n i h t g o m a n by Isaac Lewis
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verybody has some sort of meaning behind their life. Whether it be a religious, spiritual or completely personal meaning, there is some reason behind your existence. The opposite to this idea is the theory of nihilism. The belief is defined as the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless. Pure nihilism as it is defined can realistically only result in two paths. The first, suicide. A person who completely embraces and accepts the fact that nothing matters has absolutely no reason to still be exerting energy into the world if, as they see it, it achieves nothing. Therefore, ending their own life makes perfect sense. The other option is destruction. With no meaning to anything in the world, causing havoc and committing what society defines as completely unacceptable makes perfect sense as there are no consequences in the mindset of a nihilist. Of course, neither of these mindsets are particularly productive in the world we live in and cannot achieve anything particularly valuable to you, myself or anyone. However, a lesson which can be taken from the idea of nihilism that holds extreme value, is the idea that nothing matters. This positive take is defined as optimistic nihilism and is a belief I abide by in every aspect of my life. I accept the lesson that
technically everything is meaningless however this frees us from any obligation or restricting element of society that we experience. When you put anything that might cause you distress into perspective you can come to the conclusion that there are approximately 7.9 billion people on the planet, you are one person, and the world will continue spinning regardless. It sets you free realising that whatever happens, it really doesn’t matter. We as human beings spend so much time holding so much value to particular social situations or conflicts that are so small in the grand scheme of things. Our brains hyper fixate on them, they upset us and make us feel like shit. The longer you spend doing that, the higher the percentage of your life you are spending in a negative head space rather than a positive one. You might not have a meaning, but you can still pursue being happy. Once you unlock this mindset that nothing matters, that old saying that life’s not fair kind of disappears. Shit might happen but that is life, and it doesn’t matter. Of course, you can still feel and experience those things but once you breath and your body has reacted you can rationalise and accept that it is so much better to look forwards and move on. This attitude could help you in so many ways. It takes away the pressure to act
in a certain way or do what you believe everybody thinks you should because you begin to accept that you can act however you want. When nothing matters, you will start to understand your own morals even further as you start to lose that attachment to other people’s expectations of you. These expectations fuel far more of how you feel and often fuels the projection of insecurities on other people. Optimistic nihilism can affect individuals so positively and can then create a better world collectively. With an understanding of this attitude, people will start to hold far less value towards the actions of other people. Our society massively judges and analyses the behaviour of others so necessarily with it often transforming into hate. This has to stop, and it can when you come to this simple yet incredibly difficult realisation. The world has so many problems. The world is made up of billions of people who all have a different reason for being alive. We often hold far too much importance to these reasons. These reasons can manifest into incredibly negative things, both internally and externally. The best way forwards for us to remove things that hold us back is simple. Realise nothing mattersu
” s r e “reali t t se nothing ma 60
