The Art of Living an Absurd Existence

The Art of Living an Absurd Existence - Robert Pantano

Arguably, rather than trying to feel less weird, uncertain, or anxious, the aim of our existence should be to feel more content with the inevitability of these qualities.

— 2025-07-25

Perhaps philosophical progress is not found in the uncovering of truths but rather in our acceptance of the harsh reality that there aren’t any—at least none that we have access to. Perhaps we are all trapped in the fly-bottle, and no one’s coming to let us out. But through things like science and math, music and art, and philosophy, we can make the most of our time with each other in here while we are still in here. — 2025-07-25

Throughout human history, primarily in the realm of ideas and beliefs but still often in the realm of tangible and practical issues, one of the few rare truths that seems to have endured is the fact that we are consistently very wrong. — 2025-07-25

In other words, we should use reason to realize the limits of reason; to realize that our plight is the plight of others, and the ignorance of others is our own; to realize that we should try to be right less and curious more; and finally, to realize that the prerequisite of the powers of reasoning is the responsibility of empathy, compassion, and humility. — 2025-07-26

Ultimately, we are each given this gift of selfhood—an illusory paradoxical experience of something and nothing, of experiencer and experiences; the conjunction of both; a run-on sentence always being added to with an and ; and perhaps all we can and should try to do is make the sentence as beautiful as we can, rich with the cadence of poetry, the diversity of a complete story, and the intensity of an exclamative!

— 2025-07-26

For how do we know that the thoughts that come to us in dreams are any more false than the others, seeing that they are often no less vivid and clear? However much the best minds choose to investigate this matter, I do not believe that they will be able to furnish any argument which is sufficient to remove this doubt. — 2025-07-26

In truth, none of us chose to be born into this world as who and what we are; none of us set up the rules; none of us ever really had a say. But we are all here now. And over the course of human history, compassion appears to be one of the through lines, if not the only through line, that has saved us—one that forges positive change and allows us to forgive ourselves not just for the mistakes we’ve made but for those that we will undoubtedly continue to make in the future. — 2025-07-27