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I cant believe some jerk invented the telescope and discovered the immense expanse and depth of the universe 400 years ago and made me depressed today

I'm an optimistic nihilist. Our existence is so meaningless that we can put our own meaning to it. Like a blank page where you can draw whatever you want. This was a great video, learnt quite a bit

“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, it’s a reality to experience.” - Frank Herbert

I like recognizing the absurdity of my existence. I love taking really stupid things about being a human very very seriously ironically. It also helped with my anxiety realising that yeah, it doesn't matter, but also isn't it funny how I feel so compelled to idk take a shower before studying just for the clean girl vibes. If it was rational it would lose its fun potential. Take having a pet for example. Realizing that I live with another species, one that I can't understand at all, but can only strive to make the happiest just because it's cute is so absurd. But also, ants building a whole complex ass structure and following social norms just because that's how they are is just as absurd. I love realising how much of a reasonless animal we are, no matter how much we try to make it make sense. That's our very nature. We're cute.

I think looking for a deeper meaning is a way for humans to cope with the cruelness of an indifferent universe

I used to have a mentor, and he always said: “Anything you do could get yourself killed, including nothing. So just do more things in life, so you will die knowing you did a lot of things to mix out the mundane things that bores the shit out of you.”

I wish I could have conversations like this with someone. This stuff really interests me and gets me thinking.

I love Everything Everywhere All At Once because it really dives into nihilism, eventually leasding to absurdism, and landing on existentialism. I wish i could show everyone that movie so they can get my personal philosophy. It just captured that so well

Wisdom is our worst curse, but it also what makes us alive. Curiosity and searching for answers to our big questions is what giving us reason to live another day, so I think we should keep asking what is the meaning of everything and never be satisfied with any answer

This reminded me about my favorite quote by Marcus Aurelius: "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them."

Accepting that we are just animals with impulses is terrifying. And that the only way to be “happy” is to shut off that self aware third person perspective. But how can one go back to ignorance of our meaninglessness after experiencing this transcendence? I don’t think that I could ever possibly just shut it off. Very interesting video though :)

I just completed my daily commissions on Genshin. It resulted in me feeling less insignificant but slightly more absurd.

I think it's important to acknowledge how absurd life is FOR EVERYONE. Idk, knowing I'm not the only one that thinks their life is somewhat pointless makes me feel better, and when you find those people that feel the same way you feel some type of comforting unity, like hell yeah we're destined to become part of the eternal void which kinda sucks, but atleast we'll go together.

It's usually easy to find a purpose. It's usually hard to fulfill this purpose and we give up and look for something easier.

Damn I could sit and talk with this girl for hours about this type of stuff. This is literally how I write my essays for class. The process is pretty amazing and relevant.

You helped me write my application for a scholarship to go overseas. Your research and phrasing helped me grasp why I actually want to go, and you’ve helped me put into words the way I feel about traveling in a way that isn’t vapid or surface. Thank you.

the first video about existentialism/meaning of life without crying. thanks! we’re making progress.

I cannot separate meaning in life from art and passion. In a large scale we may be insignificant, but to create significance in other people's lives through art is truly a reason to live, if only to give others a reason to live.

I think the problem I’m having right now with this is not knowing how to make my own life seem more significant. I don’t want to have a mundane, mediocre life that passes me by. I want to have more experiences and adventure in my life that I can talk about and be proud that I did. The thing is, I don’t know how to do that. All I can think of is travel; but besides traveling, what else? I’m not sure what to do

I can't remember the last time I thought I was good at something without having the need to compare myself to others. :/

Olivia just casually completely changing the way i view my life

"One must imagine sysiphus committing suicide" -Tommy Philosophy

I've considered that general thought about our personal choices being meaningless at the end of it all a lot. When you have anxiety, it becomes doubly absurd. I have wasted so much time wondering if some banal action would be rude or weird, if I'd be judged for wearing something, and so on. And it doesn't even matter. And yet that isn't enough to stop it entirely.

I feel like there’s always meaning in things, and you just have to find it. One of my friends asked me what the point of our existence is. I always think about it like every action we take effects the people and places we love. Sure, on a grand scale, our lives may have no significance. But everything around you has a meaning, whether you know what it is or not. So, instead of being looped into the existential dread of insignificance, begin to notice how your actions and others’ actions’ and how they change and impact the world you love. Find meaning in the little things, try and make life more significant for yourself.

“The meaning of life is to give life meaning…restore the balance between thinking and feeling, open up and let it flow”-Ayreon, the sixth extinction.

the reason i’m not a nihilist is because the reason i do things is to bring myself and others joy and i like that my life doesn’t have to have some grand reason. i live to be alive and i think that’s good enough

The absurdity and overwhelming limitation of my existence has turned me into an empty, bitter, and unstable disaster of a human being. I dont wanna do this anymore, but im not allowed to check out because i care about the people id leave behind too much. It's hell.

another great video!! i was actually wondering if you could do a separate one exploring camus' perspective on dealing with the sense of absurdity and absurdism itself

Since there is no hope in life, Camus himself suggested, don't long for tomorrow or the future, and live in this exact moment. That's right way to deal with absurdity. Don't go for goals, but enjoy searching for the goals.

Hey Olivia! What a serendipitous upload! I've been pondering more about this critical part our history where things are exponentially advancing (ie. tech, AI, info distribution, Postmates lol), while also exponentially getting worse (ie. Global warming, no shared reality, resource depletion). Ultimately many people are in a Meaning crisis. This video essay reassured me that the spread of knowledge/experience opens us up so we can make sense of these events and find solutions/meaning. I appreciate you jotting down the sources in the description box too. I hope this becomes common practice in the content creation world. I recently read Recapture the Rapture by Jamie Wheal and found it very illuminating. Loved his analysis on society's climate and how he offers some key meaning-making tools that are accessible to all (not just the privileged). Looking forward to your next video! x

I discovered your channel a few months ago, and I just want to say thank you. I especially needed this video, and I'm confident that many other people did as well. Like you said, everyone can draw a conclusion from this video; mine would be that nobody is the center of the world, but at the same time, each of us is the center of our own world. Thank You.

For some reason I started tearing up around 6:35. This is something I'm going to have to come back to and study carefully as so much of it aligns with the themes I'm interested in most. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful video!

Meaninglessness and insignificance is a lot worse now then it was back then because the internet gives us endless access to other people. Everyone is completely disposable and can be forgotten easily.

Thank you again for producing meaningful content, especially while juggling university work

Hi! I love your videos and I love the various points of view you present in each essay. I am usually a lover of Camus' philosophy, it's helped me a lot to battle the insignificance of life. But it's also good to hear what other people think of the same topic. I don't know if you ever thought about this, but I'd love a video where you could recommend us articles and books to read :) I really love philosophy but struggle to know where to start. Keep up with the great work!

I used to indulge myself in video games, and I lived my life simply to achieve my ex’s will, and it was like a period that I lived as an inferior being who was “enslaved”. After we broke up, I even regarded myself as exiled, and thought acting great will be rewarded one day. A conscious person would know that it was an escape from “insignificance”, and living under others’ or the public norm’s value is an act of devaluing oneself.

To me, the japanese characters are somehow more meaningful to a person who doesn’t understand them. If I see either an english or danish advertisement, I filter it away and don’t think about it. But if I see something I don’t understand, I often find myself wondering what these mysterious characters mean… Which makes it even more subjective I reckon. Great philosophical viewpoint this video presents. Got me thinking indeed😁

Nothing matters but everything matters. Don't try and question existence, riddle in a riddle in a riddle, just be good to others and yourself.

I can't tell you what this video means for me and others. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is the best vid. I've ever seen on this platform since I started watching in about 2007.

You are so well spoken and I could listen to you speak for at least 5 more minutes.

It really helped me with my crisis! (not in a "oh I found what life is about" and such) but this video just made me realized that I'm a victim of a postmodern society, (lacking grand narratives, God and such) and I'm not alone! It just feels so good to know/realise there are also many victims of this philosophical state and use irony to express sincerity, in a way, I feel very accepted (ik it sounds cringe) feel less alone. Thank you Olivia!! Always love your content!

These past few months, I have been going through a severe episode of marijuana withdrawal-induced existential anxiety and DPDR (which basically just makes you hyper aware of your mind's own existence and how absurd it is for that to be possible, with accompanying uncomfortable sense distortions and dreamlike effects). It has been a horrifyingly painful experience, especially due to the contrast of just how "okay" I was with everything prior to this. That being said, I have moments where the anxiety lifts, and I am left feeling relaxed, and dare I say, content. This video has honestly helped me tremendously, but I mainly wanted to explain a few thought patterns that really help me when I am freaking out... - Everyone, literally every conscious being to have ever existed, is going to live a life, and then one day, die. Death is scary, but it's a lot less scary knowing that we're all in this together. - Talking to people about existential thoughts and fears really helps. - Realize that your imagination is overactive, and that intrusive thoughts are not and can never be the truth, because we are limited beings, and due to our limitations, cannot comprehend existence. AND THAT IS OK. Because it has to be. - Sometimes you won't be able to avoid the scary thoughts. That is okay. Anyone is prone to have them at some point. Just try your best to not engage with them or to "solve" your existential fears. - Religion can sometimes be a decent coping technique. But for me, it doesn't work as much as I'd like because the scope in my mind just enters the realm of "okay then what would the purpose of the deity be?" and "would an afterlife even be fulfilling?" etc. etc. - Stay grounded in what you have RIGHT NOW, right in front of you. Stay absorbed in your life as it is currently. You might not know why or how you are alive, but you ARE. You can live a fulfilling life without understanding purpose or having meaning, because there is no true "meaning" to everything, NO ONE KNOWS. - Anxiety IS A BITCH and is going to try to make you as uncomfortable as possible, but it is there to ultimately protect you and keep you alive. Try to sort through your anxious thoughts. You are going to be okay. Everyone will likely have existential thoughts at some point in their life, and there are people like me who you can trust to guide you through them, as mine have been especially severe. I know it can be scary, and sometimes you can genuinely convince yourself that you are the only conscious being, and that everything is a simulation, but TRUST ME, that is an intrusive thought, because even if it were true... you wouldn't even have any control over it anyway, so what's the use in worrying about it? I am real to me, you are real to you, and we FEEL real, that's all that matters.

I’ve been using some of these videos to maybe enlighten myself and it literally gives me goosebumps

everytime i feel like shit or i go through some existential crisis, this is my comfort video.

yk i used to think about this all the time in middle school and i stopped thinking about it because this nihilism genuinely made me suicidal - this video made me unafraid of those thoughts again and helped me think of it in a different perspective :) i feel like i regained a part of myself so thank u

The overall conclusion that I would draw from this is one I keep coming back to as I further dive into philosophical teachings: our life has significance because of our unique ability to question that very significance in the first place. Great video again Olivia! Keep going!

The marginal satisfaction we might get from reflecting on how remarkable it is that we can understand the absurdity of our situation does not outweigh the pain of unfulfilled desires for happiness, truth, and love

Awesome video and reflection!! Thank you very much for the effort put into each, very much appreciated!!

I'm ok with insignificance, set your goals and build your little part of the world and be happy in it.

Idk, I just accepted that objectively meaning doesn't exist. Everything has reasons and consequences, but doesn't have a purpose, a mind behind it. So I chose to just enjoy my life, enjoy socializing, experiencing and processing things. If we're stuck here for a long time, then let's have as much fun as we can!

Beyond everything you've said, and that has given me so much to think about. I want to thank you for speaking slowly and clearly. I am not an English speaker and probably if I had seen this video in someone else's words, I would not have been able to fully understand the topic. You make great content

I just started watching your content and I think it's all very well put together. I like how most of your subjects revolve around philosophy with some science, human nature, and psychology. You are very intellectual with your words and the subjects in general really make you think deeply into whatever the video topic is about. Keep up the great work you are doing amazing.

i like the point you brought up about insignificant instead of meaningless, just because we don’t recognize it doesn’t mean our life has no meaning

this is exactly it. the collision between the absurd and the inexplicable will to not give up is whats crushing me.

Olivia I need you to know I have watched this video essay multiple times now. I come back to it at least once a week

I’ve started listening to you as I run and I honestly believe this is better than some deep podcast. It’s a sum of beautiful linear points that really does in its 27 minutes make us think about life. Thankyou ❤❤❤

Finding a real purpose in our insignificant existence is something we should all ponder on. Some of us believe there is a Divine creator while some of us do not. Finding out our real purpose, however, often takes time to really think about. Some people have this purpose in this world, and yet they fail to actually fulfill that, thus leading them into the direction that aren’t supposed to take. Insightful video. Bless you for opening our eyes to see what we’ve actually been missing out in our own separate lives.

Oh you really in your bag with this one 😮‍💨

Really love this video!! Simplicity is really the key, atleast that's also what I realized and which got me thaught when I was in a mental hospital last year. My search for meaning was so great and I thought that there would be an answer somewhere, and that people just have to think more & someone will figure it out someday :,) But what actually helped was getting into into the mindset of "I don't need a meaning to be alive." - I just can do anything without it being super meaningful or significant - there is no law that says that everything you do must be worth something - If I want to make music that no one will ever hear or draw my favorite characters for hours just to delete the file, so be it. I'll enjoy the sun and the rain and tell myself that life is what is right now, always changing and flowing and let's see what will happen.

What an amazing video essay!! I learned sooo much! I am much like you, when I listen to an informative video, I research more on the topic. I remember as a child, I could read an entire 200-400 page book within a day. Now, it's been years since I've read a book cover to cover. My attention span has always been short but even thinner than my hair 😅 I get most of my news and entertainment via YT and local news

My favorite book in the Bible, Ecclesiastes, actually talks about life being meaningless.

I think there’s another kind of meaninglessness, seeing something and not knowing IF it’s a sign, not knowing who it’s for and not knowing what it means

I admire your hard work! Your videos are QUALITY

Asking "Why" for the second time will lead to an infinite regression of asking Why. Ask "Why" once and follow it up by asking "How" will get you more results and get you more driven with anything.

finally, i have an answer, size doesnt matter...so relieved.

Amazing work, thank you. Love the humour you inject.

"Self-conscious, self-transcendent mouse would be like: Damn, I'm a mouse." That made me laugh but also its strangely profound. Not sure why that made me self reflect so much

sometimes the insignificance of my life feels daunting, but most days it reassures me and helps me float through life without taking things too seriously. i'm here for such a small amount of time, i want to enjoy as much as possible, learn as much as possible and love as much as possible. i'm an autistic physics student, so i really struggle with not having black and white answers to everything, but if we had answers for everything, life would be so incredibly boring 🥰

Thank you for your detailed and thorough presentation, you conveyed the message effectively and brought some interesting takes and stances with comprehensible exemples of thinkers and clerics that maps it clearly it’s really important to ponder in psychology and philosophy to understand the world we live in and ourselves and create. I’ve always thought that the human mind is complex and though we’re loaded with instincts we’re a product of our environment and there’s a balance to everything and meaning is as well created, found and derived.

The first minute of this video really had me intrigued and locked in ready to listen. Thanks

Intriguing how I lost my ability to conclude anything racionally and how it is difficult to express myself since I realized the absurdity in human life. Even intriguier, though, is how it made me more grateful towards connections with others! Maybe, I'm finally alive ^^

When she said "Have fun dissociating" that hit different

I absolutely adore your videos. I admire how you reach to your thoughts in such an incredible way, while staying open-minded and respecting other people’s perspectives and conclusions. I often find myself filled with anxious feelings because of the absurdity of our existence, the not-knowing why we live, what will happen next, how I cannot do anything to prevent my death from happening. But beyond that all, I also have a feeling of freedom. Our existence is so absurd that it is somewhat funny… because of that very absurdity, things don’t really matter that much, and I can live in the way I want to for as long as my existence lasts. And that is, somehow, a calming thought. Ps: I’m from Madrid and I always fall asleep in the metro hahahaha. My loved ones always worry about me but I never got robbed, just sometimes accidentally skipped my destination… guess it must be the Japanese luck🤷🏽‍♀️

My daughter wanted me to watch this video, and I was very impressed. Even though the video is ostensibly for younger people, it dealt with some very heavy subjects such as nihilism, postmodernism vs. metamodernism, etc. I’ve been interested in philosophy most of my life, but I still learned a lot from this video.

i love going on existential rollercoasters with olivia

Been struggling a LOT with meaning and existentialism so this was perfect timing. I feel like when I turned 18 and went to college I was faced with reality and had a lot of horrific realisations about the world. I still haven’t recovered and it’s been devastating for me mentally. But videos like yours help me so much. So thank you ❤️

Your videos are so brilliant and informative, a true resource. Keep up the great work ❤

The point you made about the hemp strings in relation to how we see the world was brilliant. Believing in a creator and the fact that this planet and life didn’t happen randomly, frees one from the “no responsibility, do what you want nobody cares” mentality

this was a beautiful video! i love the way you articulate yourself and the progression of the video was so well crafted

This was well done! Great editing, great commentary, and great everything! Good job

I've been having some days where nothing seems important anymore, where "absurd" floods into every aspect of my life and all I ever wanted or thought, and if there's something I can take from this video is trying to shape "oh absurd :c" to "well, absurd c:" and try to complete my daily little tasks trying to build the life my inner child always wanted, trying to learn in hopes that it will make me a better person to better enjoy life with the people that's in it. It's hard not to take on any esotherical or mystical beliefs, but I guess that "I'm just a human. And that's all I'll ever be".

I never thought I'd find a channel that casually explores many of the things the preoccupy my mind when I'm not reveling in the pure absurdity of certain moments or interactions. Smashed that like button as soon as you dropped "scientism" and subbed before I could rationalize whether I was simping or not as your Patreon credits started to roll.

An amazing video! I'm only a few minutes into this and I'm hooked. You do a wonderful job at explaining these philosophical concepts and I find your videos extremely inspiring. Definitely a lot to learn from you! Keep on posting!!!

YESSSS, YOU HAVE THE SOURCES IN THE DESCRIPTION THANK FUCKING GOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDD. I WATCH SO MANY GODDAM VIDEOS THAT DONT HAVE THE FRIGGING SOURCES AND I ALWAYS GOTTA SEARCHEM UP. THAANK YOU

*wow. this video really intensified my thoughts about how meaningless my life really is. There are so many careers I want to do but if I choose the wrong path and purse the wrong thing I will live to regret it. I feel like I only have one chance at life, and if I screw it up I’ll hate myself forever. The thought of choosing one thing and that I’ll never get to do everything I want to and chase all of my dreams overwhelms me. Also the fact that all my relationship and friendships and family will all die and so will I. Life is so futile and short that it keeps me up at night. That thought haunts me and plagues my whole existence.*

Listening to your talk in the context of Everything, Everywhere, All at Once is interesting. The movie posits that because nothing has meaning, everything has meaning. Or rather I would suggest, our actions create their own meaning. This make the process of maturing a process of choosing the meaning we wish to have and developing it. Like your video on love being passive or active. We can view meaning as a passive thing that is 'out there' and we can find it if we look long enough. This video states that meaning is an active thing. We create meaning and significance in the process of our living. I just found your channel and I think I'm addicted. The range of subjects you examine is mind boggling.

Hey Olivia, I’ve been a fan for awhile and just wanted to say thanks for making this video and potentially providing more meaning(significance) to those who view it. I look forward to anymore thought provoking videos you decide to release in the future :).

The real dilemma that I'm facing right now is listening wirelessly while getting on with my life or sit and watch the video because the editing is awesome. (Anyways, thank you for the vid!)

your video healed me a little, so glad to discover you

This is the first video i watched of yours. I hope you never die, i love you ❤️😭

The quality of your content is greatly appreciated !

I believe that due to the sheer fact that we can question our existence shows the truly embedded desire for a meaningful experience. We were made to question in order to find our truth. Certainly this curiosity can leads us to find more satisfaction when we choose to connect with each other on a deeper and existential level. By living in new experiences you begin to see life as a whole, rather than being separate from everything. Even if life comes out to be ‘insignificant‘, it’s better to have tried to make it significant, then to have purposely suffered.

I needed like half an hour more of you talking about this topic, you left me with a lot of questions lol

how do you know so much. Its scary. Why did I never heard anybody else tell me about this. This is so good. Thank you

-Meaning is dependent to our minds. It is not an empirical phenomena. Therefore Meaning can only be subjectively meaningful or subjectively meaningless. -I think saying "life is insignificant" implies that there is an objective ultimate goal or objective purpose to everything. -If we can understand how absurd it is to believe that life has significance in a postmodern nihilistic time, then we must also understand that it is absurd to believe that we need significance to live a meaningful happy life. Thank you for the thought provoking video! :)

Your editing has greatly improved! You’re doing amazing ❤

Really good video and it definitely made me think about the way people view life!

The distinction between meaning and significance was so profound for me.

Great video, no notes! Loved the Plastic Pills shout out. I will be sending this to my friends who want to understand existentialism and absurdity but don't need the unnecessary academic context. This was far more nuanced and relatable. Also, it's great that it doesn't have a conclusion because what's more existential than that?