Why You're So Lonely | Camus' The Stranger

Really enjoying these Camus videos

W😅😮😮😅😅ibn nb n BB. B. N b. B b nb. B BB. B
Hbb. B b bn bbbbb

I didnt cry at my mothers funeral either. WTF kind of good would that do? Yes, Im an absurdist!

Today Meursault would be told to stare at the sun, take cold showers and go to the gym. Seriously though, where's his dopamine? I like and appreciate the idea expressed in the book but I'm not sure it's biologically possible to stay that indifferent for a long time.

Meursault is relatable because my mom almost always said "this is not what normal people do" whenever i just do what i want she seems to be obsessed with what is normal and also that part where meursault is mad at the priest as im a atheist

Thanks!

Here for the accent. You provide a perfect shadowing material 😊

Didn’t know Jonah Ryan from Veep had a YT channel.

Your takeaway from absurdism doesn’t have to be complete indifference. At least in my opinion, it’s the complete freedom to choose what to care about. If you choose not to care about anything, then go ahead. The universe doesn’t mind.

Profound insights man, can't wait to read the novel. Another novel with the almost guillotine ending is Stendal's The Red and The Black.

Great analysis - Thank you!

If we live our lives by this indifference, it becomes harder to love. For dostoevsky, everything settles down when you can love but after reading camus, i wonder if we can still love and have that much excitement if we aren't concerned by most matters

the exact quote is "mama" or "maman" in french

Fuck you im not lonely

What is the difference between Meursault behavior and narcissistic personality?

I fine comfort in the meaninglessness of the universe too. So many people don't see it but I do. Meaninglessness means that sure there is not a deity or entity that ultimately cares about you, but that also just makes connecting to others all the more important right? AFter all we're future corpses, no matter how you slice it. And if you can't do that, because of the absurdity of others,like our protagonist and Camu himself, that is also fine. Take comfort in the fact the universe doesn't care either way what happens. Why should you if others can't see that? Many may see this as cruel prospect, but I see it as liberative. No expectation can possibly be forced on you objectively, because it doesn't matter. Reality is the true sandbox rpg game.

You are saying " you are alone in this universe " so it indirectly points out, if someone dies, does it denote it is the end of universe to that particular person, What lies beyond after all? Something is missing between.....!

there is only one thing worse than being alone. Finding someone who makes loneliness disapear, only to lose that someone

Your translation of l'étranger is incorrect.

Finally a video on The Stranger!! I was hoping to see your take on it and I loved it, this helped me settle down some of the ideas I have around it.

I found this book on a very difficult time in my life (as the last five years have been) and grief had slowly turned me onto the idea of things truly feeling absurd. I feel like I've been mimmicking what life is supposed to be like since I read this book, with the fear of feeling that like Mersault, my questioning might bring more trouble than joy and it might make people around me put more distance between us. It just feels wrong to know pain and to know it's inflicted on others, but still feel no strong reaction towards it too.

Today a new idea came up– perhaps things are absurd, but seeing comfort on it instead of straight out allienation might be the way to go. Maybe I can go through life, and see blue skyes and storms alike, and maybe once things are done I'll die knowing I still experienced everything on it's truest form, without bias or opinions to sway me one way or another onto what is happening in front of me. Perhaps this way too, pain and grief might not be as heavy.

Your command of the English language and interpretation of The Stranger is extremely impressive. Very engaging. Thanks!

The IB is making us read this book and I actually love how it delves into philosophical concepts

One Word: AUTISM

This reinforces the fact that people just care about one thing:
They want to be right

Ik this is out of context but, know God, cause the truth is that Jesus said is: Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” This truth comes from knowing God.

"Vanity, all under the sun is vanity."

Meursault = Owlman

Alright... Alright... It's time to read this book despite all the spoilers heard...

The truth is; We are never alone but we may convince ourselves or wish that we were alone.

It's a wet and gloomy Sunday evening, Meursalt and I take turns buying beers, looking for objectivity in a subjective world...

Garçon, two more s'il vous plaît...

what is your name?

Your explanation is brilliant

I can see heavy parallels of someone that has diagnosed psychopathy. How some psychopathic killers, in their confessions, talk about how they felt no different at all after they committed murder. Almost as if they feel no rush or adrenaline at all, just indifference.

Hey brother I just felt that you have good orating skills

Bro love your content, please start a podcast

so in simple words:
nothing matters😒😞🙄
and
NOTHING MATTERS 🫨☺️😌

Great video! 👍

To me it’s not about the meaninglessness of living at all, just the meaninglessness of birth and death. Seems to be the only thing his indifference applies to. I almost feel like people project Camus’ wider philosophy onto this book where there is little philosophical value.
Then again, maybe I still don’t get it. I try to every few years. I’ll try again.

Osamu Dazai's "No Longer human" talks about the same thing, it's classic Japanese literature, philosophical and depressing (very depressing).

Because of the way society is structured and the mental models the media promote

Damn, I've just finished reading this novel and I'm feeling kinda empty...

I remember reading this book during high school for a reading assignment a couple of years back. Though I was only 15 and knew little to nothing about philosophy, I thouroughly enjoyed this book. Though I was looking through this book through a slightly different lens (bc I had a very bare-bones definition in my head as to what existentialism and absurdism was at the time), I still thought the book was really insightful and standout-ish compared to other books I normally read (fiction, fantasy/sci-fi, etc). I remember oddly liking the ending, where Mersault came to the conclusion of coming to terms with the meaninglessness/objectiveness of life and full on embracing it, but if u were to ask me about the rest of the book in a deeper manner i wouldn't be able to answer that for you at the time. But then came the work and assignments following the reading and it just completely threw Camus' message out the window. The next month following the conclusion of the book were analyses of Mersault, why he behaved this way, why he was so indifferent and objective and cold towards everything, trying to come up with some meaningful explanation to all of this. In a socratic seminar I was in, the rest of the class came to the conclusion that Mersualt is just flat out weird and a straight up sociopath. And another assignment consisted of coming up with a potential traumatic childhood backstory that could serve as an explanation to Mersault's strangeness. No one else enjoyed the book because they all thought Meursault was weird and unrelatable.
Of course, for the sake of my grades, I had to follow along with the workload but none of the assignments I had to do ever sat right with me however, despite not fully understanding Camus' depth of absurdism - but with the help of this video I understand now. Not only did my teacher completely miss the message but she ran away with it in the complete opposite direction. It was never about any deeper meaning or explanation as to why Mersault behaved that way, rather the complete opposite, and how it effects everyone else in the story.
I'm not really sure where I'm going with this little anecdote of mine but I think this story is simply so ironic that it's almost funny and worth sharing. I'm definitely going to reread this book now that I can understand it on a deeper level (and without the predispositions provided by the school curriculum) and I might even bother looking into Camus' other works after. Thank you for making this video, it really helped me answer some question's I've been holding onto for a while

You, sir, are a genius!
One of the things I could not yet understand is, why does he wishes a big crowed that hates him? Does that mean he still has a wish to leave a mark, or would that just be a proof to him that he is in peace with his life - by being unbothered with it?

Is the crowd justified in condemning him? Well, considering how dangerous his indifference is to those around him is, I'd say it would be anti-evolutionary of them not to loathe and fear him, regardless of whether the world is devoid of meaning or infused with it. In my experience, it's better to sweep one's landscape clear of sociopaths rather than to tolerate their presence. Yeah, that's an unsophisticated, utilitarian philosophy but as someone whose work makes me responsible for the safety of children, I stand by it.

I think we need to remember when this novel was written. The world was in the throes of being blown apart by the absurd in its most extreme expression. Without this context, it's hard to understand why Camus would create a character so unbelievable as the police interrogator (in real life, they're not flummoxed by psychopaths - they come across them regularly). Camus, his philosophy, and his writing were wrought in the crucible of WW2.

This is not to dismiss your analysis. I think it's spot on and a great lens through which to look at our own times.

"I don't belong in the world, that's what it is
Something separates me from other people
Everywhere I turn, there's something blocking my escape"