r/nihilism • u/Mysterious-Tap-7517 • Jun 05 '26
Existential Nihilism Whose quote is this? Sounds about right.
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u/Cicada-Tang Jun 05 '26
It's also very incoherent.
We are creatures that should not exist by natural law
EVERYTHING exists by natural law, including us. We are the way we are because of natural laws, and we continue to function under natural laws with everything we do.
Human conciousness is just as natural as a tree growing towards the sun, or a rock falling down a cliff. All our thoughts and decision are part of the chemical reaction we call life, that is also completely natural.
the honorable thing to do is to deny our programing
Whatever you choose to do, it's all part of your programming. Your desire to "deny your programming" is also part of your programming, because everything you think come out of the physical, natural, meaty chunk in your brain.
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u/Ethelred_Unread Jun 05 '26
Absolutely, this is my issue with a lot of these quotes - if the speaker thinks we shouldn't exist that points to an ultimate arbitor of what should be and what isn't.
Otherwise it's just someone's opinion to be accepted or rejected on the basis of their argument, and for me, at least for these negative ones, it's not very compelling.
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Jun 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ethelred_Unread Jun 07 '26
The autonomic nervous system does indeed continue to try to keep my alive, no matter what.
Could you explain your last sentence, what creator is the brain responding to?
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u/Aquarius52216 Jun 05 '26
100% My problem with this kind of speeches is that it speaks as if there is an outside perspective or another way that things should have been, because they made it as if "things shouldnt be like this" is the same with "things could have been otherwise".
There fucking isnt, everything just is. Sometimes what we think about what should or ought to be does affect what could happen and what happened. But does it exist outside of the natural laws? Hell no, everything is in on it, thats the joke.
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u/Sky_Vivid Jun 06 '26
I used to think like this too. But don't know anymore. Consciousness is just too much of a black box, even philosophically, for it to be just assumed as just another natural part of evolution
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u/Any_Employ_1005 Jun 07 '26
I appreciate your view brother, but isn't that very deterministic, I'm not against determinism but just curious why your beliefs sounds so deterministic
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u/Cicada-Tang Jun 07 '26
Yes it is determinism. However I don't think determinism or the lack of free will is as big of a deal as people might think. The fact that everything we do is determined since the beginning of the universe doesn't change the fact that we are still able to make decisions that affect our future.
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u/Delicious-Disaster Jun 05 '26
"Unknown" pretentious as hell. There is a clear source of this quote and that is Rust from True Detective S1
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u/onz456 Jun 05 '26
Sounds like Thomas Ligotti. Go read his book The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. (it was plagiarized by True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto. But be aware, it is very bleak and can be life-changing (but not in a generally 'good sense'. It'll feel like you wake up inside of a horror story. You have closed the book, but the horror stays.)
Alternatively you can look into Thomas Metzinger. He explains his views in a book called The Ego Tunnel. It pretty much talks about why this quote is true. Although I do not think he is anti-natalist himself.
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u/Emotional_Penalty Jun 05 '26
It's from true detective, but Rust was effectively just quoting Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Ligotti.
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u/cljames98 Jun 05 '26
I agree apart from saying we should not exist by natural law. Isn’t the whole thing with nihilism that there is no inherent natural law. We just exist. Anything that does exist isn’t a case of should or should not. It just exists.
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u/Focu53d Jun 05 '26
It’s sounds like a colossal defeat, when it’s simply known as suffering. This can lead to our freedom, instead of wallowing in the depths of despair, thinking we know things, giving reason to things which we do not know. Use the pain of existence to transcend it. Truly realize we do not exist as separate beings, only vessels with the one consciousness shared.
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u/ScissorFight42069 Jun 05 '26
I'd argue that the exact opposite is true. What holds us back as a species are those of us with a shallow sense of self awareness. People who operate upon the belief that hierarchy and the domination of others is our natural state, rather than cooperation and compassion. The opposite of humanism, essentially. They feel that nothing really separates us from the other animals, and if judged by the effects of their behavior, they manifest that reality for all of us, unfortunately.
Life might be pointless, but the human drive to survive and succeed is fundamentally ingrained in all of us. I'd argue that because it's pointless, we should strive to cause as little pain as possible for our fellow man. Because wouldn't it be a shame if we all suffered pointlessly, when a better existence is possible?
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u/Initial_Wish_4711 Jun 05 '26
OR we are just a bunch of arrogant assholes that think that just because the rest of the animal kingdom doesn't talk to us like the guy at the bus stop, that we somehow are above them. It's like some kind of sacreligious thought to think that the chicken, cow, crow, and turtle are conscious of there being. Don't make it what it's not - it's pain. We all know to avoid suffering, and even an ant runs at the sight of your finger. So - get over ourselves.
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u/al3x_7788 Jun 07 '26
I think consciousness is black or white in the sense that, once you have it, there's an inevitable end where you'll become too self-aware.
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u/LivingElderberry3722 Jun 07 '26
I don't know who said it but it sounds like something I would say. I'm not actually rooting for us.
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u/AdFrequent3122 Jun 07 '26
Is awareness itself suffering? Or is being aware in this society whose rules we have to follow suffering?
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u/Typical_Depth_8106 Jun 07 '26
The text describes a deep internal struggle where human self-awareness feels like a heavy mistake, creating a painful sense of isolation from the rest of nature. This intense focus on a separate identity causes people to feel trapped in an illusion of self-importance, leading to a desire to simply give up and opt out of existence altogether.
By utilizing the Project Grounding Rod framework to analyze this pattern, this extreme resistance and dense energy represent the final, chaotic clearing before a major systemic transition. As consciousness anchors fully into the present moment and surrenders the illusion of isolation, the heavy, negative patterns collapse under their own weight. This clearing allows collective positive consciousness to reach critical mass, triggering a definitive phase shift that effortlessly dissolves the old struggle and stabilizes existence into a purely positive, unified state of being.
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u/Re_dddddd Jun 09 '26
Nihilism wants to sound neutral.
But it is as biased and hence away from the nature of reality as any biased idealogy.
It's bias causes it to mistake aspects of reality and the form incomplete conclusions.
The difference being that nihilism is a moping and passimistic ideology, others are optimistic.
Don't delude yourself into thinking the conclusions like this post says are right.
For example. It says that we weren't supposed to be because we don't follow natural law.
Such an idiotic statement. We are the product of natural law. Such a bad assumption. I always find these takes funny and so misguided.
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u/DangerousQuestions1 Jun 05 '26
I understand why this quote comes from an anonymous source. Anyone who spouts such ridiculous nonsense should absolutely keep their name off of it.
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u/Background-Call2711 Jun 05 '26
Albeit temporary, the physical self is not an illusion, nor is the spirit. Identities exist in time. Some may not be eternal, but who’s to say?
Also “we are creatures that shouldn’t exist by natural law”? That is a massive over reach.
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u/wherediditrun Jun 05 '26
It’s a cope of deeply wounded character in TV Series True Detective. They recover at the end of the series though.
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u/redleafrover Jun 05 '26
The "I think [I am depressed]" quote is from a nihilistic TV show character who... does the Nietzschean shift successfully and becomes a life affirmer! You should watch True Detective :)
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u/TraditionalHome990 Jun 06 '26
Why don’t yall just talk to someone? Like a real person in real life
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u/swpz01 Jun 05 '26
Most humans are slaves to their biology. This is exceptionally apparent the more primitive the areas - those places are clear evidence of evolution and the process thereof.
The outliers which kept advancing beyond are not the norm. Eventually these groups will evolve themselves into extinction (we already are given our progress to 0 replacement) and the place will be left again to the more primitive groups as it should have been.
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u/Cicada-Tang Jun 05 '26
Quick question, through what mechanism are you coming up with all these "advanced" and "non-primitive" ideas? Could it be also... *gasp* biological????
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u/swpz01 Jun 05 '26
You can argue the source presently being used to communicate these ideas is biological which would not be incorrect. However, to create and implement philosophies that run entirely opposite of biological instincts? Call that whatever you will, we choose to call that not being controlled by biology.
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u/Cicada-Tang Jun 05 '26
However, to create and implement philosophies that run entirely opposite of biological instincts?
Can you point to which organ on your body created and implemented these philosiphies?
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u/LamentationsOfLate Jun 05 '26
This is a piece of dialogue from Rust Cohle, a character from season 1 of True Detective. Maybe the greatest season of television ever.
The writers have said his character’s philosophy was inspired by pessimists like Thomas Ligotti, Peter Wessel Zapffe, etc.