Sunny nihilism: ‘Since discovering I’m worthless my life has felt precious’
Wendy Syfret at The Guardian
Let’s be really, really clear here. When these folks speak of nihilism it bears almost no resemblance whatsoever to the manner in which I explore it on this thread. Philosophically, for example. But starting with the premise that in a No God world meaning and morality are rooted in “existential contraptions rooted in dasein in an essentially meaningless existence that ends for each of us one by one in oblivion”, is not exactly where Jia will be taking us in reacting to the “post-global financial crisis” in America. Or for that matter the extreme global turbulence brought on by the coronavirus today.
As for feeling “lost and apathetic”, it’s one thing to attach these reactions to one individual’s life that has been flushed down the toilet and another thing altogether to dismiss that life ontologically and teleologically as ultimately valueless and completely futile.
Yes. This is clearly one way in which to deal with a nihilistic frame of mind. To actually take advantage of it. Only in order to “wild the fuck out” you have to have access to both options and a willingness to accept the consequences of those the “wilding” might do harm to.
Also, the author doesn’t focus at all on the points I raise in regard to moral nihilism. The feeling of being “fractured and fragmented”. And the way in which some who “wild the fuck out” become sociopaths, making life hell for all those who come between what they want and how they choose to get it.
Sure, when you turn the “nihilistic baddies” into cartoon characters in a movie, the only ones to feel their wrath are cartoon characters themselves. But out in the real world don’t expect much in the way of a “ecstatic, fundamentally ironic but also incredibly sincere, unhinged quality” to prevail.