The American sports writer and video producer Jon Bois recently put out another episode of his Pretty Good series titled ‘God Hates a Coward’. It’s about the human race’s love affair with pointlessness, illustrated by a weird historical moment involving a minor league baseball catcher trying to break a world record by catching a baseball dropped from a blimp. Yeah, seems challenging and intense, but why? What’s the point?
Exactly. There is no real point other than doing the thing itself. You ask why, but why not ask ‘Why not?’ It just seemed like a good idea at the time.
I was watching/listening to that video while on my way to the wrestling show, and it did bring me back to pro wrestling and its supposed pointlessness.
Why do we do this pro wrestling thing? Why am I screaming at the top of my lungs, risking losing my voice, and pouring so much energy into this seemingly pointless thing? I’ve been told to my face by family that it’s pointless. I wasn’t painstakingly raised and put through school to waste myself with something as pointless as this, right?
I really want to grab that person’s head, twist it around, and turn it inside out, so they’ll be able to see the back of their own skulls and realize that them calling it pointless is in itself pointless.
Why are you doing what you’re doing right now? So are you saying we should all do only things that are completely necessary for survival? Make a living, acquire necessities, and exist. Then die.
But hey, what are you doing? Why are you borrowing money to expand your business? Pursuing your interests? Engaging in your hobbies? What the hell are you doing? Isn’t that a waste of time? You said so. Are they truly necessary for survival? I thought you said they weren’t.
Oh wait, you say they’re necessary? I saw you the other day in BGC with your new car, your Louis Vuitton handbag, your new iPhone, and your acrylic nails.
Maybe I’m just being jealous here, but I have to ask the same question. Are they truly necessary?
What, because you can? I thought you said I should not waste my time on unnecessary things? Then why are you? That doesn’t seem very necessary at all. Seems like a waste of money. What again, because you can? Well, so am I. I get to choose what I do with my time and how I spend my money? Why are you the exception?
You say I’m jealous of your excess, I say you’re jealous of my contentment.
Why am I supposed to focus only on what’s necessary and you’re fine with balling out of control and doing whatever you want?
Hey, where are you going? I thought you were telling me that I was doing pointless things?
This imaginary conversation has been going in my head more and more these days. I’ve been having very vivid flashback, and they don’t come out of nowhere. It’s from years and years of being told that whatever I’ve been doing was pointless, and not getting an apology or compensation for years of emotional torture and existential dread that were… ultimately pointless.
They would say they only had good intentions for me when they were telling me that. However, good intentions must be matched with good actions. They were certainly doing it out of ignorance, so I can’t say it was indeed good action.
The French philosopher Georges Bataille said that the only true purpose of the human species is to waste the energy of the sun. The wasting of that energy is called ‘luxury’. That’s paraphrasing his life’s work, and it’s starting to make more and more sense to me now.
That ‘luxury’ can be the finer things in life or as simple as eating more calories than needed.
As unbridled capitalism continues to waste this planet and intensify people’s suffering, we are getting closer and closer to ecological ruin and societal collapse. Meanwhile, we distract ourselves with TikTok, arguing on social media, and our myriad of hobbies — all pointless activities.
Or as Ted Kaczynski called it, ‘surrogate activities‘.
And every now and then, some of us get along, either as friends, family, life partners, or so on. However we connect, we distract each other with our presence enough to make life seem less pointless, even for a moment.
I have to agree with yet another French philosopher Albert Camus. Even if there is no point to all of this, whether you believe that or not, is that really a bad thing? The absurdity of the universe is coupled with the fact that we do exist. We do live. We get to experience. And we get to share.
This made me realize that the ultimate freedom is being able to do pointless things simply because you want to. And yes, that includes criticizing others for doing pointless things. And also, ignoring those who criticize you for doing pointless things. It’s all pointless, and it’s all okay.
If we only live to do what is necessary for survival, is that even living? But you know, I’ve noticed that most of those people who give such criticisms are themselves climbing mountains and shooting for the stars with achievement and ascension. That’s why they’re on a high horse in the first place. They did all that — or maybe they actually failed — and now they’re bored and their egos need filling. It’s all insecurity. Pointless insecurity.
But you’re already eating three square meals a day, got a roof over your head, and are able to go about everyday life clean, healthy, and clothed. All of your needs are already met. Why do you need a higher salary, a new car, an iPhone, and so on? Aren’t they as equally pointless then? You’re taking from Mother Nature, adding to pollution, even stealing money from the poor without meaning to. You don’t really need them to survive.
Some of you would refute that by insisting that this world and its economy is not a zero sum game. But what’s the real point of that? A bad faith argument about the economy not being as pointless as it actually is other than facilitating our collective suffering?
Your wish for more is just as pointless as my wish for what I think is more. As long as you harm no one else, they are as pointless as they are valid. So, your thing is only for yourself. That’s fine. As long as you’re not harming others, you do you.
But what if you get into something else that actually brings joy to others? Is that still pointless? It seems pointless to you simply because you live for yourself. Seems to me you are simply lonely.
I lost my voice yesterday calling the main event match. It had these two guys. Zack Sabre Jr from England, and El Phantasmo from Canada. These guys travel all over the world to do pro wrestling. They even came here to our little corner of the world. This is actually Zack’s second time, I was absent for his first time last year because I had take care of my mother, who got hit by a motorcycle. She’s fine now.
Why? Why here? Why now? Why pro wrestling? Why us? Why all of this?
Because it’s cool. Isn’t that why you would do pointless things? Because you think they’re neat and special? Why would you choose to be miserable instead?
Why am I asking all these questions? Because they’ve been asked to me all my life, and it feels like I’m locked inside the prison of pragmatism; the illusion of practicality; the paradox of purpose. And I’m fucking mad.
Why did all these people around me have to torture me with insults towards my interests, dismissal of my achievements, putting down of my expressed purpose, and was told everyone else’s version of a perfect life simply because they happen to not be me, yet they act like they are the authority of me?
I am still, to this day, immeasurably mad, incensed, infuriated, enraged, and filled with utter disgust with those people — all of them: family, relatives, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, teachers, strangers, and so on — as well as myself.
Mad at them for being ignorant loudmouths, and mad at myself for holding a grudge.
Yeah, this has been quite pointless as well. I just wanted to put out what I’ve been feeling throughout this year. Anger. Pointless anger.
