Nihilism is literally belief in nothing and, more commonly, belief that there is no purpose or meaning in reality.
Existence is futile only if you allow it to be. Depression is, I imagine, the source and not the result of nihilism. I should note here that not all views of nihilism are so bleak and it can be said that there is some truth in understanding all meaning as contrived and derived from our language-games rather than from something embedded in reality.
But, if existence is meaningless, then how can you be reading these words that share my thoughts with you about reality? Existence is only futile if you let it be because existence is infinite in every way. There is no end to what we can do, how we can express ourselves, and how we can enjoy being. There is also no end to the ways in which we can suffer as beings and suffering can often bring forth a dark shadow over our conceptual paradigm of reality- whatever that may look like.
Nihilism and depression are companions. Some form of nihilism, I suspect, is the paradigm that occupies many a suicidal or homicidal person. Reality can seem devoid of meaning and purpose and, combined with anger or sadness, can lead to violence. Certainly, a nihilist need not be someone who acts on their lack of belief, but the state can lead to moral and ethical nihilism. Nihilism is often what takes the place of religious meaning or purpose when people lose faith.
It is, perhaps, precisely because of the possibility of nihilism and its nagging insistence that this is all for nothing that we come to believe in fantastic things in order to thwart it. Nihilism is more than loneliness and believing in nothing can lead to a kind of existential angst, anger, or sadness.
Nihilism can make sense from a reductionist, materialistic paradigm. We are here because we evolved to be here and, now that we know we are here, we know that there is no reason for us to be here is the logic of nihilism. Many of those who become locked into this belief and do not, somehow, convince themselves that there is a reason to be here, wither.
But for those who have found some aspect of human existence worthwhile, they can overcome nihilism by using these aspects as floatation devices in the void. Children, art, love, and beauty are a few of the aspects of human existence that, for me, make it worthwhile. Though, at times of deep depression and loss, the void can certainly seem clear and real.
Nihilism is a form of absolute boredom, where nothing is, to any degree, interesting or worthwhile. Students of Nietzsche and Kafka can traverse the resultant art that deep contemplation concerning nihilism can create. It is dark, lifeless, cold, and something more terrifying than anything that can be done to us. Nihilism is the belief that, not only is everything we do and create going to one day end, it is also the belief that everything we do and create is not worth creating or doing in the first place.
Nothing has worth or value or reason. Life and death are interchangably irrelevant to the universe that will, from its perspective, swallow us and everything else in an instant. If, ultimately, one does not believe there is meaning or purpose in any action, why then, does suicide seem like a good choice? Perhaps a lack of meaning is torturous for some. Perhaps the potential truth of nihilism is too much for an intelligent mind to bear. Nihilism is a form of absolute boredom, where nothing is, to any degree, interesting or worthwhile.
Students of Nietzsche and Kafka can traverse the resultant art that deep contemplation concerning nihilism can create. It is dark, lifeless, cold, and something more terrifying than anything that can be done to us. Nihilism is the belief that, not only is everything we do and create going to one day end, it is also the belief that everything we do and create is not worth creating or doing in the first place.
Nothing has worth or value or reason. Life and death are interchangably irrelevant to the universe that will, from its perspective, swallow us and everything else in an instant. If, ultimately, one does not believe there is meaning or purpose in any action, why then, does suicide seem like a good choice? Perhaps a lack of meaning is torturous for some. Perhaps the potential truth of nihilism is too much for an intelligent mind to bear.
Perhaps nihilism and atheism are similar in that they assume too much omniscience on the part of the individual. They are, in a sense, arrogant positions of those that both believe that there is no god but that they know as much as a god would.
The true nihilist would be someone sitting in a corner, doing and thinking nothing. Nihilism need not be the result of a loss of faith in god and religion as Nietzsche warned. Neither need nihilism lead to a kind of horrific power paradigm where reality is just a game to be played with and people's lives unimportant. Nihilism is an incorrect and empty view from the vantage point of a sad mind.
