"...nothing exists and nothing matters. ...That there
might not be a purpose to things or to your life or to our existence or to the
cosmos. And this all might be purely arbitrary, an accident. That there's no
inherent meaning to anything." In the podcast "In The Dust of This
Planet" by Radiolab, the speakers talk about what nihilism is in our
contemporary society. I believe nihilism definitely is relevant to today’s
society. A great deal of people no longer believe in life being meaningful
because they believe once we die our existence and soul entirely just seizes to
exist. We see this through the way people believe that the best way to live is
to live life to the fullest. In teenagers especially, beliefs of living with no
regrets and the thought of how “you only live once” is what guides their actions.
People act this way because they don’t believe there is a purpose of why there
are here. To them there is no cosmology. Nothing in the world matters so they
use that belief to act in any way they want. To them, their existence is not
based on the reason they were put on this planet, but merely just an action of
reproduction of human beings. Since many people in our society today live with
the mentality of how nothing matters, nihilism is surely a role of our
contemporary society.
The quote that you uses was perfect."...nothing exists and nothing matters. ...That there might not be a purpose to things or to your life or to our existence or to the cosmos. And this all might be purely arbitrary, an accident. That there's no inherent meaning to anything." this quote show the exact mentality of a person showing signs of nihilism. Today a large portion of society are nihilists or pessimists,and the reason is because society goes through a cycle of thinking. for example doing the 30'-60's the outlook on the future was very pessimistic due to the what was happening in the world at that time, world war II, the cold war, everything was very dark. As time went on and the 70's and 80's came around the out look was becoming more optimistic and even into the 90's. Now a day its become extremely dark almost all movies are centered around so post apocalyptic world or society where the government is extremely cruel. It really shows where we as a society's mentality is at.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with your notion that nihilism continues to have a role because our contemporary society lives with the mentality that nothing matters. When society develops this mentality, it is “not about tearing down power structures or embracing nothingness”, it is merely a way of facing the fact that mortality brings. Nihilism is a temporary coping mechanism our society has to make us numb to the pain going on in the world. It is used as a way to reject the world—which rejects all the good and bad in it. People choose to look at the world with this particular point of view as a sense of proving to the world that destruction and chaos can’t and won’t phase them. I believe it is a front, a sense of walls being put up all around, to protect them from the hurt and pain that is so evident.
ReplyDeleteIn the dust of this planet could mean that there is a new coming in this world. A new world is coming after the end of this one. What June Ambrose said “the aftermath that something the ending of an era and a beginning of an new one.” this said I believe that nihilism creates that nothing matters nothing ever get better but out the mist of darkness there is something that comes out. “In the dust of this planet” June thinks that the music industry is dying and that it’s a small whisper to the audience. Saying that she believes that something new is coming and don’t be fearful of the future. I strongly believe in this because It also follows the nihilism concept of things are coming to an end. With that sad and depressing thought can boost the confidence to others to not be afraid of the end of time.
ReplyDelete