Why do so many people lack ambition and lack interest in topics like politics, science, or writing?

This thread gets worse every time I look at it...

 

Thirty years ago unique people like you would remain peerless. But thanks to the internet you can meet all sorts of like-minded people online. If what you are looking for is a cerebral connection with people - the internet is the place to find it. If you are looking for a special someone for romance, then you are (unfortunately) limited to your region.

 

For understanding the ambitionless, intellectually devoid populace, I'd recommend looking into Nietzsche's ideas on the "last man", in "Thus Spoke Zurathustra".


As for people who are ambitious and intellectually aware, I have realized a trend amongst neuro-atypical individuals. The vast majority of ambitious people that I've met, and actually been able to hold conceptual discussions with, have been on the spectrum, or had some other neuro-atypical classification.

My theory on why that is, is as follows:

Humanity, as a whole, is like a body. Mediocrity is an ailment that holds humanity back. A majority of its individual parts find comfort in it. Mediocrity spreads through socialization and empathy. As the world becomes more interconnected, it spreads quicker. The body of humanity however, tries to combat this with anti-bodies that defy socialized mediocrity. These antibodies are often those deemed different, disfunctional, or mentally ill. People who are anti-social, are on the spectrum, have anxiety, etc. , are resistant to socialization and empathy. They are therefore more resistant to mediocrity. These neuro-atypical people are more disposed to discuss greater concepts and have ambitious goals beyond typical social constraints.

 

People have been talking about global warming/climate change for a long time, long before Obama was president, and long before China became an economic power. (Trump claimed on Twitter that the Chinese made it up). I think your dad is one of those people who didn't pay attention to the news and the documentaries when he was much younger. When I was a kid, everyone in my school heard about global warming.

 

The stupidest time to be smart is when you're young. And there is some truth to that, I believe. And if you really want to be a writer or you want to be anything, you will fail just as many times as your peers even if you think you are smarter or trying harder. I think in a university setting there are a lot of different types of people you can meet. Just don't forget to live a little and take notes every time you think you hear the most ridiculous thing ever said.

 

Do people lack interest in politics? Every facebook post ever disagrees.

Why do people lack intrest in science? My guess is the effort to payoff ratio. How many years of college or self taught does it take to learn anything practical or useful? And even then, how close does that knowledge get you to the general motivators of people; sex, money, and fame? It's a very indirect path, and people are like lightning, we take the path of least resistance.

Why aren't people intrested in writing? This one's kind of similar to the science but with a bit more. Being a writer has the pre req of being a reader. People need the experience of what they've read to help push their writing forward, so that person has to have an intrest in two things to really have a chance at the one. Even after that, writing is a much slower process than reading, so while we get all this time in consuming, considering and some other C word I can't think of right now, to write you have to do something completely different, create.

TL/DR people probably don't write as much because there are a lot of filters people have to get through, many of them contradictory.

If i sound like i'm rambling, its because I am.

 

What I find intriguing is that many have said you can find others of similar interest
on the internet. To a point (at least in my travels). Often I feel isolated in my way of
thinking about my interests, and therefore fall out of favor of others when it comes
to discussion on most topics. Outside of music, I really am lacking in the discussion
dept. with others. IDK why, is it because I don't think the same way that they do,
or that I may disagree with them on certain points?

I study pretty much all of those things that I enjoy in a forlorn silence so as not to
worry about what others think, or much less be allowed to speak of such things.
Yet I try so hard to join or spark a discussion about somethings, and it is quite a
challenge. Though I know that I am just as stupid about anything as the next person,
no matter how much I try to learn of things.

 

I'm quite surprised this thread has gotten so far. You sound quite young. I think this can all be summed up by saying you shouldn't expect people your age to be interested in these things. It's as simple as that. Before that sounds condescending, I'm only in my mid-twenties and I remember well the sorts of kids that surrounded me in school. You just have to get on with your life and stop wishing people would be interested in 'greater' things. It's just not the natural order. People don't want to be challenged.