I stumbled here while searching some topic, and now I’ve forgotten which one. I’ve been posting for a few weeks, and just now managed to find the “About” link that explains how to get started, including writing an intro here. Despite being a software engineer by trade these past 27-odd years, I manage to get lost navigating websites a lot, and I still forget to use Google and Wikipedia on topics. Sigh. I’m 57, and was introduced to cognitive fallacies years as long ago as 1972. I’ve tried to avoid some of the worst ones, but I also fail a lot. I kept a blog with issue-related essays for a while, and whatever its shortcomings, I was proud of the fact that when I ran out of thing to say, I stopped posting. With the prospect of a community like this one that might respond substantively, maybe I’ll be inspired to write more here.
This description of a guy who believed in objective morality but lost his faith impressed me a lot. That’s me. I don’t think there’s any very compelling reason to live one’s life in a particular way, or any real reason that some actions are preferable to others. That might be called nihilism. I live a decent life, though, because I’m happier pretending not to be a nihilist and making moral arguments and living honorably and all. But when the going gets tough (as in unpleasant consequences to some line of thought that doesn’t make me happy), I always have the option of shrugging my shoulders, yawning, and going on to the next topic. Rationality too is a fun tool. I find it most helpful within the relatively small questions of life.
I always have the option of shrugging my shoulders, yawning, and going on to the next topic.
Sure, but if you’re really a nihilist, then you don’t have any reason to do so. Nor to pretend not to be a nihilist. Nor to drink beer rather than antifreeze.
It certainly looks as though you do things for reasons, and prefer some actions to others. Every single time you wrote a sentence above, you continued writing it in English till the very end, which would be very impressive to happen merely by chance.
I’m not saying my behavior is random, or un-caused. I experience preferences among actions. Factors I’m unaware of undoubtedly play a part, something I can speculate on, and others as well, and I or they could try to model them. But as I experience reality, I’m only striving up to a point to do the Right Thing. My speculation is that if the cost exceeds the cost of reminding myself I’m actually a nihilist, I’ll bail on morality.
I’m very interested in arguments as to why nihilism isn’t a consistent position—heck, even why it’s not a good idea or how other people have gotten around it.
I stumbled here while searching some topic, and now I’ve forgotten which one. I’ve been posting for a few weeks, and just now managed to find the “About” link that explains how to get started, including writing an intro here. Despite being a software engineer by trade these past 27-odd years, I manage to get lost navigating websites a lot, and I still forget to use Google and Wikipedia on topics. Sigh. I’m 57, and was introduced to cognitive fallacies years as long ago as 1972. I’ve tried to avoid some of the worst ones, but I also fail a lot. I kept a blog with issue-related essays for a while, and whatever its shortcomings, I was proud of the fact that when I ran out of thing to say, I stopped posting. With the prospect of a community like this one that might respond substantively, maybe I’ll be inspired to write more here.
This description of a guy who believed in objective morality but lost his faith impressed me a lot. That’s me. I don’t think there’s any very compelling reason to live one’s life in a particular way, or any real reason that some actions are preferable to others. That might be called nihilism. I live a decent life, though, because I’m happier pretending not to be a nihilist and making moral arguments and living honorably and all. But when the going gets tough (as in unpleasant consequences to some line of thought that doesn’t make me happy), I always have the option of shrugging my shoulders, yawning, and going on to the next topic. Rationality too is a fun tool. I find it most helpful within the relatively small questions of life.
Sure, but if you’re really a nihilist, then you don’t have any reason to do so. Nor to pretend not to be a nihilist. Nor to drink beer rather than antifreeze.
It certainly looks as though you do things for reasons, and prefer some actions to others. Every single time you wrote a sentence above, you continued writing it in English till the very end, which would be very impressive to happen merely by chance.
Maybe I’m missing something.
I’m not saying my behavior is random, or un-caused. I experience preferences among actions. Factors I’m unaware of undoubtedly play a part, something I can speculate on, and others as well, and I or they could try to model them. But as I experience reality, I’m only striving up to a point to do the Right Thing. My speculation is that if the cost exceeds the cost of reminding myself I’m actually a nihilist, I’ll bail on morality.
I’m very interested in arguments as to why nihilism isn’t a consistent position—heck, even why it’s not a good idea or how other people have gotten around it.