The age of nihilism

[Era Might]

Very poetic musings even though, as an atheist, my idea of nihilism and living without faith are different.  

I don't agree that "we have no symbolism to fall back on." There are a variety of ways one can find symbolism and sense of aesthetics in natural elements and the brevity of life, without needing to believe that life goes on after death. Maybe it's for the more adventurous, I don't know, but there's something thrilling about venturing into the unknown, not feeling safe in one's faith.    

   

Yes, one can find symbolism in nature, but people today don't even have that. Nature today is something to be studied, controlled, and put to use. We are no longer "creatures" because we have no "creator." Life today is ruled by technique, not creatureliness. The kind of transcendental naturalism of, say, Emerson is completely foreign today.

And there is no "unknown" today. Our lives are planned from birth to death. The great mystery of life is how to get through it with health insurance and life insurance, and retirement, to ensure everything goes smoothly. WH Auden was writing about this back in the 30s, in his poem "The Unknown Citizen":

 

Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content 
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace:  when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his
   generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their
   education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.

Edited October 30, 2015 by Era Might

[Winchester]

Cast your net more closely. Perhaps you are not in the society that redefines marriage, for instance.

 

I personally tend toward existentialism, but I think Catholic morality is spot on because suffering is real, even if it really means nothing. Or maybe I'm just playing at being a nihilist because I like having extra free time on Sunday.

[xSilverPhinx]

I don't know about you Era Might, but major events in my life didn't go according to plan.   

I wake up every day knowing that I will face unknowns, but it wasn't really those I was talking about. I was referring to the greatest unknown of all - what happens after death. It seems to me that believers of various religions, unless going through a crisis in their faith, are so sure of what's to come after they die and that seems to be the default. Anything that contradicts that certainty is seen as disordered and possibly even dangerous. Knowing that you're part of a chosen privileged few is a safe position to have when dealing with stress brought on by existential pondering. 

But anyhow, I mentioned that one can still find symbolism in nature because I used to have pantheistic leanings, while an atheist. I don't see what's wrong with studying nature, as nature is an endless source of marvel. I do have my doubts if it can ever really be controlled, however. If only it were put to use wisely, with future generations in mind, then I would see no problem with that either. 

I'm curious as to what you mean by "creatureliness" and what kind of feelings that translates to.    

[Era Might]

I don't know about you Era Might, but major events in my life didn't go according to plan.   

I wake up every day knowing that I will face unknowns, but it wasn't really those I was talking about. I was referring to the greatest unknown of all - what happens after death. It seems to me that believers of various religions, unless going through a crisis in their faith, are so sure of what's to come after they die and that seems to be the default. Anything that contradicts that certainty is seen as disordered and possibly even dangerous. Knowing that you're part of a chosen privileged few is a safe position to have when dealing with stress brought on by existential pondering. 

But anyhow, I mentioned that one can still find symbolism in nature because I used to have pantheistic leanings, while an atheist. I don't see what's wrong with studying nature, as nature is an endless source of marvel. I do have my doubts if it can ever really be controlled, however. If only it were put to use wisely, with future generations in mind, then I would see no problem with that either. 

I'm curious as to what you mean by "creatureliness" and what kind of feelings that translates to.    

By creatureliness I mean the humility of not being the measure of all things, relating to the world as a mystery in which we are only participants, and being a creature, that is, something that is created, that has a human nature, that is not a collection of processes.

I'm reading a biography of St. Juan of the Cross, there was nothing "certain" in his faith except his trust in the goodness of the God he sought through mystical experience. Existential pondering, which I am not unsympathetic to, is the pondering of the alienated. Me, I find the life of Christ to be the truest revelation of man...but other religions also give man a home in the world...modernity has the dubious distinction of producing alienated, existenial men, who exist but have no world that they exist in...even language, maybe our greatest system of symbols, has become just an empty technique of advertisers and "communication."

[xSilverPhinx]

By creatureliness I mean the humility of not being the measure of all things, relating to the world as a mystery in which we are only participants, and being a creature, that is, something that is created, that has a human nature, that is not a collection of processes.

I'm reading a biography of St. Juan of the Cross, there was nothing "certain" in his faith except his trust in the goodness of the God he sought through mystical experience. Existential pondering, which I am not unsympathetic to, is the pondering of the alienated. Me, I find the life of Christ to be the truest revelation of man...but other religions also give man a home in the world...modernity has the dubious distinction of producing alienated, existenial men, who exist but have no world that they exist in...even language, maybe our greatest system of symbols, has become just an empty technique of advertisers and "communication."

The way I see it, it was existential pondering that led to the installment of various religions, I think it's human nature to be religious, otherwise why would there be so many religions cropping up in the world through space and time? That doesn't necessarily mean those religions true, though. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, consciousness cannot conceive of a nonconscious state and so rejects it. Mortality is difficult to accept.    

Language has been and will always be almost magical. Your brain's wiring is altered ever so slightly based on what you hear and read, it's the closest thing to telekinesis there is.  

Okay, here comes a hypothetical question, if you don't mind answering: if you knew you were computer software comprised of a series of algorithms, created by some technologically advanced being for some purpose (even though you're not aware of the purpose), would that make you less "creaturely"? What if the human soul were a code, which could be transferred after the body or vehicle had given into entropy and degraded, how would you see that?

Not that I think we live in the Matrix, I'm just a huge fan of sci-fi and like these kinds of futilies.   Maybe I am alienated, but we can't all be philosphers... 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2015 by xSilverPhinx