It doesn't matter...

[Ricin]

What are your thoughts on Nihilism?
Do you think they matter?

 

[WALMART]

I would consider myself a nihilist.

On the grand scale, nothing matters.

I, however, would like to see others that exist be put in a more advantageous position than they are currently in.

Does that eliminate my status as a nihilist?

 

[Evo]

I would consider myself a nihilist.

On the grand scale, nothing matters.

I, however, would like to see others that exist be put in a more advantageous position than they are currently in.

Does that eliminate my status as a nihilist?

Yea I think that negates the nihilist part ha ha. But I understand what you mean.

Couple years ago when I was 21 I was just starting college and took a philosphy 101 class. Slept through it and then at the end got through all the material to pass the tests. Well I took the material too seriously I think. So for like a year I was in a total funk believing nothing mattered. It was at the same time I had been realizing that the religion I had been drug up with was faulty in more ways than I knew. But being an ENTJ and thinking nothing matters is almost impossible/causes depression lol, so I was motivated by this thought that "something has to matter." - So I have been looking for something that fits what I innately believe. And I think I have found it! So no more nihilism for me ha ha!

btw would finding meaning in everything fall under existentialism?

 

[WALMART]

Yea I think that negates the nihilist part ha ha. But I understand what you mean.

Couple years ago when I was 21 I was just starting college and took a philosphy 101 class. Slept through it and then at the end got through all the material to pass the tests. Well I took the material too seriously I think. So for like a year I was in a total funk believing nothing mattered. It was at the same time I had been realizing that the religion I had been drug up with was faulty in more ways than I knew. But being an ENTJ and thinking nothing matters is almost impossible/causes depression lol, so I was motivated by this thought that "something has to matter." - So I have been looking for something that fits what I innately believe. And I think I have found it! So no more nihilism for me ha ha!

btw would finding meaning in everything fall under existentialism?

All I know of existentialism is what I have thought, is was I was going to say, and apparently the definition of existentialism agrees =P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism



I have thought of myself as an existential nihilist, a term that I have found since concocting it actually exists. I don't believe anything matters, yet I and apparently others exist, and should therefore make what I can for myself and those around me. I'd like to do some reading into what existential nihilism is all about, since my philosophies may align with it proper.




I can imagine having religious foundation overturned would cause some cognitive unrest. I am fairly fortunate to have been raised in a relatively non-functioning religious household, even I have existential problems, so I can only imagine...

 

[Ricin]

I'm not very familiar with existentialism to give and valid opinion on it, not that it would matter.

I'd say I'm not a true nihilist, but I have a lot of nihilistic tendencies. When I think about me thinking nothing matters I wonder how much of it was created by me in an attempt to safeguard me from depression. e.g. When I spill a glass of milk I think . o O (It doesn't matter) and am not upset that the milk was spilled then go about my day.

Currently I'm aware of nihilistic conditioning on my part.
I wonder if anyone is truly nihilistic. What would someone like that do?

In the movie "Crisis on two earths" by Warner premier [a movie about the justice league] Owlman, the batman counterpart from a universe where the heroes are villains and villains are heroes, is nihilistic. He seeks out

earth prime, the earth that all earths are derived from, so he can destroy it. Which would cause all the earths to be destroyed. His reason is that it would be the only action that would matter. At the end of the movie he's been sent to a barren earth [that isn't a derivative of any earths anyone cares about] with his world destroying nuke. He has the ability to stop the nuke from going off but says "it doesn't matter." just before it destroys him and the planet he's on

.

So, I'm not sure he's truly nihilistic until the end of that. Prior to that he's someone who wants to do something that matters, which means he thinks such a thing would exist. And he's going through his daily routines and task so clearly something matters enough for him to get out of bed instead of take inaction all day.

 

[WALMART]

I'm not very familiar with existentialism to give and valid opinion on it, not that it would matter.

I'd say I'm not a true nihilist, but I have a lot of nihilistic tendencies. When I think about me thinking nothing matters I wonder how much of it was created by me in an attempt to safeguard me from depression. e.g. When I spill a glass of milk I think . o O (It doesn't matter) and am not upset that the milk was spilled then go about my day.

Currently I'm aware of nihilistic conditioning on my part.
I wonder if anyone is truly nihilistic. What would someone like that do?

In the movie "Crisis on two earths" by Warner premier [a movie about the justice league] Owlman, the batman counterpart from a universe where the heroes are villains and villains are heroes, is nihilistic. He seeks out

earth prime, the earth that all earths are derived from, so he can destroy it. Which would cause all the earths to be destroyed. His reason is that it would be the only action that would matter. At the end of the movie he's been sent to a barren earth [that isn't a derivative of any earths anyone cares about] with his world destroying nuke. He has the ability to stop the nuke from going off but says "it doesn't matter." just before it destroys him and the planet he's on

.

So, I'm not sure he's truly nihilistic until the end of that. Prior to that he's someone who wants to do something that matters, which means he thinks such a thing would exist. And he's going through his daily routines and task so clearly something matters enough for him to get out of bed instead of take inaction all day.

Hm, sounds like an interesting story. Nihilistic to the end, I think that's the definition of a true nihilist =P


If you're into reading and haven't done so already, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is along the lines of that story. Very existential in scope, as the plot drags along.

 

[Evo]

All I know of existentialism is what I have thought, is was I was going to say, and apparently the definition of existentialism agrees =P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExistentialismQUOTE]

Thanks for that link. A quote from that says "The possibility of having everything meaningful break down poses a threat of quietism, which is inherently against the existentialist philosophy" and that answered my question

Well I'm not an existentialist (except I feel like it's a base that everything can start from because to have other beliefs ie nothing matters, you must believe you exist to have beliefs, so everyone is an existentialist in it's pure sense. ha ha) So I must continue my quest for truth ha ha
[MENTION=16509]Ricin[/MENTION] I understand the "When I spill a glass of milk" thing. I have never seen that movie, but it doesn sound like that character is truly nihilistic by the end

 

[Evo]

@ jontherobot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existential_nihilism

 

[Ricin]

Hm, sounds like an interesting story. Nihilistic to the end, I think that's the definition of a true nihilist =P


If you're into reading and haven't done so already, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is along the lines of that story. Very existential in scope, as the plot drags along.

That movie is fucking awesome. A lot of the characters represent different aspects in philosophy apparently. The counterparts from the other earth aren't generic evil twins either. It's a little weird. Batman is semi-nihilistic, more of a "It's not my problem" kinda guy. When asked to go help save the other earth

batman basically says to fuck off because he's busy saving HIS earth

. Where Owlman is Mostly the "evil" extreme of that idea.

 

[sprinkles]

Owlman sounds like a faux poser Nihilist to me.

The point of Nihilism is not to get caught up in despair and amoral behavior. Doing so is quite ridiculous and is merely a form of existential angst.

People who want to appear edgy have hijacked nihilism and warped the philosophy into something that it is not, and what's worse is that people are commonly accepting the hijacked version and creating a stigma that does not belong to it.

 

[Ricin]

Owlman sounds like a faux poser Nihilist to me.

The point of Nihilism is not to get caught up in despair and amoral behavior. Doing so is quite ridiculous and is merely a form of existential angst.

People who want to appear edgy have hijacked nihilism and warped the philosophy into something that it is not, and what's worse is that people are commonly accepting the hijacked version and creating a stigma that does not belong to it.

Posers always suck ballsacks.
But I wouldn't consider Owlman to be a poser since he never really claims to be a nihilist. He just has a lot of nihilistic tendencies.

Personally I'd never say that I'm a complete nihilist. Just that I'm nihilistic about things in life.

 

[Anew Leaf]

Self-fulling prophecies are sneaky like this.

 

[Hyacinth]

I think we should always have some purpose to believe in.

 

[skylights]

Nihilism seems very inherently unsatisfying to me. If others think it makes the most sense, that is fine, but it just doesn't make logical sense to me or fulfill me, so I believe otherwise.

 

[sprinkles]

I think we should always have some purpose to believe in.

And what is that purpose?

Who makes that purpose?

 

[Hyacinth]

And what is that purpose?

Who makes that purpose?

I guess that depends on the individual.

 

[sprinkles]

I guess that depends on the individual.

Depends on the individual's what?
Destiny? Choice? Fate? God?

How does the individual discover their purpose?

Is purpose in the individual's hands, or are they fated to some unknown cosmic arrangement?

 

[Hyacinth]

Depends on the individual's what?
Destiny? Choice? Fate? God?

How does the individual discover their purpose?

Is purpose in the individual's hands, or are they fated to some unknown cosmic arrangement?

1) choice
2) different for everyone
3) it could be either or.

 

[sprinkles]

1) choice
2) different for everyone
3) it could be either or.

So one may or may not actually have a meaning or purpose. Unless they invent it of course.

Sounds pretty existential to me.

 

[Ginkgo]

I think people often become nihilists when they fixate on the consequences of their actions, their lives, and the future of the human race from a perspective that holds that this reality is finite. Such a perspective naturally leads to over-analysis, despair, boredom, mischief, and meaningless recreation which is compensatory for a lack of philosophical closure in one's worldview. By "closure", I mean coming to terms with the finite by believing in the infinite. Closure does not entail a lack of critical thinking; in fact I would say that it simply makes critical thinking dependable.