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Long term Nihilists
April 12, 2015 at 11:02 pm
I know that most people on here don't consider themselves nihilists, but often times they reference things that matter to them or someone in the short term. I wonder if you stretch out the time scale to a point where humanity will certainly become extinct, if all the Atheists here become Nihilists regarding the long term?
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 12, 2015 at 11:03 pm
You're defining "Nihilists" as?
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. - Denis Diderot
We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing. - Gore Vidal
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 12, 2015 at 11:13 pm
(This post was last modified: April 12, 2015 at 11:14 pm by CapnAwesome.)
Just the belief that nothing really matters or has any sort of value.
I'll go with this, which is from wikipedia.
Quote: Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism, which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 13, 2015 at 12:07 am
We'll cut off your Johnson, Lebowski. We'll stomp on it and squish it.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 13, 2015 at 12:18 am
I see many potential futures for our species.
I can see us becoming more united and less warlike, eventually developing our technology to the point where we can start to colonise the solar system and perhaps beyond, thus ensuring our effective immortality.
I see us succumbing to the less desirable aspects of our psyche and wiping ourselves out, taking most of the life on earth with us via nuclear hellfire.
I see us learning to live with the earth and respecting it as our only home, dramatically reducing the harmful effects we have long since inflicted on it.
We are all one tiny link in one vast, unbroken chain. Perhaps that chain will go on for eternity, and our long-distant ancestors will explore the stars and befriend other species on other worlds. Perhaps we will one day die out, and an entirely new chain will emerge, on this world or another.
'Meaning', 'purpose', 'value'...these are all words created by societies grappling with questions that may in the end be irrelevant. As long as the torch is passed down, generation to generation, each one improving on the work of the last, our lives will ultimately not matter in the long term. Our legacies, however, most certainly will.
If you have any serious concerns, are being harassed, or just need someone to talk to, feel free to contact me via PM
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 13, 2015 at 12:18 am
I think I would give you that. The only thing that keeps me from thinking in nihilistic terms is that I have trouble connecting the long term with the short term. Hell, I can't even see the rest of humanities existence affecting my life, unless it all ends within my life time. But I can't deny that everything I do won't matter to whatever's at the end.
I can't remember where this verse is from, I think it got removed from canon:
"I don't hang around with mostly men because I'm gay. It's because men are better than women. Better trained, better equipped...better. Just better! I'm not gay."
For context, this is the previous verse:
"Hi Jesus" -robvalue
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 13, 2015 at 3:07 am
If nothing matters, the long term doesn't matter.
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. - Denis Diderot
We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing. - Gore Vidal
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 13, 2015 at 3:15 am
Would this count as non-nihilist?
I've been wanting to kill myself for about 8 years. The only reason I haven't is because of how it will affect other people/animals.
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 13, 2015 at 3:24 am
(April 12, 2015 at 11:13 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: Quote:Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism, which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.
I would agree that in the long term nothing will matter, but while we have our lives we have our own purposes that have value to each of us.
(September 17, 2015 at 4:04 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I make change in the coin tendered. If you want courteous treatment, behave courteously. Preaching at me and calling me immoral is not courteous behavior.
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RE: Long term Nihilists
April 13, 2015 at 8:56 am
If life doesn't matter in the long term then it doesn't really matter in the short term either. Even proximate meaning without a foundation is no meaning at all.
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