Anticynical #8: Revolt
Hi there,
Last week I wrote about action vs. achievement: the difference between haphazard actions and actions that lead you towards desirable outcomes.
In today’s edition, I will go over one of my favorite philosophical ideas: Albert Camus’s idea of revolt. It was a lot of fun to write this one. It is very “on-brand” with the theme of being anticynical.
Idea: Revolt
In a nutshell: in the face of life's inherent absurdity—and death being the most fundamental absurdity—the only real response is that of revolt; not succumbing to despair or hope, but always asserting the present, living with purpose, and being in a constant state of revolt.
…
You turn off the alarm on your phone and start waking up. It's Tuesday morning, and a sense of low-level dread fills you. You have an impending project deadline due Friday and must prep for tomorrow's important meeting. But you're also excited about finishing off that project and attending a cool conference over the weekend.
As you get up, there is a sudden sharp pain in your elbow. That last rep trying to exceed your bench press PR last week had gone somewhat awry. You might need to have a doctor take a look. Or not.
You sigh as you look at your phone; you have three overdue tasks on your reminders list: buy groceries, file taxes, and clean the kitchen. You ignore them yet again and go through your texts and emails. "I don't remember signing up for this," you think as you look at a bunch of unfamiliar newsletters.
You get up and head to the bathroom, staring at your reflection in the mirror. You think your nose is too big, but you admire your artfully messy bedhead. You splash cold water on your face and start your day.
…
Your Tuesday morning may be eerily similar to the picture I painted or look nothing like it. But if you take a step back to examine your life—its routine and surprises—it is undeniably kind of absurd.
Why do you do the things you do? Why don't you do other things? Why go through the motions and routines of daily life? You know you are going to die one day. Why do anything at all? Why keep living?
In the words of Albert Camus,
Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.
You wonder, you ask, “what is the meaning of it all?”, but there is no response, the world is just silent.
Most of us—most of the time—don’t simply resign in the face of “the unreasonable silence of the world.” We keep living. But we can do more. We can revolt.
One of Camus’s most famous quotes:
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
This isn’t about political revolt or rebellion. It is an existential revolt. You revolt against an absurd universe and the meaninglessness of it all. You don’t give in to despair or hope.1
This kind of revolt is not just something you think and ponder about. It's not passive. It is how you act; it is a way of living.
You realize the world's absurdity and that there may be no way of "resolving" this absurdity.
Yet, you live in a constant revolt against this absurdity. You refuse to succumb to nihilism or cynicism. You have a perpetual middle finger raised to the universe’s silence and indifference. You live fully asserting the present, not being caught up in the past or being hostage to the future. You explore and enjoy the depths and beauty of existence.
You revolt and create your own meaning in the world.
Question: What is a non-trivial belief that you currently have, which you will most likely continue to have 20 years from now?
When I was about 13, I proclaimed that I would play video games regularly until I died. Just ten years later, I stopped playing video games.
With such long time horizons, making predictions—even about yourself—isn’t easy.
I'd love to hear from you…
Does revolt seem like a beautiful idea, or is it too mushy and abstract to be useful?
What are some of your longstanding beliefs that you've held for at least the last 10-20 years? Are they likely to hold for the next 10-20 years?
Or anything else at all. Just hit reply.
Not giving in to despair makes sense, but giving in to hope? Isn’t hope a good thing? According to Camus, no. Hope makes the present moment hostage to a future that may never arrive.