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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To find being a person really weird

152 replies

beconase · 16/08/2023 00:27

I know that sounds odd, but every now and then it hits me how weird it is just being a person and having a mind. Does anyone else ever get this?

OP posts:
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Barold · 16/08/2023 15:01

I totally understand this, OP!

Yes, there's the existential stuff - what's it all about/for, what's the meaning of it all, etc - but there's also just weirdness of being a person. Which is totally different. Less deep. Just perplexed by legs and eyebrows and why we need to wee, etc. 😂

QueenPoppyTroll · 16/08/2023 15:04

Life is but a walking shadow...

WhatWhereWhenHowWhy · 16/08/2023 15:09

StopStartStop · 16/08/2023 00:28

Erm...no.
Quite often in my life I've been overwhelmed by the futility of it all, though.

^^ this. And also sometimes I have moments where I think, gosh I could die right now and I have no control over that!

thecatsthecats · 16/08/2023 15:15

WhatWhereWhenHowWhy · 16/08/2023 15:09

^^ this. And also sometimes I have moments where I think, gosh I could die right now and I have no control over that!

Show quote history

God, I find that comforting!

I work in a area of niche and pedantic compliance. Lots of niggly and complex and ENTIRELY MADE UP rules.

And many days, I just think, meh. It's low stress, it's highly paid, and I can largely live as I please. I won't exist for long, so whilst this job, as all human endeavours, is pointless, so long as I'm able to carve out a happy existence within it, I'll consider myself well off.

EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · 16/08/2023 15:18

Like jewellery. Why do we hang bits of metal off ourselves? How weird is that.

And why do certain sounds mean certain things. Like why is 'chair' the sound for chairs?

What were the odds of me existing - my great grandparents were refugees. If they'd never come here, my grandmother might never have been born, and even if she had been, she'd never have met my grandfather... and my parents would never have met if they'd not been in that pub on that day, at that time, and if my dad had the money to use a payphone, he would never have needed to borrow it off my mum... and would I be with DH if I hadn't said I preferred lemons to oranges and made a reference to a comic we both happened to have read...

SallyWD · 16/08/2023 15:25

Yes, I've often thought this.

huggiess · 16/08/2023 15:25

Mr brother once got so upset and confused about our existence and the universe when he was off his head after a rave... it was a proper mood killer ! 😆

Cornettoninja · 16/08/2023 15:26

It’s fascinating when you start delving down this path. If I had the money to do a completely frivolous courses I’d do philosophy and sociology.

Simulation theory, the collective conscious and instinct also captivate me. I’m not really clever or confident enough to make coherent conversation about it but I can listen to podcasts, reads books about it and lose hours.

To find being a person really weird
Minikievs · 16/08/2023 15:29

@beconase I think I know EXACTLY what you're talking about!! I have these thoughts quite a lot but it's very hard to articulate.
It's like having the realisation that you're a person and I'm thinking in my head about the fact that I'm a living being with thoughts......I'm describing it TERRIBLY but I know exactly what you mean.
I have to stop thinking about it when it happens as it makes me feel all strange and wobbly inside.

thecatsthecats · 16/08/2023 15:41

God, this thread was playing on my mind in the tedious meeting I just attended.

I actually think nihilism helps me be a better employee sometimes. Because I actively avoid designing systems and processes that are so boring that they dilate the passage of time so that a minute becomes an hour.

My starting point for setting any task is "if I was asked to do this, would the sweet release of death seem appealing"?

Rattymare · 16/08/2023 15:58

Ladylalaboo1 · 16/08/2023 01:04

I often think why am I THIS mind and person like why is this the body and mind that was chosen for me to be conscious in and experience ? Weird to explain haha

I've often thought this since I was about 10 Yrs old. I used to say to my friend "why am I me" ?
I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Catiette · 16/08/2023 20:02

Amazing - & weirdly reassuring! - thread.

LittleRedYarny · 16/08/2023 20:25

Hurrah, it’s nice to know other people have these thoughts too.

Just be careful they don’t acidentally get said out loud, I don’t recommend doing that…

Squishmallowy · 16/08/2023 20:26

Yeah it’s bloody freaky that we have no idea at / who we are and some people think we are just living in a simulation.

When you see how far AI has come and the avatars it’s capable of creating I question whether anything I see is real and what’s real anyway?!

Missingmyusername · 16/08/2023 20:28

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

If they have any sense they’ll see the way we treat each other, animals and our planet and give us a swerve!🤣

Howlongwillthistake · 16/08/2023 20:32

I often contemplate why we invite various hairy creatures into our homes. They walk about our houses, we feed them, love them and talk to them. They can't speak our language but we actually love and adore them. All really strange.

BrieAndChilli · 16/08/2023 20:33

I have moments where I think about how wierd it is the at there’s all these people just living thier own lives like going on a train and there’s all these people that have thier own thoughts and feelings and things to do that I will never know but for a moment we are in the same place

TheBrightestStarInTheSky · 16/08/2023 20:33

Our planet could spontaneously combust and the universe wouldn't even miss us. That's how insignificant we are.

Whatsthepoint1234 · 16/08/2023 20:35

I was thinking about this earlier when I was looking at my toes. Toes are such odd looking things, we all have them so think they are normal but they look like the wiggly bits on my dc’s fidget toy. But I’m just weird myself.

AlmostThereMaybe · 16/08/2023 20:38

There are many things about being a human I find weird, but I’ve learnt to keep quiet about them to avoid that “you’re weird” look!

Warszawa · 16/08/2023 20:44

Having a dissociative disorder as I do, existential thoughts are a regular occurrence. sometimes it's interesting sometimes it's horrifying!

if you find yourself struggling with this you may have depersonalisation disorder. Frequent intrusive thoughts, loosing time, etc

if you aren't struggling and just wondering it can be a really interesting subject - ultimately it comes down to why is anything here in the first place. Makes you wonder why we care so much about so much lol

Ninacampbelltiled · 16/08/2023 21:08

BrieAndChilli · 16/08/2023 20:33

I have moments where I think about how wierd it is the at there’s all these people just living thier own lives like going on a train and there’s all these people that have thier own thoughts and feelings and things to do that I will never know but for a moment we are in the same place

Me too, everyone feels 'big' in their own head if that makes sense but we're all the same basically

AmazingSnakeHead · 16/08/2023 21:21

Yes to all of this! I find being a person so strange, for so many reasons.

I find the weight of other conscious minds around me almost unbearable to keep up with. Like when you walk through a busy city centre and you are surrounded by people who all have their own inner lives and rich histories and thoughts and concerns, it's just too much. How can there be so many perspectives on the world? All of these people interpreting and perceiving this same little bit of train station or street, but with their own minds. It makes me feel ill.

I also really stuggle with staying "present" while doing normal things. It feels to me like my life is a game, and surely everyone else feels the same about their own lives. Because seriosuly, what are we all doing - are we really just going to the shop and buying things to eat for dinner, so we can get up and drop our kids off to school and go to work? It makes much more sense to think about it as a series of tasks to complete, like in a game with no end goal.

AmazingSnakeHead · 16/08/2023 21:24

Squishmallowy · 16/08/2023 20:26

Yeah it’s bloody freaky that we have no idea at / who we are and some people think we are just living in a simulation.

When you see how far AI has come and the avatars it’s capable of creating I question whether anything I see is real and what’s real anyway?!

This is my logic for not being concerned: if we ARE a simulation, then the AI in here with us isn't real AI, it's just a simulation of real AI. So, we cannot take the progress of AI as indication that we're in a simulation. If we were, then the AI would not be real, and so not an indication of anything.

thecatsthecats · 16/08/2023 21:27

Has anyone ever been to an ossuary? There's one in Czechia that uses the bones of around 40000 individuals, and it's so weird looking at them and thinking, these people all had individual lives and friends and pet hates and favourite foods and a little physical quirk they didn't like about themselves.

I'd quite like to donate my skeleton to an ossuary, freak out the existential nihilists of the future.