Don't feel inadequate

In western society, stress is everywhere, obviously caused by money. Is it a coincidence that the happiest people on earth are the tribal people who have only the bare necessities. Are people in western cultures stressed about money because they need to have that high salary to buy those expensive goods so that they can 'keep up with the jones's'? I have noticed that people who desire material things, like the big house and flash car, are unhappy on a day-to-day basis. Although these people are still unhappy, it's as if they have been brainwashed by advertising to continue to buy as much as possible, never getting enough, like their peers - like a bunch of sheep in a paddock. Three things that are seen as almost mandatory and cause probably the greatest deal of stress in western society is: Marriage, Mortgage and Children. If you don't have these three you will be viewed as "lower" by your peers. Western society is all about desire, and desire is linked to stress. No wonder the Buddha said to lose your desires and you will be happy. Of course the government and advertising wouldn't want this, they don't want you to use your money to aid other people's lives which in turn makes you a happier person. No, they want you to be selfish, to only worry about your immediate community and forget about the 3rd world issues, its your 1st world problems that are the real issue here - like purchasing the right hair product or makeup. When I think of advertising I think about a box being put over someones head, not allowing them to see past the superficial 'world' displayed to them. Focus on intrinsic values like relationships, spending time in nature and being others-centered and you will realize that this materialistic, egotistic, self-absorbing western culture is an illusion trying to trick us all.

INTP Motivation

It's hard to know what motivates me as an INTP- understanding life is definitely a drive. But as an INTP, it seems that what you already know, you quickly lose interest in. So, if we understood life completely, we'd lose interest in existence all together right? Is the solitary behavior of us INTP's the cause of our dysfunction in society? Should we continue to try to understand if we'll become bitter with what is yet to be understood? I feel like I am betraying myself saying this, but this could be true. A positive side of understanding, is analyzing ourselves, being mindful of our thoughts. Developing some form of spirituality to subside the Nihilism that we can feverishly experience. Yes, there may be no meaning to life, yet isn't there an equal chance that there could be meaning? I don't think the meaning would be to find a career that has a lot of monetary reward, but something that changes society on a larger scale - such as economics or environmental science. Doing menial work has made me drift off onto trails of thought about what work I could do that has more meaning rather than just stuffing my own and the "man's" pockets full of money. INTP's have a drive to achieve, although often halted by Nihilism, the drive is still there. Although life may be meaningless, it feels more "fulfilling" to achieve something rather than to sit on a couch all day on the internet and be cynical about other people's lifestyles - you'll end up unmotivated and depressed. Just some thoughts.

INTP isolation

I'm not talking about being an INTP and keeping yourself away from all of society. This is about how it feels to be an INTP in everyday functioning society. Doing some work in a warehouse, I feel like I am different from everyone else, everyone is in tune with their jobs, not thinking any further than the tasks at hand. Doing as their told by their authorities. This causes great frustration as an INTP, I swear INTP's were not destined to be productive workers. I find myself daydreaming far too often to be anything near productive. This has great negative affects on an INTP, and people don't understand how hard it can be for this type. I find that most of the day I am slow and underachieving at work then I may have short bursts of energy to get things done, then my mind, nihilism particularly, reminds me that all this work has no fundamental meaning in the grand scheme of things; no matter how hard I work today, my manager will move on and be focused on how hard I work tomorrow - it's like a never ending day-to-day strive your best for an unknown purpose besides making someone above you richer.

Another frustration for INTP's is trying to understand other people's motivation - I work in a clothing warehouse and am surrounded by what it seems to be egotistic people who are materialistic and who place a lot more value on their possessions, than say on intellectual pursuits, curiosity and intrinsic good. I know happiness depends a lot of attitude but it's so hard to be positive when you're in a place where stressed is pressed onto each employee to meet deadlines when you know its all about the dollars. I find money to be a superficial kind of motivation and think its pretty sad what people will do to attain it - hence why greed and selfishness and hand-in-hand, it seems.

Consume

Just some poetry I thought of while working:

Consume, Buy, spend the paper trees you worked for to survive,

Beautiful nature turned into currency to buy stuff we don't need,

Perish, die, and don’t worry plenty more life to contrive

Feel the pain as you work away, told to be strong

But to be strong is to make the man rich,

Be productive, keep slaving away

As long as the man makes his pay, your suffering won’t cave

Ignorant life, driven to buy, advertising is a vice

Fear mechanism, used on us all, to fit in, to thrive

But what is living, when you’re just working to Buy, Consume and Die

This was brought on by thoughts like "I work so hard just to make someone else rich, yet they probably don't care about how much suffering employees go through in order to fatten up their back pockets". And I feel that a fear mechanism, displayed by anxiety among workers, particularly managers, is used so that they/we are obedient. I'm sure a lot of people have experience the same frustration and I am happy to share my thoughts through some poetry. Enjoy and have a good think about it.