# Question about Nihilism **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-nihilism/303195 "2005-05-10T08:43:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Antivenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Antivenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antivenin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-nihilism/303195/21 "2005-05-12T20:57:12Z")
> [@sewalk](#): > > Yeah, but it would have been funnier if you worked in a marmot or something, dude. It really would have tied the whole joke together, ya know? You can call me Ray, and you can Jay, but you doesn’t have to call me Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Antivenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Antivenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antivenin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-nihilism/303195/22 "2005-05-12T21:01:18Z")
> [@Antivenin](#): > > You can call me Ray, and you can Jay, but you doesn’t have to call me Johnson. Shit fire. You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay, but you doesn’t have to call me Johnson. My mind moves faster than my fingers. Well, actually, the jury is still out on that one. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-nihilism/303195/23 "2005-05-12T22:49:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Nihilism seeks to add nothing. If it raises, no questions, what are you answering? Your assertion that I must prove objective value. > [@](#): > > Nihilism needs to prove nothing. Yes, it does. You claim to have an accurate depiction of the world. You claim this as an assertion. For your assertion to be valuable, meaningful ( 😉 ), or accepted as correct in any sense other than your own opinion, you must logically demonstrate its correctness. If it exists in your opinion, then you are merely engaging in selfish, narcissistic viciousness. More to the point, you are breaking the standard of behavior here by insisting I prove my argument while saying nothing about yours. > [@](#): > > You may ascribe meaning to a turd. This does not give it meaning. Why not? To a plant it could be life itself? To bacteria, it may be the whole world. That the world seems strange or even unpleasant to us does not mean it has no meaning. > [@](#): > > If an arbitrary standard gives value and meaning, then a diametrically opposite standard does so equally. Are both valid? I spit on your truth. _Yawn_🙂 Both do not have to be. You asserted, by way of Nihilism, that there is no meaning. I can prove that, whether you like it or not, there is meaning. Now, you might mean that there is no objective meaning or value. Here, you assume what you set out to prove: that there is no value. You cannot prove this, and as such it is nothing more than you opinion. If you don’t believe in any form of value or truth, why would you waste your time on aboard devoted to debate? 😃 > [@](#): > > I can understand your choosing not to look into the abyss. Cowardice is easy and pleasant. I see. Disagreeing with Nihilism is cowardice? Interesting. You implicitly devalue coardice in that statement. If you devalue cowardice, then you simulateously implicitly value courage. If you value something, it must have some meaning to you. Which means your Nihilism is fundamentally an illusion you pretend to accept. There is no AByss; you merely choose not to see. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t know you or whether or not you believe in Nihilism. I merely find the idea rather boring, contradictory, and pointless. When I say “You”, I mnean it merely in the debating sense. ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-nihilism/303195/24 "2005-05-13T14:00:01Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > then you are merely engaging in selfish, narcissistic viciousness. Man, that’s an essential part of nihilism, along with sitting in cafes drinking absinthe, being unkempt, shifting our bugged out eyes from side to side, etc. “Nihilism” today exists primarily as a term of opprobrium, used by the right. The main tenets of nihilism, as I mentioned, the denial of intrinsic purpose and meaning of existence and objective values, are now so much a part of the modern worldview that they hardly bear mentioning, let alone call for proof. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-nihilism/303195.md?page=1)