Use Absurdism Philosophy to Better Your Life in 3 Steps Today

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What's Absurdism and how can we use it to better our lives?
A number of channel subscribers reached out to me asking for some more specifics on Absurdism, including actual ways to go about implementing this in your life for better well-being. So in this video, I want to first do a quick recap of what Absurdism philosophy is. Then, the video will go over a few specific ways how to practically implement this philosophy into your life to live better.
If you want more videos like this, please let me know in the comments.
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0:00 Introduction
1:17 What's Absurdism?
2:26 Confronting the Absurd
3:49 False Meaning
6:11 Revolt, Freedom, Passion
7:24 Sisyphus the Absurdist Hero
9:02 Tracking Subjective Well-Being
9:43 Step 1.
11:57 Step 2.
13:19 Step 3.
14:40 Conclusion & More Training

[@thinkingdeeplywithben774]

If this video was interested or helped you in any way please like it and leave a comment. If you want more videos like this please let me know below. Also, if you want more information using Absurdism to better your life visit the link in the description.

[@veronicanevarez3492]

You did an amazing job thank you.

[@scottfree2b]

I had a Eureka moment 50 years ago. I was a wife and mother of grade school children. Some women from the kid's school were putting together short bios of the parents for the school newsletter. They visited one afternoon and asked about what my husband did and then asked, "and what do you do"? Well, I was a musician, violin and drums at the moment, I read a great deal, my husband and I were remodeling and building our house, I jogged, and the list of what I do spun through my head with the realization that I was paid for none of what I do and that much of it was, in the eyes of the world, rather along the lines of a dilettante. And the answer came to me, "I'm a bum!" I was thrilled! I'd finally defined my life to myself. After that, my husband remarked, "ever since you decided you're a bum you've been impossible to live with". And it was true. I'd started living for myself. I didn't much care what anybody else had to say about it. So in a nutshell, I divorced, moved to London to study violin for 6 years with a fabulous teacher, practiced Buddhism with some awesome people, changed my last name to one that reflected my heritage rather than the men in my life, and that was just the first10 years of being a bum. Since then I've had my ups and downs but it's always punctuated by awesome adventures in both my work life and my free time. I celebrated my 70th year on the planet by hiking 800 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail then came home to act my age. I've knitted a lot of sweaters and afghans, and I've listened to a million audiobooks. I eat what I like, and drink and smoke when the spirit moves me. I took up classical guitar and got pretty good, and pretty good is good enough for me so I took up bass guitar and drums just to become more acquainted with other genres. But I find now, that just sitting in my chair doing nothing is a thrill. Just being alive. I can feel/hear my cells humming along and it thrills me. You don't need to be "doing" anything at all to be passionate about being alive. When I die, the energy that is me will go somewhere and do whatever energy does on its own. I'm fine with that. Until recently, when I found it on your channel, I had no idea what to call my personal philosophy but I think now, I was born an absurdist. Thanks! Love your way of "Thinking Deeply". And by the way, those women who came to my house to get our short bios? In the newsletter, I was listed as "Housewife".

[@spreefeech7634]

Love this. Thank you for sharing! You helped someone today:)

[@sharonvass8700]

Yes Housewife ha ha I hate labels soooo restrictive

[@datapepple8024]

really appreciate you sharing this, i kinda feel lucky to have read this. it's really got me thinking about my own life. again, thank you for sharing ❤

[@onlypearls4651]

My wife has a job, and I manage the household (shopping, cooking, laundry, repairs, upkeep). I call myself a "homemaker".

[@mariharrik5987]

@scottfree2b and what about your kid how they took the divorce I feel bad for the kid whose mother left them children need mothers and stable living situations to grow to be healthy and happy or they grow up im not impressed to see such selfishness from a MOTHER

[@HowlinWilf13]

I quit a career in the Legal profession and eventually became a cabinet maker - for me it was a question of finding something that I enjoyed the doing of, hour after hour, day after day, month in/month out, year after year. Two decades later, I still enjoy the doing, and, although I recognise the ultimate futility of being, I rarely suffer feelings of pointlessness. If I had to analyse exactly what it is that shields me from despair and the death of hope, I think it would all boil down to the 'pursuit of beauty', a quest to find find beauty in all things, an appreciation of it wherever it occurs, and a desire to create beautiful things. And by creating beautiful things, do we not add 'form' to a chaotic universe?

[@Turbo.M777]

Found your channel not too long ago. Definitely valuing your content, and would love to learn more about absurdism

[@DeLaSoul246]

Good to see you back!

[@harryanoos4853]

Welcome back, great suggestions. Happy new year 🎉

[@jimlong8077]

Really appreciate the refresher. Enjoying it is a constant battle. You forget how to fight sometimes.

[@nicknorizadeh4336]

Brilliant take on absurdism Ben! Really needed a fresh perspective on this philosophy and life in general

[@tunnelman5756]

Nice to see another one of your videos 😃

[@chefboirawrdee6425]

going through a rough time and this video certainly helped

[@SteviesEarthBasedKitchen]

Thank you for this great video!

[@user-xm6ux2di6h]

Live in the moment. Be happy with what you got and how you live

[@jb9433]

Excellent, constructive advice. Thank you.

[@worsttrainrideever5606]

Excellent work

[@movewithkarim1173]

Thanks Ben. It would be great to have more videos like this. I seldom write comments, thanks again!

[@cyrusduncan5318]

Ayeee happy u bacl

[@ipoopeveryday]

Don't get me wrong, I'm very much in love with the thought of Camus and have read many of his works. However, I think the biggest problem with short theoretical visitations with Absurdism is that it becomes so easy to skip over the important talk of all the barriers (many seemingly insurmountable) that stand in the way of truly embracing the absurd (i.e. capitalism, responsibilities to people who don't understand or embrace the absurd, mental illness, etc.). When Absurdism is only touched on in the way you just did, it quickly becomes nothing more than a bourgeois philosophy of over-complicated self-help. BECAUSE it actually is a great and helpful philosophy, I think a lot is unfairly taken away from its true depths when covered only in this way.

[@felixjonsson4471]

Do you have any suggestions on sources for further reading? :)

[@ChristopherBower]

@@felixjonsson4471 Absolutely! Great question. In terms of further exploring Camus' thoughts on the matter, it is better to read his "The Rebel" if one has only previously read his "The Myth of Sisyphus," as the former is much more of an "applied to society at large" undertaking, which helps enframe it better beyond the individual. Further than that, though, I think Camus' work is really only understood in a more totalizing and simultaneously more personally practicable way by exploring a few further texts/thinkers (or at least their main ideas): Rosa Luxembourg as a stretched "response" of sorts to Camus' dismissals of revolution in place of Absurdist rebellion, Lacan's Mirror Stage and Otherness ideas as better situating the self and its limitations in society, Sartre's approach that requires taking more radical responsibility (though they were intellectual "enemies," I still very much prefer Camus overall, but I still think they work very well in tandem), and - maybe most importantly - Jonas Ceika's synthesis of Marx and Nietzsche as a more "grounded-in-the-World" supplement for taking into account societal limits put up against the privilege of living out a fully Absurdist existence, while rehabilitating both Marx and Nietzsche as laying the groundwork for thinking outside of the types of "philosophical suicide" Camus is so critical of, and rightly so (this book is called "How to Philosophize with a Hammer and Sickle"). More than all this still, I think there is very little in direct criticism of the limitations of Camus' albeit very helpful ideas. So, my main point is still to highlight that Camus' greatest weakness, in my opinion, is how blatantly so he leaves all possible personal, socially-inflicted, and subjugating-ideological barriers completely unacknowledged in his book, imagining a human fully situated outside of their Being-in-the-World, as if everyone has the ability to easily and quickly become Nietzsche's Zarathustra. There is SO much good shit for personal mental health from Camus - especially as we all collectively crumble under the grips of late-stage capitalism - but he really drops the ball when it comes to the more material conceptions of the need to, at least in a foremost sense, construct a World in which this type of living is not only pervasively encouraged, but all also made to be accessible.

[@ipoopeveryday]

@@jb9433 Nope, just saying that this is a hurtful bastardization of Absurdism, and there are just as many ways to bastardize it in non-hurtful ways.

[@ipoopeveryday]

@@jb9433 But...I just did...in my two long text responses above. Those were my points, my critiques, my corrections, my suggestions, and my changes. That's precisely why I wrote what I wrote and what I wrote. The "Bower" account is also mine (I didn't realize I posted my first response under my personal account). What am I missing?

[@ipoopeveryday]

@@jb9433 I appreciate what you are going after, but I just think you are completely missing my points. I summed up perfectly what I believe to be missing from this video in particular. If what you are after is someone doing it better, then I have plenty of recommendations you can even find right here on KZbin without needing to read anything (if you don't want to or don't have the time - which is perfectly understandable): Eric Dodson's four lectures on Camus and Overthink Podcast's bits on Camus for more "academic" takes on the matter, then Sisyphus 55's shorter and more edutainment videos on Camus as well as Exurb1a's video of the same ilk. Otherwise, there really is nothing better to do than to read "The Myth of Sisyphus," or find a free audiobook version, which I know are available. Still, I won't die on this hill much longer for Camus in particular, as I think there are infinitely more helpful, totalizing, relevant, and better thinkers/thoughts to address similar problems than Camus (although, again, I do love Camus' works). But that was never my point. My point was simply that this video very specifically and in particular is a crypto-Libertarian bastardization of Camus for already privileged people to further their lack of responsibility for the state of the World. If this doesn't fully satisfy you, then I apologize in advance for either not understanding what you're going after or not being able to make myself understood. In the end, I decry the move I see so often on this platform and others when people say cheap and empty things along the lines of: "Well, if you think you can do it better, then do it better." I can do it better, and I believe I know that, but that's not my point and never was. The point is that this was bad, and I have now responded with plenty of options for how it ALREADY has done better. My only contribution here at the behest of my own personal skills and academic endeavors is to critique this piece and hopefully point people (such as yourself, ideally) to better approaches and utilization of the same intellectual project. I don't see how you're "calling me out to do it better" applies at all here, and I don't see that as a legitimate response, despite not blaming you for making it (it really is the most common approach). I am not someone with a KZbin following or the time/ability/equipment to do such things. The text-based conversation I have had with you is the extent of my capabilities with this engagement we are entangled with. Regardless of how you feel about me or what you do with any of this information, I hope this finds you happy and well. Cheers.

[@maximilianwenning371]

Very good content! I think Camus is right. There is no meaning and we should all embrace it. Thank you very much for this video.

[@rosscampb12]

Excellent channel. The philosophies are explained very clearly. I have a better understanding of them now. I like the way you also analyze the theories and their relevance. One little suggestion I would make would be to speak a little more slowly. Occasionally I have to replay some items because I couldnt easily ollow clearly some points you were making. Another suggestion I might make is what about including more illustrations of the philosophical concepts . Have you read Sophies world. That author provides lots of examples to illustrate his points.

[@ronm9428]

I enjoy your videos but I have to listen to them on 0.75 speed because my brain doesn't work as fast as yours and I don't want to miss anything you say, which in this video was quite helpful. Thanks!

[@thomast3634]

Really good video. Can you do a video on thus spoke zarathustra?

[@marshallsvideo]

For the algorithm

[@sharonvass8700]

If you believe that the talk of god actually means life not an individual it adds so much meaning to ones life.Replace the word god with life in its enormity from the smallest thing to the vast universe everything appears amazing

[@underwearskids1]

I think this is the path for me, but the difficulty lies in my ADD. It's really difficult to be presently, patiently appreciative of living in the moment, esp. when going to work is so painful sometimes. I'm a stoic at heart, I've never felt more alone than in the company of others, but I feel even more alone when left with the company of others (IE. bearing the executive burdens while reaping little-to-nothing for myself). I don't understand why we can't all just cut to the chase, and why a process for dignified euthanasia can't be administered for people in their 30's if that's their personal choice. It's not my job to raise your kids. It's not my job to be your peon. But I think ultimately, the problem lies in how society is ruled by public-trading. I think corporate culture is a farce, and companies should be proud of their employees, not just play a numbers game that devalues everything.

[@abc0to1]

Do True Absurdists Seek a Better Life? Is true absurdism possible in the first place? I feel that we can only define ourselves in the context of personal memory, history, religion, science, philosophy, etc., in other words, in fiction. In other words, meaning is generated the moment we recognize ourselves. Even if we recognize that "my life is meaningless," such meaning has been generated.

[@satyestru]

I'm curious to compare absurdism with Viktor Frankl's thoughts on meaning. Now, just to read "Man's Search for Meaning."

[@tonyburton419]

Where you been dude?

[@cagatayco]

Thanks for the video. Made me think of a question. What about absurdism view of positivism and science? Are them also philosophical suicides like God where a search for ultimate meanings based on cause and effect relationships is made? Or to put it in another way "Can science be absurdist?"

[@Ipotat0]

Damn been a while

[@heyyou9740]

😍👍

[@AbdulHannanAbdulMatheen]

👏🙂

[@amw6846]

I enjoyed this and would like to hear more. Subbing so i dont miss if you do.

[@k98killer]

The heart of man is the center of the cosmos. The physical world is devoid of meaning, yet man is as much meaning-maker as meaning-seeker. I see no conflict between embracing the absurd and becoming the overman.

[@007arek]

I don't know why religion is a bad source of a meaning. Abandoning moral objectivity for freedom is a false premise, because we aren't free, and the funny thing is that we live in society where the boundaries are mostly from religions. To be honest I think that faith is the simplest and compatible with our nature solution. Camus doesn't convince me. Not everyone is a playboy who can just enjoy the life. I think the virgin Nietzsche had better grasp of the reality.

[@nicknorizadeh4336]

Interesting that you think faith is the most natural solution. My thinking has been going along those lines as well recently. Since absurdism inevitably runs into limtitations such as societal expectations, morality, questions about the afterlife

[@KermRiv]

I prefer to take a responsible life with an absurdist attitude. Even if there is no inherent meaning to the world, i find being good for my community gives me a deep sense of meaning. To me, freedom is not an absence of responsibility, but the choice of who/what I am responsible to. Who cares what anyone else thinks as long as those are fulfilled to the best of your ability. I spent a good amount of my twenties lost in mindless hedonisim, and I found it to be fruitless. If you eat nothing but sugar, your teeth are gonna rot, and you'll just pointlessly suffer. Rather than find my solace in faith, I find it in the fact that the world is really fucking funny. I know it's not a completely absurdist way to live, but it's the most applicable balance I've been able to find so far. There's probably a better name for it, and I'd love to know what that is.

[@AwakenZen]

Epicureanism

[@coolguymcgee123]

Good to see you back!