Archive-name: angst-faq
Last-Modified: 1994/12/12

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1) What is Angst?

 Any feelings of anxiety, grief, unhappiness, suffering, misery, 
depression,
 sadness, and fear.

 The Oxford English Dictionary has:

 "Anxiety, anguish, neurotic fear; guilt, remorse."

 Webster's 9th Collegiate Dictionary defines it as:

 "A feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity."

 Above all, True Angst (tm) arises from the notion that life is
 essentially pointless and absurd, and that our miserable existences
 count for very little in the grand scheme of things. There are two
 main categories of Angst: emotional, and intellectual. Emotional
 Angst encompasses the typical experiences of human suffering.
 Intellectual Angst is primarily concerned with The Great Sucking 
Void
 of Existence.

 Other related words and definitions:

 Weltschmerz -- Mental depression or apathy caused by a comparison
 of the actual state of the world to an ideal 
state.
 Schadenfreude -- Taking joy in another's misfortune.
 Angstogen -- An angst producing agent.
 Angstrom -- The unit of angst: more angstroms = more angst.

 As far as etymology goes, Angst is found in both the Danish, Dutch 
and
 German languages. Weltschmerz and Schadenfreude are both German. 

 "Angstogen" was probably coined here, although it may have been 
spun
also
 used in Dutch and means something like "eyes filled with fear"


use
 of the notorious smiley (which is conspicuously absent here). If 
you
 feel inclined to post any stories with a happy ending, post them to
You'll
 be lucky if other members use such kind words to tell you to do the
 same.


 display sufficient amounts of angst in one or more of its commonly
 accepted forms. These individuals have earned themselves the 
nickname
 "angst.cops." You have been warned.

 Also, questions asking _why_ men or women are mean and nasty and 
hurt your
 widdle feelings do not belong here. This includes the now-infamous: 
"Why
 do girls always go for jerks" and all its pathetic variations. 
There are
 a number of psychology studies that answer precisely this question. 
Our 
 advice here is to use your newly-found computer skills to dig up 
any
 relevant literature. Essentially, if you have to ask _why_ humans 
are
 mean and nasty, you probably don't belong here.

 Other than that, you can use the rule of thumb that states: if it 
feels
 bad, post it. Chicken Little is an excellent example of someone
 who should have posted to this group. Here, the sky is always 
falling.
 Our world is in constant crisis with spectres of war, famines and
 starvation, poverty, abuse of the environment, racism and bigotry,
 corrupt leaders, religious zealotry, fear of death, and soured 
personal 
 relationships, not to mention the biggies, like "is there a point 
to
 existence, anyway?" These questions, and any others you may uncover 
or
 dream up, should leave no shortage of grist for your personal angst 
mill.

3) The Importance of Angst

 We all embrace angst here. It is what defines our existence. After 
all,
 what use would life be if everything was easy and there was nothing 
to
 worry about? Angst is a necessary element in the growth and 
development
 of any human being. It is what builds character; it provides 
contrast
 and depth to the human experience. Angst, at its simplest, is that 
which 
 makes us human.

4) Distilled Angst (190 proof): The Angst Calendar, compiled by Steven 
Snedker
 and hacked into MS-Windows Help format by Erik Radmall

 Available via anonymous ftp from ftp.mantis.co.uk directory 

 If you don't know what anonymous ftp is, then goto 
 and read everything. If it doesn't help, get the post named "How to 
find

 The calender is available as either hpack'ed or tar'ed and gzipped 
file.
such
 files.

 Mantis, the most intellectual site on the net, also stocks some 
terrific 
(and
 the rest of the net) to check out. They are also periodically 
posted to

be
 required reading for _anyone_ who plans on posting to the
 Internet. Please, _please_ read it, understand it, and 
internalize
 it before wasting valuable bandwidth with meaningless drivel.

 Angsts or Angstful Notions or Angst Suggestions or The Angst 
Catalogue

it's 250
 kb. Here's a little handy list you can keep close at hand, whenever 
you
 feel the urge to put words on your feelings/situation. After the 
angst 
 suggestion there will sometimes be a pointer to other angsts it 
might be 
 rewarding to check also.

 1. Life is pointless/meaningless. There is no reason.
 2. Death is eternal (making life all the more pointless).
 3. Reincarnation (No relief, just more of the same unbearable pain 
for
 eternity).
 4. Unpleasant feelings are true and pleasant feelings are 
temporary and
 empty.
 5. Lost opportunities. Lost excitement. I was once young and 
screwed it
 up.
 6. I'm wasting my time. (8,9,11,12).
 7. Things will never get better (in the sense that it's all going
 downhill).
 8. The future is just more of the same (worthless crap).
 9. Rejection (MOTAS, work, whatever).
 10. Boredom.
 11. Loneliness, being insignificant.
 12. Nothing brings me joy (hobbies, school, work, "friends", family 
etc.).
 13. There is no escape, no hope.
 14. This mess is my (0-100)% own fault (5,9,11,15).
 15. Strong hate (self, others, places, phenomena).
 16. Insanity (depression, panic attacks, schizophrenia, suicidal
 tendencies).
 17. For all my efforts I was never rewarded (12,9,7,5).
 18. Art or humans cannot help you (13,12,10).
 19. Nothing has any absolute value (1,16).
 20. Wishes coming true will not help (13,7).
 21. Lack of "the basics" (good physical/mental health, money, love 
etc.).
 22. I'm in an unpleasant situation (1-21).

5) Cures for Common Angst: Home Remedies and Elixirs (list by Michael 
Chase)

 1. God(s).
 2. Drugs.
 3. Significant other.
 4. Booze.
 5. Insignificant others.
 6. Physical fitness.
 7. That spiritual purity trip.
 8. Some godawful 12 step program full of losers not nearly as 
intelligent
 as you.
 9. Shrinks, who are either OK but ineffective, or completely 
screwed up
 themselves (what is it with them anyway?)
 10. Attitude:
 a. Hostile
 b. All-knowing
 c. Able to help others but not yourself
 d. Humorous
 e. Cynical
 f. Spacer
 11. Turning the pressure into something 'useful'.
 12. Acceptance.
 13. Writing stuff nobody will read.
 14. Exploring your past until you forget what you remember.
 15. Waiting patiently to grow out of it.
 16. Waiting patiently to see where it will all lead.
 17. Waiting for that dude with the AK-47.
 18. Getting pissed off that you can't kill yourself without
 bumming your friends.
 19. Isolation.
 20. Reading everything anybody has to say on the subject
 21. Developing a mild but sincere pride in yourself for surviving, 
which
 actually helps a little but still depends on the problem for 
it's own
 existence.

6) Sources for More Information About Angst

 Ken's WWW homepage: 
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/krawling/angst.html

 There is much literature available that conveys angst in its true 
forms.
 From Thoreau ("most men lead lives of quiet desperation"), to 
Sartre, 
 Dostoyevsky, Plath, and Dante; to ancient sages like the Buddha 
("Life
 is suffering"); to Shakespeare and Steinbeck. The Brothers Grimm 
are an
 excellent source of childhood angst should one desire to educate 
one's 
 children. As for visual art, Bosch, Van Gogh, and Munch spring
 immediately to mind. However, there is so much angstful art out 
there
 that we do a disservice to the art world by including only these 
names.

 In sum, almost all true works of art serve as little more than 
monuments
 to angst, so one can hardly go wrong.


