My trip into the mountains to study Existentialism and what it means for the FIRE movement

 

Something got into me during the semester holidays. After conducting my Early Retirement Masterclass and teaching a semester of both Law and Data Analytics, I told myself I needed to head solo into the mountains to study existentialism.

So last Saturday, I crossed the Causeway, took the ETS to KL, then spent a day meeting students and relatives before taking a 5-hour bus to Cameron Highlands with a book on Existentialism. In Cameron, I tried two approaches to enjoy the place. The first was an intense one-day tour of the area that covered about 80% of what I needed. The second was a day to recover from the first, where I just hung around Tanah Rata and went where my nose led me. 

As a result, both extremes don't really suit me, and while I finished the book, I still couldn't really understand what Existentialism is all about.

So this article is my attempt to reflect on the few Existentialist concepts I was able to grasp in my solo travel, which I hope the reader will appreciate.

So the basic notion is that we can't really choose our circumstances when we are born. We have a starting hand in life, and we also inherit social expectations from the people around us, societal norms, and built-in behavioral biases from fields like evolutionary psychology. 

But we are not bystanders; we have to live, so some of us take up careers, buy things, and pursue status, all to impress people we may not know or like, just to conform to society. People should do this; you must act in a particular way. Chinese New Year is like an audit where you are ranked in personal achievements relative to your cousins.

Conforming and being conventional is okay, until you realize our time in this world is limited. When you conform to others' or society's expectations, you aren't really taking the time to do what you really want, and existentialists see this as acting in bad faith. So does it make sense to be a walking resume and just be the kind of cousin that gets all the accolades during CNY?

So how should one live? 

First, you need to understand that you are in this prison-like situation; then you need to take ownership of your life. Make choices for your life despite these societal constraints. This is what existentialists say is being authentic. 

I see many of these concepts in practice as I travel solo. 

When I travel alone, I don't need to consider the needs of fellow travelers, so I can do what I want, but only for the short time I have before I return to Singapore. But this freedom comes with some anxiety. So, I have to make different choices about the trip's intensity and figure out which itinerary I prefer. Like A/B testing. The intense day trip was physically uncomfortable, but I saw many things and even made new friends on LinkedIn. The day I did nothing was blissful, but I felt vulnerable to FOMO. In the end, I was just happy to see my cousin so that I could bitch about my trip over a cup of Teh Halia.

I've always had an inkling that Existentialism will play a major role in the FIRE movement.

Once you attain it, financial independence will give you a lot of optionality in life. I've dedicated more than two decades to pursuing and then teaching it. But an existentialist will laugh and say that financial independence is just a beginning and not even a person's final form.

Optionality gained from financial independence should drive more agency in life. 

If you don't have to work anymore, what would you do? 

Whatever you do needs to have meaning because your life is short. So retirement may be acting in bad faith because RE is already built into FIRE by definition. 

Why should you retire just to signal that you've gained financial independence?

Mirroring a concept in philosophy, when you gain financial independence, you've just begun existing in Singapore society.

Existence precedes Essence. 

There is fundamentally no new meaning in your life just because you can live off your investment income. I used to call FI a person's Financial Nirvana, but an existentialist will disagree.

But now, with your new financial power, you need to exercise your agency to break away from the notion that you are working for money. 

Life is too short to work for money after you have money.

Without a clear definition or meaning of life, existentialists believe that people now have the freedom to choose a life path that gives themselves meaning.

So this is the glide path for folks who gain financial independence. 

First you can get enough income without work. Since you are no longer confined to the social expectation of having a career, you might need to find what kind of work, or non-work, gives your life meaning. 

Then you do it. 

You gain authorship over your own life.

If, after much introspection, you still want to retire early, so be it!

So I'm at the tail end of my trip now. I hope to get back to my mundane existence in Singapore tomorrow. I think I've gone too far bringing such a dry philosophy book with me into the mountains. 

I will limit these projects to perhaps just once a year.