Tags
debates, faith, humor, insanitybytes22, life, nihilism, philosophy
I suspect “fun with nihilism” may be a total oxymoron, unless you are already a bit disturbed, in which case one’s bent sense of humor would find such things amusing. What can I say, I have seen some ridiculous emotional meltdowns, the kind that compel you to simply ask, “well now, all better?” That is the proper response to nihilism, Finished? Can I get you a hot drink and perhaps a blanket?
I empathize there, seriously, I have railed against all of creation and yelled at God Himself. It is not that I do not understand the condition of being a nihilist, it is just that when I yelled at God He happened to yell back, which does indeed change one’s perspective rather quickly.
I declined to participate in a philosophical discussion on nihilism today that began with, “man is a rational creature.” That one statement right there clued me into the fact that we have left the realm of reason entirely and simply entered another dimension. It is not really that I am opposed to reason and logic, I just cannot abide things that masquerade themselves as rational.
People are free to be, well actually they are free to be anything they want, but to please me you must choose, logic, rhetoric, or emotionalism. Or even all three if you like! Multi task, that’s just fine. What I cannot abide is emotionalism and rhetoric disguised as reason. Drives me nuts. I am all about the irrational, the emotional, the angst, misery, and woe, just let’s not try to disguise it as some higher form of intelligence or something. There is a Higher form of intelligence and the good news is… He is not us. Thank God.
And for goodness sake, let’s not call our despair a philosophy! Enter nihilism. Nihilism for the purpose of today’s amusement is defined as, “Existential nihilism is the belief that life has no intrinsic meaning or value.”Ā I mean really, what is not better than a proper existentialist crisis and people lamenting the meaningless of our existence? Oh woe is me, I just sprung forth from pointless biological goo in a random act of nothingness, possessing no more sentience than a table lamp. Which than does beg the question, like why are we even talking to you?! If you are meaningless and I am meaningless, than surely this entire conversation is meaningless too, right? Wrong, nihilists take their nihilism very seriously. It is good to know they still believe in something. Themselves apparently, which does reveal the root of the problem.
Nihilists however, do tend to produce some great literary works of art. There is something to be said for madness and genius existing in close proximity to one another. Of course, I would have no way of discerning a great work of art in a meaningless universe, which is the dimension I sometimes feel as if I have fallen into when I go into art galleries, but that is beside the point. The point is Something, somewhere has meaning, which provides the standard with which we use to judge all else.
*****Repost, just because
Paul said:
You know IB, since I could understand the definition of nihilism, I could not understand how anyone could hold that belief. Intelligence is marked by organization and integration and there is so much of that all around us, that I can not see any other possibility than an intelligent supreme being.
LikeLiked by 3 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Kind of fascinating Paul, but where you or I see nothing but integration and organization, some can only see chaos, disorder, and randomness. I have no idea why.
When I was a kid I remember a picture from a secular textbook actually, that showed people just floating off the planet and two of them were not just floating, they were disintegrating into pixels or something. The point being, gravity and science were important! Not asked of course, was Who, What, binds it all together? That darn photo, I’ve spoken to others who remember it and someday we’re going to sue for psychological damage. They had half of us convinced we could just float off the face of the earth and disintegrate at any time. š
LikeLiked by 3 people
Paul said:
Sounds like you weren’t cut out to be a nihilist either. š
LikeLiked by 3 people
TT said:
Are you a nihilist and you don’t know it? š
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Ha! I am way past nihilism, over the edge, and in the abyss. And surprisingly cheerful about it all š
LikeLiked by 3 people
Desdi said:
I too have tried to harmonize Faith and Nihilism. Good luck.
But I still like Fred N’s Zarathustra…
You know they are riffing on the name of a famous rap, right?
“I got 99 problems and a b–ch ain’t one…”
Which leads to:
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
LOL! Thanks for the link. You find the best stuff! Yes, I know of the rap song, our current President used it during his campaign. I have some affection for Nietzsche, too. Madness and genius, what can I say? It really does give birth to great literature sometimes. š
LikeLiked by 3 people
Salvageable said:
“Nihilists however, do tend to produce some great literary works of art.” This is why I enjoy Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and his Dr. Who scripts so much. Also Kurt Vonnegut’s books. And John Lennon’s music. Sometimes I feel guilty for liking art which has a strong anti-Christian message, but I more regret the likelihood that I’m never going to meet these brilliant, creative, lost people J.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The Daytime Renegade said:
Nice post! You’ve identified the paradox of nihilism–if everything is meaningless, then why do anything?
Also, this sentence:
“I declined to participate in a philosophical discussion on nihilism today that began with, āman is a rational creature.ā That one statement right there clued me into the fact that we have left the realm of reason entirely and simply entered another dimension.”
Perfect!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Repost, just because… | Measureable progress
Rebecca Fegan said:
So…I reposted!
LikeLiked by 2 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Ha! Thank you, much appreciated. š
LikeLike
Linda Lee/@LadyQuixote said:
“If you are meaningless and I am meaningless, than surely this entire conversation is meaningless too, right? Wrong, nihilists take their nihilism very seriously. It is good to know they still believe in something. Themselves apparently, which does reveal the root of the problem.”
As a formerly mad genius: I LOVE it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Ha! Thank you, I’m a former mad genius, too. At least we know we’re mad. š
LikeLiked by 1 person
DeniseBalog said:
Well now, I learned something new today. I had never even heard of a nihilist before reading your post. I’m so glad you gave the definition before I went crazy trying to figure out what you were talking about šš Thanks for having a bit of fun what sounds like crazy to me today š¤£
LikeLiked by 1 person
freemattpodcast said:
Didn’t Walter from The Big Lebowski cover this? He said: “No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there’s nothing to be afraid of:”
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
LOL! I vaguely recall something like that.
LikeLike
SLIMJIM said:
Funny meme
LikeLiked by 1 person
chapter18 said:
Madness is genius gone awry….
LikeLiked by 1 person