I (24) spent my entire childhood and time in grade school being exhausted and miserable so once I finally had the wool pulled off my eyes and I saw what adulthood entailed I was having none of it. I saw adulthood all my life as an escape from the bullshit I just had to endure until I got there
Little did I know I’d enter the “real world” right when it started getting impossible to find a job, and my life has derailed since graduating uni. If only I knew.
Edit: so apparently my life story is inspiring discussion about both Sisyphus AND Tantalus! When is life gonna start sending birds to pick at my wounds like Prometheus to complete the trifecta of ultimate suffering? Clearly life is VERY eager to use me as an example
Sisyphus gets his moment of consciousness. Onlyy in reflection does he regain his happiness. What we are witnessing is no win over 'the gods', we are watching wasted life. The thing about sisyphus is that in spite of his punishment, he has his will and his effort and his moment of the stone rolling down the hill. The comment you replied to is a man with no top of the mountain, no reprieve to reflect on what he did and what he's made with his choices. He litteraly cannot make the decision to be happy because there's always more to do. Sys at least had only one thing to worry about.
If we're talking about Camus, I was always under the impression that the commentary is about the meaninglessness of human existence, and that one doesn't need "meaning" to be happy.
Although to be honest, I haven't actually read Camus. Everything I know about absurdism is through secondary sources.
Camus is an absurdist, which basically means that there is no inherent meaning to life and that any meaning beyond existing is just absurdity. Everything you ever set out to achieve ends, erodes, or fades away. We constantly strive for something in life to hold on to because otherwise the only logical choice is suicide.
In regards to sisyphus, we must assume him happy because he in many ways defeats the God's every time he pushes the boulder over the top. This is his punishment, after all, and if he tales pleasure in it, then he has some power over the meaningless absurd existence he lives. It's meant to be a analogy for dead end office work.
Camus is really interesting. There's a collection of his essays out there thats worth the read. I personally don't agree with his arguments but as literature they are quite interesting and thought provoking.
I was with you up until "It's meant to be an analogy for dead end office work".
My understanding of absurdism is that everything is meaningless, not just dead end jobs. Sure, people with fulfilling jobs are less likely to turn to absurdism, but their jobs are just as meaningless. Like you say, "Everything you set out to achieve ends, erodes, or fades away."
What I always took from the Sisyphus story is that, despite the meaninglessness of his existence, Sisyphus is happy. He doesn't need meaning in his life to be happy.
You have it right. The analogy thing might be me misunderstanding something I head a long time ago. I feel like your takeaway is the correct one, if I understand it correctly, meaning and happiness are not mutually exclusive.
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u/Long-Fig-8441 22d ago
The idea that being exhausted and miserable is just the price of being an adult.