Nothing matters (so do nothing because there is no reason to do something)
Nothing matters (so do anything because why not!?)
this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2024
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I consider myself as mostly existentialist (nothing matters, so find your own meaning), but absurdism has a strong pull, I must admit.
Existentialism doesn't necessarily claim that nothing matters, so yours sounds more like optimistic nihilism, which is very similar if not identical to absurdism.
Thanks for pointing that out. I was trying to be concise and keep in style with the OP, but I may have gone overboard there.
Because I didn't know absurdism, I read the second one differently at first:
[The] nothing matters.
And I immediately had to think of this gem:
"But it doesn't do anything!" - "No, it does nothing."
And that's okay! Make your own meaning! Radical, dude!
Making your own meaning is Existentialism talk! Embrace the lack of meaning!
Embracing lack of meaning is nihilism talk!
Take in existence as it comes and laugh at the absurdity of it all
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The absurdism depicted isn’t pure absurdism because there’s the presence of style, which is a system of meaning and value. So, as depicted, that’s more existentialism or a healthy and cool blend of absurdism with existentialism.
mfw I realize that maybe absurdism is my coping mechanism
Yeah, mine as well.
Sartre says you can be angry and furious at the absurd, Camus says to laugh at it. The absurd is the gap between what we expect to happen, and what actually happens.
Many absurdists also believe in a mind-body split (see Nagel's "What is it like to be a bat?" essay, available for free in pdf format) or that consciousness may be something other than physical and that's where I tend to disagree with them. In general, the essays tend to be extremely interesting and worth reading even if you disagree. Philosophical literature is usually written so precisely and specifically that it's unlike other types of reading.
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Man i switch between those 2 and existentialism like every day. Sometimes even on the same day depending on mood and stuff
Did you mean optimistic nihilism?
Extremely similar to absurdism.
Nothing really matters, anyone can see.
Nothing really matters
…..t’meeeeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeeeeeEeEeEeEe
🎹
Someone who comes here today will be happy to see this. I was, and I hope you are too. Exurb1a is just a treat, check out his other work too.
Thank you, one of those someones is me. Now i have a new dude to peep (and i should read camus).
Edit for the void: one page into 'The Plague' and I'm getting chills.
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I strive to be like Gonzo from the Muppet movies. That whatever is the very picture of the ubermensch.
Hmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Is that Willem Dafoe on the right?
And left
And right
And left
And right
And behind you
(It's from The Life Aquatic)
I prefer dadaism
The fact that things just keep getting weirder lends more credence to absurdism.
Wow it's really hard to pin down a definition of Nihilism. Anyway, I always saw Nihilism as a view that nothing is meaningful, that everything means nothing. But not that nothing matters. If you have no meaning to ascribe value to anything or anyone, you wouldn't find meaning in unnecessary harm or discomfort to others, in a harm reduction mindset.
To me, the definition is "the belief that there is no intrinsic meaning to human existence." You then have two choices: despair that nothing matters (pessimistic nihilism), or recognize that we humans create our own meaning and strive to enjoy existence on those terms (optimistic nihilism). One way I heard it expressed recently was "The universe doesn't care. But people do."
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