Only a fool can think that this world is generating itself without an external creating power. Everybody chooses their divinity, even if it's only Erzatzreligion, which usually as ridiculous as science is:
Optimistic nihilism seems to me like atheism trying to get out from under the fact that scientific materialism is leading us inexorably into totalitarianism. I've always thought atheism to be a black hole in the shape of God. Yet the tendency has often been toward an evangelical-like absolutism, a kind of flattening of the world, which has evolved into woke and trans post modern coercion, which is now maiming (with jabs), mutilating and sterilizing (with gender ideology) children. It might also be leading to a controlled global or at least Western depopulation, so I imagine they are trying to be optimistic because if they actually stopped and looked at who they are they would collapse in horror.
You may not be interested in archetypal warps and wefts weaving the omnipresent meaning, but the intricate fabric does have a fun way to have the last say. Here's looking at you, nihilist of whatever flavour 😇
Another great essay Wimston. My favorite parts were:
Even if one rejects the idea of God as ‘a being’, there is no denying that God as an idea (or ‘the nature or character of God) is certainly around us. There cannot be an absence of this, since it contradicts observable reality."
AND
"He then predicted that people would turn to authoritarianism as a way of escaping the pain of nihilistic thinking, and essentially - although Nietzsche doesn’t explicitly say this - establish the authoritarian state as a new god..."
It reminded me of a period in life where I first came to understand this and to verbalize it in a similar way
The idea of an all-powerful divine Being is present everywhere, unconsciously if not consciously, because it is an archetype. There is in the psyche some superior power, and if it is not consciously a god, it is the "belly" at least, in St. Paul's words. I therefore consider it wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, for, if we do not, something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid such as only an "enlightened" intellect could hatch forth.
You don’t have to see it that way though, but if you are a die-hard atheist, or someone who simply gives no credence to a “higher power,” Jung’s advice should be well considered. What is happening now in our culture is a clear example of Jung’s last words in this quote: it is wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, or else something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid…” Uh…yeah…isn’t that what has been happening for two years now?
If a people do not accept the Creator as Sovereign, as their Supreme Ruler, as their Source of Rights, they must, perforce, locate sovereignty in some mortal man or in some man-made institution.
Logically, it has to be one or the other. If they locate sovereignty in government - a man-made institution - they have created an authoritarianism they must live with until they revoke it.
Really, you could have just said you disagreed and left it at that. I often find that nihilists have an overly emotional reaction to messages that promote the transcendent (whatever the flavor). Why is that? To me, it only reinforces the message of this essay: the cognitive dissonance is too much to bear.
I do acknowledge that religious abuse is a source of childhood trauma for many, but focusing on only that is missing the larger picture.
My father was a philosophical nihilist, but paradoxically worked hard for the future he wanted to see (and I mean worked - he was a skilled construction worker). In many ways he was a splintered and incoherent man. He obsessed over politics because that represented the only hope for the future, in his view, but when pressed would claim that humanity is so much bacteria growing in a Petri dish.
More broadly, nihilism is a terrible poison coursing through our society. The positive nihilists of my experience pretend there's no downside, that's it's all parties all the time. But just give it a few years - the devils of addiction are waiting right around the corner for them.
I am in strong agreement with the overall message of this post, but I have a few things to nitpick:
"I wonder why so many radical nihilists and atheistic nihilists come from Christian or Jewish backgrounds." In my experience, radical nihilism is often a response to religious trauma. Something about their Christian or Jewish background motivates some people to become committed to rejecting it.
"Or to put it in more simplistic terms; a nihilist won’t be responsible for the next great innovation, let alone the next great generation." I don't know about that, if you think of AI as a great innovation. If you don't, then the point stands. I personally view AI (and related tech, which includes biotech) as a cosmic/transcendent menace, while at the same time admiring the tremendous creativity that has gone into producing it. Being somewhat in the middle of this mess is my own cross to bear.
Where was your transcendent God at the Jasenovac concentration camp?
The purpose of which was exterminate Orthodox or non-"catholic" Christians, and of course Jews too.
Which was enthusiastically run by (obviously psychotic) catholic priests and lay men, and probably with the full knowledge of high ranking "catholic" bishops, cardinals, and perhaps even the pope too.
And where was your God when the deeply psychotic Anton Pavelic et al were given safe haven in Rome by the Vatican.
Pavelic also laundered the huge amounts of gold that he stole from Croatia via vatican banks. Such monies were used to finance the ratlines by which Nazi war criminals were sent over seas, especially to South America.
Where was your transcendent God when the vatican banks were used by Marcos, to safe guard his stolen billions. The vatican banks also laundered the ill-gotten criminal gains of the Mafia too, and numerous (countless) other psychotic low-lifes too.
Where was your transcendent god during the systematic European plunder of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Such deeply psychotic plunder and systematic murder was of course "authorised" by various papal bulls in the name of "god" and for the "glory of christ".
Where was your transcendent god during the deeply psychotic trans-Atlantic African slave trade, in which the various christian churches were deeply involved.
In our age, there exist still other shadows of god. Some of the more radical environmentalist movements are seeking to harness State power in order to radically diminish humanity’s impact on nature and create an environmental utopia, where humans redeem themselves from what are seen as sins against Mother Earth. Some believe that if we follow science, and harness the power of technology, big data and artificial intelligence, we will be able to construct a technocratic, or scientifically managed utopian society. The transhumanist movement is predicated on the belief that by merging man with machine we will be able to transcend human frailties and, at some point in the future, become like gods.
As ideal world theories are pessimistic and a mere step away from nihilism, Nietzsche thought that to overcome nihilism what modern man needs is a worldview not dependent on a n ideal world. We need a worldview which, rather than repudiating this earthly existence, justifies, affirms, and even embraces the suffering that is indispensable to it. We need a worldview that helps us cultivate meaning in the present moment, and in the only life we know for certain we have. We need, in short, a worldview that promotes human flourishing by remaining faithful to the here and now and to this earth.
"(maybe this, and not religion, is the ’opium of the people’). " Yes, spot on.
This essay rounds out some of the others recently published, Ponerology, Grant Smith, etc., on the Human Singularity. Thank you.
Probably stating the obvious, positive nihilism is just another oxymoron?
Only a fool can think that this world is generating itself without an external creating power. Everybody chooses their divinity, even if it's only Erzatzreligion, which usually as ridiculous as science is:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/freaks-of-science
Most people have had their encounter with the inexplicable; I certainly have:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/no-i-am-not-a-religious-nut
Those, who believe that only the stuff they can see exist live a miserably anemic life.
Optimistic nihilism seems to me like atheism trying to get out from under the fact that scientific materialism is leading us inexorably into totalitarianism. I've always thought atheism to be a black hole in the shape of God. Yet the tendency has often been toward an evangelical-like absolutism, a kind of flattening of the world, which has evolved into woke and trans post modern coercion, which is now maiming (with jabs), mutilating and sterilizing (with gender ideology) children. It might also be leading to a controlled global or at least Western depopulation, so I imagine they are trying to be optimistic because if they actually stopped and looked at who they are they would collapse in horror.
Good grace, this seems to be another such silly joke of a "philosophy" by an online crowd, similar to Effective Altruism... Thanks for wading through!
You may not be interested in archetypal warps and wefts weaving the omnipresent meaning, but the intricate fabric does have a fun way to have the last say. Here's looking at you, nihilist of whatever flavour 😇
Another great essay Wimston. My favorite parts were:
Even if one rejects the idea of God as ‘a being’, there is no denying that God as an idea (or ‘the nature or character of God) is certainly around us. There cannot be an absence of this, since it contradicts observable reality."
AND
"He then predicted that people would turn to authoritarianism as a way of escaping the pain of nihilistic thinking, and essentially - although Nietzsche doesn’t explicitly say this - establish the authoritarian state as a new god..."
It reminded me of a period in life where I first came to understand this and to verbalize it in a similar way
Agreed
The idea of an all-powerful divine Being is present everywhere, unconsciously if not consciously, because it is an archetype. There is in the psyche some superior power, and if it is not consciously a god, it is the "belly" at least, in St. Paul's words. I therefore consider it wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, for, if we do not, something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid such as only an "enlightened" intellect could hatch forth.
You don’t have to see it that way though, but if you are a die-hard atheist, or someone who simply gives no credence to a “higher power,” Jung’s advice should be well considered. What is happening now in our culture is a clear example of Jung’s last words in this quote: it is wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, or else something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid…” Uh…yeah…isn’t that what has been happening for two years now?
If a people do not accept the Creator as Sovereign, as their Supreme Ruler, as their Source of Rights, they must, perforce, locate sovereignty in some mortal man or in some man-made institution.
Logically, it has to be one or the other. If they locate sovereignty in government - a man-made institution - they have created an authoritarianism they must live with until they revoke it.
I almost unsubscribed after reading this drivel.
Is the newsletter and the different features like letters from O’Brian all written by the same person?
I think religious and magical thinking are stepstones to totalitarianism.
Really, you could have just said you disagreed and left it at that. I often find that nihilists have an overly emotional reaction to messages that promote the transcendent (whatever the flavor). Why is that? To me, it only reinforces the message of this essay: the cognitive dissonance is too much to bear.
I do acknowledge that religious abuse is a source of childhood trauma for many, but focusing on only that is missing the larger picture.
My father was a philosophical nihilist, but paradoxically worked hard for the future he wanted to see (and I mean worked - he was a skilled construction worker). In many ways he was a splintered and incoherent man. He obsessed over politics because that represented the only hope for the future, in his view, but when pressed would claim that humanity is so much bacteria growing in a Petri dish.
More broadly, nihilism is a terrible poison coursing through our society. The positive nihilists of my experience pretend there's no downside, that's it's all parties all the time. But just give it a few years - the devils of addiction are waiting right around the corner for them.
I am in strong agreement with the overall message of this post, but I have a few things to nitpick:
"I wonder why so many radical nihilists and atheistic nihilists come from Christian or Jewish backgrounds." In my experience, radical nihilism is often a response to religious trauma. Something about their Christian or Jewish background motivates some people to become committed to rejecting it.
"Or to put it in more simplistic terms; a nihilist won’t be responsible for the next great innovation, let alone the next great generation." I don't know about that, if you think of AI as a great innovation. If you don't, then the point stands. I personally view AI (and related tech, which includes biotech) as a cosmic/transcendent menace, while at the same time admiring the tremendous creativity that has gone into producing it. Being somewhat in the middle of this mess is my own cross to bear.
Where was your transcendent God at the Jasenovac concentration camp?
The purpose of which was exterminate Orthodox or non-"catholic" Christians, and of course Jews too.
Which was enthusiastically run by (obviously psychotic) catholic priests and lay men, and probably with the full knowledge of high ranking "catholic" bishops, cardinals, and perhaps even the pope too.
And where was your God when the deeply psychotic Anton Pavelic et al were given safe haven in Rome by the Vatican.
Pavelic also laundered the huge amounts of gold that he stole from Croatia via vatican banks. Such monies were used to finance the ratlines by which Nazi war criminals were sent over seas, especially to South America.
Where was your transcendent God when the vatican banks were used by Marcos, to safe guard his stolen billions. The vatican banks also laundered the ill-gotten criminal gains of the Mafia too, and numerous (countless) other psychotic low-lifes too.
Where was your transcendent god during the systematic European plunder of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Such deeply psychotic plunder and systematic murder was of course "authorised" by various papal bulls in the name of "god" and for the "glory of christ".
Where was your transcendent god during the deeply psychotic trans-Atlantic African slave trade, in which the various christian churches were deeply involved.
In our age, there exist still other shadows of god. Some of the more radical environmentalist movements are seeking to harness State power in order to radically diminish humanity’s impact on nature and create an environmental utopia, where humans redeem themselves from what are seen as sins against Mother Earth. Some believe that if we follow science, and harness the power of technology, big data and artificial intelligence, we will be able to construct a technocratic, or scientifically managed utopian society. The transhumanist movement is predicated on the belief that by merging man with machine we will be able to transcend human frailties and, at some point in the future, become like gods.
As ideal world theories are pessimistic and a mere step away from nihilism, Nietzsche thought that to overcome nihilism what modern man needs is a worldview not dependent on a n ideal world. We need a worldview which, rather than repudiating this earthly existence, justifies, affirms, and even embraces the suffering that is indispensable to it. We need a worldview that helps us cultivate meaning in the present moment, and in the only life we know for certain we have. We need, in short, a worldview that promotes human flourishing by remaining faithful to the here and now and to this earth.
https://academyofideas.com/2022/11/nietzsche-and-nihilism-a-warning-to-the-west/