A common pessimist refrain is that life is suffering – and resultingly so life is a curse. As talked about in A Conspiracy Against the Human Race, Thomas Ligotti discusses various pessimistic philosophers whom come to the conclusion that the bookend of life – nonexistence – underscores the fact that life is inherently meaningless: it is all darkness in the end, and therefore there is no reason to continue living, or at least to value and cherish one’s own existence.
As a pessimistic optimist – I’m optimistic but relate to pessimistic arguments – I agree with this to some extent, but also disagree on the grounds of perspective. Every religious tradition recognizes that life is suffering in their own unique way. In answer to this: Christianity promises heaven, Buddhism promises Nirvana, New Age promises some soulful after-life existence. But all of these are placeholders for some deeper problem: the end game. What is the end game to life? What is the end game to existing? Is it to continue existing free of suffering, or to escape existence entirely? And what happens when that existence is achieved?
According to Ligotti, the cyclical never-ending pursuit of existence is a delusion that underscores our suffering, and warrants it’s accursed nature. Some pessimists might consider life’s unescapable bookends of a sort of non-existence. This in mind, from a pessimists perspective existence is an inherent abomination, the universe never intending for conscious experience in the first place.
But I think something is forgotten by both the God in an evil world problem, and the pessimist’s spite for existent: the fact that suffering is inherently a basis for meaning.
David Goggins perhaps exemplifies this best when he describes the goal of running. Running is painful, especially when pushing yourself to a limit, but running is not about the running. It’s about what the running represents; what the suffering represents. Running is not wholly about the physical pain; it’s the struggle, the discipline, and the sense of direction that comes from pushing oneself beyond perceived limits.
Obviously suffering caused by uncaring forces and hostility is bad: a tsunami destroying a city, a war ravaging a country, the holocaust. But when used as a catalyst, pain can be used to help one realize that though life is painful, that the pain is somehow purposeful. A man who lived through the Holocaust, Viktor Frankl, talks about this in his book Man’s Search for Meaning where he asserts that suffering (finding ways to cope with pain and hardship) is one of the primary vehicles humans find meaning. Frankl argues that when we suffer, our natural response is to try to escape or avoid it. However, this avoidance often leads to a sense of powerlessness and disconnection from ourselves and others. By contrast, when we face our suffering with courage, dignity, and purpose, we transform pain into an opportunity for growth, self-discovery, and ultimately meaning: to live another day.
This sort of pain-purpose is about struggling daily against the face of meaninglessness, and though the pessimists may have the last laugh with the heat death of the universe, those who accept and see pain for what it is can forever use that darkness to remind themselves: "I may die one day, so let’s fucking do this."
Note- I often find myself listening to Soundcloud edits of The Lich from Adventure Time. He is a depressing character that somehow motivates me to get out of bed. One line that strangely resonates with me: "There is only darkness for you, and only death for your people. These ancients are just the beginning. I will command a great and terrible army, and we will sail to a billion worlds. We will sail until every light has been extinguished. You are strong, child, but I am beyond strength. I am the end"
Reflecting on what I wrote, the Lich represents meaninglessness, and we are Finn, the child whom he refers to. We are in a hopeless struggle. In fact, we are the greatest underdogs to ever exist. We have the opportunity to see understand truly hopeless our situation of existence is, and yet we can somehow decide to struggle forward in the face of the end.
As Goggins says "You have to envision something more powerful than you, something has to get you out of bed, and you have to create it." In the face of the end, in the face of the suffering in the face of the darkness, what will get you out of bed?
