1 00:00:01,599 --> 00:00:08,130 Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologist, writer, and culture critic born 2 00:00:08,130 --> 00:00:11,220 in the year 1813. 3 00:00:11,220 --> 00:00:17,439 He has published a fair amount of works in his lifetime, most written under various pseudonyms. 4 00:00:17,439 --> 00:00:22,970 These pseudonyms expressed all kinds of different, sometimes even contradicting, views that have 5 00:00:22,970 --> 00:00:28,570 caused historians trying to find Kierkegaard’s true beliefs to scratch their heads. 6 00:00:28,570 --> 00:00:36,141 Some of his pseudonyms were: Johannes Climacus, Anti-Climacus, Constantin Constantius, and 7 00:00:36,141 --> 00:00:38,750 ‘The Individual.’ 8 00:00:38,750 --> 00:00:46,020 Some of his most notable works are: ‘Either/or’, ‘Fear and Trembling’, ‘Sickness unto 9 00:00:46,020 --> 00:00:49,530 Death’, and ‘The Concept of Anxiety’. 10 00:00:49,530 --> 00:00:56,230 Kierkegaard is widely regarded as the father of Existentialism, a theory asserting that 11 00:00:56,230 --> 00:01:01,760 human beings possess no innate essence or fixed purpose and are free to determine their 12 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:02,760 identity. 13 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:09,090 Kierkegaard wrote extensively on this subject, although never using the term ‘existentialism’ 14 00:01:09,090 --> 00:01:10,409 himself. 15 00:01:10,409 --> 00:01:16,450 He was raised by a very religious father, something that influenced Kierkegaard greatly. 16 00:01:16,450 --> 00:01:20,961 Throughout his life, Kierkegaard was a very passionate and devout believer of God, but 17 00:01:20,961 --> 00:01:24,780 also a firm critic of the church as an institution. 18 00:01:24,780 --> 00:01:31,030 Aside from religion, freedom, and society, Kierkegaard was very interested in the human 19 00:01:31,030 --> 00:01:35,049 feelings of dread, fear, and anxiety. 20 00:01:35,049 --> 00:01:40,869 His book, "The Concept of Anxiety" , explores his belief that anxiety is an inherent aspect 21 00:01:40,869 --> 00:01:42,600 of being human. 22 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:47,850 Despite acknowledging that anxiety is a universal experience, Kierkegaard's approach is not 23 00:01:47,850 --> 00:01:49,460 entirely negative. 24 00:01:49,460 --> 00:01:55,969 Rather, he suggests that anxiety may offer a way for humanity to be saved rather than 25 00:01:55,969 --> 00:01:56,969 doomed. 26 00:01:56,969 --> 00:02:02,110 He believed that embracing anxiety could be transformative, leading to personal growth 27 00:02:02,110 --> 00:02:03,899 and self-awareness. 28 00:02:03,899 --> 00:02:08,800 And if you want to be able to transform your anxiety into something useful, too, in this 29 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,860 video, we bring you four tips from Kierkegaard that will help you with managing the feeling 30 00:02:13,860 --> 00:02:15,900 of anxiety. 31 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:17,640 1. 32 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:23,069 Use Your Anxiety Kierkegaard says “Whoever has learned to 33 00:02:23,069 --> 00:02:28,599 be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate.” 34 00:02:28,599 --> 00:02:32,910 When faced with the knowledge that one has the freedom to make any decision and form 35 00:02:32,910 --> 00:02:39,860 any opinion, an individual often experiences a terrible case of anxiety or dread. 36 00:02:39,860 --> 00:02:45,100 Making your own decisions means being responsible for them, and being responsible for them means 37 00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:48,980 having to take responsibility for their consequences. 38 00:02:48,980 --> 00:02:54,310 And what feels worse than realizing ‘This was my fault’ when something does not turn 39 00:02:54,310 --> 00:02:55,989 out well? 40 00:02:55,989 --> 00:03:01,069 In his book, ‘The Concept Of Anxiety,’ Kierkegaard uses the story of Adam & Eve, 41 00:03:01,069 --> 00:03:06,959 specifically Adam in the garden as the very first instance of anxiety. 42 00:03:06,959 --> 00:03:10,510 God told him not to eat the apple from the tree. 43 00:03:10,510 --> 00:03:16,900 This implied a choice: Adam could choose to obey God or choose not to. 44 00:03:16,900 --> 00:03:19,870 And as such, he felt anxiety. 45 00:03:19,870 --> 00:03:25,280 When Adam ate the apple, the concepts of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ came into the world. 46 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:30,090 But before he had taken a bite out of it, those concepts did not exist yet. 47 00:03:30,090 --> 00:03:35,269 Thus, Kierkegaard concludes, ‘anxiety precedes sin.’ 48 00:03:35,269 --> 00:03:39,810 In other words, in itself, anxiety is neither good nor bad. 49 00:03:39,810 --> 00:03:46,860 Anxiety, as we know it, is often a synonym for nervousness, fear, or uncertainty. 50 00:03:46,860 --> 00:03:52,459 However, for Kierkegaard, it was something significant in itself - an important term 51 00:03:52,459 --> 00:03:55,890 that could not just be ‘explained away.’ 52 00:03:55,890 --> 00:04:00,470 As he described it, anxiety is ‘the dizziness of freedom.’ 53 00:04:00,470 --> 00:04:04,340 This anxiety has multiple aspects to it. 54 00:04:04,340 --> 00:04:09,410 On the one hand, it feels negative as it represents the realization that you will have to make 55 00:04:09,410 --> 00:04:14,599 an infinite amount of difficult choices like Will you keep working for a boss, start your 56 00:04:14,599 --> 00:04:17,370 own business, go back to school? 57 00:04:17,370 --> 00:04:19,609 Will you marry and have kids? 58 00:04:19,609 --> 00:04:21,329 Will you move countries? 59 00:04:21,329 --> 00:04:25,050 Will you leave the love of your life for your dream career? 60 00:04:25,050 --> 00:04:30,570 On the other hand, it feels positive: it is exciting and freeing to know that you’re 61 00:04:30,570 --> 00:04:35,710 capable of choosing everything all by yourself. 62 00:04:35,710 --> 00:04:40,650 Anxiety is, then, inevitable to anyone who is free. 63 00:04:40,650 --> 00:04:47,370 So the key to feeling better is not to get rid of your anxiety, like most think, but 64 00:04:47,370 --> 00:04:51,389 to focus on its positive sides and use it. 65 00:04:51,389 --> 00:04:56,990 We are often entirely encompassed by the negative side of our anxiety. 66 00:04:56,990 --> 00:05:02,229 Aside from being dizzying, it can also be described as paralyzing. 67 00:05:02,229 --> 00:05:08,500 The sensation of anxiety when making decisions and being responsible for them can be so terrifying 68 00:05:08,500 --> 00:05:12,770 that we may freeze and not do anything at all. 69 00:05:12,770 --> 00:05:18,530 But this feeling may never, ever pass - and thus, we have to move on from it and not let 70 00:05:18,530 --> 00:05:23,300 it paralyze us, no matter how hard that might seem. 71 00:05:23,300 --> 00:05:29,699 Change is scary, so we stay stuck in a dead-end job instead of risking a new job. 72 00:05:29,699 --> 00:05:35,030 We might feel too insecure to try out new activities, meet new people, sell our house, 73 00:05:35,030 --> 00:05:37,789 buy a car, and so on. 74 00:05:37,789 --> 00:05:42,130 But you will never, ever grow if you don’t do any of those things. 75 00:05:42,130 --> 00:05:46,580 And if you wait until you don’t feel the anxiety anymore, you’re going to have to 76 00:05:46,580 --> 00:05:48,990 wait forever. 77 00:05:48,990 --> 00:05:55,040 In order to focus on the positive, exciting aspects of anxiety, one should pursue what 78 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,690 Kierkegaard called ‘passion.’ 79 00:05:57,690 --> 00:06:03,419 These passions are your personal goal or mission - an end result you’re aiming for, formed 80 00:06:03,419 --> 00:06:08,720 on the basis of what you rationally find important, but also what you emotionally feel strong 81 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,110 about and subjectively care about. 82 00:06:11,110 --> 00:06:17,250 It is crucial to find such passions and go for it with everything you have. 83 00:06:17,250 --> 00:06:20,330 The anxiety will definitely be there. 84 00:06:20,330 --> 00:06:22,380 What if this is a wrong thing to pursue? 85 00:06:22,380 --> 00:06:23,380 What if I fail? 86 00:06:23,380 --> 00:06:26,410 What if I don’t want it as much as I think I do? 87 00:06:26,410 --> 00:06:31,300 But the trick is to acknowledge your anxiety without acting on it. 88 00:06:31,300 --> 00:06:37,660 When the anxiety comes, try to see it positively: think about how excited you are or how proud 89 00:06:37,660 --> 00:06:41,389 of yourself you will be after having taken a risk. 90 00:06:41,389 --> 00:06:44,520 See it as a reminder of the freedom you have. 91 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,250 See it as motivation. 92 00:06:46,250 --> 00:06:53,349 Do something daring not despite being scared, but because you’re scared! 93 00:06:53,349 --> 00:06:57,720 Anxiety brings about strong emotions, and it can be just as helpful and beautiful to 94 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,370 experience them as it is troublesome to repress them. 95 00:07:02,370 --> 00:07:05,110 Imagine you’re nervous for a job interview. 96 00:07:05,110 --> 00:07:09,590 If you push these feelings down, they will fester and you might end up panicking when 97 00:07:09,590 --> 00:07:10,970 the moment comes. 98 00:07:10,970 --> 00:07:16,139 If, instead, you write down your feelings and let them out, you will feel lighter. 99 00:07:16,139 --> 00:07:24,009 And, you will feel brave - because you acknowledge your fear, you can also overcome it. 100 00:07:24,009 --> 00:07:29,539 Lastly, anxiety can also act as an invitation to be rational. 101 00:07:29,539 --> 00:07:34,220 If your anxiety anticipates everything that could go wrong, then you can make sure to 102 00:07:34,220 --> 00:07:36,389 prepare for each scenario. 103 00:07:36,389 --> 00:07:41,680 Similarly, your anxiety may force you to sit down and think about whether you really want 104 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,590 something before you move forward. 105 00:07:44,590 --> 00:07:50,050 In this way, anxiety can make you a more careful and prepared person. 106 00:07:50,050 --> 00:07:54,889 In short, Kierkegaard considers anxiety inherent to being human. 107 00:07:54,889 --> 00:07:59,600 We’re free beings, and that’s a pretty big responsibility! 108 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,210 No wonder we’re anxious. 109 00:08:02,210 --> 00:08:07,250 Anxiety is a reminder that we are free and it can help us in making decisions. 110 00:08:07,250 --> 00:08:16,419 We need to learn to face our anxiety and use it to be more grateful, considerate and motivated. 111 00:08:16,419 --> 00:08:18,419 2. 112 00:08:18,419 --> 00:08:24,990 Acknowledge Regret To quote Kierkegaard “I see it all perfectly; 113 00:08:24,990 --> 00:08:30,729 there are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. 114 00:08:30,729 --> 00:08:38,120 My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret 115 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,390 both.” 116 00:08:40,390 --> 00:08:45,610 Very closely related to this dizzying freedom is another one of the greatest things that 117 00:08:45,610 --> 00:08:52,120 brings us anxiety: the constant wondering whether we will regret the things we do. 118 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:57,550 How could we ever calmly act if we do not know the consequences? 119 00:08:57,550 --> 00:09:03,769 Kierkegaard acknowledges our neverending tendency to regret everything and anything we do. 120 00:09:03,769 --> 00:09:07,149 Every decision we make could have been something else. 121 00:09:07,149 --> 00:09:11,160 If you pursue one career, you might regret not pursuing another. 122 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:15,240 If you spend the afternoon playing video games, you might regret not playing an instrument 123 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:16,240 that day. 124 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:22,040 ‘The grass is greener’-attitude is simply very prevalent and present in our way of thinking, 125 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,399 and for most people it’s unavoidable. 126 00:09:25,399 --> 00:09:31,350 This constant regret seems like a way to be miserable, but Kierkegaard argues that regret 127 00:09:31,350 --> 00:09:34,800 does not have to be as miserable as it seems. 128 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:39,680 Regret is a medium that can help you realize what needs to change in life, but it is not 129 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:42,529 something that should be dwelled on. 130 00:09:42,529 --> 00:09:47,470 One of the ways to embrace regret instead of letting it incapacitate you is to consider 131 00:09:47,470 --> 00:09:50,899 all the possibilities you still have. 132 00:09:50,899 --> 00:09:56,089 Kierkegaard said, ‘Pleasure disappoints, not possibility.’ 133 00:09:56,089 --> 00:09:59,680 Pleasure disappoints because we regularly make decisions with the hope that it will 134 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:01,130 bring us happiness. 135 00:10:01,130 --> 00:10:07,180 However, the truth is, there are almost no decisions one can make that are that powerful 136 00:10:07,180 --> 00:10:13,649 - and as a consequence, any choice we make inevitably results in disappointment. 137 00:10:13,649 --> 00:10:16,800 But there is always a possibility. 138 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,690 Whatever state you are in life, you always have multiple ways that you can go moving 139 00:10:21,690 --> 00:10:22,690 forward. 140 00:10:22,690 --> 00:10:27,730 The endlessness of possibility in your life is something to cherish and feel excited and 141 00:10:27,730 --> 00:10:29,160 happy about. 142 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:33,960 You can always make a different choice and you can always change. 143 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:39,470 But acknowledging all the possibilities you have is not the best medicine for regret. 144 00:10:39,470 --> 00:10:45,620 Aside from that, Kierkegaard sees the problem of regret mostly as a problem for pleasure-seekers. 145 00:10:45,620 --> 00:10:50,430 All personal choices that you make are things you might regret, but if you make a choice 146 00:10:50,430 --> 00:10:56,459 in favor of the greater good, or a cause that you believe in, you often find that that regret 147 00:10:56,459 --> 00:10:58,220 is further away. 148 00:10:58,220 --> 00:11:03,399 Thus, if you find yourself regretting every single thing about your life, the best way 149 00:11:03,399 --> 00:11:09,100 to combat this is to try and find a cause that means something to you and work towards 150 00:11:09,100 --> 00:11:10,100 it. 151 00:11:10,100 --> 00:11:15,529 If you make decisions that add towards a meaningful life, you will be less and less plagued by 152 00:11:15,529 --> 00:11:17,050 regret. 153 00:11:17,050 --> 00:11:22,560 Someone who lives in order to be happy will always regret everything that causes the slightest 154 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,459 feeling of unhappiness in their life. 155 00:11:25,459 --> 00:11:31,140 But someone who lives in order to contribute to a cause, such as ending hunger in a certain 156 00:11:31,140 --> 00:11:37,380 area, will probably never regret any decision they made that has benefited that cause. 157 00:11:37,380 --> 00:11:43,079 So, when you feel immense regret - as all humans do at some point - try to find joy 158 00:11:43,079 --> 00:11:46,019 in the fact that you have endless possibilities. 159 00:11:46,019 --> 00:11:52,029 But, most of all, ask yourself whether your life has meaning and if not, what you can 160 00:11:52,029 --> 00:11:57,709 do to give it one - for meaning is the true antidote to regret. 161 00:11:57,709 --> 00:12:04,300 And the less you are afraid to regret, the less anxious you will be. 162 00:12:04,300 --> 00:12:06,170 3. 163 00:12:06,170 --> 00:12:13,079 Embrace Absurdity Kierkegaard considers that “The only intelligent 164 00:12:13,079 --> 00:12:19,010 tactical response to life’s horror is to defiantly laugh at it.” 165 00:12:19,010 --> 00:12:23,770 According to Kierkegaard there is actually no meaning to the world. 166 00:12:23,770 --> 00:12:26,690 This viewpoint is called absurdism. 167 00:12:26,690 --> 00:12:32,110 Kierkegaard defines "absurd" as ‘having no rational explanation.’ 168 00:12:32,110 --> 00:12:36,709 The world is chaotic, irrational - absurd. 169 00:12:36,709 --> 00:12:42,200 So how are we ever expected to be able to live a meaningful life in such a world? 170 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,449 We often try to organize our lives in a rational way. 171 00:12:46,449 --> 00:12:50,790 We find meaning in our lives by trying to make rational decisions. 172 00:12:50,790 --> 00:12:57,139 However Kierkegaard points out that this method is doomed to fail because the world is too 173 00:12:57,139 --> 00:12:58,199 absurd. 174 00:12:58,199 --> 00:13:02,310 Our lives cannot follow a set of rules or a clear structure. 175 00:13:02,310 --> 00:13:07,980 This constant failing and confrontation with absurdity give many people an endless amount 176 00:13:07,980 --> 00:13:09,680 of anxiety. 177 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:14,149 It is nerve-wracking to be desperate for your life to go a certain way, or to want to view 178 00:13:14,149 --> 00:13:21,440 the world in a certain way and find yourself face to face with contradictions and oppositions. 179 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:23,410 Consider love for example. 180 00:13:23,410 --> 00:13:29,140 There is no rational way to fall in love, no matter how hard we might try. 181 00:13:29,140 --> 00:13:35,339 If one’s plan is to fall in love, one can never do so rationally or by following a step-by-step 182 00:13:35,339 --> 00:13:36,339 guide. 183 00:13:36,339 --> 00:13:42,500 Of course, one could marry out of convenience, or date around to fulfill one’s needs - but 184 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:45,949 is that really what we would consider true love? 185 00:13:45,949 --> 00:13:51,290 In order to love truly, we must do so irrationally and absurdly. 186 00:13:51,290 --> 00:13:55,269 Furthermore, imagine a man who falls for a woman. 187 00:13:55,269 --> 00:14:00,149 He might be an ambitious worker, someone who feels like his intellect matches greatly with 188 00:14:00,149 --> 00:14:04,810 the woman he is in love with, and the two of them could achieve a lot together. 189 00:14:04,810 --> 00:14:09,260 Then, imagine he finds out the woman is terribly sick. 190 00:14:09,260 --> 00:14:14,700 A rational decision would be to leave her, to pursue his own goals and dreams in the 191 00:14:14,700 --> 00:14:17,040 most efficient way possible. 192 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:22,149 The absurd decision would be to stay with her and trust that it will be worth it despite 193 00:14:22,149 --> 00:14:23,790 all the struggles. 194 00:14:23,790 --> 00:14:27,260 It is a decision many would be anxious to make. 195 00:14:27,260 --> 00:14:32,259 But we can all see that a true lover would choose the latter, and we would not consider 196 00:14:32,259 --> 00:14:37,160 their lives meaningless no matter how absurd and chaotic they might be. 197 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:42,329 This trust in one’s decisions despite them being absurd is a core pillar of Kierkegaard’s 198 00:14:42,329 --> 00:14:44,800 advice for living in an absurd world. 199 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:49,800 Or, as he calls it, taking a leap of faith. 200 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:54,570 This leap of faith is the antidote to despair in the face of absurdism. 201 00:14:54,570 --> 00:14:59,300 When the world does not make sense and we cannot act according to reason or rationality, 202 00:14:59,300 --> 00:15:02,769 we just have to believe that all is alright anyway. 203 00:15:02,769 --> 00:15:08,740 Kierkegaard did so through his belief in God; an ultimate, all-powerful, and inherently 204 00:15:08,740 --> 00:15:15,760 Good being that would guide his existence through this confusing and disorienting world. 205 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:21,690 One of the examples Kierkegaard uses to justify his dependence on Godly faith, is the story 206 00:15:21,690 --> 00:15:24,259 of Abraham and Isaac. 207 00:15:24,259 --> 00:15:29,920 God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac in the name of faith - an action so 208 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:36,519 very unethical, so unreasonable, that it could only be called absurd. 209 00:15:36,519 --> 00:15:42,000 According to the story however, Abraham went on to do it nonetheless, and just before the 210 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,069 actual sacrifice, an angel stopped him. 211 00:15:46,069 --> 00:15:51,600 Abraham had passed God’s test by action despite the absurdity of the situation and 212 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:57,149 he was rewarded by not having to sacrifice his son, allowing them both to live happily 213 00:15:57,149 --> 00:15:58,410 ever after. 214 00:15:58,410 --> 00:16:06,360 As Kierkegaard said, ‘To have faith is precisely to lose one's mind so as to win God.’ 215 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:12,050 You ‘lose your mind’ in the sense that you refuse to acknowledge the world for its 216 00:16:12,050 --> 00:16:17,550 chaos, arbitrariness, and absurdity, and you need faith instead. 217 00:16:17,550 --> 00:16:22,850 It seems like the most irrational of actions, but Kierkegaard considers it the most rational 218 00:16:22,850 --> 00:16:24,660 thing to do. 219 00:16:24,660 --> 00:16:26,950 Not everything has to make sense. 220 00:16:26,950 --> 00:16:32,480 Sometimes, you have to make choices in virtue of absurdity: You choose things that do not 221 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:38,000 make sense or do not necessarily align because the decision feels right. 222 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,949 An ambitious man who possibly gives up his ambitions by staying with an ill lover is 223 00:16:42,949 --> 00:16:48,910 a man who made a decision having no idea where it would lead him - but he did so as a leap 224 00:16:48,910 --> 00:16:50,519 of faith. 225 00:16:50,519 --> 00:16:56,360 Making decisions that have no clear advantages is very anxiety-inducing, but avoiding all 226 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:02,270 such decisions can only ever lead to disappointment and more anxiety.. 227 00:17:02,270 --> 00:17:08,370 Thus, as Kierkegaard says, you have to realize the world is absurd and make decisions in 228 00:17:08,370 --> 00:17:09,910 the name of faith. 229 00:17:09,910 --> 00:17:19,130 Only by embracing absurdity instead of avoiding it, will you feel less anxious and more confident. 230 00:17:19,130 --> 00:17:21,360 4. 231 00:17:21,360 --> 00:17:27,329 Realize That You Will Die In our final quote from Kierkegaard for this 232 00:17:27,329 --> 00:17:35,590 video, he says “Once you are born in this world you’re old enough to die.” 233 00:17:35,590 --> 00:17:40,679 According to Kierkegaard, most of the world lives in death-denial. 234 00:17:40,679 --> 00:17:45,840 We vaguely know that we will die someday, but live as if we’re immortal. 235 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:51,840 We know we all age, but we still use all kinds of creams, cosmetics or even surgeries to 236 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,200 try to look younger, attempting to spread the myth that we have all the time in the 237 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,390 world and that we should never change. 238 00:17:59,390 --> 00:18:04,860 And despite how carefree this might seem, this is actually one of the worst ways to 239 00:18:04,860 --> 00:18:08,110 exacerbate your feelings of anxiety. 240 00:18:08,110 --> 00:18:12,050 There are two ways in which people generally avoid death. 241 00:18:12,050 --> 00:18:17,460 The first is that they ‘get lost’ in the pleasures of the world, seeking thrill after 242 00:18:17,460 --> 00:18:18,470 thrill. 243 00:18:18,470 --> 00:18:25,380 All of these thrills, such as food, drinks, excitement and pleasure, are temporary. 244 00:18:25,380 --> 00:18:30,630 These people are so concerned with temporary pleasures that they are blind to the big picture 245 00:18:30,630 --> 00:18:33,659 of life, including the end of it. 246 00:18:33,659 --> 00:18:38,910 These people live in the moment not because they’re relaxed and free of worry, but because 247 00:18:38,910 --> 00:18:45,620 they know they would be paralyzed by worry if they looked just a little beyond the moment. 248 00:18:45,620 --> 00:18:50,850 This way of living creates a heavy dependence on such thrills, making one incapable and 249 00:18:50,850 --> 00:18:52,299 heavily anxious without them. 250 00:18:52,299 --> 00:19:00,299 The second way to avoid being aware of death is clinging to some false sense of immortality. 251 00:19:00,299 --> 00:19:05,440 This second form of denial is present in almost everybody in society. 252 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,230 We do not live like we might die tomorrow; instead, we live like the end of our lives 253 00:19:10,230 --> 00:19:16,030 is incomprehensibly far ahead of us, like we have all the time in the world. 254 00:19:16,030 --> 00:19:21,870 We let ourselves be caught up in minor worries or trivial concerns like what strangers think 255 00:19:21,870 --> 00:19:26,900 of you, how you should deal with your partner forgetting the dishes that one time, and so 256 00:19:26,900 --> 00:19:27,900 on. 257 00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:32,740 We do not see them as a waste of time because we truly do not think of our time as something 258 00:19:32,740 --> 00:19:34,040 finite. 259 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:40,299 This tendency to spend time on little worries is one of the greatest ways of inducing anxiety: 260 00:19:40,299 --> 00:19:46,250 we do not look at our lives in the grand scheme of things and thus everything seems like it 261 00:19:46,250 --> 00:19:48,500 is worth stressing over. 262 00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:52,679 According to Kierkegaard, there are two ways to be aware of death. 263 00:19:52,679 --> 00:19:58,210 The first kind of awareness he calls ‘mood’ and the second kind of awareness he calls 264 00:19:58,210 --> 00:20:00,080 ‘earnest.’ 265 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:06,380 Mood is when you think about death in a removed, abstract, and impersonal way. 266 00:20:06,380 --> 00:20:11,320 Examples of this kind of thinking are ‘everybody will die someday’ and ‘at the end of every 267 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:16,950 life is death’ or ‘most of us are going to live until we’re somewhere between seventy 268 00:20:16,950 --> 00:20:18,390 and a hundred.’ 269 00:20:18,390 --> 00:20:23,610 You acknowledge the existence of death but do not relate it to yourself. 270 00:20:23,610 --> 00:20:29,850 Almost everybody is aware of death in this way, but it still results in death denial. 271 00:20:29,850 --> 00:20:35,530 The other way of thinking about death, in earnestness, is personal. 272 00:20:35,530 --> 00:20:38,750 You think about how you, personally, will die someday. 273 00:20:38,750 --> 00:20:46,260 And not the far, undefined future, but any possible day. 274 00:20:46,260 --> 00:20:50,679 Earnest thinking about death includes the realization that your death might happen at 275 00:20:50,679 --> 00:20:56,400 any moment, not in some far away distance, and that it will include the extermination 276 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:02,880 of all your sorrows and worries, as well as your hopes, dreams and goals. 277 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,630 According to Kierkegaard, any experience not considered through the lens of earnest death 278 00:21:07,630 --> 00:21:10,440 is inauthentic. 279 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:17,179 In order to have a true genuine experience of life, one must consider death. 280 00:21:17,179 --> 00:21:22,429 According to Kierkegaard, life is fundamentally influenced by death. 281 00:21:22,429 --> 00:21:28,070 Those who fail to acknowledge this reality are not truly living, but rather living in 282 00:21:28,070 --> 00:21:30,140 a fictional world. 283 00:21:30,140 --> 00:21:35,419 When faced with the truth of mortality, these people become anxious and scared. 284 00:21:35,419 --> 00:21:41,559 Mortality is a truth about existence that cannot be ignored, and doing so means to deceive 285 00:21:41,559 --> 00:21:43,299 oneself greatly. 286 00:21:43,299 --> 00:21:49,020 As soon as one does gain awareness of death, they cannot view life outside of the context 287 00:21:49,020 --> 00:21:51,539 of death ever again. 288 00:21:51,539 --> 00:21:56,500 This would cause them to reevaluate everything in their life to see if it still fits in this 289 00:21:56,500 --> 00:22:01,020 new light or, rather, in death’s shadow. 290 00:22:01,020 --> 00:22:07,940 This is because when you actually, truly acknowledge the fact that you, personally, will die, you 291 00:22:07,940 --> 00:22:13,250 will be forced to think about what you truly find important in life and you will start 292 00:22:13,250 --> 00:22:18,500 to figure out and pursue those goals with more haste and motivation. 293 00:22:18,500 --> 00:22:24,130 We can see examples of the benefits of earnest thoughts about death in real life. 294 00:22:24,130 --> 00:22:30,130 After disaster strikes, people often involuntarily gain a sense of earnestness that then affects 295 00:22:30,130 --> 00:22:32,080 their following decisions and behavior. 296 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:38,690 A victim of a near-death experience or witness of a tragedy often suddenly picks up commitments 297 00:22:38,690 --> 00:22:43,700 that they had been procrastinating on, and starts ignoring petty concerns. 298 00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:48,270 Because they have realized that if they do not act now, the chance might not be there 299 00:22:48,270 --> 00:22:49,840 in the future. 300 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:55,870 So, in short, earnest thoughts of death will make one feel a sense of urgency in relation 301 00:22:55,870 --> 00:22:57,700 to their life. 302 00:22:57,700 --> 00:23:03,610 One who truly experiences earnestness has no time to mope or worry excessively, and 303 00:23:03,610 --> 00:23:09,490 they certainly have no time to get lost in the anxious paralysis we discussed earlier. 304 00:23:09,490 --> 00:23:13,240 They realize that life is there to be lived. 305 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:17,610 And someone who has acknowledged and truly dealt with the notion of death would not be 306 00:23:17,610 --> 00:23:21,870 paralyzed by the news that they themselves will die soon. 307 00:23:21,870 --> 00:23:26,279 Instead, they can continue living just as they have before. 308 00:23:26,279 --> 00:23:32,000 The only way to truly live life to its fullest and let go of all that does not truly matter 309 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,900 - is to consider your own, personal death. 310 00:23:36,900 --> 00:23:44,900 Earnest thought about death is the way to live life without fear and anxiety. 311 00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:48,820 If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to check out our full philosophies for life 312 00:23:48,820 --> 00:23:53,730 playlist and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient philosophical 313 00:23:53,730 --> 00:23:56,460 wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe. 314 00:23:56,460 --> 00:23:58,670 Thanks so much for watching.