Martin Butler's Negative Philosophy

Martin Butler's Negative Philosophy

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Martin Butler's Negative Philosophy
Martin Butler's Negative Philosophy
The Subtle Art of Indulging Misery

The Subtle Art of Indulging Misery

Ignore the common wisdom that we can shake off misery. Indulge it instead.

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Martin Butler
Mar 11, 2025
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Martin Butler's Negative Philosophy
Martin Butler's Negative Philosophy
The Subtle Art of Indulging Misery
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Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

Misery is the result of diminished survival fitness. It is very difficult to be the life and soul of the party when a dog is biting your leg off, or the bailiffs have arrived to repossess your home, or any one of a million ways that life attempts to destroy you, which sooner or later it will do. We all die.

A reduced survival fitness is no one’s fault. These things happen, and we experience happiness or misery depending on favorable or unfavorable circumstances. Common knowledge would say we can snap out of a diminished state. Still, common knowledge is usually wrong, and we cannot just snap out of misery without setting ourselves up for a complete nervous breakdown. Some pop psychologist or self-help guru may tell you to snap out of it, but you can safely ignore this idiot advice. You will also get the same advice from family and friends, but you can also ignore them. The reason people tell others to snap out of their misery is because no one wants to be around a miserable fucker; it contradicts the desperately held view that life is okay. Misery is a wholly legitimate state and is more likely to occur than happiness since there is always something wrong: money problems, health issues, relationship issues, and so on. Life is always working against us, and contrary to the beliefs of neurotic optimists, it will not rest until we are destroyed.

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