Raphael Hythloday
@eshuelegbara.bsky.social
Abyss-gazer, monster-fighter, part-time bartender. Full-time movies, philosophy, books, chess, and baseball.
when i'm not skeeting into the abyss, I write here: https://substack.com/@eshuelegbara
when i'm not skeeting into the abyss, I write here: https://substack.com/@eshuelegbara
Marx wasn’t talking about Tinder, but he may as well have been.
People are dating lifestyles, not humans.
People are dating lifestyles, not humans.
November 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Marx wasn’t talking about Tinder, but he may as well have been.
People are dating lifestyles, not humans.
People are dating lifestyles, not humans.
Even sexuality gets warped into branding seasons. Pivot the label, pivot the vibe, curate the aesthetic.
The farm fantasy isn’t love. It’s escape.
“Please absorb the economy for me.”
The farm fantasy isn’t love. It’s escape.
“Please absorb the economy for me.”
November 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Even sexuality gets warped into branding seasons. Pivot the label, pivot the vibe, curate the aesthetic.
The farm fantasy isn’t love. It’s escape.
“Please absorb the economy for me.”
The farm fantasy isn’t love. It’s escape.
“Please absorb the economy for me.”
Capitalism turns everything into a transaction:
security for beauty
comfort for attention
lifestyle for companionship
security for beauty
comfort for attention
lifestyle for companionship
November 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Capitalism turns everything into a transaction:
security for beauty
comfort for attention
lifestyle for companionship
security for beauty
comfort for attention
lifestyle for companionship
We’re not building lives with people anymore. We’re shopping for partners who already have the life assembled.
November 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
We’re not building lives with people anymore. We’re shopping for partners who already have the life assembled.
Not every preference needs a pathology.
Not every awkward moment is abuse.
Sometimes you’re just human and that’s okay.
#Language #Culture #TherapySpeak #Neurodivergence #Trauma #Accountability #GenerationalDifferences
Not every awkward moment is abuse.
Sometimes you’re just human and that’s okay.
#Language #Culture #TherapySpeak #Neurodivergence #Trauma #Accountability #GenerationalDifferences
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Not every preference needs a pathology.
Not every awkward moment is abuse.
Sometimes you’re just human and that’s okay.
#Language #Culture #TherapySpeak #Neurodivergence #Trauma #Accountability #GenerationalDifferences
Not every awkward moment is abuse.
Sometimes you’re just human and that’s okay.
#Language #Culture #TherapySpeak #Neurodivergence #Trauma #Accountability #GenerationalDifferences
It’s easier to say “my neurodivergence won’t let me” than “I don’t feel like doing that.” It’s easier to blame “trauma” than admit “I struggle with boundaries.”
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 PM
It’s easier to say “my neurodivergence won’t let me” than “I don’t feel like doing that.” It’s easier to blame “trauma” than admit “I struggle with boundaries.”
But these are clinical terms meant to describe real diagnoses and real suffering. When everyone uses them casually, the language loses meaning — and the people who actually need those words lose support.
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 PM
But these are clinical terms meant to describe real diagnoses and real suffering. When everyone uses them casually, the language loses meaning — and the people who actually need those words lose support.
Camus didn’t say “give up.”
He said: Life is meaningless, so rebel.
He said: Life is meaningless, so rebel.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Camus didn’t say “give up.”
He said: Life is meaningless, so rebel.
He said: Life is meaningless, so rebel.
You can either build a shrine to the void…or you can laugh, love, create, mess up, and start again knowing it’s temporary, but yours.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
You can either build a shrine to the void…or you can laugh, love, create, mess up, and start again knowing it’s temporary, but yours.
Life is absurd.
We’re monkeys on a space rock with no script, no cosmic applause.
Terrifying? Yes.
But also freeing.
We’re monkeys on a space rock with no script, no cosmic applause.
Terrifying? Yes.
But also freeing.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Life is absurd.
We’re monkeys on a space rock with no script, no cosmic applause.
Terrifying? Yes.
But also freeing.
We’re monkeys on a space rock with no script, no cosmic applause.
Terrifying? Yes.
But also freeing.
Camus warned that people would worship death before accepting freedom.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Camus warned that people would worship death before accepting freedom.
Real nihilism doesn’t replace meaning with a darker meaning.
It says: there is no final answer.
So if you’re brave enough, you create your own.
It says: there is no final answer.
So if you’re brave enough, you create your own.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Real nihilism doesn’t replace meaning with a darker meaning.
It says: there is no final answer.
So if you’re brave enough, you create your own.
It says: there is no final answer.
So if you’re brave enough, you create your own.
That’s not nihilism.
That’s religion flipped upside down with sadness as the new savior.
Still desperate for a Grand Answer just picking the bleak one.
That’s religion flipped upside down with sadness as the new savior.
Still desperate for a Grand Answer just picking the bleak one.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
That’s not nihilism.
That’s religion flipped upside down with sadness as the new savior.
Still desperate for a Grand Answer just picking the bleak one.
That’s religion flipped upside down with sadness as the new savior.
Still desperate for a Grand Answer just picking the bleak one.
Religion: “Life has meaning because of God.”
These folks: “Life has no meaning, so death is the only truth.”
It’s the same worldview, just dressed in black.
These folks: “Life has no meaning, so death is the only truth.”
It’s the same worldview, just dressed in black.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Religion: “Life has meaning because of God.”
These folks: “Life has no meaning, so death is the only truth.”
It’s the same worldview, just dressed in black.
These folks: “Life has no meaning, so death is the only truth.”
It’s the same worldview, just dressed in black.
When people finally accept life has no inherent meaning, most don’t handle the void.
Instead of facing it, they invent a new “truth” to cling to. Camus called that philosophical suicide.
Instead of facing it, they invent a new “truth” to cling to. Camus called that philosophical suicide.
October 28, 2025 at 12:48 PM
When people finally accept life has no inherent meaning, most don’t handle the void.
Instead of facing it, they invent a new “truth” to cling to. Camus called that philosophical suicide.
Instead of facing it, they invent a new “truth” to cling to. Camus called that philosophical suicide.
Otherwise it’s just performance all the way down.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Otherwise it’s just performance all the way down.
The fix is simple, but slow:
Think first.
Check later.
Show your receipts.
Be wrong publicly and learn out loud.
Think first.
Check later.
Show your receipts.
Be wrong publicly and learn out loud.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
The fix is simple, but slow:
Think first.
Check later.
Show your receipts.
Be wrong publicly and learn out loud.
Think first.
Check later.
Show your receipts.
Be wrong publicly and learn out loud.
We’re not training thinkers anymore.
We’re training actors—people fluent in the aesthetics of expertise but empty of the substance.
We’re training actors—people fluent in the aesthetics of expertise but empty of the substance.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
We’re not training thinkers anymore.
We’re training actors—people fluent in the aesthetics of expertise but empty of the substance.
We’re training actors—people fluent in the aesthetics of expertise but empty of the substance.
The result?
Everyone looks like an expert.
No one is one.
And honesty—real, verifiable honesty—becomes almost impossible to prove.
Everyone looks like an expert.
No one is one.
And honesty—real, verifiable honesty—becomes almost impossible to prove.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
The result?
Everyone looks like an expert.
No one is one.
And honesty—real, verifiable honesty—becomes almost impossible to prove.
Everyone looks like an expert.
No one is one.
And honesty—real, verifiable honesty—becomes almost impossible to prove.
In real life, you get called out.
Online, you respawn with a new handle.
No consequences, no humility.
Online, you respawn with a new handle.
No consequences, no humility.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
In real life, you get called out.
Online, you respawn with a new handle.
No consequences, no humility.
Online, you respawn with a new handle.
No consequences, no humility.
Online, nobody checks your receipts.
You can delete, rebrand, start over.
Proof-of-performance beats proof-of-work.
It’s effort-laundering.
You can delete, rebrand, start over.
Proof-of-performance beats proof-of-work.
It’s effort-laundering.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Online, nobody checks your receipts.
You can delete, rebrand, start over.
Proof-of-performance beats proof-of-work.
It’s effort-laundering.
You can delete, rebrand, start over.
Proof-of-performance beats proof-of-work.
It’s effort-laundering.
Wikipedia, summaries, AIs—these are great tools.
But people use them to skip the grind.
They outsource thinking, then cosplay as scholars.
But people use them to skip the grind.
They outsource thinking, then cosplay as scholars.
October 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Wikipedia, summaries, AIs—these are great tools.
But people use them to skip the grind.
They outsource thinking, then cosplay as scholars.
But people use them to skip the grind.
They outsource thinking, then cosplay as scholars.