Friction and fulfillment

Life without friction is unfulfilling.

Today, we see angst on the rise, and we see confusion, division, and a narrowing of possibilities. People are opting out of life, in subtle and overt ways. There's less interpersonal connection, and less genuine, useful interpersonal conflict. We rely on the internet and social media for connection and information, and we feel alienated from one another, and from the truth. When everything is available, nothing is available. When everything is available, we have only our emotional needs left to fulfill. We can't transcend. We can't grow and become something more. Nothing is right, because nothing is ever truly wrong. When you can always find 'information' to suit your emotional needs, you live a frictionless, empty life. You live the husk life.

Life without friction is a life that's easy. The answers are always there. You can't go wrong, or be wrong. Or, if you are, you don't have to debate this with other people, memorize information, and confront your mistakes or errors. A life that's 'too easy,' in this way, is one that's unfulfilling and empty. Do you feel this? Do you see this? Are you perplexed as to why so many people are doing, saying, and believing certain things? No need for confusion: Their lives are too easy and too safe. They cling, then, to meeting emotional needs, and they'll meet these by selecting whichever menu items or information and entertainment suits their fancy.

Friction means being bored, not having something to distract you or give you quick information and answers. Beware of 'answers.' Facts as answers are something to be wary of. 'Answers' to life's emptiness, confusion, and loneliness don't come from facts or from entertainment (think: scrolling) and boredom-killers (think: scrolling). Neither do they come from 'facts,' as such. People actually search on the internet 'how to be happy.' This, right here, is the problem. The search should come back: 'don't ever do this again.'

Hobbies that demand your deep attention and focus, phone-free conversation, asking others questions, arguing with people you respect, memorizing information (don't 'look it up' right now), reading deeply, writing, painting, phone-free socializing (parties, events), grappling with religion, and intense exercise are all friction-filled activities and ways of living. They make life more difficult, not less. And this is why they offer an unfathomable level of fulfillment. They pull something deeper out of you, because they demand more. They don't come easy, and aren't clean and neat, and 'right' or 'wrong.' In our world, if we want this kind of life, we must choose it. Peoples of prior eras didn't have a choice; friction was built in. For us, we can avoid friction and live an 'easier,' but profoundly less interesting and shallow life. This is a burden, but it's one we can see and push back against (thereby creating friction).

Stop with the facts, stop with the answers. Make life harder, not easier.