Is Nihilism bad?

[Sephtyan]

I, personally, am a Existential (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism#Existential_nihilism) and Moral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilsm#Moral_nihilism) Nihilist. An Existential Nihilist commonly believes that Human life holds no intrinsic value. That is, human life is no better or worse than any other life or non-life, that the human race is in a sense pointless. We make no difference on the universe as a whole, and that a person being killed is neither good or bad in itself.

A Moral Nihilist commonly believes that there exists no universal moral compass, that one's actions an beliefs aren't good or bad. In a Moral Nihilist's view, morals are something invented by the human mind as a sort of unspoken dichotomy, and are thus an abstract concept.

I'm a Moral and Existential Nihilist. I don't believe that human life holds any real positive value in and of itself, and I also believe that human morals are something that were invented by the mind, by the human condition, as a way to make life seem more fair and meaningful.

What do you guys think?

[Stronk Serb]

I disagree on Nihilism. Living would be pointless if every human was the same (like a clone). But we are so diverse. Even siblings are in some cases diferent from eachother.

[Miserabilia]

I am just an exisistential nihilst.

I think saying humans are somehow important or will change the universe seems a little narcistic. We are not the center of the universe.

I am not sure about moral nihilism.
I beleive thelarge concept of morals is naturaly present in humans, but that all the smaller social morals and norms are later invented by humans.

But, since I don't direclty beleive in "good" or "bad", I am a moral nihilist.

[Sephtyan]

I disagree on Nihilism. Living would be pointless if every human was the same (like a clone). But we are so diverse. Even siblings are in some cases diferent from eachother.

Nihilism doesn't mean that I believe that every human is the same, or in any way just a bunch of clones. I do, however, think that humans are pointless to a degree. For example, say that you have an anthill in your backyard. They toil unceasingly, always working to preserve themselves.

Now flood the anthill with a hose. Observe the surroundings. Have you had any meaningful impact on the surroundings? Even long-term? Nothing really has changed, aside from the fact that now there's a bit of a puddle where the anthill was. This is essentially how I view the human race.

If a singularity (black hole) wandered over into our quadrant, we'd be sucked up faster than we can really even recognize, and our lives would be over. But has the universe as a whole changed? Is anything better or worse? 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy continues to chug away, spinning away in the void.

This is not to say that humans do not have individual purpose. One man might find it particularly invigorating to explore the seas, or commit themselves to stem cell research, or visit every continent. This will give him personal purpose, but if he were to die unexpectedly before achieving any of these things, the world as a whole would not suffer. The status quo would not have changed.

In shorthand: I do believe life to be, of it's own accord, pointless. But, almost inversely, I find that this frees up any expectations or pressure and allows me to live my life how I want to live it, without repercussions, and without any worry about whether or not I'm contributing enough to society as a whole.

[Miserabilia]

Nihilism doesn't mean that I believe that every human is the same, or in any way just a bunch of clones. I do, however, think that humans are pointless to a degree. For example, say that you have an anthill in your backyard. They toil unceasingly, always working to preserve themselves.

Now flood the anthill with a hose. Observe the surroundings. Have you had any meaningful impact on the surroundings? Even long-term? Nothing really has changed, aside from the fact that now there's a bit of a puddle where t )he anthill was. This is essentially how I view the human race.

If a singularity (black hole) wandered over into our quadrant, we'd be sucked up faster than we can really even recognize, and our lives would be over. But has the universe as a whole changed? Is anything better or worse? 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy continues to chug away, spinning away in the void.

This is not to say that humans do not have individual purpose. One man might find it particularly invigorating to explore the seas, or commit themselves to stem cell research, or visit every continent. This will give him personal purpose, but if he were to die unexpectedly before achieving any of these things, the world as a whole would not suffer. The status quo would not have changed.

In shorthand: I do believe life to be, of it's own accord, pointless. But, almost inversely, I find that this frees up any expectations or pressure and allows me to live my life how I want to live it, without repercussions, and without any worry about whether or not I'm contributing enough to society as a whole.

I aggree.
It is universally pointless.
The only point of life is that which life experiences for itself.

[Stronk Serb]

Nihilism doesn't mean that I believe that every human is the same, or in any way just a bunch of clones. I do, however, think that humans are pointless to a degree. For example, say that you have an anthill in your backyard. They toil unceasingly, always working to preserve themselves.

Now flood the anthill with a hose. Observe the surroundings. Have you had any meaningful impact on the surroundings? Even long-term? Nothing really has changed, aside from the fact that now there's a bit of a puddle where t )he anthill was. This is essentially how I view the human race.

If a singularity (black hole) wandered over into our quadrant, we'd be sucked up faster than we can really even recognize, and our lives would be over. But has the universe as a whole changed? Is anything better or worse? 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy continues to chug away, spinning away in the void.

This is not to say that humans do not have individual purpose. One man might find it particularly invigorating to explore the seas, or commit themselves to stem cell research, or visit every continent. This will give him personal purpose, but if he were to die unexpectedly before achieving any of these things, the world as a whole would not suffer. The status quo would not have changed.

In shorthand: I do believe life to be, of it's own accord, pointless. But, almost inversely, I find that this frees up any expectations or pressure and allows me to live my life how I want to live it, without repercussions, and without any worry about whether or not I'm contributing enough to society as a whole.

Oh, I made it harder to understand. The only situation where Nihilism would completely seem logical to me is when all humans would be the same. But we are so diverse. But, deaths of human for now would make no impact on the galaxy, but deaths of humans could have a large impact on our planet.

[Fractured Silhouette]

I, personally, am a Existential (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism#Existential_nihilism) and Moral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilsm#Moral_nihilism) Nihilist. An Existential Nihilist commonly believes that Human life holds no intrinsic value. That is, human life is no better or worse than any other life or non-life, that the human race is in a sense pointless. We make no difference on the universe as a whole.

What do you guys think?

I think that you're probably a person that doesn't look that far into the future. Therefore you individually have absolutely no chance of furthering the march of the human race as a whole. You have no ambition, you will make no change to the universe, you will most likely end up working for someone above you just like those ants you mentioned. So essential you are a short-term thinker who thinks science is a waste of time.

Good for you.

[Miserabilia]

I think that you're probably a person that doesn't look that far into the future. Therefore you individually have absolutely no chance of furthering the march of the human race as a whole. You have no ambition, you will make no change to the universe, you will most likely end up working for someone above you just like those ants you mentioned. So essential you are a short-term thinker who thinks science is a waste of time.

Good for you.

I think you are slightly misreading the point.

A nihilist doesn't think science is a waste of time.
Just think in a realistic world view.

Think about the age of the universe.
You know the whole story that if the universe in time was a series of encyclopedias with thousands of pages we would be the last word?

And think of how incredibly mind numbing small we are.

DO you really think, that in a few milion or more years, we as humans have made a huge impact on the universe?
The universe as a whole?

Probably not, because we are just one of it's many many small parts.

[abc983055235235231a]

Yeah, I tend to lean the same way that you do. But, further, I'm inclined to reject the existence of the self.

[Fractured Silhouette]

I think you are slightly misreading the point.

A nihilist doesn't think science is a waste of time.
Just think in a realistic world view.

Think about the age of the universe.
You know the whole story that if the universe in time was a series of encyclopedias with thousands of pages we would be the last word?

And think of how incredibly mind numbing small we are.

DO you really think, that in a few milion or more years, we as humans have made a huge impact on the universe?
The universe as a whole?

Probably not, because we are just one of it's many many small parts.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

If human race lasts long enough, we might create our own universes eventually. I know how mind numbingly small we are, hence our motivation to, excuse the lack interesting adjective, "get bigger". No one knows what the future holds, both exciting and scary, by reducing humanities value to that of a creature whose only motivation is survival is ignorant and short-sighted.

To be fair, a lot of people are so fucking idiotic that our chance of universal dominance seems unreasonable.

Believing that an external power will settle everything is close-minded(still not impossible), but this swings to the other extreme and therefore is equally as close-minded.

Point is, humanities potential has not been reached and may never will be, so by dismissing every life, you dismiss every life's potential, and you dismiss humanities chances of ever becoming more than we are.

Don't even get me started on how detrimental "realistic" thinking is.

[Body odah Man]

I have respect for Nihilism, Morridin? in the Wheel of Time is my favorite character, but I'm not sure if I AM a Nihilist.

[Miserabilia]

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

If human race lasts long enough, we might create our own universes eventually. I know how mind numbingly small we are, hence our motivation to, excuse the lack interesting adjective, "get bigger". No one knows what the future holds, both exciting and scary, by reducing humanities value to that of a creature whose only motivation is survival is ignorant and short-sighted.

To be fair, a lot of people are so fucking idiotic that our chance of universal dominance seems unreasonable.

Believing that an external power will settle everything is close-minded(still not impossible), but this swings to the other extreme and therefore is equally as close-minded.

Point is, humanities potential has not been reached and may never will be, so by dismissing every life, you dismiss every life's potential, and you dismiss humanities chances of ever becoming more than we are.

Don't even get me started on how detrimental "realistic" thinking is.

If human race lasts long enough, we might create our own universes eventually. I know how mind numbingly small we are, hence our motivation to, excuse the lack interesting adjective, "get bigger". No one knows what the future holds, both exciting and scary, by reducing humanities value to that of a creature whose only motivation is survival is ignorant and short-sighted.

I know, we might:
but that's exactly my point!

I know what we can do.
But in the end, I don't think we will.
THe chances are that we will be destroyed by human stupidity, in whatever way.

Point is, humanities potential has not been reached and may never will be, so by dismissing every life, you dismiss every life's potential, and you dismiss humanities chances of ever becoming more than we are.

Dismissing life?

Believing that an external power will settle everything is close-minded(still not impossible), but this swings to the other extreme and therefore is equally as close-minded.

If you mean with external power god, no I don't beleive that. Otherwise I'm not sure what you mean.

[Tarannosaurus]

I am just an exisistential nihilst.

I think saying humans are somehow important or will change the universe seems a little narcistic. We are not the center of the universe.

I am not sure about moral nihilism.
I beleive thelarge concept of morals is naturaly present in humans, but that all the smaller social morals and norms are later invented by humans.

But, since I don't direclty beleive in "good" or "bad", I am a moral nihilist.

I agree with this.
All species are (should be) equal. In fact, I think that humans could be considered a lesser species for all the destruction they've caused.

[Fractured Silhouette]

I know, we might:
but that's exactly my point!

So what you're pointing out is that you agree with me in that Nihilistic thinking is detrimental to the human race as a whole, well that's good.

By suggesting we have a chance of evolution, you basically agree with me. Nihilism is the type of thinking that gives humanity no chance for evolution because we'll never matter to the universe therefore our lives have no point so our minds close and we confine ourselves to this planet until we stagnate and die. So basically Nihilistic thinking becomes a prison for the Nihilist. The sad thing is that that person probably believes that they are free because nothing they do will ever matter. Sad irony.


Dismissing life?

As in dismissing life's potential to become larger than the universe itself when we know next to nothing about how the universe works.

If you mean with external power god, no I don't beleive that. Otherwise I'm not sure what you mean.

The point I was trying to make in that statement is that Nihilistic thinking is equally as bad (or worse) than religious thinking. Also that the concept of a "God/s" or higher power is not an impossibility, but that's probably a debate all on it's own.

Bottom Line: Existential Nihilistic thinking is bad, because it pointlessly limits the mind's potential. Moral Nihilistic thinking is something that could possibly further our understanding of human behavior.

[Zenos]

I, personally, am a Existential (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism#Existential_nihilism) and Moral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilsm#Moral_nihilism) Nihilist. An Existential Nihilist commonly believes that Human life holds no intrinsic value. That is, human life is no better or worse than any other life or non-life, that the human race is in a sense pointless. We make no difference on the universe as a whole, and that a person being killed is neither good or bad in itself.

A Moral Nihilist commonly believes that there exists no universal moral compass, that one's actions an beliefs aren't good or bad. In a Moral Nihilist's view, morals are something invented by the human mind as a sort of unspoken dichotomy, and are thus an abstract concept.

I'm a Moral and Existential Nihilist. I don't believe that human life holds any real positive value in and of itself, and I also believe that human morals are something that were invented by the mind, by the human condition, as a way to make life seem more fair and meaningful.

What do you guys think?

So as Nihilist you believe in what?/ Nothing? If you believe in nothing that nothing relevant then what have you to motivate and drive you to greatness?

Lol sorry Morals where invented by man to prevent man from doing things that are wrong like murder,adultry,theft,etc etc.

Theres nothing wrong with morals they just vary by culture.

Though I do think teens in America do need a set of Morals to follow.

[Miserabilia]

Originally Posted by Sephtyan View Post
I, personally, am a Existential and Moral Nihilist. An Existential Nihilist commonly believes that Human life holds no intrinsic value. That is, human life is no better or worse than any other life or non-life, that the human race is in a sense pointless. We make no difference on the universe as a whole, and that a person being killed is neither good or bad in itself.

A Moral Nihilist commonly believes that there exists no universal moral compass, that one's actions an beliefs aren't good or bad. In a Moral Nihilist's view, morals are something invented by the human mind as a sort of unspoken dichotomy, and are thus an abstract concept.

I'm a Moral and Existential Nihilist. I don't believe that human life holds any real positive value in and of itself, and I also believe that human morals are something that were invented by the mind, by the human condition, as a way to make life seem more fair and meaningful.

What do you guys think?


So as Nihilist you believe in what?/ Nothing? If you believe in nothing that nothing relevant then what have you to motivate and drive you to greatness?

Lol sorry Morals where invented by man to prevent man from doing things that are wrong like murder,adultry,theft,etc etc.

Theres nothing wrong with morals they just vary by culture.

Though I do think teens in America do need a set of Morals to follow.

So as Nihilist you believe in what?/ Nothing? If you believe in nothing that nothing relevant then what have you to motivate and drive you to greatness?

If you actually read what he said you'd know that a nihilist does not beleive in nothing.

Lol sorry Morals where invented by man to prevent man from doing things that are wrong like murder,adultry,theft,etc etc.

Morals aren't "invented".
The base of "morals" is naturaly present in the human brain,
the rest differes socially from culture to culture.
They don't need to be invented.

Theres nothing wrong with morals they just vary by culture.

Though I do think teens in America do need a set of Morals to follow.

He never said there's anything wrong with morals.
And everyone has a set of morals, it's just not the exact same.

[Zenos]

[QUOTE=cheesee;2696435]If you actually read what he said you'd know that a nihilist does not beleive in nothing.



QUOTE]

My question was rhetorical

[The Trendy Wolf]

I, personally, am a Existential (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism#Existential_nihilism) and Moral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilsm#Moral_nihilism) Nihilist. An Existential Nihilist commonly believes that Human life holds no intrinsic value. That is, human life is no better or worse than any other life or non-life, that the human race is in a sense pointless. We make no difference on the universe as a whole, and that a person being killed is neither good or bad in itself.

A Moral Nihilist commonly believes that there exists no universal moral compass, that one's actions an beliefs aren't good or bad. In a Moral Nihilist's view, morals are something invented by the human mind as a sort of unspoken dichotomy, and are thus an abstract concept.

I'm a Moral and Existential Nihilist. I don't believe that human life holds any real positive value in and of itself, and I also believe that human morals are something that were invented by the mind, by the human condition, as a way to make life seem more fair and meaningful.

What do you guys think?
I agree completely (and I have even before reading this) that there truly is no "moral compass" in our universe. Good and bad are something created by humanity, as well as life itself. However, despite this being my true belief, we must consider the fact that we are mere mortals, humans, and we cannot live by no morals whatsoever. It is necessary for humans, as well as all life, to put values on particular things in order to make logical decisions. No human, nor any other life forms, will ever be perfect, and evolution will continue endlessly. We cannot live life catering to the morals of the universe, as we must live with the fact that we are only human, we have feelings, emotions, imperfections, and we must, absolutely must, have our own morals and values that pertain to the bettering of humanity.

Personally, I believe that living by the idea that we should not have morals is, ironically, "bad," but living with the fact that we are only human and we must establish our own values, while logically realizing that there could never be any "moral compass" within our universe. Any organism has an infinite potential when given consciousness (which all life forms have), but make of that as you will in terms of its worth.

[The Trendy Wolf]

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

If human race lasts long enough, we might create our own universes eventually. I know how mind numbingly small we are, hence our motivation to, excuse the lack interesting adjective, "get bigger". No one knows what the future holds, both exciting and scary, by reducing humanities value to that of a creature whose only motivation is survival is ignorant and short-sighted.

To be fair, a lot of people are so fucking idiotic that our chance of universal dominance seems unreasonable.

Believing that an external power will settle everything is close-minded(still not impossible), but this swings to the other extreme and therefore is equally as close-minded.

Point is, humanities potential has not been reached and may never will be, so by dismissing every life, you dismiss every life's potential, and you dismiss humanities chances of ever becoming more than we are.

Don't even get me started on how detrimental "realistic" thinking is.

Personally, I believe that all life has the same infinite potential, as all life-forms have consciousness and the ability to evolve over time. I must also consider all life to be equal in that we are all bound by the same limitations brought forth from our universe's science and logic.

I could not agree more with your idea of the two universal extremes for finding morals. One extreme appears quite emotionally charged, while this idea seems logically and existentially focused; both are beyond our human capabilities. We must simply find a balance that our limitations allow for us to follow, and therefore prosper.