Apathy/standards

I think you should stop fucking talking about it and go write The Great Irish Novel.

I started it an hour ago actually, that's not to say I haven't done loads of the middle and possibly end, who the fuck knows.

(by loads I mean 3 or 4 percent)

apathy can come from both within and without. apathy that comes from without can be something like iraq, or anything political, where you can easily think, "hey i think xyz" and it doesnt make a blind bit of difference, and its just tiring and annoying in the end, because you dont get anywhere. because its hard work. i was arguing with aaron about israel last night, and in the end i think we both thought, fuck it, because those issues are depressing. its easier on yourself to just say "oh fuck em". to an extent this is necessary for your own sake i think

apathy from within is a more difficult case. if you're happy then apathy is no big deal, "hey im just bumbling along", but the danger is that you turn round one day and go "oh no! where did all the time go!".

but apathy can be good as well, it allows for a certain distancedness from something, for an approximation of objectivity, which is sometimes necessary.

in myself though, i see apathy as something to be overcome, because it is a dominant trait in myself, and i have frittered time away, i have also done loads of stuff, and will do loads more, but i dont want to fritter anymore away. thats partly what my monthly resolutions were about, making me go and do things.

and ronan, a record out by the end of the year please. hit album by age 22 (this is my only big regret, my half-hearted and hobbyist attempts at making music, because i lack the drive. i should have taken it a lot more seriously, as my friend did, who is now planning another socal tour)

I agree it has to be overcome, but how can you overcome something which is the motivation for everything else you do? I realise that sounds like a contradiction but that's the contradiction that makes it interesting and possibly not worth overcoming but worth putting on the shelf temporarily maybe.

i dont get how apathy is a motivation though. unless you somehow mean, like, a positive apathy, "i dont want to waste any of my time on xyz", in which case im not sure thats actually apathy. that seems more like, "im not going to waste my resources on that because theres this other thing ive got to do"

I don't mean laziness, apathy is different.

what about lethargy?

yes, it is different. but how is it different? is it that laziness is wanting to do it (but, hmm, a bit later i think) and apathy is no desire to do it? i guess that makes sense.

does this then tie into something along the lines of "its not worth the bother, why should i put effort into that".

although that still doesnt explain how apathy can be a motivation. i think i need this bit explained

maybe it's one for lying on the leather couch but what I mean is that apathy is not caring about things, and it works in your mind and the way you think about and assess things as much as anywhere else, maybe motivation is the wrong word, inspiration maybe, I said in the first post it's a springboard of sorts, and coupled with cynicism it can lead to interesting ideas I think. I don't want to make this thread about myself, even though that's where the idea comes from.

APathy leads to daydreaming leads to half-hearted motivation.

Apathy leads to nothing.