Nihilism

Post Reply New Topic

This is something I've been thinking about for a while and I want to joyfully share it with people. I don't see a better place to put it than here since it's not really a conversation starter I can use for an everyday chat.

I consider philosophy and religion to be something that people are simply indoctrinated into and/or use to try and give their lives understanding and purpose where there isn't any.

There's enough evidence in science that almost certainly proves there isn't a god to follow and your consciousness simply doesn't exist after death. I don't see a goal in life that's worth pursuing either since personal goals such as attaining wealth, happiness or love may be fulfilling on an individual level, they don't accomplish anything for the world and will amount to nothing when your life ends. If the primary goal of life is about species preservation and creating a new generation then that's ultimately just a cycle of life and death without objective.

Am I completely wrong or is this kind of thinking actually the most logical view of the world?

...Other bedtime stories for children coming soon.

For the most part this is true, it particularly comes to mind with NT's that they'll often either stay within what they were given or pin their identity to a radical abreaction to it. Three jumps or more is just considered crazy.


I'd fully agree with you on the Nihilism, ie. there doesn't seem to be any individual meaning or purpose that hangs together under scrutiny. As for the rest - I see most of our hangups over life after death either needing to exist or needing to not exist being political. Outside of the politics though I don't think we get off the hook of being simply by taking our last breath. I have a lot of reasons for going that way but maybe the best opening question I'd pose for you to ponder - where's the transform for unconscious matter to become conscious or house consciousness? If we're considering consciousness to be something not present in matter then we're multiplying by 0 and getting a non-zero result. Panpsychism only hangs together if matter is actually autonomous 'stuff' which looks a bit questionable these days. My best guess is that our politics is in the way on this one and will stay in the way for decades if not longer.

Totally agree...
Embrace existentialism and make your own man made meaning of life...

BTW, People don't have to get depressed about there not being an intrinsic purpose...
It is a choice...<shrug>

And I wouldn't worry about scaring the kids...
Those feeling threatened by the concept, or those not capable of comprehending, have safeguards which evolution has created in the form of cognitive dissonance and/or a mild form of dissociative disorder to cope emotionally...

Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One but the light bulb has got to want to chance...

In other words, rationality can never convince someone who has a greater vested interest in their emotional needs over intellectual enlightenment...
To each their own...<shrug>

It looks like another prayer for a perch, another way of trying to find a solid intellectual foothold where there isn't one, and one which lends itself to rationalization of a kind of enlightened inactivity. If your view were drawn out, then, "...they don't accomplish anything for the world and will amount to nothing when your life ends," would not have the power to negate any relative meaning or purpose, since whether things serve some ultimate purpose or not is, by the same token, not inherently meaningful.

This. You have to remain flexible, otherwise the world does you in.

True for religion but not for philosophy, of which Nihilism is a part. If you desire a social purpose, what's stopping you from achieving that? Do you really need to think that life as a whole needs a purpose? I highly doubt that it makes any difference to you.

We are driven by genetic coding...
The desire for spirituality/meaning is a biochemical trick of nature...
It doesn't mean we have to be a slave to that evolutionary manipulation...

I don't believe in panpsychism, all form of matter has an existence, but it's not necessarily conscious. The only organ that's capable of housing consciousness is the brain and when that stops working i.e. death then the consciousness is gone. Everyone's physical body eventually dies, that's something that no one can deny. It's forever losing the consciousness that a person's had their whole life that some people cannot accept.

What I was implying by saying that consciousness doesn't exist after death is that there isn't any sort of 'afterlife', and that some people use that theory to deny that they won't have a further existence.


Will do, now my new meaning in life is to convince as many people as I can that there is no meaning.

I totally agree with you about people not having to get depressed about the fact that there's no intrinsic purpose. Although it can be a depressing concept to some people; 'Is there a purpose in life?' and 'Is life worth living?' are different questions. The second of which doesn't have to be 'no' if you believe that the former is also 'no'.

I think you're right about people who reject Nihilism too; most are unlikely to change their opinion. If someone's emotional well-being is compromised and they feel uncomfortable then they'll struggle to accept thoughts about the nihilistic nature of things.


Nothing's stopping anyone from trying to achieve a social purpose, and no, I don't think life as a whole needs a purpose and nor do I think that it has one. The point is that what I believe in doesn't make a difference and it's meaningless whether I do or don't achieve the social purposes in life, making the 'purpose' redundant. I think that's evidence of nihilism in philosophy.

.... there may not be a meaning in things, that doesn't mean there can't be enjoyment. I'm not talking short term enjoyment, hedonism, but rather long term things - that's what peoplecall goals etc. - something to work towards. Needless to say that the problem with those is the meaning of the goal - why the hassle?
Well, it makes sense to pick goals to work towards to in alignment with your personal preference of what kind of work you enjoy - because doing a job you like and you are good at gives you dopamine. And that's what life is all about, not for your genes, but for the brain.

You admitted that you can find meaning in a social purpose. If there is local meaning, there is meaning.

Last edited by AspE on 03 Feb 2019, 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I used to be a nihilist, until it drove me to the edge of suicide. For me it was an unsustainable philosophy, because if life has no meaning then why bother continuing to exist? Pursuit of pleasure isn't enough as a lifetime goal, because pleasure levels in any given activity will inherently vary depending on the quality of the experience, and so pleasure always carries the potential for disappointment. Many people aren't bothered by these things, but I was.

^^

Anguish clearly is loaded with negative meaning as well. There are all kinds of things you could do in human exchange that would end your life as you know it or make it far worse for yourself permanently. It's part of why when people consider nihilism as their philosophy they're thinking of it in a very specific context - ie. an answer to those pensive nights where they feel inclined to sit up and ask themselves 'what's the meaning of all this?'. Outside of that we have such a brimming abundance of negative meaning in day to day activity that we hardly have an idea what to do with it or how to keep it from damaging our health.

I don't worry about nihilism because it's like wondering what color is everything? It doesn't matter, what matters is what color are certain things.

If you feel a need...
Not my choice...
Refer to the first line of my signature...



So we are on the same page:
I am not a nihilist...
I don't subscribe to any formal philosophical doctrine...
I make my own...

Rather, I am a seeker of the Truth...
And in my off hours, I skylark as the Oracle of Truth who is a simple conduit...a messenger...
And as such, from my POV, it is not the rejection of Nihilism...
It is the rejection of the Truth...
To each their own...<shrug>


Also consider:
The death of romantic love, Platonic love, love of religion, love of spirituality, love of an intellectual construct, etc... essentially have similar emotional consequences...
And their loss can instigate/elicit, essentially, a similar sort of response as the shock of being diagnosed with a terminal disease...

5 stages of grieving:
[/quote]


The above diagram can be utilised in explaining the emotional responses and rational resolution as a result of the death of an ideology/socially-indoctrinated-meme/etc...

Last edited by Pepe on 04 Feb 2019, 12:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

I wasn't able to edit and fix the original (same) post any longer so I copied it with the change...<shrug>

If you feel a need...
Not my choice...
Refer to the first line of my signature...



So we are on the same page:
I am not a nihilist...
I don't subscribe to any formal philosophical doctrine...
I make my own...

Rather, I am a seeker of the Truth...
And in my off hours, I skylark as the Oracle of Truth who is a simple conduit...a messenger...
And as such, from my POV, it is not the rejection of Nihilism...
It is the rejection of the Truth...
To each their own...<shrug>


Also consider:
The death of romantic love, Platonic love, love of religion, love of spirituality, love of an intellectual construct, etc... essentially have similar emotional consequences...
And their loss can instigate/elicit, essentially, a similar sort of response as the shock of being diagnosed with a terminal disease...

5 stages of grieving:
[/quote]


The above diagram can be utilised in explaining the emotional responses and rational resolution as a result of the death of an ideology/socially-indoctrinated-meme/etc...[/quote]