“What would you tell yourself, in your nihilistic moments?” In my nihilistic moments, the process of telling myself something, or just general thinking, is not very coherent. But I remember something I read many years ago, an arabic saying : “If you have no problems, buy a goat”. I could not understand why I liked this seemingly useless piece of advice; it took a long time to creep up on me . . . . .your wrote “I generally don’t care about the truth or falsehood of factual claims either. What does it matter?” This interests me, because it fronts as an observation but this is a feeling isn’t? I suspect that this feeling is connected to deeper feelings that are not so easily seen. I am sure that that is where we find what matters. These deeper feelings usually surface via 2 routes, trauma, or, a particular focussed kind of looking. So, why buy a goat? It’s about being with people. How much do you want to be with people? And why? If you do not know, look underneath the “don’t know”. If you find “not caring” look underneath that. This kind of looking is scary but very cool . . . . . Good luck !
SearbyMason
Karma: −6
Gosh . . . . some folks here are really down on your question n_n. It was as if your question somehow offended them. Or . . . . perhaps it was like salt in a wound. Looking at conscoiusness can be scary; we can all be a bit defensive when we are a bit frightened. The online Oxford Dictionary defines “belief” as - ‘an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof’. So belief is not a word I would use regarding my experience of consciousness. That experience is one of a suite of feelings, all connected but fluid and variable. So, ‘exact definition’ is not easy but this works for me - ′ I am a location of unexpected feelings ’. No shareable proof, sorry. Afterall, I might be a butterfly dreaming I am a human being. But we seem to get by without proof. If any ask me, I say you can find proof by looking inside, at your own feelings, be your own lab, replicate what others say they have found by finding it yourself. Good luck.