Nihlism

Never said you don't impact the people around you, just saying no one knows what happens after you die and no one will ever know.

Aaronnn:

I just don't understand why you would think about what happens after you die when you are still alive. There's only one way to find out ;)

Well, I don't understand why someone would want to go bungee jumping, but I don't tell people not to do it. Of course there's no definite way of knowing what happens when one dies, but some people are going to wonder anyway.

Why did you bring up bungee jumping?

Bungee jumping is an activity that it is fun for some people, you don't gain anything from thinking about what happens when you die, shouldn't have to worry about anything if you are a nice, respectful, moral person.

Aaronnn:

Why did you bring up bungee jumping?

Bungee jumping is an activity that it is fun for some people, you don't gain anything from thinking about what happens when you die, shouldn't have to worry about anything if you are a nice, respectful, moral person.

Exactly. Why do you think some people contemplate what will happen when they die? Because it's an activity that they enjoy. And you don't gain anything from bungee jumping either, aside from possibly a few broken bones or worse if an accident happens.

And that's part of it too. People should have nothing to worry about because they're nice, respectful, and moral people... and yet... how many people do you know that aren't caught up on their own issues with themselves? Don't you think those issues may manifest themselves in some form or another in that person's mind when contemplating "what will happen next?".

I thought we were talking about afterlife.

We are. Sorry if I wasn't clear with that last post. The point I was trying to make was that people think about the afterlife regardless. Because they enjoy doing it. They worry about it because they worry about themselves. It's all part of human nature.

I'd also say it's a requirement for one to think about the afterlife before dismissing it as being meaningless. You cannot hope to judge that which you have no knowledge of.

Nihilism is my basic philosophy which upsets alot of people, because they like to think there's something more. I wasn't brought up a nihilist, I found my beliefs through reasoning and logic. Sorry people don't agree, but nihilism is the truth.

^ In your opinion.

I'm not saying it's wrong; I'm a nihilist myself, but that doesn't mean it's definitely true.

^Well it means you believe it's true. That has to count for something.

^ Well yes, but I meant that saying "nihilism is the truth" as if it's a hard fact is different to saying "I believe nihilism is the truth".

Beau Mark Bokan.:

Does anyone actually know a real life Nihilist? :shifty
Because, honestly, I can't see someone living in that whole mindset for the remainder of their life.

I am one. And it really isn't that depressing of a life style. In fact, believing that life is completely meaningless is kind of liberating. No longer are you wandering around hoping to find your destiny. Nor are you waiting for something good to happen to you because you deserve it. You realize that everything in our society is just the actions of plain old, violent, stupid people, and so you strive to do something different to affect the world. Well, maybe that last part is just me. And I don't mean that I want to better the world, I just want to affect it because really, what else is there to do? I don't want to be bored, so I'll just do things to people. And that is basically why I write. Because there is nothing better in the world than books.

^I'd agree with that. Except the bit about writing. I do hold it in high regard as well, but I value music above it.

^ Also a huge fan of music. What are your top five bands? (And sorry to get off topic on this thread, but hey, gotta do something with life)

^My top 5 would have to be The Album Leaf, Carissa's Wierd, S, A Silver Mt. Zion, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. You're awesome if you've heard of any of them, seeing as they're pretty unknown, but if not that's okay. There's a lot of other stuff I'm into too, which falls under practically every genre under the sun. And yourself?

Back on topic, though. I think the main reason people aren't too fond of the idea of Nihilism because they like thinking that there is something greater, and fear nothingness, equating it with despair.

Also, who here has seen The Big Lebowski? xD

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"Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos."

^ I actually have heard of the Album Leaf and I really like Carissa's Wierd. I listen to a lot of Robert Pollard, Radiohead, and Soul Coughing.

I agree that people equate nothingness with despair, instead of paying attention to it's liberating features. And I love the Big Lebowski!

I'm restarting this thread with a question:

My counsellor and I had a fairly enjoyable (and depressing, I guess) discussion about philosophical matters. She is an extentialist and I'm a nihilist. We came up with a vague conclusion that the world is divided into people who have "realised" (this is in quotation marks since I'm sure many will disagree with me on that word) that there is no great meaning to life and those who have not. She also felt that the majority felt that there was a meaning to life.

My question is hypothetical. If God was disproven somehow and all that such thing and humanism failed; would the lack of meaning in life be a blessing or a curse?

Personally, I feel that most people who feel there is no "grand" meaning to life means that you put your own meaning to it. The minority - like myself - would feel that there is no meaning anyway and putting on a personal meaning is pointless.

Any other ideas or have I actually made no sense and therefore wasted moments of your life I cannot return to you?

river song.:

My question is hypothetical. If God was disproven somehow and all that such thing and humanism failed; would the lack of meaning in life be a blessing or a curse?

I'm not sure it would be either, for me, but it certainly would not be negative. I think the idea of a coincidental existence (I suppose I'm assuming that lack of meaning of life implies we got here by complete coincidence) is one of the most beautiful. People brand it as "depressing" or "pointless", but if you think about it; if the odds of us existing were that tiny, and yet we still got here, how amazing is that? It makes me want to take advantage of every shred of life I have.

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Personally, I feel that most people who feel there is no "grand" meaning to life means that you put your own meaning to it.

This is me, in a way. I think if anything, meanings of life are subjective to each individual person, and people make their life what they want it to be, but very loosely-speaking (I don't think there's some sort of spiritual raison d'être, just what a person wants their life to mean). Aside from that, I don't think there's any kind of grand meaning at all.

river song.:

I'm restarting this thread with a question:

My counsellor and I had a fairly enjoyable (and depressing, I guess) discussion about philosophical matters. She is an extentialist and I'm a nihilist. We came up with a vague conclusion that the world is divided into people who have "realised" (this is in quotation marks since I'm sure many will disagree with me on that word) that there is no great meaning to life and those who have not. She also felt that the majority felt that there was a meaning to life.

My question is hypothetical. If God was disproven somehow and all that such thing and humanism failed; would the lack of meaning in life be a blessing or a curse?

Personally, I feel that most people who feel there is no "grand" meaning to life means that you put your own meaning to it. The minority - like myself - would feel that there is no meaning anyway and putting on a personal meaning is pointless.

Any other ideas or have I actually made no sense and therefore wasted moments of your life I cannot return to you?

Il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux! One must imagine Sisyphus happy. The realisation that life is meaningless has definitely been viewed as a blessing by some (especially Camus and Nietzsche) and as a curse by others (especially critics of Camus and Nietzsche), but in general, those who believe that existence is meaningless/undecipherable also believe that this realisation leads somebody to live a fuller life in which, because they're not spending so much time chasing down meaning, they can be happy just existing and find if not meaning, valour in extraordinary human heroism.

Alex; oxytocin.:

I'm not sure it would be either, for me, but it certainly would not be negative. I think the idea of a coincidental existence (I suppose I'm assuming that lack of meaning of life implies we got here by complete coincidence) is one of the most beautiful. People brand it as "depressing" or "pointless", but if you think about it; if the odds of us existing were that tiny, and yet we still got here, how amazing is that? It makes me want to take advantage of every shred of life I have.

Coincidental existence still implies that life is full of meaning, that it can be decoded, ordered in tidy boxes, but by science not religion. Both Camus and Nietzsche (and many other existentialists and nihilists) were as much against the idea that spiritual knowledge of the world is possible as they were against the idea that scientific knowledge of the world is possible. For them, the universe cannot be rationalized because it has no meaning and only meaningful information/data/concepts can be rationalized. The information that science gives us about the universe is as much an illusion caused by our need to rationalize and attribute meaning to everything as religion is.

I will admit to often having nihilistic points of view. I agree with the fact that once we're gone, we're gone and eventually many of us will be forgotten. I do believe in a God, and I myself believe than anything that happens, happens because He wanted it to. I therefore do not feel much point to my being. He wanted me here, so He put me here.

river song.:

My question is hypothetical. If God was disproven somehow and all that such thing and humanism failed; would the lack of meaning in life be a blessing or a curse?

I'd say it would be both, depending on the person, and seeing as it would affect the entire world, it would be a gigantic mixed bag of blessings and curses.

I think, though, that there would be a fair number of people who would still believe in god regardless. Conspiracy theories, for one. I know the question is hypothetical, but in all seriousness, I'm having trouble picturing how it would happen even if it was possible. The very idea of god being disproven is pretty ridiculous. Especially considering Nihilism swings much more towards Agnosticism than Atheism or Theism.

river song.:

Personally, I feel that most people who feel there is no "grand" meaning to life means that you put your own meaning to it. The minority - like myself - would feel that there is no meaning anyway and putting on a personal meaning is pointless.

My own beliefs are a mix of the two. It's a mix of Existentialism and Nihilism. There is no inherent good or evil, nor greater meaning or purpose in this world. However, that has never stopped people from creating meaning or purpose on their own, often without even realizing it. Do you believe in love for another? There. There's a meaning for you right there. It just happens.