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Assi
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30 Aug 2011, 5:13 pm

If I've read enough about existential nihilism then I know that it's the thing where everything loses its meaning and value.

What makes this seem impossible is that there's not much to convince a nihilist with abstract values.

If someone reading this doesn't understand, it's a more philosophical way of saying: "What is the meaning of life?".

But of course that is the rhetorical question as the answer is that one must assign life its own meaning and a nihilist is a one who can not.

So the real question asked is: "How to get rid of nihilism, or should one just stop thinking about truth, values and meaning?"



Obres
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30 Aug 2011, 6:11 pm

It's pretty tough to deny nihilism. In fact, for many people, myself included, it's damn near impossible. But there's one thing that you must keep in mind, that while technically subjective, is so obvious that it may as well be a universal truth: NIHILISM SUCKS. It totally sucks. And it never actually accomplishes anything besides making you feel sh***y. But you probably know that by now. So my advice would be that you don't have to deny nihilism, or even stop thinking about it, but for f**k's sake don't live your life by it. I find that when I start overthinking things in a nihilistic sort of way, the rule "something is better than nothing" helps. Or better yet, my own personal version of that, "something is more interesting than nothing".



Assi
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30 Aug 2011, 6:30 pm

Obres wrote:
I find that when I start overthinking things in a nihilistic sort of way, the rule "something is better than nothing" helps. Or better yet, my own personal version of that, "something is more interesting than nothing".


Wise things to keep in mind Obres, thank you.



Subotai
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30 Aug 2011, 6:36 pm

The way to get rid of nihilism is to distract from it.



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30 Aug 2011, 7:09 pm

Whats so wrong with nothing?
In the west it is seen as the ultimate evil.
But in Buddhism and Taoism it is seen
Differently.

For me (I do not speak for Siddhartha or Laozi)
I think nothing (doing nothing) is far superior to fruitless and destructive action.
Nothing may mean anything, but there are ways to exist and co-exist that are less painful.
And I think most of these involve doing less not more.


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blauSamstag
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30 Aug 2011, 9:43 pm

The thing about nihilists is that they don't care.



JakobVirgil
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30 Aug 2011, 10:14 pm

blauSamstag wrote:
The thing about nihilists is that they don't care.

careless or free from care are just different ways of looking at the same thing


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Knifey
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30 Aug 2011, 11:33 pm

while there are people running from God, there will be Nihilism.


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Tadzio
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31 Aug 2011, 12:35 am

While there are people running to the Gods, there will be Nihilism.

The abstract values of nothing and everything can easily be extended to zero and infinity. Both of these concepts imply the other. Either book-dot-google "Will Durant Siger of Brabant" and get the "dismal doctrine of eternal" repetition (why dismal?), or try "Karl Lowith Recurrence" for Nietzsche's version. I like the version where everything possible will happen an infinite number of times in a "larger" infinite circle (everything possible both "good" and "bad" is an "issue"). Most of physics inherently denies infinity (that's why the sky is dark at night?).

Dostoevsky made easier to understand issues with his novels, but temporal lobe epilepsy gave me both hellish and ecstatic hints as to "The Idiot" and "The Possessed", and a view to "The Grand Inquisitor" in "The Brothers Karamazov". Tolstoy answered the same questions, but nobody knows where he placed the answers.

Deja vu tells me of predestination, but free will is disavowed ignorance.

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Assi
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31 Aug 2011, 5:15 am

Knifey wrote:
while there are people running from God, there will be Nihilism.

Knifey, what is god to you? Is he immoral, ignorant and flawed? Maybe you worship Yahweh, that god from Israel.

This discussion is about keeping off from nihilism without abstract values, which is impossible I guess and ascertain that people shouldn't think about any meaning to life and the universe and everything.

I want to know if people agree and don't want you to derail this thread with religions which are tiresome to discuss and off-topic.

Posting off-topic messages to deliberately aggravate other members is a form of trolling.



Knifey
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31 Aug 2011, 8:26 am

Assi wrote:
Knifey wrote:
while there are people running from God, there will be Nihilism.

Knifey, what is god to you? Is he immoral, ignorant and flawed? Maybe you worship Yahweh, that god from Israel.
When did I say he was ignorant and flawed?

Assi wrote:
Posting off-topic messages to deliberately aggravate other members is a form of trolling.

I wasn't posting off topic, Q. How to get rid of Nihilism? A. You can't without the world accepting God.

Can't I answer a question? I'm not trolling.


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techstepgenr8tion
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31 Aug 2011, 8:50 am

I suppose global Islamic caliphate could help.


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Assi
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31 Aug 2011, 12:54 pm

techstepgenr8tion wrote:
I suppose global Islamic caliphate could help.

I guess Knifey has something like that in mind apparently. His answer was:

Knifey wrote:
Q. How to get rid of Nihilism? A. You can't without the world accepting God.

But a religion can't get all the world to worship a god as long as there is intelligent philosophical people to point out a god's flaws.

Should thought and great minds be suppressed and silenced? I don't think many would agree with that.



techstepgenr8tion
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31 Aug 2011, 1:50 pm

Assi wrote:
But a religion can't get all the world to worship a god as long as there is intelligent philosophical people to point out a god's flaws.

Should thought and great minds be suppressed and silenced? I don't think many would agree with that.


Lol, but that's just it. Global caliphate wouldn't solve nihilism but - it might perhaps solve nihilists. The tradeoff being that you'd live your life running from reality and science. Christianity would never cut it in this regard, unless we were talking about Medieval or Torquamada's Christianity, the current is too laissez faire.


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blunnet
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31 Aug 2011, 3:34 pm

Assi wrote:
How to get rid of Nihilism?

Getting rid of nihilists of course.

I wonder though, what if you threaten their human rights or their life, wouldn't they call for things they claim is crap or valueless, for their defense? Wouldn't that be sort of funny?



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31 Aug 2011, 4:01 pm

How to get rid of Nihilism?

Open a Nihilist restaurant?