Originally Posted by
Pluripotent
I had some other thoughts on this issue. I think the use of opioids for chronic pain, which is a bigger problem for men than for women is a sign of nihilism. Nihilism is not just a philosophical idea, not even primarily a philosophical idea. How do you know if you are a nihilist? Are you participating in self sabotage? People who engage in nihilistic behavior are essentially destroying themselves. This includes all the drug and alcohol addictions, smoking and even less obvious behavior, such as fragility from the lack of physical training. Essentially, I think people engage in nihilist behavior when they lack clear goals for the future, either because they are unable to make goals, or because they have no hope that they could ever achieve goals even if they did make them. The problem affects men and women, but currently more men, because men are being inundated with the idea that masculinity is somehow "toxic" and they are being told that their contributions are not wanted. Most of the time this is implicit rather than explicit, although it is becoming increasingly explicit. And so men retreat into activities that can only be described as slow suicide (or they just do it outright). People need to make goals. The act of making goals for the future is the best antidote for nihilism because it is its opposite. And, assuming that those goals aren't also nihilistic (such as to shoot up a high school or concert), then the goals themselves are going to be incompatible with the self destructive behavior. You cannot get to a 315 lbs squat for 3 sets of 5 and smoke or do drugs (or at least it's very unlikely and it would be much better if you didn't). Making goals forces people to decide between self destruction and self improvement. So if we could just get people to lift...