Existential Nihilism

Do you ever ponder about the grand scale of this ever expanding universe and realize that compared to the many parts of this enigma we reside in, you are but a speck containing no significance at all. Because of this some may feel that there is no meaning to life and their existence, and everything we do is futile against the passage of time. This is a form of philosophy called existential nihilism.

To find out what this way of thinking is, let's see how the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines it where they describe it as when "the world is without meaning or purpose", this could generate the ideas that all we do as a result is ultimately meaningless. I think that what they are trying to say here is that the universe holds many mysteries that we may never discover in our lifetimes or for the existence of mankind leading to a sense of doubt into the reasons we strive for our goals when what results is the end with no overarching result. From this view point, I understand the view of those who visualize the world in this way as "why should we do what we do if it never bears fruit". This also conveys a sense of overall acceptance that the paradoxical nature of reality may never be comprehended as a result.

As to what I think about this train of thought, it is definitely a reasonable outlook of the world as we may not find meaning in life within the short spans of our meager lives. However, I feel that having no meaning in life is not considered an end to a means. It should not be a stopping factor to give up on life itself. Personally, we should embrace our sense of mortality as human beings living insignificant lives and make the most of it as a result. We should understand that just because life has no meaning does not mean we have things we treasure, enjoy and have goals to achieve in this little time we have on the trapped bubble we call Earth.

To conclude, the idea of nihilism comes out of the meaning of life being impossible to attain and from that some question the value of existence in general. But I think that there is more to value rather than finding a degrading truth, that we should achieve what we want to in life to help ourselves flourish, and attain what we want. Thank you for tuning into the first post by The Cryan Times.