Existentialism - Wikipedia
I'm curious about what you think of existentialism. Do you agree with its main ideas? I see it as great for individualism, but lacking when it comes to social cohesion and possibly empathy. I mean, like - how do you balance your own choices with the needs of others in it? It takes work.
I'm an existentialist anyway, though, and have found the ideas useful.
From Wikipedia; Existentialist philosophy encompasses a range of perspectives, but it shares certain underlying concepts. Among these, a central tenet of existentialism is that personal freedom, individual responsibility, and deliberate choice are essential to the pursuit of self-discovery and the determination of life's meaning.
The US Constitution was written based on the ideals of personal freedom, individual responsibility, and deliberate choice; pursuit of happiness. In the beginning of the USA, only landowners could vote; mini House of Lords. Owning land is work and requires a deliberate choice to put in the effort and learn along the way.
In many ways, this makes each person, like a scientist gathering the data of life. A good scientist learns from others; tradition, but they also need to avoid total group think; expert in their own right, so their conclusions are not funneled for them, into collective expectations.
Forcing children to memorize pronouns is an existential threat since it limits individual freedom in favor of group think via peer pressure, thereby clouding the meaning of their own unique life. The welfare state is also an existential threat since it does not encourage self reliance, but quid pro quo. Such people are often not happy just getting by. What kind of life meaning can you get from being so limited and dependent?
The idea of a consensus of science, is an existential threat, since consensus is like polling people whether Pepsi or Coke is better. Consensus is connected to black box thinking. and not individuals pursuing and making deliberate choices in terms of their own nuance. How can one be self reliant if you are force to carry water or be lashed with the denier whip. That is not how science is supposed to work. This is an existential threat to science.