Sort by Algorithm:
Choose your philosophical filter
Showing posts by popularity. The masses have spoken.
Hell is Other People's Zoom Meetings
Sartre said hell is other people. He clearly never had to sit through a meeting that could have been an email. Forced togetherness in digital space is a new level of existential torment.
Control What You Can, Release What You Can't
Marcus Aurelius said you have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you find strength. I spent years raging at things I couldn't change. Now I'm learning to let go. It's not apathy—it's wisdom. Focus on the radius of your agency and let the rest burn.
Embrace the Meaninglessness
Nothing matters. Your job doesn't matter. Your achievements don't matter. The heat death of the universe will erase it all. But here's the thing—that's liberating. If nothing matters, then you're free to create your own meaning. Camus was onto something with that whole Sisyphus thing.
You're Not Finding Yourself, You're Creating Yourself
The idea that we need to 'find ourselves' implies there's a fixed self somewhere waiting to be discovered. But Sartre had it right—existence precedes essence. You're not finding anything. You're making choices, and those choices are making you. Stop searching. Start building.
One is Not Born, But Rather Becomes, Burnt Out
De Beauvoir said one is not born a woman, but becomes one. Similarly, burnout is not innate—it's constructed by late capitalism and the cult of productivity. Discuss.
Has Anyone Successfully Become the Übermensch?
Asking for a friend. Also, does binge-watching philosophy videos on YouTube count as self-overcoming?
Authenticity is Exhausting
Heidegger wants us to live authentically, but have you tried it? It's relentless. Every choice matters. Every moment demands presence. Sometimes I just want to scroll TikTok and exist inauthentically for a bit. Is that so wrong?
Is Sisyphus Happy or Just Coping?
We're told to imagine Sisyphus happy, eternally pushing that boulder. But maybe he's just in denial. Maybe he needs therapy, not philosophical reframing.
We Live in the Gaps Between Certainties
I used to think adulthood meant having answers. But I'm realizing life is just moving from one uncertainty to another. We exist in liminal spaces—between jobs, between relationships, between versions of ourselves. Maybe that's not a bug. Maybe that's the point.
The Dizzying Freedom of Ordering Food Delivery
The paradox: I have absolute freedom to choose any cuisine, yet this very freedom paralyzes me. I am anxious before my possibilities. Also, should I get Thai or Mexican?
We're All Surveilling Each Other Now
Foucault's panopticon is real, but we built it ourselves. Ring doorbells, Instagram stories, Slack status indicators—we've normalized constant surveillance. And the worst part? We police ourselves. I catch myself performing for an imaginary audience even when I'm alone.
The Anxiety of Being Perceived
Sartre's 'hell is other people' makes more sense every day. The moment someone looks at me, I become an object in their world. Their gaze fixes me, defines me, limits me. Social media has weaponized this—we're all objects now, curated and consumable. How do we reclaim our subjectivity?
What If This Moment Has Happened Before?
Nietzsche's eternal recurrence haunts me. What if you had to live this exact life, this exact moment, infinite times? Would you change anything? I think about this every time I'm stuck in traffic or scrolling mindlessly. Is this really how I want to spend eternity?
The Paradox of Choice in Modern Streaming Services
I spend more time choosing what to watch than actually watching. Sartre's freedom of choice has become a prison of infinite scrolling. Existence precedes essence, but what if essence is buried under 47 algorithmic recommendations?
Every Belief You Hold Was Given to You
Nietzsche's genealogy is terrifying once you get it. Your morals, your values, your sense of right and wrong—none of it is yours. It's cultural inheritance. You're performing a script written centuries ago. The question is: do you have the courage to rewrite it?
Dasein and the Question of Being: A Thread
Being-in-the-world is not just about existing, it's about authentically engaging with our thrownness. But also, have you ever thought about how weird it is that we exist at all?
The Dread of Infinite Possibility
Kierkegaard called it anxiety—the vertigo of freedom. When everything is possible, nothing feels certain. I can be anyone, go anywhere, do anything. And that terrifies me. How do you choose when every choice forecloses infinite other lives? Maybe limitation is freedom.
On the Absurdity of Daily Routines
Every morning I wake up, make coffee, and repeat the same actions. Camus would say we must imagine ourselves happy in this repetition. But what if the coffee maker breaks?
Being and Time and Being Out of Time
Heidegger talks about Dasein's relationship to time, but I think we've broken that relationship. We're always late, always rushing, always 'running out of time.' But time isn't running. We are. What would it mean to simply... be... in time rather than against it?
Work is Just Performative Existence
I show up, I perform tasks, I get paid. But what am I actually doing? Creating value? For whom? The whole structure feels like an elaborate performance where we pretend our labor has inherent meaning. Maybe Baudrillard was right—it's all simulation now.
Are We Just NPCs in Someone's Simulation?
If we're in a simulation (Bostrom says 50/50 odds), then our choices might be predetermined. But does that even matter? If the experience feels real, if suffering feels real, doesn't that make it real? Descartes said 'I think therefore I am.' I'd add: 'I suffer therefore it matters.'
Language is a Cage We Built for Ourselves
Wittgenstein said the limits of my language are the limits of my world. I think about this constantly. How many thoughts can't I think because I don't have words for them? How many realities are invisible because our language doesn't acknowledge them? We're trapped in a linguistic prison of our own making.
On the Violence of Normalcy
Society enforces 'normal' with surgical precision. Wake at 7, work 9-5, marry by 30, retire at 65. But who decided this? Foucault showed us how power operates through norms, not force. Every time someone asks 'what do you do?' they're really asking 'have you conformed yet?'
Every Conversation is a Power Struggle
You ever notice how conversations are just people taking turns trying to assert dominance? Someone shares a story, you one-up them. Someone makes a point, you counter. Even agreement is strategic. We're all just fighting for recognition in an endless dialectic.
Become a Well-Rounded Thinker
theyRead's unique algorithms help you explore diverse perspectives and challenge your own beliefs
Popularity Algorithm
See what the hivemind thinks is important
Agreement Feed
Reinforce your existing worldview (comfort mode)
Disagreement Feed
Challenge yourself with opposing views (growth mode)