On Existential Nihilism
What peeves me about some people’s responses to the ideology.
Before anything, as with anything, I should preface this with…
“these are just my opinions and thoughts. I am not an expert on any of these topics. This is what I know thus far.”
…in the hope that nobody would read this and feel to start attacking/trolling me or whatever. Feel free to agree, disagree and everything in the middle. The true point of this is to open up discussions and thought-provoking conversations.
These are my thoughts on existential nihilism.
My general overview and understanding on existential nihilism as of writing this can be summarized pretty easily:
Nothing matters.
It’s the ideology that life ultimately has no meaning. That there is no purpose to anybody’s life and that ones existence is completely coincidence. There isn’t good or bad, there isn’t any tangible meaning to our values or beliefs and that the probability of truly understanding the universe around us is very low. Look at it on a universal timescale and we’ve been here for less than a fraction of the time. It’s the ideology that humans aren’t special and the universe doesn’t conspire in any way to help any one person. That the universe and the world and our interactions and our lives are, for the most part, random with no base value or meaning to them.
Wow.
How does one take that? Should we be happy? Relieved? Anxious? Worrisome? Ignorant? What does one do with this idea? I can’t say; each person’s reaction would be different and therefore it’s hard to make a sweeping assumption. But there are a few reactions to this idea that do bother me.
Before revealing, however, I should let you know that I personally don’t believe in or agree with existential nihilism, though I do understand and sympathise with some arguments made.
Now, lest we digress — upon realisation of and agreement with this ideology, some people tend to be filled with a sudden distressing hopelessness and the feeling of emptiness. Suddenly, all their work up until now has been drained of any intrinsic meaning and they’re left with facing the possibility that whatever hopes they had stored up for themselves in the future may never be actualised. Despair takes its hold; many are left stunned in place.
This is natural and somewhat expected. What is more bothersome is when people use this despair and realisation as an excuse, almost, to justify otherwise simply irresponsible and inconsiderate behaviour. Some use it as an ego-booster and start expressing condescending sentiments towards people. It’s weird. Like their understanding of this ideology has somehow placed them above their peers and contemporaries. Like they’re more independent because of what they now align with. They’re ‘woke’.
Some may throw away care and responsibility, choosing rather to prioritise sensual indulgence or some other potentially damaging behaviour, because what does it matter anyway? We’re all going to die. In ten thousand years, nothing we’ve done will matter and our lives will be as if they never were. So why not throw away the socially reinforced values we’ve been made to care about and live as you truly want?
This train of thought bothers me in many more ways than one. It’s understandable to see how these behaviours may be how some choose to deal with their fear or discomfort or despair and that’s fair, but only up to a certain point. Eventually, it will no longer be enough.
Here’s my peeve — even in the face of the ideology that de-centralises humans from the meaning of life, humans still somehow manage to make it about them. It’s as if the radical behaviour uncharacteristic of someone post-existential nihilism is a tantrum; a childlike thrashing at an ideology suggesting that one isn’t as important as one thinks. Think about it: someone simply finds themselves aligning with said ideology, only to ironically act out whilst embracing that same ideology! There’s a saying that comes to mind: “get over yourself”.
And who’s to say one has to agree with every aspect of the ideology, anyway? If nothing matters then neither does this. What does it hurt to go against it and reaffirm your own values? What does it matter to refuse to succumb to hopelessness in the idea of nothingness and instead steep yourself into your own life? If it will not be remembered in a thousand years, who cares? Do you live for yourself or for others? If nothing matters to the universe, who’s to say that things can’t matter to you? Why submit to a collective bleakness and live a life in misery? Regardless of if it is random or not, that same ideology also argues that nothing can ever truly be understood. So why not enjoy what you can? Why not make great choices for your life and live a life that you’ll be glad you lived? Why not give your dreams your all and try your hardest at everything you do? Why not be proud of yourself? Why not let your work shine and change world? Okay, that may be a bit ambitious but why can’t you change your country instead? Change your state, city, town or family? Why not change yourself?
I get annoyed when people use their alignment with existential nihilism more as an excuse for their lack of effort and attempts and inactivity in areas in their lives more than anything. Allowing themselves to fall into a life of passivity and then have the audacity to complain at its quality.
Lastly.
Existential nihilism does not invalidate your own subjective experience of your life. Despite existential nihilism and any other ideology out there, as far as your own consciousness is aware, you are a person. You are real, at least to you. You exist and your experiences are real. So, sure, nothing can matter but some things can matter to you. You can choose what you care about. You can choose what you think about, what you feel, how you respond to things in life. You have the choice and, in my opinion, the responsibility to make sure you choose a life for yourself that is worth living, at the very least. You can change the world after that.
