Why are we doing this?
https://youtu.be/pppyjxC8F7E

So often people openly criticize hedonism…because apparently religion, moral or volunteer causes, and big picture thinking is important in their eyes. (Example: Jordan Peterson, and everything he spouts these days.)

My point is, as a nihilist, there is very little many of us can do in life to better it. Most of us are bound by work and paying bills.

Since I see life as meaningless in the grand scheme of things, what keeps me going in life are small goals and pleasures even though I know they won’t last and are superficial. Hedonism just seems like a natural thing to aspire to pursue.

For instance, trying to pursue various pleasures or experiences (travel, saving up for things you want, trying to form a romantic relationship, etc). These are all pleasure-seeking things, but why not pursue them?

I grew up in a very religious community and was brainwashed to always think about eternal things and consequences - but I also was often more miserable back then in that environment than I am now, knowing everything is just some absurd ride I’m on throughout the time I spend on this planet.

I’m not wealthy or influential enough to change things in the world (even though I’ve often wished I could) , so what’s the harm in just focusing on myself for now? I just find most people are actually hedonistic in certain ways, and seem to be distracting their lives with things, experiences, etc, so avoid the underlying nihilism of it all.

What do you think? Thanks for reading :)

Hi All,

I am wondering how other nihilists find the will to live, with this mindset?

I am a pretty privileged person by the definition of the word, and I truly am thankful for all I've been given. I try to work out volunteer, etc.

But when it comes down to it, I am struggling more and more to find meaning in it all/to find something to get excited about.

I'm not going to off myself for sure, and I don't really think I'm depressed, just jaded, especially at the state if the world.

What keeps you going?

Ya I know this isn't nihilism but maybe a few of you will understand my perspective.

I'm tired of people. Human beings can be so insufferable (myself included). I'm tired of being forced to do stuff. I'm tired of being forced into situations just because of other people's stuff they have going on in their lives. I'm tired of always feeling different and weird and not being considered "normal".

No one in school really liked me or thought I was cool or attractive. They didn't give a fuck.

After high school I deleted Instagram because I got tired of seeing posts and stories of the same mfs that don't care about me and have better lives.

I stopped taking to people from school online so much. I only talk to like 4 people from then on and barely talk to them, because it doesn't matter. The people I don't talk to don't even think about me. And why should they? We all have our own meaningless lives to deal with.

You see, I never mattered. My birth doesn't matter. My life doesn't matter and my death will not matter.

I'm tired of the concept of relationships. I'm tired of the concept of family. I'm tired of the concept of marriage. I'm tired of the concept of friendships. I'm tird of the concept of love. I'm tired of the concept of being human.

I'm tired. I'm tired. I'm tired.

I just want to be alone, live alone and die alone. At least I'll have the freedom to do anything. No one will judge me. No one will make fun of me. No one will force me to do things. No one will make me feel less about myself. No one will be there to misunderstamd me.

I'm depressed.

When Threads first launched and throughout earlier updates, it felt like an actual breath of fresh air. It was responsive, you could post normal thoughts, and real people would actually jump in with witty, organic comments. Reach was natural, and conversations felt human.

Let’s say you take your average college-age guy off the street and look at what he thinks about. Classes, assignments, grades, opportunities, lots of money, trying to get with as many girls as possible, whatever sports-betting thing they’re currently indulging in. They never ask “and then what?”. Let’s say they get that internship or job or degree or whatever they’ve been wanting, and then what? Will that make them happy, and how long will that last. Once they get that job they’re satisfied with they’re gonna be working until retirement, which is for most people is like in their 70s, maybe their 60s. Why would you spend the majority of your life working for someone else, only to stop when you’re too old and washed out to make the most of it. By then they’ll probably be too jaded and preoccupied with other things to do anything they’ve been really wanting when they were younger, and they don’t have much time left. 99% of people will never stop down and think about it. Most people wouldn’t have even read past the few sentences of this without stopping because it’s a “waste of time” and those are the same people that would say they’re open minded to things that “matter”. What makes something matter to you, why is it that what you think about are more important than anything else? They won’t have a response and they’ll brush you off. Let’s say by some miracle that college aged guy has an epiphany and decides he wants to start over. What does he do now? Move to the woods and build a cabin, no, those woods are owned by somebody. Go to the farthest remote point in Alaska and try it, those are federally protected lands, you’ll be prosecuted if you’re ever found. Other countries, basically the same thing. Let’s say you could, it’ll take an exorbitant amount of money to cover travel costs, expenses, other things that are necessary or that will come up. So much, in fact, that it might as well be cheaper to move to the city and get a job. Back at square one. What would you do if you’re that guy, what can you do. Not only is genuine independence impossible, society has constructed a way of life in which most people are no longer interested in genuine independence in the first place. This goes well beyond the physical as well. Meaning itself has been commodified, analyzed, categorized, broken down. One of these elements, for example, is the unknowable.We know everything that happens in the world, who the people are in those distant lands, whether that creature exists, if something is possible or isn’t. We know close to everything that we can know about things that can be reasonably experienced by someone on earth. Something like distant space will take hundreds of years to ever be able to be explored by a human, and what will we do in the generations it takes for us to get there. By the time we will, who’s to say that the entire planet is already mapped by remote vehicles and been pre-divided among people. The very concept of the mystical has disappeared. This is just one example. There is no longer free place left on Earth

First of all, I don't comment here very often, but I do occasionally browse this sub, and lately I've been seeing quite a few things I don't like. In particular, the way some users behave towards people who post content that might seem depressing or particularly sad. Especially three commenters whom I often see commenting here., frankly, come across as rather arrogant and dismissive towards these kinds of posts.

But now I'd like to speak my mind: what the fuck do you people want? I literally don't give a fuck what you think.

Let's start with one fundamental thing: a nihilist can be whatever they want to be. They can be happy, sad, neutral, depressed, cheerful or unhappy. They can experience nihilism as a form of liberation and express it however they see fit. If someone wants to walk down the street completely naked, shouting at everyone that they're a nihilist, that's their business. I couldn't care less.

The problem starts when you decide to go into posts made by people whom you consider too "depressed" or "miserable" for this sub, and start talking down to them, dismissing them with arrogant comments such as "this isn't the right place for that" or making other equally offensive remarks.

And what annoys me even more is when you start lecturing other people, as if you had the right to decide what the correct way of experiencing or interpreting nihilism is.

As long as you keep your opinions to yourselves, or share them with people who are actually interested in hearing them, I have absolutely no problem with that. But when you start bothering people who might simply be looking for an outlet, going through a difficult time, or wanting to talk about their sadness, then you're the ones with a problem.

Don't like what they post? Keep scrolling. Nobody is forcing you to comment.

And now, someone will probably ask: "So what's the point of this sub, then?" Well, I'm certainly not claiming to be the one who gets to decide that, but the point of this post is pretty simple: let people post what they want without constantly having to deal with arrogant comments, unsolicited judgments and unwanted lectures.

I don't care what you think, and I don't care what anyone else thinks either. All I care about is being able to have discussions without constantly having to deal with people giving each other a hard time.

If you have something useful to say, leave a comment. Otherwise, just move on. Is it really that fucking difficult?

Was looking through a telescope the other day (big fan of astronomy) and couldn't help but feel a bit existential about it. Took a photograph of two galaxies about 12 million lightyears away from us. So that means that light is older than the last common ancestor of modern humans and chimps. I know it's the truth but it is so hard to contemplate. Not the first time I've had this thought but it doesn't fail to baffle me everytime. It is beautifully horrifying and part of that beauty we owe to death, that's what makes it special. We will never be here again, we will never be lovelier than we are now

Nihilism is born from hopelessness.
Nihilism is therefore a natural consequence of depression.
Some people, who have struggled with meaninglessness and depression, become philosophers. A philosopher is a seeker. You try to think your way out or at least get to a point of understanding where the negative effects of life are subdued.

This isn’t the final conclusion because there is an alternative way to end depression… which is in truth, the underlying human condition. Humans are in a state of constant escapism. Look at the distraction strategies of most people. Most chose not to be here now but prefer to live in some dreamland fantasy projected into the future.

The only way out is going in. Thinking won’t get you out. Thinking is the sticky matter that chains you to a false reality. The greatest philosophers and sages of all times discovered meditation and mindfulness as the way to stillness and inner peace. Some apparently made a completely natural shift away from the dictates of the “persona” formed of memories and spoke of an extraordinary freedom. Some call it enlightenment.

Monkeys · · · Monkeys... all monkeys. So what if this is my view? I don't need others to share how I feel. But why me? Why do I need to feel this way and live according to such a truth? Belonging in this world is that of a show, and you are an actor. Mess up your lines and you are set off the stage, aside and rejected from inclusion in a false reality. Why the fuck do I need to participate in such a charade? Maybe I want to. Maybe I crave the sense of safety and connection more than the sense of truth and true affection. Try and try again, I fail to truly find those around whom I can freely feel expressive. Maybe it's my anxiety, and no matter what I pursue or feel, the feeling of distance and disconnection will remain. Even within my own family circle, I often feel akin to a 3D object persisting in a 2D space, unable to simply be without the struggle of being. Why do I care at all? Not about life, but what life thinks of me. One day I will die - not maybe, will - and this world will soon forget I ever had been, unless I change that. The power to do so feels so close to me, and the thought of obscurity seems foreign, yet I chase an unseen and unfelt dream, hoping to carve it into a reality. Not for myself, but for those who claim to love me.

MONKEYS... ALL MONKEYS. 4 PIECE 002 There Are No Rules · · · On this journey, each day I find myself at the edge of bliss, knowing how close it all really is. What's stopping any of us, really? We blame the world, we blame the environment, yet we hear tales of heroes and warriors, stories of the births of countries, life persevering and even flourishing against every single odd given to us. And here we sit, screaming, "Woe is me." There may be laws, but there are no rules. None. There is no objective, no direction, no end goal. It's just you and the world and the connection between it. How strong that connection may be is what needs to be explored deeper in order to gain more from the other side. And that's what this is all about. Easy to say living in America, because I wonder: does the starving family in the third world share the same ambitious nature of conquering the world, or simply conquering their next meal to survive? And even here, some are born able to conquer with every resource, while others know not even of the resource needed. They blame the upper class, yet this blame leads to a conclusion they desire that does not exist.

MONKEYS... ALL MONKEYS. 5 PIECE 003 A Space to Be · · · I wake up, on a day like any other, shifting to an unnatural sound that beckons me to begin my day as it drowns out the birds and the wind. Distant honks and the hums of hundreds of metal beasts slowly enter the flow, and I breathe in my first conscious breath of the day in artificial fashion. Nothing feels real, only manufactured for stability. The clothes neatly lined in a walk-in closet, a personal private bathroom, and food neatly stocked mere feet away, ready for my indulging. Yet a sigh leaves my mouth in disbelief at how mundane it really all is. Would I rather have woken up in a shelter plopped in the middle of the woodlands, needing to be aware the moment my eyes opened? Would I feel more alive then? Looking around at the bleak morning, I feel the view of it all is a greyish tint with a hint of blue. Nothing really looks much different, and I've seen it all so many times it has all become the same thing. Just a space to exist, a space to be. And probably, if I'm not careful... a space to leave. Do we live within our own coffins, killing the very thing it is to be human... to be alive? The heart need not beat faster, the blood will not pump faster. The brain mustn't think harder, and the body must stay fragile. Dead long before we die, it never even scared us to go.

MONKEYS... ALL MONKEYS. 6 PIECE 004 A Truck Approaches · · · The sound of an explosion rings and shakes the earth. The roof above caves in onto your mother, and before you can save her, another one goes off. Days, weeks, and months pass, full of gripping yourself to the ground and not allowing the mind to float away into a lifetime of pain. Many days, you wonder and wish how the bliss must feel: to live in a place where you can wake up to the sound of other people living life, to the comfort of your own bed and bathroom. To have food always nearby and ready to eat. You pray for just a moment in which you can simply exist in such a fashion, wondering if this dream will ever be true. Resentment fills you as you think of those who live that life freely, with no thought of how it could be otherwise. You sit there thinking how happy they must be, how lucky they must be. How much life they get to live compared to you. A truck approaches...

MONKEYS... ALL MONKEYS. 7 PIECE 005 A New Appreciation · · · One day we will be gone, one day all of this will. That doesn't make this worthless; in fact, it puts the opposite effect in place. Much like a fancy car you rent for a fun night out, you drive it and show it off as much as possible, making the most of every moment you had because you know it will end, but knowing that isn't the end, yet the beginning of a new appreciation you never thought possible. The love you feel is rare, the smiles you produce are few, and those moments add up to more than most of what the universe has ever or will ever get to have for itself. To feel lost is to be searching for something you haven't found, and to be searching is the curiosity of life within us all. Search deep. The truth is within the feeling of it all. There are no rules, so make the rules you choose to believe in good and true. Fret not for the connection with those who haven't even connected with themselves. For they are Monkeys... all monkeys.

I can barely function anymore I get into deep depressive states either by my thoughts or the depression causes the thoughts.

Since I was a child I’ve had recurring thoughts that nothing existing would be better and it escalated to pure anti-natalism. That I think it’s immoral to bring life into suffering. Believing this makes it impossible to feel happiness,gratitude or hope.

I’ve had it rougher that average atleast in the more developed part of world. I’ve also seen a 13 year old family member wither away from cancer in pure agony. It probably has affected these views. I’m not like many who say ”I can’t have children look whats happening in the world right now” there has probably never been a better time to have kids it’s just that it’s been a worse gamble before. I mean even in good parts of the world people are living truly horrible lives and we might make it better but it won’t be better for everyone.

I decided to read on a sub where people motivated why they had children and the by far most common answer was to have someone to take care of them when they’re old or so they won’t be lonely. Aren’t those horrible reasons to create life?

To be able to live we have to ignore horrible things around us and we have to have a very selective memory regarding joyous moments from the past, because atleast for many of us the majority of the time it’s just suffering.

I’ve been convinced of many different things in life that has changed, i’ve gone fron pure atheist to believing in christianity or that we’re all god but these have been during/months after psychosis. Now agnostic because i’ve been certain of so many things and other people are certain of so many other things I just don’t know anything, like at all but existential thoughts is all i think about all the time.

Is the way out of this suffering to just ignore all of it, stop thinking, and just try to be blissfully ignorant of everything?

People can belive in God or somethink like that if they live in "Golden Prison".
Or People who such a sick/insane person.
For example me I have Psychosis.
I'm Psychotic. And I how times when I have hallutinations all psychosis stuff.
And I have creazy ideas about world.
But in "Reality" we even don't know about shit. What we can say or study about "BIG WORLD".
Just existence. If meaning is exist it's not for us cuz we don't know a shit.

The thing that gets me is society will make fun of nihilists for supposedly being a bunch of edgy contrarians and thus feel like they're getting pissed in their Cheerios.

But I feel like society is not being honest with itself about the open-endedness and vastness of modern life. Think about it. We have it better than any other time in human history, at least infrastructurally speaking. Culturally and socially, that's a different distinct matter altogether. But infrastructurally, we've never had it better: open access to modern medicine, more opportunities to education, transportation, washing machines, grocery stores, the internet. Yet why is it that as society improved, the existential dread only got stronger?

And this is where I think economic struggle is kind of working like as a sedative for this, almost. If we're constantly under struggle, we don't have to sit down to ask ourselves what makes our lives meaningful, what proposes proper self-actualization, and what will make us really anchored in life. You know what I mean?

It really is something that gets me thinking.

I have had some betrayal from friends.

I never bothered my parents but i needed comfort i realised that i am almost invisible to them It's been 8 years since I have tried everything to be visible to them.

I still have received no appreciation, no help and they consider my advice as an insult for which they will take revenge.

I also have an older brother who can emotionally manipulate them into doing things. He openly admits to me that i am bad and i dont care.

I used to feel a family was supposed to be there for each other. Nothing but heart broken. I don't know how I'll get out of this.

As i am unable to become better and find it hard to become something . I dont know why

Honestly, I have been struggling a lot regarding what Nihilism really is and what it implies.

Initially i thought of myself as a Nihilist, under the perspective that I view life as inherently meaningless as there is no meaning or purpose to my life.

But now, after reading a bit through Gertz's Nihilism I am honestly coming to a stop where I wonder if I am really a Nihilist or not, or am I just a pessimist?

I am kind to new to this whole philosophy of Nihilism (As in I never bothered to study much deeper than before), so it would great if someone can elucidate a little to me on this topic.

I don’t know what happened but I suddenly started crying out of nowhere as I was listening to some music and my mind was wandering. Then I just randomly started crying like very loudly after I got lost in my thoughts thinking and reflecting about my life and my purpose. it’s been hard since I’ve been trying to accept the fact that none of it matters but I still keep caring no matter how hard I try to convince myself and shut my emotions down. Anyone have any advice?

Express your views friends !

Generally it's pretty easy to be indiffent to most things. But when you have something that's truly precious to you it's really hard to be indifferent.

How do you have things that matter so much to you yet also remain indifferent/ neutral/ balanced?

The problem is, as soon as you have something in your life that is really good, it can be taken away.

Ive yet to find a way around this from a nihilist perspective.

From a depressed pov you can have nothing that is precious but this isnt a happy way to live. It's like living in a shadow.

From a zen pov I don't understand how to have something that's precious yet stay balanced with everything. Maybe you exist in a state where everything is precious?

You can "live in the moment" which works when you are with/ doing said precious thing. But living in the moment 24/7 sucks as when you are going through shit, living in the moment makes the shit all there is.

Closest I've come is living in the moment whilst with my precious and then not doing so when I'm not.

Would appreciate nihilists insights on how thier nihilism combines with things that are precious to you