant, but when it comes down to it you are really one human on a planet of several billion (I think its between 6-8 billion). And if you limit yourself to your country or even state/province, its still just a fraction of a percent. So I don't think you need to feel too bad about taking the resources that you do take, unless you live a really excessive lifestyle.
One thing depression can do is it can tend to blow certain things out of proportion and make them seem more significant than they really are, and I think this is one of those cases. I think its very easy to 'generate resources' anyway, working for any company that provides a service to others is a way of giving back (and all do in some way), being friends with others makes their lives a bit more worth living. You really have to try hard not to contribute to the system, the whole thing is set up for us to contribute because the system wouldn't survive if freeloading was too easy. And in many ways its a wonderful machine because we have so many options at our disposal, unless of course you live in a third world country. But anyway I don't need to point out the select few qualifications to those statements.
I think you're probably better off talking to a guidance counsellor of some sort. I hope you find a way, I'm pretty depressed too lol. Oh well...just have to keep trying as long as I can
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The world owes you nothing, just the same as you don't owe anyone else or the world anything in return. If the resources are there for you to take, then that is merely circumstance and providence. The world really doesn't care about you, so stop worrying about that.
However, the fact you went down this line of thoughts means you owe yourself some things:
1) clarity
2) desire
3) creation. through work, through study, through hobby, through play, doesn't matter.
but if it doesn't lead you to fulfillment, discard it. You have a limited number of remaining moments, thoughts, breaths and heartbeats. It might seem like a lot, but truly, you don't have any idea how many. It might be a very limited number of heartbeats remaining to you. Muse upon your mortality, for this will bring clarity. Don't despair, because you can't control it - this means all you can do is use it to your greatest advantage.
If an act doesn't lead you towards fulfillment, you're losing the time where it could have been replaced with one that did. Consider the opportunity cost.
if you're unable to do anything I've written, then go help people. go sign up 1h/month at some place. take action to assuage your own guilt at existing and not living up to some mental fabrications
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Very edgy and heavy handed. There are a lot more unused food/water resources on earth than starving people. Greed and waste are worse than resource scarcity in the present day.
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Given that this was Shiverfish's last ever post on TeamLiquid it kinda reads like a suicide note :'(
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EPT
