(/rant)Does this kind of thing happen to you too ?

Been there, thought that (well most of it). I did my under-graduation from the shittiest of the colleges, used to feel depressed, hollow meaningless and most of the times angry. My frustration started little earlier, from school time. I could never make sense of the stuff that was taught and the stupid rules. Reason of my depression was the physical punishment that I used to get in abundance because I couldn't understand and hence follow the rules.

You seem to be at the stage where you feel like world is wrong and you can't do anything about it. Let me tell you this, you can do something about it. You can try to understand it. At the root of most of your questions is one generic question "why do humans behave in certain ways?". As you progress towards getting a clearer answer for this question, answers for most of your questions will start unfolding themselves. Why countries, why war, why labelling and all.

You are definitely not alone to think this. I used to be a quite a rebel when I was little, questioning everything; fortunately my family encouraged it, unfortunately my school(s) didn't. I literally spent my school years broken down and depressed (I still give me chills when I think of some of my teachers and the god damned principal (his name was Rajan Chopra, if someone find him, please kill him), and I still wish them painful deaths). My point is, you are not alone.

To get a solution for your problems, I'd suggest you what worked for me. I read somewhere of some ancient sect (I forgot the name) whose approach for finding truth (and hence God) was to master a craft. It doesn't matter what, just choose a craft and dedicate your life to master it. I chose programming. I had a natural inclination towards computers so it never felt like work.

There's nothing wrong with you to think like this. It's actually the sign of a better mind. Some of your thoughts seem ludicrous to many here (including me), but it doesn't mean they are. Words can express only so much.

So how learning programming has helped me so far? It taught me I can solve unsolvable problems, it gave me a way to think. To get the answer to the great question of "why humans behave like that", I learned to experiment with people. I accepted that I do not belong with them, so I started thinking that I am b/w them to study them, and study I did. I started watching people and then doing small experiments (not the bs youtube social experiments). It turned out to be not very effective way of learning, but it did give me a confidence that I don't need the approval of my test subject. At this time I finally got rid of 80% of the weight that I was carrying in my head from school (rest 20% still haunts me, I believe it is irreparable damage). What worked best to understand humans is reading books. Any kind of books that involve people, fiction and non-fiction. Some writers are too good and teach you different ways of thinking. If you like sci-fi, I recommend Ender's Game.

Finally, keep patience my friend. Take a deep breath followed by a small step. You choose what that step should be. And let the mysteries unfold themselves one by one. You will learn to keep patience. Trust me, all smart people do. Either that or you're gonna go complete nuts.

/r/india Thread