Feb 25 • General discussion
Confronting despair
The other day, my family sat down to watch the movie Wall-E: where the dingy little trash robot roams the wasteland created and abandoned by humankind making his signature trash cubes in perpetuity alongside his beloved cockroach friend. As he parses through the graveyard that is our planet, Wall-E collects trinkets he finds interesting or beautiful. One of these rarities is a plant, the last (or first) sign of life on the desolate planet earth.
Your heart goes out to the poor robot, because he has so unceremoniously been thrown in to the depths of the human condition.
At least, the image of the human condition I conjure when considering Nietzche and nihilism.
There are several variations to the definition of nihilism, but they all revolve around the notion that objective reality and meaning do not exist.
There was an article published by the guardian (linked in this post) that argues for the embrace of nihilism.
I disagree with embracing nihilism as a philosophy to live by, but i certainly find value in her discussion of what it is and how it can influence our lives.
According to the author "nihilism doesn’t function as a bullshit shortcut to eschewing responsibility, or a ticket to hedonistic self-indulgence. Nihilism functions first as a diagnosis, then a reckoning, then a prompt."
The world is meaningless, MY world exists within that meaninglessness, so what?
So what? What do I do? What do I think? HOW CAN I GO ON?!
The article offers an anecdote about Dolly Parton refusing to wallow in self pity for her situation. While its a good example of creating in the face of despair, I'm not sure we can attribute it to nihilism per se.
I think at a more fundamental level, the first thing you can do in the midst of "reckoning" is recognize what you're feeling: it might be panic, anxiety, and that's a great place to start.
Ask yourself where the anxiety is coming from.
What is it that you fear at the prospect of high level meaninglessness?
What defensive responses do you have to the idea?
Pay attention to your answers, because while this exercise doesn't require that you become a Nihilistic Nietzschian scholar, it can help answer what YOUR meaning making machine (brain) would like to do in a potentially desolate landscape.
An exercise in nihilism can help us figure out what we might do if we were a Wall-E of sorts... and then do it now.
1
0 comments
Confronting despair
powered by
skool.com/lifelong-learning-with-larissa-6510
Where people come to consider how the lessons of great thinkers and influential texts fit in to their day to day lives.
Suggested communities
Powered by