The depressed are less biased in their self-assessments than the population as a whole.
Can that be true? What about their assessments of the rest of the world outside themselves? My experience with depressed people runs very counter to that. Do you have any references to that?
Depressive realism is an incredibly, well, depressing fact about the world.
Is there something we’re missing about it though? Is the world actually such that understanding it better makes you sad, or is it rather that for whatever reason sad people happen to be better at understanding the world?
And if it is in fact that understanding makes you sad… what does this mean for rationality?
I’m pretty rational and I chose to become happy, and now I feel happy most of the time. I’m continuously choosing to be happy.
Idk if that’s some valid evidence for you (or if you even care after 10 years lol), you’d have to believe me that I’m rational and that I’m actually happy, but there you go :D
Once in 6th grade, my teacher read us a story about a man who chose to be happy. I was like “holy shit you can do that?” and then I was happy for like the next 7 years.
Then life became difficult in various ways and I haven’t been as happy since. I still can locally choose to be happy on the timescale of hours but it doesn’t feel sustainable.
I’m saying that the truth is not so horrifying that it will cause you to go into depression. If the only way to become rational involves depression, this just means that becoming rational sucks. It doesn’t mean that the world sucks.
I’m saying that the truth is not so horrifying that it will cause you to go into depression.
This is what I hope and desire to be true. But what I’m asking for here is evidence that this is the case, to counteract the evidence from depressive realism that would seem to say that no, actually the world is so terrible that depression is the only rational response.
What reason do we have to think that the world doesn’t suck?
We have lived this far. Our forefathers lived here successfully satisfying their wishers. Our children will also live here. That is the evidence, reason and inspiration to face sucking world and make it more comfortable
The depressed are less biased in their self-assessments than the population as a whole.
Can that be true? What about their assessments of the rest of the world outside themselves? My experience with depressed people runs very counter to that. Do you have any references to that?
Depressive realism is an incredibly, well, depressing fact about the world.
Is there something we’re missing about it though? Is the world actually such that understanding it better makes you sad, or is it rather that for whatever reason sad people happen to be better at understanding the world?
And if it is in fact that understanding makes you sad… what does this mean for rationality?
It’s not that depressing. If it was lack of bias that caused the depression, that would be bad, but I’m pretty certain it’s the other way around.
So you’re saying you think that while maybe typically happy people are more irrational, it’s still possible to be rational and happy.
I guess I agree with that. But sometimes I feel like I may just hope this is true, and not actually have good evidence for it.
I’m pretty rational and I chose to become happy, and now I feel happy most of the time. I’m continuously choosing to be happy.
Idk if that’s some valid evidence for you (or if you even care after 10 years lol), you’d have to believe me that I’m rational and that I’m actually happy, but there you go :D
Once in 6th grade, my teacher read us a story about a man who chose to be happy. I was like “holy shit you can do that?” and then I was happy for like the next 7 years.
Then life became difficult in various ways and I haven’t been as happy since. I still can locally choose to be happy on the timescale of hours but it doesn’t feel sustainable.
How exactly did life become difficult for you?
I have local lows when I encounter difficulties, but those pass pretty quickly as I approach or solve those difficulties.
I’m saying that the truth is not so horrifying that it will cause you to go into depression. If the only way to become rational involves depression, this just means that becoming rational sucks. It doesn’t mean that the world sucks.
This is what I hope and desire to be true. But what I’m asking for here is evidence that this is the case, to counteract the evidence from depressive realism that would seem to say that no, actually the world is so terrible that depression is the only rational response.
What reason do we have to think that the world doesn’t suck?
We have lived this far. Our forefathers lived here successfully satisfying their wishers. Our children will also live here. That is the evidence, reason and inspiration to face sucking world and make it more comfortable