you must be mistaken, I searched for the Why so much lubrication? thread and couldn’t find one…
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You’ve got it backwards, man. (Sorry for assuming gender.) MM is appalled at how little lubrication there is in the world, hence his offer to give people more. He acts all cynical and borderline nihilistic, but deep down he’s subconsciously a hippie altruist. 
thanks shifu, i’m still new and learning here 
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Sounds more like existentialism than nihilism. Wouldn’t a nihilist say you can’t think it out from the basics?
I thought he was the inspiration for this thread. Just for you though I won’t bring his name up again in this discussion.
bring up whose name?
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Stupid is the default status for homo sapiens when its higher nature is on the blink.
It’s their nature anyway, by the standards of higher beings. The thing you might be missing is that it’s billions of different versions of stupid.
But getting back to what you were saying, there’s no realistic danger of all humans believing in nothing just because they don’t all believe in some particular thing.
What is the danger of people losing their faith in some particular thing? As this guy pointed out, humans are hardwired, to some extent, to engage in “religious” i.e. worshipful and ritualistic behavior. If they lose one religion, they get another – even when it’s something they think isn’t a religion.
Can the replacement be worse? Yes. But there will still be something. And people will often find their somethings compatible with other people’s somethings, which after a bit of compromise and revision results in a more cohesive something. Like breaking eggs and getting an omelette, or some other egg dish, or at least a realization that salmonella poisoning sucks and that broken eggs are a nuisance to clean up.
Truly believing in nothing (unless you mean the concept of Nothing™ – which is actually a variant of Something™) isn’t really possible anyway, unless you reduce the brain to the point where it’s barely recognizable as human.
I see it as a result of evolution, not everybody has the capacity (I mean time, resources and will) to self-reflect study the nature of things. therefore Religion, belief in Capitalism etc…, are a way to simplify society and it result in better decision making for society as a group. That not to say that it does not go wrong. Actually it either goes very wrong or slowly disappears and another belief become prevalent. Where it will ends up is unclear, but it seems that more and more people are able to self-reflect and either make abstraction of beliefs or try to integrate and understand them without favoring a particular one.
Well, that quote came from Katherine somebody in the interview, not me. I thought existentialism was curious about the state of being human in the world.
Existentialism (/ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃəlɪzəm/ or /ˌɛksəˈstɛntʃəˌlɪzəm/) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on the lived experience of the thinking, feeling, acting individual.
Again, this is all new to me. I have read some of this and some of that, but never really made an effort to master any particular philosophical bent. I’m reading a book on the Stoics now…don’t make me a Stoic.
No, not really. If anything the behavior of MASSES of Americans this summer has been prodding me to learn more about Nihilism. Like Katherine in the interview asked, What happens when you take away God? Family? from the human social equation? The whole Anarchist/ Occupy Wall Street guys from a decade ago. The Tea Party Patriots who got mad, left their political fold and then quickly reformed into the TPP. It just all signalled to me that something very interesting was afoot.
When people start BEHAVING as though life and existence is pointless, and not simply thinking and moaning about it…that makes me look up over my bifocals. Do I reach for the book or the gun?
Define “we.”
I think China and the CCP are doing a great job at it.
Also, are you implying that all people in a given area are hmm cajoled into believing the same thing by culture/religion/science whathaveyou?
I’m thinking about the interview above again…it’s really good…when I ask if Nihilism is a rejection of finding and making moral guidelines from one’s environment/reality or is it the LACK of intellectual/social capability to forge a connection from one’s environment/reality?
Is Nihilism a choice or a result? I think I asked something similar above.
Why? Nihilism =/= radicalism.
The fact that they put the word Patriots in their name should be an obvious clue that they’re not nihilists. Even “anarchists” aren’t necessarily nihilists. Occupiers (most of whom aren’t anarchists) tend to believe in one variant or another of “fairness” or “social justice”, which means (obviously) they’re not nihilists.
If not believing in God is the bar for nihilism, then nihilism doesn’t really mean anything (which I suppose would be fitting).
If not fitting into American conventionalism – nuclear family in the suburbs with two cars and a dog or whatever – is the bar for nihilism, same problem. If that’s not what take away family from the human social equation means, what does it mean?
You’re describing suicidal people, not activists (on “either side”). Or you’re committing a huge fallacy by equating belief in something unconventional with belief in nothing. It completely makes sense at one level, but that’s the level of nonconformist beliefs must not be permitted to exist, ergo they do not exist.
Why would I be implying that while saying the opposite? Absolute conformity is a dream that many have dreamt, but it never actually works. Show me the most repressively anti-freedom of though state you can find, and I will show you dissidents.
In a smaller group, like a mini-cult or a family (or a Sealand-size country), you may get the appearance of absolute conformity, but it will be just that – an appearance. Sooner or later, a difference of opinion will manifest.
I would say most cases of such rejection are merely rebellion or nonconformity. When a sense of morality is rejected, it doesn’t completely go away. Sooner or later, a new set of moral guidelines either crystallizes or at least becomes apparent (similar to what @babab00m said a few posts ago).
If you feel disconnected from society, you feel disconnected from society. You can see that as your problem, society’s problem, or a bit of both. In any case, it doesn’t necessarily mean you believe in nothing.
Is any belief a choice or a result? (Answer: depends on the definitions of choice and result.)
I don’t think you can really ‘choose’ to not care though or think nothing matters directly, again by definition the choosing is caring, like saying “I don’t care what mother thinks” over and over. You’d be trying to convince yourself of your outlook.
In my opinion, ego is at the heart of many people’s struggles with their outlook. Thinking they are influential enough to change this thing, or that person, and when they realize their power ain’t all that, they go into denial, and they get frustrated, letting their ego control every response and action.
I think viewing religion or a philosophical term as a switch that can be flipped to get you to a point where you’re happy with your outlook, is more like putting on stickers, when you need to rust remove.
Maybe the thing you’re investigating gives you the tools to rust remove, but from my observations most people want a quick fix with their outlook, and try to associate themselves with a ‘name’, because they aren’t willing to dig down deeper and introspect.
My premise would be that nihilistic feelings and thoughts drive some to join more temporally appealing like planning attending and participating in a protest and then maybe directly or indirectly participating in a riot. So, some nihilist would more probably act out radically.
Do you think it’s possible you’re more examining the behavior and ignoring possible Nihilism as a driving force?
Who said it was? I believe Katherine listed several things, yeah? I’d have to check my notes.
That may be a problem but maybe not bc of what you said. America has many many different forms of “convention” when it comes to family. Conventions between random families might be a lot more diverse than you’re allowing for here.
Let me think about this one. Thanks. Cheers
However, if you thought I was describing suicidal people, I was not. If it is true, and who’s to say, it was unintentional. What made you think that, if I may ask?
Nihilism is best left to the professionals.
— Iggy Pop
By the late 20th century, “nihilism” had assumed two different castes. In one form, “nihilist” is used to characterize the postmodern person, a dehumanized conformist, alienated, indifferent, and baffled, directing psychological energy into hedonistic narcissism or into a deep ressentiment that often explodes in violence. This perspective is derived from the existentialists’ reflections on nihilism stripped of any hopeful expectations, leaving only the experience of sickness, decay, and disintegration.
In his study of meaninglessness, Donald Crosby writes that the source of modern nihilism paradoxically stems from a commitment to honest intellectual openness. “Once set in motion, the process of questioning could come to but one end, the erosion of conviction and certitude and collapse into despair” ( The Specter of the Absurd , 1988). When sincere inquiry is extended to moral convictions and social consensus, it can prove deadly, Crosby continues, promoting forces that ultimately destroy civilizations.
The absence of belief in anything, the complete destruction of meaning, is Hell. A true nihilist would immediately destroy himself on realizing that meaningless existence is a punishment and our only crime is that we bear it.
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