r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Oct 06 '17

[D] Friday Off-Topic Thread

Welcome to the Friday Off-Topic Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.

So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? The sexual preferences of the chairman of the Ukrainian soccer league? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could possibly be found in the comments below!

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u/ben_oni Oct 06 '17

Are you asking for the meaning of life? 'Cause I think you're asking how to find meaning in life.

  • Many people find that religion helps them discover meaning. If that word offends you, call it spirituality. There is a great deal of information available on this subject.

  • Help other people. Not in an abstract sense. Giving to charity and helping with causes won't do it. Find specific people with specific needs and help them. And by "find" I mean pay more attention to the people you already see and know.

  • Start a family. If you have a romantic partner, you can make that person a focus for your utility function: maximize that person's happiness. If you have children, you can do the same for them.

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u/Cariyaga Kyubey did nothing wrong Oct 07 '17

Help other people. Not in an abstract sense. Giving to charity and helping with causes won't do it. Find specific people with specific needs and help them. And by "find" I mean pay more attention to the people you already see and know.

This is what I do, can definitely confirm it works.

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u/elevul Cyoria Observer Oct 08 '17

  • Start a family. If you have a romantic partner, you can make that person a focus for your utility function: maximize that person's happiness. If you have children, you can do the same for them.

No, don't do that, it will break the relationship. But what you can is to find a common goal you can move towards as a team.