A world without "you"

Have you ever once imagined a world without you? An alternate plane of existence in which you never exist. It's not the same as dying, or going missing. Simply, never being born. Never even being thought up of. A world where "you" were never there. Think of how the world would be affected if you were simply removed without a trace. Everything you've ever owned, all the interactions you've ever had, any life changing experience you've shared with someone else, all of that gone.

Have you really affected the people around you in such a significant way that their whole lifestyle would be altered completely from how you know them? Have you really left any lasting mark on the world that can't be fulfilled by anyone else? If so, what happens when that mark is gone?

Would it cause the people around you more good than harm if you never existed? If you never came to be, would the lives of those you know be better than they are today?

What of your parents? Would they be better off not having you? Have you caused them deep grief or despair, to the point where you feel they sometimes regret ever having you? Of course, in such a world, you wouldn't even exist at all, so they wouldn't feel saddened by your absence. Or, perhaps, would they be lonely without you? If so, would they try to fill that void by granting life to another being anyway?

If all of your failures, successes, personal belonging, relationships; everything that makes "you", simply vanished entirely one day, would it really matter?

Constantly think about it and nope it wouldn't matter.

Constantly think about it and nope it wouldn't matter.

thats a rather bleak outlook on your own existance....

For me I have, on several occassions, thought about a world without me, and I can think of only one life altering event that would be a shame that i wasn't there for. It was about 8yrs ago, a friend of mine was getting ready to commit suicide after a beating from her mom. She was pretty much grasping for straws on a reason to live when we started talking. We ended up talking all night long (about 8hrs) and by the time we both decided to go to sleep she had pretty much given up on the whole suicide thing. What struck me was I knew nothing about the suicide plan until about 6 months later when she pulled me aside and thanked me for essentially giving a damn about her, that she had the whole suicide planned out and such but wanted to wait till after everyone was fullly asleep so as to have no one be able to stop her. Thats why she started talking to me, to pass the time till everyone was asleep. What keeps it fresh in my mind is that she said, "Thank you for saving my llife and making me realize that life is worth living".

That one event, above all others, is why I gave up on the idea that this world is better off without me.

If all of your failures, successes, personal belonging, relationships; everything that makes "you", simply vanished entirely one day, would it really matter?

.

Even if, life is still worth living, etc.

thats a rather bleak outlook on your own existance....

For me I have, on several occassions, thought about a world without me, and I can think of only one life altering event that would be a shame that i wasn't there for. It was about 8yrs ago, a friend of mine was getting ready to commit suicide after a beating from her mom. She was pretty much grasping for straws on a reason to live when we started talking. We ended up talking all night long (about 8hrs) and by the time we both decided to go to sleep she had pretty much given up on the whole suicide thing. What struck me was I knew nothing about the suicide plan until about 6 months later when she pulled me aside and thanked me for essentially giving a damn about her, that she had the whole suicide planned out and such but wanted to wait till after everyone was fullly asleep so as to have no one be able to stop her. Thats why she started talking to me, to pass the time till everyone was asleep. What keeps it fresh in my mind is that she said, "Thank you for saving my llife and making me realize that life is worth living".

That one event, above all others, is why I gave up on the idea that this world is better off without me.

-Applauds-
Good deeds come with great rewards.

I can't really think of anything "life changing" that I've ever done, at least, as far as I know. I'm widely known, but I'm not that significant.

thats a rather bleak outlook on your own existance....

I too feel my existence in itself is worthless. In fact, I believe the lives of everyone around me would have changed for the better if I had never been conceived. I am a mistake after all, and although everyone gives off an outer appearance of not minding that I've grown to be a failure, I know deep down inside they realize I'm more trouble than I'm worth at times. I feel I take advantage of everyone's kindness, who keep me in this world without asking much of me. But I'm too much of a selfish, spoiled, and overall negative person that I don't stop myself from doing so. Part of me enjoys it too much. Having people so accepting of how vile and disgusting of a person I've become. How absolutely detestable I am in the eyes of most of society.

I've left nothing but a repulsive stain on this world, and I've no desire of redeeming myself and wiping that stain off. If I were to never exist, I can say for certain that everyone would be better off. Such a worthless person as myself has done nothing more than cripple the lives of everyone close to me. Being the twisted being I am, I no longer care much about that, and proceed to weigh them down more.

Could I redeem myself and take the load off others if I simply worked hard enough to do so? Yes.
But the question is; do I find it worth while to go out of my way to do such a thing, when it would benefit only those who have supported me? No.

That in itself is a very cruel and abominate truth, one that is rooted down into the very core of my being. I know very well of the burden I've become, and I know very well how to stop myself from being such. However, I do not wish to do so. I've grown accustomed to my life. You could say I've acquired some sickening, perverse fetish over bringing down those who care the most about me. I know it's oh so very wrong, but I find immense pleasure in it.

Me vanishing from existence would simply be better for everyone. A simple death would not do any good. A death cannot turn back time. As such, it cannot remove the stains I've left behind just from existing. While I am a hindrance to others, my death would indeed cause grief. I sometimes feel they don't understand just how much I've taken advantage of them. Or perhaps, they feel my existence in itself is some sort of punishment for their past endeavors, so accept it willingly.

If they were to never get attached to me at all...if they were to never have been sucked into the trap that is "me", their lives would have been better off.

The only world I know is the one I'm in, and I'm in it. So I guess I'll make the best of it while I'm here, hm?

By the butterfly effect we probably wouldn't be talking about this here if I (or any of us) hadn't been conceived.

I think, therefore I am.

I think about this all the time, especially when my mom gets dramatic and tells me how when she was immigrating to Canada, she almost ended up in Quebec instead of Vancouver, and how if that happened, she'd never have met my dad, and I'd never be around, etc.

That being said, though it may sound conceited, whether I existed or not, it DOES matter. Every little thing every person does has the potential to make great impacts in the world. Something as small as giving a bigger tip than required can go a long way in making someone happy, even for just a short moment, and really, that in itself is worth it. A lot of times, simply by existing, you are making someone's life better, even without doing anything. I certainly feel that way about my friends; just knowing that they're there makes me feel comforted, without even having to talk to them or whatnot. Everyone is unique, and no one can replace who you are to any certain friend.

In my views, everyone has a good and a bad side, no matter how good, or how bad they may seem, be it in first encounters or multiple encounters. If I meet someone who does something wrong to me, it's just that I was unfortunate enough to see their poor side instead of their good side. The existence of other people, both good and bad, is what makes life interesting, and because of such, life is worth it.

I used to think like some of those in the thread, thinking negatively and wondering if the world could/would be better without me. The conclusion I came to was that Im unique, and regardless of if what I contribute is good or bad, I'm still special. It's what makes the world what it is, so simply enjoy it while I still can. Do something about the things I CAN change instead of thinking about the things that I cant.

Hmm.. Nope, Existence has no objective meaning of value. and No I don't care if I came into existence or not. As for leaving a mark or anythin liek that, who cares for it? your conscience ceases to be when you cease to be. you don't get to see what it all tuns out to be , its pointless.

Althogh, If my plans for the future come to fruition later in life, than this whole world will be completley different without my existance.

I think about this constantly :\

Granted I have talked a few people out of running away, or commiting scuicide, I don't see how anything would be different had I not been born. In the past years I've fadded into the backround of everything I've taken part of; school, clubs etc. not getting a mention towards any effort I may have put forth. I figured I'd just "Fake it till I make it", but didn't make it anywhere in the end.

All I've done recently is freeload off family that didn't care much for me in the first place. Yea, a few people have an attachment to me now, but really theres a ton of people just like me or better. I see myself as the random guy on your phones contacts that you stop and look at and say "....... The pineapple is this guy??" *delete* But thats just my low self esteem talking.

Not much I can do to change the fact now untill/unlees I move away and start anew. Its rather sad, but I prefer to laugh it off than to cry. And when the thought of leaving the burden of your own death to a single mother comes to, suicide is never an option. So I'm left trying to please people that wouldn't care for my well being had they never caught sight of me.

I'm jealous some of you can be positive.

I tried hard, but no good comes out of it and plus I give up easily. I'm a failure, and the world will keep on going without me. I should just find a fire to burn in now.

tl;dr

I find it paradoxical that someone you claim to be, someone who as sadistic and as pessimistic as you say would have a would have traits opposing what you claim to be--honesty and modesty. You say you take advantage of others' generosity and push away those who care about you yet you're honest about it.

So you say your existence is trivial. I don't think that's the case because you're looking at the big picture. In that case, it's logical to feel small when you're looking at something big. If you start considering the trivial matters in your everyday life, you're gonna start seeing that "you" do have an impact. For instance, take your interaction with people here on SP, me. You've made an impact on my life as a complete stranger on a very impersonal medium (the internet) because you're the first person I've ever known to have this mentality. You are breaking stereotypes I came to accept--as a woman, as a pessimist and as a sadist. What I know about those types of people, you are contradicting each of them; thus you've impacted me because I have to reconsider how I label my world to fit my understanding and reconsider my perception of my surrounding due to your existence.

So whether everyone's existence is significant or not, it's all relative.

I've thought about this before, several times. Sometimes I feel like I make no impact on the people around me, and that the world could be better off without me wasting it's space.

Then sometimes I feel that I make impact on another person's life. About 3 of my good friends have actually told me that if it wasn't for me, they would have committed suicide long ago. So in a sense, I feel like I have impacted my small corner of the world.

I just feel like my niceness goes unnoticed...quite a lot. But then again, it gets noticed every time.

My sister would be dead. Two of my old friends would possibly have died, while another would likely have survived. There would be one less person in Providence that actually gave a shit about the welfare of our stray and/or abused animal population. One of my old high school's teachers would've quit 2 years ago.

>Enter the thread feeling optimistic. Of course my life is worth something!
>Read both of Spidey's posts.
>

 so ronery

I'll think about this for a while and edit in what I really think, eventually.

It doesn't affect anything. Sure, I may have changed how others felt. But even if I ceased to exist, or have never been born, I doubt things would have changed much. I'm not like most people, I enjoy changing others while I live, but for the betterment. However, if I ceased to exist, there would be someone else to replace me that will help others. I think of it as this way, I am 'one' person out of millions. Only a few great individuals that really pushed themselves changed the world: "Martin Luther King, Jr.", etc.

Unless I did something drastic that impacted how the world shaped and changed, I view myself as insignificant. I think of it as a hierarchy. There are the upper class that got there by pure determination, the ones that were born smart, or the ones that were just rich. If you somehow got your ass up the ladder and found a way to impact society, so be it. Your life will bear significance in the world. If you're just an ordinary human that changed the people around you, it's still an insignificant impact. Changing a small group of people < changing the world or a country.

So no, my life would bear of no importance. I have a rather pessimistic view on life when it comes to others and myself. Though this doesn't change the fact that I enjoy helping others just because I like doing it, and because it's the right thing to do.

I've thought about this tons before. No one is important in life. Without me, the world will keep spinning and life will go on regardless of 1 person. That's why I feel I should make something of small existence, try to become the best I can, try to do my best to help people and make myself a better person. Sure the future's gonna suck, but hey we gotta live through it.

I find it sort of weird how so many people in this thread has said they've thought of this a lot, I would say I've only thought about it a total of 4 times over my entire life.

As for your question. I've had a major impact on 80 or more people's lives, and I've saved at least 10 or more people from either killing themselves, or becoming like you Karen.

The world wouldn't exist without me. If I wasn't here to witness it with my five senses then who cares if it really existed in the first place? The only reason the world around me matters is because I'm an important person who is going to take charge and play a major role in the world someday. I was designed for a purpose and with a unique set of abilities. DNA Polymerase sequences thousands to hundreds-of-thousands of genes that have a specific nucleotide sequence. Messing up one of these translations could results in a deletion or a frame-shift mutation that would cause me to be crippled or horribly mutilated with diseases such as Cru di Chat or PKU. However I was lucky enough to be born without any serious defects at conception. I define my existence on a day-to-day basis and cause ripples in the lives of other people. If I'm gone then there would be no one to start the bonfire. Sure there are people who are going to be assholes and tell me that I don't matter. But making the first step is better than making no step at all. And after making 30 mistakes, you never know if it's the 31st try that's going to lead to the jackpot. It's sure as hell better than playing Maple Story and wallowing in depression about what I could have done with my future.

tl;dr: fuck you.