Hello /adv/, I have never posted here before but I am looking for some advice.
I am not very old but I have run into a wall in my life. I have studied and practiced philosophy as long as I have been able to do research and learn on my own. I have always searched for some sort of meaning or reason for existing and in the past I have found it. But I have currently become very nihilistic of the last few years and in a way it has become emotionally stressing while I am unable to change intellectually or philosophically.
Basically my extremely realistic yet pessimistic view point on existence and my life is starting to break me down as a person and I am afraid to face my loved ones. Is there any advice to be had on not loosing my mind or health?
*losing
I don't think you are realistic, I think you're missing big parts of the picture. You're not stoic of course, just too negative. I wont try to give specifics because it's easier just to leave it slap you in the face later.
>>17100793
Why even bother responding if you are only going to say
>You are wrong. I will not give any reason for this statement because I am right and you are wrong.
nihilism is a false conclusion based on the assumption that birth is the beginning and death is the end. look more into the concepts in jainism and buddhism to get out of your hole. birth is not the beginning, death is not the end, yet life is still a meaningless survival struggle; the difference between this view and yours is that yours leads to a dead end and personal stagnation while buddhism leads to nirvana or escape from this vicious cycle of existence via gradual sanctification. your nihilism leaves you a stunted person, just a bleak pessimist waiting blithely for oblivion, when in fact your very stagnation will result in rebirth.
in short, you haven't found the way out, you've resigned yourself to dragging your heels for endless more lives. get pro-active with your life and seek nirvana and see everyone else's lives within this context.
>>17100864
But how can I convince my self death is not the end? I need to base my life on something more than feeling. I understand that I cant prove that there is nothing after death, but I also cant prove that there is something after it, and the that fact is not enough for me to base a spiritual belief on. I cant prove to my self or feel that living my life one way or another has any empirical or spiritual value. I just cant make sense of things.
Hey OP, you didn't say shit about the things you've done and are doing outside of your own frigging head. That shit's important, too.
If I spent all day trapped between my own ears, thinking, instead of doing, I'd probably want to suck start a .45, too.
Regardless of our inner man, we are built on the frame of a hairless ape, and we inherited instincts that maximize survival- both personal and as a species. Being able to recognize the difference between dialectic and rhetoric doesn't address our stronger drives, and as such, won't truly satisfy, (which says a lot about the nature of free will, but that's another story). When is the last time you had an ice cream cone, and really, really enjoyed it? THAT shit will, on a long enough timeline, give you a more potent chemical rush than intellectual self-development.
No wonder you're a nihilist. Consider balancing your life a little better, OP. You might not be feeding your inner man nearly as well as you think by doing as you're doing just now. Growing in a new direction, perhaps in developing physical skills or constructive hobbies, might be helpful.
Life is actually pretty good if you try living it fully. I was once a doctoral student who published 6-8 papers on neurochemistry every year. I quit that to become a commercial fisherman. Much more fun, paid better too, but it wears down your body too fast to do for a long time. Point being, feeding your brain isn't the same thing as nourishing your spirit.
The way I've dealt with this subject is to realize that if nothing matters objectivery, I am free to assign my own personal subjective meaning to whatever I want and it is just as important as whatever anyone else says is important. Find some hobbies, some people you like to be around, anything you want. Humans are trapped between our physical desires and our mental ideals, so find whatever balance between the two that works for you and go for it. You can't be wrong in your choice, because objectively, nothing matters. But you can be right for yourself.
>>17100936
>objectively
'Objectively' doesn't mean shit when you have responsibilities to people you care about. Nihilists are mostly pussies who are trying to justify sucking at life. If that sounds like a winning approach to you, may I suggest the poetry of Sylvia Plath and a nice afternoon spent with your head in an oven?
>>17100924
>>17100936
I have a steady girlfriend and I enjoy reading and camping. I work lost in a kitchen and I really enjoy it and have good friends that I see often and do fun cool stuff with. I work out, I play video games, I go for walks and see movies. I have plans and events and aspirations and ideas for the future. Even though I am active and do things and move around I cant un-seat my self from this viewpoint I am in. I have a hard time having deep connections with the people and places around me. I think it is my fault for putting my self in this position. I just don't want to hurt any one's feelings because of this lack of depth in spirit, but I also cant just live my life for the sake of others.
