Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.
The term nihilism is sometimes used in association with >> anomie << to explain the general mood of despair at a perceived pointlessness of existence that one may develop upon realizing there are no necessary norms, rules, or laws.
Kierkegaard
Friedrich Nietzsche
Martin Heidegger
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My time here is nearly done and I'm smiling at the thought.
My reason for staying from moment to moment, in the greater scheme of things, is absolutely meaningless. I stay to meet obligations to people (and my dog) who will be just as much dispersed atoms soon as I. My notions of "duty" and "honor" can in no way be relevant to the universe and yet it feels "right" to fulfill my commitments.
I recognize such thinking is merely the result of values infused into my being by this society. It's all crap. And yet it satisfies me.
The results of my leaving may be pain for those I leave behind. 200 years thereafter, however, it won't matter to them.
The question is whether I *want* to take the next step. I see its inevitability, but do I seek it?
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At this moment and in this place, I am a 61-year old man. As a child, I was physically and (more importantly) emotionally abused by an embittered, sadistic father and a narcissistic, misandrist mother. My childhood was a little bit of Dickens and "Mommy Dearest" plus a lot of Alice Miller. (I would have preferred Alice Waters, but that was not an option available to me.)
I have been suicidally depressed before, but I'm not any more. If you want, I'll tell you the long story. What matters is that there is no extant exigency (I like the letters "ex"). Unless some accident gets me first, I probably *will* kill myself. That, however, is not cause for alarm. It is cause for celebration.
A celebration, that is, unless one has been inculcated with lies told to children by their parents and other authority figures. If I talk about the ignorance and stupidity of the masses, will you accuse me of narcissism, megalomania with messianic delusions and grandiosity? Knock yourself out.
I don't care if it sounds pompous to say one million people in the U.S. have IQ's as high or higher as mine. That also means over 299 million of them don't. My fellow Mensa members needed only to have IQs in the top 2% (>130). I'm in the top 1/3 of 1%, but none the happier for it.
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What is the meaning of life? What is God's plan for me on Earth? Will I go to Heaven?
People believe there are no answers to those questions, but we can answer them easily. Here is the fundamental problem. The underlying assumptions we have about life are wrong.
There is no meaning to human life.
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There is, however, a purpose. Actually, it's twofold and the same as for any living thing: Reproduce and live forever. Why? Reproduce to pass along to future generations your genetic uniqueness. Once we have done that, Nature has no further use for us. Live forever (or die trying) so predators can kill and eat you to stay alive themselves. The problem is that humans lack predators. Instead of having the decency to become a meal for another animal we simply continue to live for a very long time, consuming the Earth's few precious resources. Man truly is a parasite on the planet.
God's plan for you? Seriously?
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If you believe in God, any God, you were probably inculcated with a set of lies by authority figures before you could make up your own mind. Your parents, other relatives, teachers, community members, preachers pushed onto you the same things they believe. Understand this: they were repeating words written by a man in a book. If everybody around you believed the book Moby Dick were real, you'd be worshiping a white whale. One person's lies are as good as the next. Kill infidels (heretics, non-believers)? You must be joking. The accident of where somebody is born does not make them any more or less close to "God." Instead of being indoctrinated in your youth, it could be that you were "Born Again." That means you needed the comfort of easy answers in your life and so you sought to find them in religion. Religion allows you to fall back on platitudes to explain every calamity. "It's God's will" covers many situations.
Heaven, Paradise, Reincarnation, any afterlife at all.
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This is the height of conceit. Only humans, of all "God's creatures," don't die when their bodies do. Their "immortal souls" go on to the next level. What's the deal here? People have either massive egos or massive fear or both. They can't believe that this one life is all they get. As far back as we have recorded history, some have survived NDEs (Near Death Experiences), in which they saw a white light, a stairway to heaven, angels, their dead relatives, or (recently) a view of themselves looking downward from the ceiling of the hospital emergency room in which they nearly died. What they saw was a simple result of lack of oxygen to the brain. You want to see heaven? Here, let me strangle you.
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"So, why do you live?" 'Inertia.' "I don't want some philosophical answer. Why do you live?" 'Ohh. My wife. My dogs.' "Ahh, family. OK."
This was at the end of a roughly 30-minute evaluation for being admitted to a psych hospital on a "fifty-one fifty," California's version of a 72-hour involuntary suicide watch. I didn't want to be there. I shouldn't have been there at all. An inexperienced doctor whom I had met for the first time at another clinic had completely misinterpreted the situation. I knew I was no imminent threat to myself or others. Everybody (except, I suppose, the rookie doctor) agreed. I was discharged immediately following the evaluation. The problem was that the "intake, evaluate, prepare for discharge, discharge" process took 3 hours I'll never get back.
Now, while I wasn't a legitimate threat to myself at the time, I do have a strong opinion we continue to live because it's all we know how to do. Ending a life typically requires doing violence of some kind to the body, either by somebody else or one's own hand. One cannot merely snap one's fingers and disappear from this life in a cloud of smoke, like a magician's trick.
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1955
The Bible Tells Me So
Words and music by Dale Evans Rogers
2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Have faith, hope and charity,
That's the way to live successfully.
How do I know, the Bible tells me so.
Do good to your enemies,
And the Blessed Lord you'll surely please,
How do I know, the Bible tells me so.
Don't worry 'bout tomorrow,
Just be real good today.
The Lord is right beside you,
He'll guide you all the way
Have faith, hope and charity,
That's the way to live successfully.
How do I know, the Bible tells me so!
repeat 2 times
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(How does he know)
Oh, how do I know
(How does he know)
Oh, how do I know
(This is how he knows)
Have faith, hope and charity
That's the way to live successfully
How do I know, the Bible tells me so
(The Bible tells him)
Do good to your enemies
And the Blessed Lord you'll surely please
How do I know, the Bible tells me so
(The Bible tells him)
Don't worry 'bout tomorrow
Just be real good today
The Lord is right beside you
He'll guide you all the way
Have faith, hope and charity
That's the way to live successfully
How do I know, the bible tells me so
(The Bible tells him)
So, have faith, hope and charity
That's the way to live successfully
How do I know, the bible tells me so
(That's how he knows it)
Do good to your enemies
And the Blessed Lord you'll surely please
How do I know, the Bible tells me so
(That's how he knows it)
Don't worry 'bout tomorrow
Just be real good today
The Lord is right beside you
He'll guide you all the way
Oh, the Bible says have faith, hope and charity
That's the way to live successfully
How do I know, (oh, how does he know)
How do I know, (oh, how does he know)
The Bible tells me so
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