> But most of the people I know who feel this way haven’t survived any atomic bombings at all. They’re usually people with lots of education and high-paying jobs and supportive relationships and a normal amount of tragedies, people who have all the raw materials for a good life but can’t seem to make one for themselves. Their problem is they believe that satisfaction is impossible. Like they’re standing in a kitchen full of eggs, flour, oil, sugar, butter, baking powder, a mixer, and an oven, and they throw their hands up and say, “I can’t make a cake! Cakes don’t even exist!”
I found this an unpalatable paragraph in an otherwise insightful article.
It seems to be, I don't know, recursive? Like saying "one reason you may be stuck in the bog is that you're stuck in the bog," and ignoring the reasons people believe they don't have an out even with the ingredients for a "good" life. Drilling down into those reasons would, I think, result in exactly this same article...?
Yeah, I agree, that metaphor lacked an explanatory conclusion.
If I had to fill one in, I'd say that people often blame the external world for not providing the ingredients necessary for happiness, when they actually do have them on hand already. What they are lacking is choosing to compose them into a meaningful whole, which requires effort on their part.
That makes sense. Maybe it's better described as "not having the recipe" or "not knowing what land looks like"...? I'm still not sure it's very useful though... it still feels like the awareness of "I am in a bog, and land exists" is a prerequisite for understanding the article at all.
I found this an unpalatable paragraph in an otherwise insightful article.
It seems to be, I don't know, recursive? Like saying "one reason you may be stuck in the bog is that you're stuck in the bog," and ignoring the reasons people believe they don't have an out even with the ingredients for a "good" life. Drilling down into those reasons would, I think, result in exactly this same article...?