A nihilist is a man who judges of the world as it is that it ought NOT to be, and of the world as it ought to be that it does not exist. According to this view, our existence (action, suffering, willing, feeling) has no meaning: the pathos of 'in vain' is the nihilists' pathos — at the same time, as pathos, an inconsistency on the part of the nihilists.
– Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, section 585, translated by Walter Kaufmann
Word of the day: Anti-Nihilism.
Given the following definition, I think I would call myself the anti-nihilist.
Given the following definition, I think I would call myself the anti-nihilist.
Independent of any type of religious or spiritual implications, I think the interconnectivity and patterns that exist in the world, in the universe, should be indicative of a greater purpose altogether.
This is a weak example, but grass on the earth serves several purposes; one being that it feeds cows, which feed people, people use it for energy and then, in turn, deposit those materials back to the earth to grow more grass. There is not a group mentioned here that, at one point, does not contribute and benefit from the other items in this symbiosis.
It is an elementary school example, but most theories and dissertations on Purpose are probably not as complex as many overly moody and introspective academics and philosophers like to think and get depressed about.
Nature as a whole is a perfectly well-oiled machine without superfluous parts or unnecessary processes. That goes for humans and their existence, too. I think its impossible to follow the 'in vain' mantra because nothing that has happened to date appears to be in vain. Those who claim something is done /exists in vain MUST stick around to watch a situation or item come to fruition to serve its purpose...though it might be decades or lifetimes away.
Anyone can glance at a one-minute scenario and say it was 'in vain' and then walk away. But saying it does not make it true, especially, after an hour's time, perhaps, when something else is triggered by a so-called 'in vain' instance. Even the idea of nihilism has provided me with a purpose of writing about it, so in that way is it a self-destructing theory?
I think claiming anything to be 'in vain' is a fruitless and near-sighted supposition full of immaturity and lacking the innate hope the majority of humans are naturally equipped with.
I blame the gag gift image of Nihilist mints that got me going on this topic. A strange little box of delicious purpose for my writing topic today.
3 comments:
We actually have that gum. That is awesome.
I'm not sure exactly if I get the gist of what nihilism means, but I believe that we (everything living on earth) are a tiny insignificant little bit of particle matter, that WILL perish. We’re so self-important, just like we actually used to think for a while that we were the center of the universe. Really, really? Center of the universe?! If we weren’t so self important we wouldn't have even come close to the idea that we are the center of the universe. We are NOT important, and human beings will eventually cease to exist. The universe is NOT a place for human beings. BTW check this out btw to feel how tiny we really are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q
Eventually we will have to leave this planet because the sun is going to expand and engulf the earth. The universe is FULL of all sorts of radiation, and gamma rays.. Even if we build a ship, it would take millions of generations till we actually got to a planet that would sustain us. Even by then humans would mutate genetically, because we would keep mating with the same people over and over, also because there would be no gravity and all the conditions on earth, we would again mutate or evolve differently. We have no purpose in the universe, our lives are meaningless. What we say and do here on earth, we think that it IS important but people have no idea how meaningless everything really is. Yea, yea, the grass might give nutrients to "cows cows, which feed people, people use it for energy and then, in turn, deposit those materials back to the earth to grow more grass", it's all useful here on earth for us, but in the overall picture of the universe and multiverses, and I hate to be repetitious but, we are nothing but a tiny insignificant little bit of particle matter.
First of all, thanks for reading and writing, Anonymous. I'm sure my views sound pretty ridiculous to you and that's ok because belief is intangible, subjective and formed by an individual's unique life experiences.
Nihilism is the general mood of despair at the alleged perceived pointlessness of existence - so I think you are more familiar with the term than you think. At least that was the mood I took from your comment.
Thanks for the YouTube link - that was a cool video and I actually thought of a neat idea for a drawing from it - hmmm....maybe it was meant to be!
As I'm sure you're aware, this is a blog about my own personal Christian Universalist beliefs that obviously do not jive with your comments. And I respect that you feel this way. Absolutely I do. I'm not going to judge you and tell you you're wrong. But, I will say that the difference between your fundamental views and mine seems to be that when you look up at the stars in the night sky, you think about how insignificant you are in relation to the universe and perhaps how meaningless your existence is at all, whereas when I look up at the stars in the night sky I am just filled with overwhelming gratitude to behold it at all and I thank God for my tiny little blip of a life.
Even the smallest of beings has impact beyond our limited and flawed ability to see and know.
I wish you the best of luck in your journey, friend - thanks for stopping by and God bless :)
Post a Comment