"Nihilism or Pessimism. That there might not be a purpose to things or your life or to our existence...we might not be here for a reason...that it just doesn't matter."
Nihilism can be expressed as the belief that life itself is meaningless, nothing in the world truly exists as something real. Nihilism is Latin for "nothing". In this podcast, the author of "In the Dust Of This Planet" Eugene Thacker is a strong believer in nihilism, he is what we would call a pessimist. The nature of our life is un realistic and isn't worth meaning. He believes our existence does not matter. This negative view on the world is very common and is widely shared with other people all around the world. The questioning of what is real and what is the purpose for our existence springs from this concept, we see this negative view on the world every day and it is all around us. Whether it comes from religion, values you follow or even education. In some way everyone has asked the question "so what? why does this matter?". Our society in general can be very negative, hardly anyone likes to see the purpose or positive outlook on certain situations. One would rather see the glass half empty than half full. It is just a common instinct to think negative or always question the world. It just seems easier to put blame and be negative than to be positive and have hope. It is common to think its easier to believe in nothing rather than have hope and be disappointed in the end.
I think a lot of people over the years have lost hope in society. Dating back to our founding fathers, the United States was established on christian principles. Over the years, many christian morals and values have gone out the window. In our society alone it can be seen how gay marriage is legal and according to the bible and many religious views this is wrong. I personally have meet and talked to people who say that were all going to hell cause look at what the world has come too. So for these people they don’t see the point anymore since the world is so corrupted there is no hope, so why care about anything. On the other spectrum there are people who are atheist and don’t believe in a higher power. I’ve meet some in my life who question the whole point of life. To them it doesn’t matter. So tying back to Thackers idea of nihilism, which is he explains when he says, "There might not be a purpose to things, or to your life, or to our existence, or to the cosmos.” Our culture has adapted this philosophy much more over the past decades. The world is constantly changing , which more people beginning to question what the point of life is.
ReplyDeleteBeing human, naturally bad circumstances stick with us more than good ones. Upon researching nihilism I began to consider myself a nihilist. Even though I know I am capable of doing great things in this world, I also know that the world is unfair, and cruel. Sometimes having a full set of mental and physical skills won't get you far in society especially in hard times young Americans are going through trying to become successful. This leaves today's youth wondering, "Am I good enough?
ReplyDeleteI believe I am more nihilist than optimistic. I do think that this world is unfair and that people rarely do good out of the kindness of their heart anymore. It seems in the past strangers often cared for those around them more than themselves. Greed has taken over the world, and the size of your wallet dictates your worth in society. Perhaps nihilism is more relevant then ever.
Eugene Thacker said "Everything we look at is false". This kind of thinking could be taken as being very pessimistic. We have a false sense of reality and hope of how things should be in the world but its all a lie. I agree with you that it is easier in our nature to just go with the negative flow and see the glass as half empty. Nihilism is just this thought process but taken further because they believe that our whole existence and lives are pointless. So i would agree in saying that it is relevant in our society because it is becoming more and more common in our world today.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it’s common, among millennials, to believe there is nothing to life and that life itself is a pointless effort. “In a recent Wall Street Journal poll, 76 percent of people 18 and over weren’t confident that the future is going to be brighter than the past.” Just this statement alone shows the growing popularity of nihilism and exactly what group of individuals it is most influential. Since this group is mostly composed of young adults who, for the most part, get whatever they want whenever they want such as food, clothes, electronics, drugs, alcohol, etc., makes them less likely to find meaning in a higher power let alone something that is occurring outside their individual world. Yes being a nihilist would be easier than being a devoted Christian, but just because someone chooses this path doesn’t make it the lazy path. A nihilist can still contribute to society the same way a Christian could but when it comes to personal opinions they majorly differ. Yes it is easy to believe in nihilism but that doesn’t mean it’s lazy.
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