Nothing Really Matters

Nothing really matters. At least this is what many of us consider at some point in life. Everything has no meaning at least at the level of the universe. We all have entertained this perspective before. Why endure all the pain, chase your goals or work hard when you cannot surpass the heat death of the universe. Why do anything, when nothing really matters?

See if these were your questions to the universe and you expect a reply, then this is quite an uncomfortable place to sit and continue with your life. Humans are filled with such thoughts, since the beginning of time. But there is a logical problem in your question — Why would someone work so hard to reinforce a worldview that is so pessimistic. Why does anyone want nothing to really matter? What benefit could they gain from it?

One reason could be that you tend to avoid the responsibilities the world bestows upon you. The creation of meaning is an essential and unique human function. Because meaning is not inherent in any action or event, it must be constructed in the mind of the participant or observer. Plato, Descartes, Kant…we’ve written these stories throughout history to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling…but that uncomfortable feeling is NOT that things are meaningless…it’s that existence is far too complicated to be objectively quantifiable.

This means it’s going to require being in a constant state of ambiguity to grapple with. You can’t discover a meaning written into the universe, grab onto it, nail it down and teach it in schools. The term that defines this philosophical narrative is ‘ Nihilism ‘. Nihil means “nothing.” -ism means “ideology.” Nihilism is the view that nothing matters. Among philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche is most often associated with nihilism. For Nietzsche, there is no objective order or structure in the world except what we give it.”Every belief, every considering something true,” Nietzsche writes, “is necessarily false because there is simply no true world” (Will to Power [notes from 1883–1888]).

Nihilism comes in 3 distinct forms. The first is evaluative nihilism — Nothing is good or bad — or — All evaluative propositions are false. If you are down on your luck, on a particular day and consider it to be a bad one then according to evaluative nihilism, you were wrong to say this. Nothing is good or bad because evaluative propositions that ascribe those properties to particular events or states of affairs are always false. Evaluative nihilism is the core of nihilism. But the typical belief is that it entails another form of nihilism:

Practical Nihilism: We have no reasons to do, want, or feel anything. The idea here is that values are what should motivate action, desire and emotion. The badness of the day should motivate you to avoid this outcome in the future.

The debatable one is Existential nihilism. While nihilism is often discussed in terms of extreme scepticism and relativism, for most of the 20th century it has been associated with the belief that life is meaningless. Existential nihilism begins with the notion that the world is without meaning or purpose. William Shakespeare eloquently summarised the existential nihilist’s perspective when, in this famous passage near the end of Macbeth, he has Macbeth pour out his disgust for life:

Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

But the vague notion of ‘ Nothing really matters ‘ tends to shake the main objective of our existence. Allow me to introduce you to Optimistic nihilism. Optimistic nihilism is the realization that the lack of meaning in the world and the universe as a whole can be liberating. Since nothing matters, you can choose what matters! Since life has neither meaning nor purpose, you are free to assign it any meaning you want.

You didn’t get to choose where, why, what and when you came to exist but you can choose how you want to live. By taking the reins of life into your hands, you can assign meaning and purpose to your life. You are free to define your values & principles, choose what matters & what doesn’t, set goals, experience things, forge memories, and overall live life to the fullest.

Optimistic nihilism removes all obligations that society tries to impose on you and helps you reshape your life. In simple terms, you realize that you can be everything you want to be. And more importantly, it also means that you shouldn’t be the things you don’t want to be. It allows you to reshape your life the way you always wanted to be.

But wait! if you are of the thought that “Nothing in life matters, I’ll do whatever the hell I want!”. then you are on the wrong side of this concept. Life might be meaningless, but not lawless (at least not for you and me). Certain social boundaries must be obeyed — regardless of the philosophy, we profess.

An optimistic nihilist realizes that he will be forgotten after he’s gone, that the universe is meaningless, but instead of doing nothing, he makes his existence worth remembering. Essentially, optimistic nihilism allows us to do what is right. Allows us to move ourselves to a place attuned to our desires. It’s not going to be easy, and surely going to take a lot of work, but these things always come along when you strive to do the right thing.

we are not going to fathom an eternal answer revealing our cosmic significance, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have meaningful days. The mere purpose of our existence is to make our life meaningful. This is best explained by Robert Frost in his poem ‘ Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening ‘. He writes:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

-THANKS