Being Independent

its overrated

OVERRATED? :O

ya i mean its a good thing if you hve the ability to be independent but i would much rather be in a group n hve to depend on other people for stuff n for them to depend on me for stuff in return! that way i feel needed, like if for ome reason u left well then some one would miss u. i think that todays society is much to isolated from one another

How ironic, given our dense population.

Yeah, but if someone you depend on leaves, besides missing that person, you're very screwed.

Once you depend on yourself you never fail, for the simple fact you just can't fail yourself.

Isn't wanting to be needed the same as wanting power over other people? Why shouldn't being wanted be good enough?

I’m a very dependent person. Being independent seems so lonely and pointless.

The point is survival and emotional stability. 

I just don’t think I’m the independent type. I don’t get much joy from doing things for myself, so I don’t have much desire to be on my own with only myself to support me. If I thought that’s how I would have to always live my life, it would seem so utterly pointless.

Well, there's a difference between accepting the help of others and being dependent on them.  Take cats, for instance.  House cats may survive on cat food while there's cat food served to them, but do you think they would die off if there were suddenly no humans around to feed them? Heck no! They'd start surviving on rats, birds, and lizards without giving it a second thought. Cats live with us by their own choice, because it's more convenient or luxurious, not because they depend on us. You, on the other hand, are saying that life is pointless, if you can't milk the labor of others for all you can get, while not supporting your own weight. Not that I can blame you for your parasitic nature, but the world economy has nothing positive to gain from it, especially if you are helping to influence those around you to approach life similarly.

You’re considering independence from a very material/superficial point of view. I am considering it from a philosophical or emotional point of view. I’m not talking about survival. Almost anyone can be independent enough to survive life without leeching off of others. I’m talking about happiness.

The fact is, I am most inspired to work hard when I have someone to work hard for. I am not inspired to work hard for myself.

Oh, I see.  Well, I think that if I were the only person I knew to still be alive, I'd probably find some way to stabilize my emotions… it may take crackpot insanity, like talking to mirrors, or worshiping a ouiji board, but I could pull it off.

If I were the last person alive I’d have a hard time convincing myself life wasn’t pointless! In fact, the only way I’d survive is with the hope that there IS someone else out there.

See, I was looking at this as ‘not living with your parents anymore’. Is that not what it means?

It could. But now that I've not lived with my parents since I was 18 (roughly 6 years ago), I have to set the bar higher.

Ah! Well, you’ve got roughly six years on me!

I can't wait to have my independence! In a practical way, meaning not living with my parents anymore, have my own house, job, and so on... And from an emotional point of view, I think that doesn't mean being alone and not having bonds; in my opinion the great thing is exactly having bonds and people to rely on and who rely on you, but still maintaining your freedom. I said rely, not depend: you can't completely depend on someone (or something as well) because you can never know if you're going to lose it (or them) and if or when that happens... what? You life cannot just stop there!

Obviously that depends also on what kind of people you have around you: some people just can't accept the fact that you could want your own spaces...