Does life matter?

Why is nihilism so popular in these modern times, and why is it that even though it seems to make sense, I still reject it as pessimistic bullshit

Am I close-minded for holding on to the idea that life and human existence matters?

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watcha doin rabbi

Everything matters

>Why is nihilism so popular in these modern times
It tends to reduce everything to nothing and that concept is easy to comprehend if you don't have the means to think. Real existence is a lot more complicated, one way existence matters is in the way that it can cause pain, and the fact there are possible ways to reduce that, which makes you have to do things. The fun thing about nihilism is that itself contains no information at all, only the "excuses" for it do.

I was wrong about the fact it contains no information, it does contain the fact that existence exists. Also you could read reduction as oversimplification.

It's an excuse for under achievement, it soothes their ego. The people who push this shit are the same who resent other's achievements (unless they belong to a group they perceive to be lower than their own).

this thread is shit so what is the movie in the bottom pic?

Interesting, so one might say that existence is to survive the longest as if in a cosmic hunger games?

I'm a tad lost on your theory that pain is proof of existence has meaning, would you care to elaborate?

Yes it is very apparent to me, all the people I know that think I'm dumb for believing are also those who think its silly for me to have pride in my heritage

Nobody wants pain, and when you have it you will most likely do whatever you can to relieve it, and you're likely to scream when the pain is incredible and you don't have the means to relieve it. You can call it murphy's law, you can call it nature but you will have pain in your life in some manner and you won't like it. I think you can't refute that disliking something is an expression of value, and when you have a value you have meaning.

Alan Moores a shithead and can go fuck himself

In reality it doesn't, knowing that and acting accordingly won't get you anywhere though, so I'ts better to find something to do and something to believe in.

Because, contrary to popular belief, we didn't win anything in 1945.
You know when you're a kid waiting to get picked up for some kind of day out, so you waited by the window, at the front door or in the garden, filled with excitement. Every car that came in the street you thought "this is it", but it wasn't. The more time dragged on, the more restless you got, the more it seemed you weren't going to get picked up the more pissed off you got, and then finally, three hours later than planned, you got the inevitable phone call "sorry user you little faggot, we aren't going anymore". So for the rest of the day you didn't give a fuck about anything? People have been waiting for that car for the last 70 years and only now they're starting to realise the phone will ring any minute.

Never twenty one when everyone's a sailor
Coming up strong at the animal bar
Ever loving more with Mister Norman Mailer
Turn another page at the animal bar
And it won't be long
No it won't be long
No it won't be long
Because it can't be long

So the meaning of life in it's most minimalist form is to reduce pain and increase all the things that reduce pain for yourself and others. And that you can't refute meaning because you can't refute the value and thus meaning of pain.

>Why is nihilism so popular in these modern times
Because its edgy and "cool" social media has made adults continue to act like they're in high school, nihilism is TRENDY man!

Woke up this morning and it seemed to me,
That every night turns out to be
A little more like Bukowski.
And yeah, I know he's a pretty good read.
But God who'd want to be?
God who'd want to be such an asshole?
God who'd want to be?
God who'd want to be such an asshole?

Ok yeah that makes sense actually

I am well aware of the massive loss humanity took in 1945, and that's a very good analogy

In biological terms, pain is a survival mechanism, but there are many more powerful mechanisms than pain such as the drive to eat or reproduce.

Plus, self-aware beings can override pain and do whatever they like, even transforming their perception of pain to pleasure and inflicting it on themselves. There's also the entire spectrum of discomfort and other sufferings that can have a very beneficial mental and physical impact. Exercise hurts, but is insanely beneficial. Hard work sucks, but it usually nets you better things than someone who's lazy.

Interesting post though ruski.

Yeah this is pretty spot on, I imagine every day about how differently things could've turned out

Love for them that steal in the name of the Lord
Dem a tell 'nough lie but holding my bird in a cloud
Using the name of the Lord in vein
While the people in the ghetto, feel 'nough pain

Because it's hard being a "Good Guy" In
Real life.
Don't ever believe there's shades of grey Bullshit.
It-IS- a simple Yes or no question: are you good or are you bad?
Look deep inside & ask yourself are you good or
are you bad?
Spoiler alert:You don't want to die on he side of Evil.

Because people don't believe in God anymore. Since there's no meaning to life, there are two paths that remain: hedonism, which has been logically proven fruitless and destructive (by greek philosophers), and nihilism, which has been equally proven fruitless and destructive (by Nietzsche).

Now you either have the means to fuel your increasingly demanding impulses and indulge in them (e.g. hollywood hooknosed diddler) or you don't (fedora tipper).

"Grrrr I hate mondays lol xD" - Alan Moore

I was going to add a bit about that but I deleted it. I think that most meaning is indeed animalistic and way more primitive and powerful than our consciousness. Pain is the only driving force we're sure of and we know all animals with a decent nervous system act like that. That's probably no coincidence right? It's especially funny how I'm laying out the meaning of life in the most nihilistic manner possible using my overly developed nervous system.

Because you're a faggot who was swindled by a false expectation of reality, so see the truth as depressing instead of liberating.

I don't believe there needs to be a "reason" for something, or for anything to matter. We are creatures dependent on biology, in constant chase of the release of dopamine or endorphins at our most basic. I can hold nihilistic beliefs about Earth without being lazy or mediocre. The society humans have created hold its joys. Interaction with life can be cool, occasionally. So my goal is to be superior to my peers and bully fatties until I die, a pointless animal.

Reality sucks. It's human nature to have hope.

I rarely have hope anymore.

some subtle wisdom from the dude.

Edgy and cool?!?!?
Nihilism sounds awesome!!!!

Wow what a brave thing to post on Sup Forums

Saged

>anarchist
you have no room to call me a faggot but living life in an optimistic state of escapism seems hardly like living to me

This is a hard truth I really didn't want someone stating

>just animals
>but intelligent enough to suffer through our own existence
are we just unlucky defects?

Someone really needs to swap those images around

>my goal is to be superior to my peers and bully fatties until I die, a pointless animal.

someone put this on a t-shirt please

Reality only sucks for the weak-willed, so it gets crueler as a and them weaker as a result.
There's that false expectation again,

It is. You mean my fate's entirely in my hands? Fuck here I was thinking I was a slave to gods and men.
FUCK MY RAGE IS ENSLAVED TO THE FAULTINESS OF THESE CAPTCHAS THOUGH FUCK

>FUCK MY RAGE IS ENSLAVED TO THE FAULTINESS OF THESE CAPTCHAS THOUGH FUCK
El oh el
>when your nihilism gives you absolutely nothing other than being able to enjoy Rick and Morty

We argue to make existence less miserable, by arguing about things that matter. But some are the sorts to only argue trivial shit, no wonder why they're left empty by it.

>me
>living in optimism
Woah there faggot, this is an absolute fucking Hell, but what should I do, bitch incessantly about it? Yeah right, like I'm going to give the world that much power over me.
But I see you do, seeing as you need the state to tell you what's right and wrong.

No.

I also like cancer sticks and hip-hop.

You believe in your own dignity as an individual. Things are beneath you, this isn't nihilism.

No I'm just aware that my dignity and values aren't particularly objective so there's little point in trying to force them on other people, namely through a regulatory body.

Nietzsche's entire point was to combat the sense of nihilism with passion whether that be through art or activism or what have you. Even if it makes sense that nothing inherently matters it's a major disservice to yourself to let it ruin the things you enjoy.

you sound absolutely terrible to be around

>meaning
>objective

Have you ever considered what it might mean, to "mean"? Isn't it inherently subjective (but based in the objectivity of the biological and physical processes you are/are the product of?)

>I also like cancer sticks
Edgy teen detected
I smoke because I'm addicted to cigarettes, adults don't "like" the fact they smoke, Jimbo.

...

The only people who don't have a purpose just haven't chosen a side yet. Here's a good one if anyone wonders:
>yourself,, those you care about and the world immediately around you

>>>BUT user WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT

You do care about yourself. Denial of this is just edgy contrarianism for misery's sake.

Anyone who completely writes off the things they enjoy and those they love because they merely peered into existentialism is not to be taken seriously and must be written off as a 10th grader.

...

For fascists, probably.

In terms of my existence? Sort of, I used to believe in some inherent order and that everyone had an intended purpose, but I was wrong. We shape the world, and that's all there is to it.
I wouldn't have it any other way, because there's no other way to have it.

>believing in addiction.
Lol, I thought believing in spooks was childish.

but still, better dead than red

Nihilism is somewhat the unavoidable outcome of an atheist society - at least in a simplistic sense. If you're alive and then you just die with no afterlife to look forward to, then everything in life is reduced to being inevitably pointless for the majority of people, especially if they're not building something to outlast them (so in a sense they continue to live after death), the most obvious of which is a child, so declining birthrates will only mean even more nihilism.

This is what Nietzsche was saying when he declared "God is dead". It wasn't a celebration of science finally defeating religion or anything, he was greatly fearful of what it'll do to people.
>What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: the advent of nihilism. . . . For some time now our whole European culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe.
>When one gives up the Christian faith, one pulls the right to Christian morality out from under one's feet. This morality is by no means self-evident… Christianity is a system, a whole view of things thought out together. By breaking one main concept out of it, the faith in God, one breaks the whole.

When people argue what no religion means for morals, they tend to think we have no reason to be good people, like it'll be The Purge all year round or something. That's not likely to happen since people want to at least do well in life and have some biologically driven desire for self-preservation and the social contract stops us all (mostly) from sabotaging that. But it does still mean that at some point you have to grapple with the fact that in the grand scheme of things, your life was basically pointless.

>asking a question on a website designed for large scale QnA's is "bitching"

This thread was purely to stimulate thought, I'm not "giving the world power over me" I'm just having an open mind because if you shut out the world and see your autistic subjective morals as the absolute truth, then once you find out that smoking will fucking kill you and living in huts with "muh means of production" without someone to tell you what is gonna hurt you and what is gonna help you will only lead to death and poverty, you have only yourself to blame

Yes fuck tard. Infinite possibilities in infinite parallel universes. Go workout and you'll feel better. No porn watching or jerking.

well its true desu, I mean life doesnt have a purpose does it?

But optimisticism and pessimistism dont really matter in this scenario, the way I look at it life is what it is. If life dont matter dont care for it

yeah, I'll probably see what /his/ has to say after this thread gets archived

Retard alert.jpg

WHY CANT ALL JUST GET ALONG

I think you genuinely tried to form a coherent post, but failed miserably, so I'm going to applaud your effort rather than criticize the results.

I wasn't saying that was bitching, your insecurities did, and that's all I'm going to address.

>But it does still mean that at some point you have to grapple with the fact that in the grand scheme of things, your life was basically pointless.
>in the grand scheme of things
Even in the grand scheme of things, what would matter, and who's to say that your life, though finite, has no meaning?

>quantifying someone's lack of self-control
Uh-huh, guess you're just genetically weak and shouldn't breed then, if that's how you want to view yourself.

>actually believes in multiverse theory

inequality gives meaning

Are you going to breed? Gonna make your children sit through Rick and Morty? Fuckwitt

Probably, and no, I'm not really going to make them do much, just offer opportunities to see what they prefer.

>Hurr durr Rick and Morty.

Your opinions on anything are entirely derived from Sup Forums group-think, aren't they?

Because it's easy to sink.

>Your opinions on anything are entirely derived from Sup Forums group-think, aren't they?
But srsly nihilism is a joke

The idea of human life ''mattering'' at all is a strategy our cells put in place in order to keep us sequencing/reproducing DNA.
That's what we are : DNA sequencing machines.
It does not mean nothing matters, but it does mean that ''mattering'' is only relevant to us. There is no ''great scheme of things'', just things scheming their own survival.

I'm just seeing if you have a solid criticism of the philosophy itself rather than just insinuating it's pretentious and trendy as if that invalidates it.
Where do you derive your moral authority from then?

>pretentious and trendy
It is tho

Nothing has meaning without context, and everything can have meaning in the proper context.
We are confined to a life, in a specific time periode, when we talk about races, we all know that a thousand years from now, these races may very well not exist, only some genetic modified cyborgs will roam this world. Perhaps ten thousand years from now, we may be back to square one, having races again and living in a time similar to the Victorian Era.
Our existence has no value in itself - nothing has. Everything is about context, our context is the time live in, that we are emotional beings, conscious animals and a world of "natural selection" - which include us.

So would democracy be in that case.
Answer the question though.

>Does life matter?
Nope. Not in the slightest.

Nihilism is essentially babbys first philosophy. Most immature people get hung up on it and waste their potential. Sad!

Where do you think I get my moral authority from?
Pic related is a clue

It is safe to assume life has no purpose, therefore, we can also produce the notion that we are able to contort our own lives into having a purpose. We as a species can ascend to godhood. We have the tools, time, and resources needed to carry out the most daring of metaphysical feats life has to offers and we have practically dissected almost every aspect of our own lives and the world around us. With such a remarkable skill set as a species, you have to ask, what is the main obstacle that is holding us back from our potential?

yeah, that came out a lot worse then I had planned and I did get a tad defensive, so my b

my insecurities aside, humility and having someone or something to anchor down to, for example, a state, can let people flourish in other, more individualistic things, such as art or science, as they can feel safe and secure in the knowledge that they have something to believe in and come back to in hard times

>we shape the world that's all there is to it
>not seeing meaning in this

You aren't a nihilist buddy, you're just stupid. I hope you're young or a neet and the rush of the real world will enlighten you, until then consider keeping thoughts to yourself at least in real life.

Death

...

I have found that if you venture deep enough into apathy, apathy can actually produce a sensation similar to getting high only if you manage it correctly and deeply enough, it can become a high that is always there, always available. Almost a version of nirvana.

Also, you are no longer clouded by illusions of the world being an inherently good place.

We don't know, but we are here.

So you'd be nihilistic in that sense, thanks for agreeing. People usually do.

It's cool.

And it could, but more often than not it impedes personal development. Why are you so afraid of being able to defend yourself without state intervention?
Usually those who are capable of such have no reason to antagonize another.
It's nice having a safety net, it's even nicer knowing you don't need one.

There isn't any inherent meaning to this. You're conflating non-meaning as meaning, which is like saying a lack of belief is a belief.

>muh string of ad hom that managed to become less than the sum of its parts.
Cool story, bro.

No, death is irrelevant to your life and potential.
Death doesn't happen to you. It happens when you are not capable of deploying your potential anymore.

/thread
Based yank

>therefore, we can also produce the notion that we are able to contort our own lives into having a purpose
No, free-will doesn't exist, we are hard-wired from birth and just fall into the life we have been determined to have, our experience and environment can shape how we extract meaning of things and how we will react, but essentially, we have no control over any of it, conscious is not real, your thoughts are not something you have any control over, it is hardwired, it is an illusion forged by evolution.

Tell that to the thousands of brilliant, successful people who died before becoming incapable of deploying their potential.
The absence of death atrophies only the brainlet.
A strong mind doesn't fear death but sees it as the final obstacle after man conquers himself.
30 years of peak performance is not much. Imagine if there was no limit to that peak performance.

If you think about how big the universe is then you realize how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. We're all just a collection of chemical bonds that will just break apart when we're dead. I'm not trying to be edgy, it's just how things have always been.

>inherent meaning
Why does it have to be inherent? When you create a song or a painting is it for the "inherent" meaning, to tickle the cosmos? Obviously not. It's for you, and then others who appreciate your work. Again, you can pretend not to care about what you care about, but that's just wilful.

Is that obvious though?

Life is all that matters because it is all that is.

if life doesn't matter, then the question of whether or not life matters doesn't matter.

if life does matter, then the answer to the question of whether or not life matters is that life matters.

you do the math, if you can. retard.

The issue with this shit comes from confusing the map with the territory

For example:
> We're all just a collection of chemical bonds

Is a literary image, an abstraction of thought, its not reality;

1)One could easily say "chemical bonds don't exist, they are just the interplay of physical forces", its just a matter of how much you zoom into reality.

2)The very sentence has the poetic intention of deconstructing mundane human-tier matters into the mechanistic nature of chemistry for the sake of evasion.

In reality we are humans, cells, chemical bonds, and physical forces at the same time, we are a speck of dust in the universe and also infinitely big, it really all depends on the scope you are focusing at, and even then, focusing at a scope is merely an exercise of abstract thought used for evasion.

Basically, jewry.

Existentialism doesn't make sense at all because its essentialist at its very core, its a constrained belief system that historically spur as an evasion mechanism for the absurdity and confusion of humanity when going from pre-industrial romanticism to modern world's idealism.

the problem of reduction and infinite regression is sadly ignored by intellectuals/academics.

you can at least be pretentious about it, like the rest of us.. Do you think you are better than us? with your generic fortune-cookie statement?

what do you mean? sorry im a bit slow

>Does life matter?

Either it does or it doesn't. Might as well treat it like it matters. Same thing as "immersing yourself" in a video game. It makes it more fun.

Those are good points, but people are not inherently good, without something (a common goal, moral teachings, a sense of connection, etc.) will do anything and everything in their power to secure their future and their future only

The minority of people that are capable of such should be the ones to show the light and lead the others to the righteous path of comradery

One can lose the need to have a saftey net, but its impossible for everyone to be as acrobatic as you are

from the wiki for reductionism (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductionism):

>Reductionism refers to several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other phenomena, the latter of which are considered in some manner simpler or more fundamental.

from the wiki entry for infinite regress en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_regress:

>An infinite regress in a series of propositions arises if the truth of proposition P1 requires the support of proposition P2, the truth of proposition P2 requires the support of proposition P3, ... , the truth of proposition Pn−1 requires the support of proposition Pn, ad infinitum.

Yes i understand the concepts, but i don't understand what you mean by "its sadly ignored by intellectuals/academics"