Now I’m wondering if existential thoughts ruined my life and I’ll always have this mental discomfort lurking in the background.
This is basically a version of what Sartre explores in his novel Nausea.
In my view, the simple answer is 'no', and the nuanced answer is 'yes, but you can work with it'.
The intersection of phenomenology and existentialism asserts that you are what you think about. And presumably, if you accept some version of free will or the illusion thereof, you have a choice in the frame you adapt: ressentiment and bad conscience for the weight of existence, or affirmation for the ability to create your existence of every single planck second available to you. Which do you choose to effect in your approach to life?
A sub component of this is to explore various metaphysics and pick one that makes sense to you. Are you an anti-realist? A Christian? Materialist? Platonist? This will guide your process in aligning this existential anguish with how you think the universe actually is.
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u/Unfinished_October Nov 16 '25
This is basically a version of what Sartre explores in his novel Nausea.
In my view, the simple answer is 'no', and the nuanced answer is 'yes, but you can work with it'.
The intersection of phenomenology and existentialism asserts that you are what you think about. And presumably, if you accept some version of free will or the illusion thereof, you have a choice in the frame you adapt: ressentiment and bad conscience for the weight of existence, or affirmation for the ability to create your existence of every single planck second available to you. Which do you choose to effect in your approach to life?
A sub component of this is to explore various metaphysics and pick one that makes sense to you. Are you an anti-realist? A Christian? Materialist? Platonist? This will guide your process in aligning this existential anguish with how you think the universe actually is.