Have you ever seen someone blow up their life for no apparent reason? What happened?

You want stories but you didn’t tell any stories yourself. Why not?

like?

"Have you ever seen someone blow up their life for no apparent reason?"

I've seen multiple people do this. The reason is because they make decisions persuaded by emotional factors, not reason. They decide based on a feeling, then pick and choose (some but not all) facts to make their emotional snap-decision seem rationale. It's the opposite of what we should do, which is to delay big decision-making, assemble all the facts first, think about short and long-term pros and cons, then make a rational decision.

It's sad and kind of pathetic. But I've seen otherwise highly intelligent make devastatingly stupid life decisions in this way. People need to choose their own path, for better or worse. Maybe in the end, they learn from their mistakes. Maybe they don't. It's is what it is. You can't change it.

(There's a book called Influence, by Robert Cialdini, that explains how bad decision making happens like this so commonly to almost be the rule, rather than the exception).

Ya know, I spent 2 years at a school that undervalued me and kept promising scholarship money then would last minute have an excuse as to why they couldn’t. I was all conference in cross country and both indoor and outdoor track, scoring significant points for them but having to take out loans. So I entered the portal at the end of my sophomore year and got offered a full ride to another school and took it.
About a month into the summer I felt wrong about it and long story short I returned to the school I had left, still on no money. It was a decision that I can’t really explain to most people, as it sounds ridiculous. But God works in incredible ways and I wouldn’t change the decision I made. While I still took out loans, I now have doors open to me that wouldn’t have been there for me at the other school. The decision was solely based on Gods calling for my life, and while from the outside it looks like I was “blowing up my life”, if I could go back I wouldn’t change the decision.
you never know what someone has going on behind the scene and their motives, I would just say if they are your friends or family, ask questions and support them and love them

Saw the golden boy of my youth - undoubtedly one of the most genetically blessed individuals on the planet - drop everything in his mid 20s and basically become a hermit.

You mean like an 800 prodigy running 1500?

Any sense he had a mental illness?

9/11

On a serious though tragic note, look at any mass terror attack and/or shooting

My brother. Seemed like a perfect life, signed on as CEO of a Fortune 100, walked out of the building after meeting with board and signing papers, proceeded to continue walking for 20+ hours. We all feared the worst. Ended up found no clothes or personal belongings just snapped. Manic episode. Has finally fully recovered after 8 months but CEO job pulled. Been tough on family. Scary. Turns out could be bi-polar.

Damn that sucks, sorry to hear that

It's interesting to me that this comes up because I just said to someone today that we really have no idea what reality is like from another person's perspective.

Maybe Elizabeth Holmes?

Bipolar disorder is a serious, biologically based psychiatric condition. While tragic and tremendously unfortunate, it's not his fault. Would you be saying he threw his life away if he had a heart attack on his first day as CEO?

Alcoholism mainly. I know a few people who just let their drinking get out of control in college, they got heavily addicted, and haven't been able to quit or reduce their intake.

I've known a lot of people either directly or indirectly who were heavy users of cocaine/crack/freebasing. All of their lives went into the sh*t-hole. Some of them were suicides. I'm sure that many of them were running away from demons like PTSD. A close relative lost his business and marriage to coke. He was a two-tour Marine in Vietnam and was sufficiently damaged by the experience to where he was one of those who threw away their medals. Others that I knew were just waste-cases from youth or criminals. Broken families.

Osama Bin Laden had money falling out of his a**hole and he decided to cast his lot with deadenders.

He ended up as a corpse dumped into the ocean. He got off easy imo.

I knew this guy, living in his mom's basement, that became convinced that he created the greatest Seinfeld-like sitcom about a runner and all he needed to do was get the attention of a major Hollywood producer...

Was thinking of the same weirdo. Where is that little creep?