Existential Nihilism; humanity is nothing, we are concious and consider ourselves important but in reality we are algae, a disease growing exponentially until we’re crippled by famine, a virus or a run of the mill meteor, we’ll be gone before the sun burns out, of that I’m certain, the question is; does that matter? We’re a blip in time, everything we achieve will eventually be dust, the earth is four and a half billion years old, our artistic ancestry goes back half a million, before that; mighty species have died out and never come back, recent evidence suggesting that dinosaurs might have just naturally disappeared in a similar vein to the current panda population, simply giving up mating possibly due to a lack of resources or a change in temperature.

As you get older they say you get more conservative, and I can feel that happening (at the ripe old age of 27), I am caring less and less of body shaming, racism, sexism and all kinds of bigoted remarks, maybe because I should check my privilege as a young white male or maybe because they’re no longer the shocking despicable acts that they used to be, maybe it’s because of over saturation in the news, I feel the world is now shocked enough (or at least feigning to be) for me. People can be cunts, it dies out with multiculturalism and it breeds with segregation, it’s no longer surprising, if you’re a minority you’re going to face racism, it’s a part of human tribalism, we formed societies based on it and mass amounts of money is made from it under the guise of sports teams, all wearing the same colour and singing/shouting/supporting something utterly pointless against an opposition… that’s tribalism and it’s hugely successful thanks to our instinctive need to be a part of a group that passionately excludes those of different shades.

Over time bigotry will die out, it always has been dying and it always will, the world is constantly improving even if it doesn’t seem that way when you check the days news. Less than a hundred years ago women weren’t allowed to vote in the UK, 50 years later homosexuality was decriminalised and nowadays we’re fighting for people to be… nicer… to transsexuals, there are still issues with glass ceilings, racial violence and a lack of distribution of wealth, but the kinks will eventually be ironed out.

I used to be an outspoken atheist, shitting on those that disagreed because honestly; I found it funny that adults have imaginary friends, like genuinely funny (and equally infuriating at times). With a little self reflection, some basic maturing and seeing the hoards of assholes following Richard Dawkins I’ve found that I don’t care either way, I’ll laugh at the occasional Atheist meme but if I search deep down into my consciousness, idgaf. Nobody changes their mind having been mocked, it simply causes a stronger sense of justification that the world is filled with serpents intent on pulling them away from faith, so why bother?

Having travelled through Thailand and spoken to devout Buddhists, it can actually be nice hearing others belief systems, the world will eventually be majority atheist as governments reject religious input and apart from the occasional oddballs in cults, mass religion will be one with Greek Mythology, not in our lifetime but so what? Why bother worrying right now? Just enjoy that we live in a strange in-between time of historic cultures/faiths and to-a-point; modern rationality.

I had heard the term “Nihilistic” many a time applied to meaninglessness, specifically politically or religiously and it summed up how I felt whilst thinking up a name for this blog I wanted to sum myself up with a word, I did a tiny amount of research of the philosophy and it not only fit, but it clicked, I realised I’ve been a nihilist for years without even trying. I know little of the ins and outs of philosophical arguments for or against and I’ve never picked up the writing of Nietzsche or Kierkegaard but it doesn’t matter, the basis is all I needed, I simply wanted a word. There are people who state that “a true Nihilist wouldn’t do X or Y”, but would a true Nihilist give a fuck? Would they even bother arguing? I don’t think so. The entire philosophy can be summed up with the now outdated word “meh”, as suggested recently at a comedy gig I attended by the NZ comedian Brendon Green.

Regardless of philosophical ideologies, we’re all still human, we eat sleep and shit, life may be meaningless but that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it.

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