Nihilism (5 Viewers)

[ilikebeeef]

Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao, just to name a few. Saddam may have hid beheind his religion, but the fabuolous four I just mentioned were just as guilty of hiding, not behiend God, but behiend no God.

See: Cult of personality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you don't have a God, telling you (at least initially) what is right and wrong, it all becomes a matter of opinion and because everyone has the fundamental right to act in regards to what they see as right, it all falls apart. No-one really knows whats trully right or trully wrong, it just comes down to popularity.

qft

Anyone on BOS a Nihilist?

What are your views on Nihilism?

Please refrain from religious babble.

Ooh, me, me!

Nihilism, to me, is an active process whereby you subvert any previously held judgements about things (it's similar in that sense to skepticism and zen, and would include not holding a moral view) and instead just view things as-they-are. So, it's not so much an end-point (eg. life is meaningless, so I can do whatever I want and it doesn't matter!) as it is a means to an ends, i.e. seeing things more clearly, more free from delusion.

This. Nihilism is very post-modernistic. Post-modernism is cool.

 

[KFunk]

But this is not true in all instances. Since the mechanism for evolution is survival via natural selection, not all survival is dependent on the success of the individual. It also depends highly on the survival of the species as a group or a whole.

This would be likened to parents adopting a child (which also occurs in nature in several animal species) as its own. A child or young animal in the wild often cannot survive or mature to propagate successfully without the aid of adequate parental care (such as being supplied with food, water and teaching the child or young animal vital life/survival skills). Often this is not relevant to self-interest, and instead is a by-product of the evolution processes to ensure the survival of the species.

The tendency to protect kin, and offspring in particular, is not a mere by-product of evolutionary processes, but to some extent it is the main outcome. Evolution does not aim at the survival of individual organisms so much as the perpetuation of a genetic code. A code which is not perpetually passed on through offspring simply ceases to exist. Of course, this does not preclude such things as eating or harming offspring which may be rational (from the perspective of the 'selfish gene') under certain circumstances. In the case of social animals such as humans it makes sense that our survival may further depend on the reciprocal ties we form with our fellows (I linked a few papers looking at this in a post in another thread).

 

[boganxcore]

I bet jesus was a bit of a Nihilist.
But seriously when you think about christianity, it is a bit far fetched isn't it?

You are worshiping a cosmic Jewish zombie who is his own father, who can give you eternal life if you symbolically eat his blood and flesh and telepathically tell him that he is your master.
If you do that he will remove this evil spirit that is deep within your soul that everybody in humanity has within them.
Because, this naked woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat the fruit off of a magical tree.

athiests believe that somehow nothing exploded, and the world was created.

tbh it is just as far fetched as christianity

 

[boganxcore]

This. Nihilism is very post-modernistic. Post-modernism is cool.

no. just no.

 

[KFunk]

athiests believe that somehow nothing exploded, and the world was created.

Straw man.

 

[Name_Taken]

athiests believe that somehow nothing exploded, and the world was created.

tbh it is just as far fetched as christianity

I'd say most don't even know if they believe in that with any degree in certinty (can't blame them tho...).

Half the time its something along the lines of "oh I don't know, but I'm sure some scientist does!" or "we can't be sure (i.e. they have no freeking clue lol) but one day we will know for sure, but we know for definite there's no God"... Riiight.

 

[Cookie182]

I'd say most don't even know if they believe in that with any degree in certinty (can't blame them tho...).

Half the time its something along the lines of "oh I don't know, but I'm sure some scientist does!" or "we can't be sure (i.e. they have no freeking clue lol) but one day we will know for sure, but we know for definite there's no God"... Riiight.

I think its far more embarrassing to claim that you know the eternal truth about the universe and nothing more lies to be discovered- ie particularly in the realm of ethics.

I'm certain that the real 'truth' is far more elegant then the pissy little truth that christianity promotes.

 

[Riet]

Likewise I could argue that things like the crusades were arranged by the then leaders of religion and state to advance their own personal interests, and merely hid under a false religious cause to claim legitimacy.

I was going to mention that, exactly. What monarchs/dictators have done is no reflection on what they believe in, only their interpretation. The problem is I bet you can't turn "I believe there is no god" into justification for killing infidels.

As for "nothing exploded..." apart from that being an incorrect interpretation of the big bang theory, quantum fluctuations occur all the time and virtual particles, which have very real effects, do occur.

 

[Name_Taken]

I think its far more embarrassing to claim that you know the eternal truth about the universe and nothing more lies to be discovered- ie particularly in the realm of ethics.

Lol, I would say that it is more embarrassing to say that you have faith in nothing (as opposed to somthing), or worse yet, mankind, but w/e its all opinion really.

I have never claimed that everything has been explained, and that nothing more is to be discovered... Where did you get this from?

I'm certain that the real 'truth' is far more elegant then the pissy little truth that christianity promotes.

Lol... You're certain, ok right, thanks for clearing that up I can't see how anyone could possibly have any doubt now because you have faith in this ultimate truth and are certain... Be a bit of an inconvenience if I were to ask for evidence though wouldn't it?

Haha oh the hypocrisy of it all.



And just on a side note, I bet you don't even know cr*p about Christianity but w/e I don't interfere in you practising your faith in this (undescribed and unproven) ulitmate truth. See you may think Christians are a bunch of ignorant science-hating rednecks but you're wrong, and at least Christians know what it is they believe in.

 

[Name_Taken]

I was going to mention that, exactly. What monarchs/dictators have done is no reflection on what they believe in, only their interpretation. The problem is I bet you can't turn "I believe there is no god" into justification for killing infidels.

Neither can you turn the statement "I believe there is a God" into justification for killing infidels.

 

[Riet]

Neither can you turn the statement "I believe there is a God" into justification for killing infidels.

My problem is with religion not faith.

 

[mirakon]

My problem is with religion not faith.

Exactly, finally someone had the intelligence to point this out. My personal belief:

Faith is fine, religion makes people crazy.

 

[Name_Taken]

Exactly, finally someone had the intelligence to point this out. My personal belief:

Faith is fine, religion makes people crazy.

How so?

I can see your objection if like all religious people were indoctrinated to systematically kill and wipe out people of different religions and/or non believers, but that simply isn't the case (with my religion at least).

I can confidently say, that being Christian, no part of my religion or what I've been taught/read support the notion of violence or hostility towards other religions or unbelievers (tho obviously it looks down upon and advises against involvement in both).

 

[mirakon]

How so?

I can see your objection if like all religious people were indoctrinated to systematically kill and wipe out people of different religions and/or non believers, but that simply isn't the case (with my religion at least).

I can confidently say, that being Christian, no part of my religion or what I've been taught/read support the notion of violence or hostility towards other religions or unbelievers (tho obviously it looks down upon and advises against involvement in both).

Okay, I was admittedly a bit rash, so let me express my point of view a bit more clearly.

What I meant was that faith obviously has no harm. It's a personal belief and doesn't impact upon anyone. Religion often serves as a way to segregate people, and although this may not be it's purpose, unfortunately it leaves way for this loophole of radicals.

Also, religion tries to set out a timeless set of universal morals, which is somewhat contradictory because:

Morals change as time progresses.

Furthermore a set of religious morals automatically excludes anyone who does not follow that religion.

The explanations for natural events given by many religions are outdated by new scientific evidence.

 

[Riet]

How so?

I can see your objection if like all religious people were indoctrinated to systematically kill and wipe out people of different religions and/or non believers, but that simply isn't the case (with my religion at least).

I can confidently say, that being Christian, no part of my religion or what I've been taught/read support the notion of violence or hostility towards other religions or unbelievers (tho obviously it looks down upon and advises against involvement in both).

Yeah it just forsakes Africans to be wiped out by HIV-AIDS.

 

[ilikebeeef]

no. just no.

What do you mean by that?

 

[Name_Taken]

Yeah it just forsakes Africans to be wiped out by HIV-AIDS.

Yeah, maybe if they listened to everything the Church said and didn't have sex outside of marriage and only with their partner once married, then they probably wouldn't have this problem.

And the stigma associated with contraception in the country among those who do choose to have immoral sex is not because of the Church's message against contraception.

Most of the problem can be blamed on a lack of education about HIV/AIDS and the lack of medical resources needed to protect against unecesarily infection.

The Church isn't the reason why Africa is in the state that it is in regards to AIDS.

 

[boganxcore]

What do you mean by that?

postmodernism is a blanket term for ideologies trying to make up for the bleakness of nihilism

nihilism itself isnt postmodern

 

[lolokay]

postmodernism is a blanket term for ideologies trying to make up for the bleakness of nihilism

nihilism itself isnt postmodern

The Compact Oxford English Dictionary refers to postmodernism as "a style and concept in the arts characterized by distrust of theories and ideologies and by the drawing of attention to conventions."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-modernism#cite_note-0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-modernism#cite_note-0
sounds fairly nihilistic to me, but I'll admit I'm a bit skeptical of it