absurdism is very much not "nothing matters"ism.
Absurdism is pushing the boundaries as much as possible within the framework of a traditionally recognized media, art, performance art, movies, shows, whatever.
A great example of this is many of the pieces done by Marina Abramović particularly the rhythm series (btw performance art has some of the most bizarre pieces out there, highly recommend looking into it sometime), or any of her proposed pieces. The whole point of absurdism is a situation that is not physically conceivable. Or outside the bounds of normality to such an extent that it enters a new plane of reality. You could argue that it may even be a hyper-reality.
The point is to demonstrate the arbitrary nature of our lives, everything around us, and how we define it. It’s not that nothing matters, it’s that everything surrounding us has no inherent meaning outside of our commonly accepted frame of reference.
TL;DR absurdism isn’t just nihilism, it’s meta nihilism. Everything matters, but the problem is nobody knows why anything matters, it’s entirely manufactured. There is no set or explained reason for any one thing being any particular way.
Absurdism in philosophy is "nothing matters"ism - see the exurb1a video above.
In art, though, absurdism is what you describe.
i mean, in philosophy, if you go far enough nothing matters at all anymore ever, so everything is just nihilism if you think hard enough about it.
regardless of that, which is definitely an interesting point of discussion, this is a post in 196, about a meme, so i feel like i’m justified in that one.
Most philosophers (all who were/are not nihilists) would disagree with you here. You can’t say that “they just didn’t think hard enough about it”, just because they arrived at different conclusions.
That’s one of the neat things about philosophy: There is no absolutely true framework or theory. It’s all just different ways of looking at things.
You can’t say that “they just didn’t think hard enough about it”, just because they arrived at different conclusions.
to be clear, that’s not explicitly what im saying, i’m just proposing that if you were to think hard enough about anything for long enough, it devolves until it cannot devolve anymore. There is some level of arbitrary basis that needs to be defined in order to make a clear comprehensible statement on something. Where that level is just depends on where you stop.
That’s one of the neat things about philosophy: There is no absolutely true framework or theory. It’s all just different ways of looking at things.
it’s definitely one of the most interesting aspects of it as a field. Much like neuroscience, which we still don’t really understand, the only difference is that it doesn’t really have a direct implication in our daily lives lmao. It’s mostly just people with way too much free time thinking about things they probably don’t need to spend time thinking about.
Two sides of the same coin
I’ll never miss an opportunity to link an exurb1a video to someone new, and especially not when it’s so topical.
For anyone who likes the video: definitely read The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus. Exurb1a does a solid job summarizing it, much better than most YouTubers, but skips a lot in order to keep the video short. It’s a very accessible book, especially if you skim the Kierkegaard stuff, and the core of it is strenuously punk and badass.
Of note: Camus doesn’t just think you should live in defiance of a meaningless universe. He argues that you should live as long as possible, experience as much as you can, repeatedly do what you love most even to the exclusion of everything else. Absurdism is not mere hedonism nor optimistic nihilism; its rebellion is tenacious, passionate, intentional, and incapable of passivity.
For a followup read, I recommend Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks, which is a great crash course in staring into the abyss.
Huh, who would’ve thought that would solve my existential crisis.
He’s good at that, somehow. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had that reaction to a video of his.
I always thought absurdism is someone with absurd or ridiculous thought, never know there’s more to it than the name itself. Kinda somehow ring through to how i view my life.
Holy shit exurb1a made a video on absurdism.
I love exurb1a and I love Camus. This is gonna be great. Thanks.
An exclamation point really is all you need to change the outlook. Nothing matters! Hell yeah! Optimistic nihilism let’s GOOO!
Nothing matters and therefore everything matters, in conclusion my value system is built around my Blahaj :3
nothing matters…
Nothing matters!
Just saying, punctuation seems to matter an awful lot here.
optimistic nihilism is just existentialism
I prefer hedonistic nihilism
Much more fun
If someone isn’t a hedonistic nihilist, they’re not acknowledging the obvious truth
I’m trying to get you to run my kingdom while I eat, drink, and whore my way to an early grave. — Robert Baratheon
Nothing matters (except for my impulsive desires, which I will indulge immediately).
I’m going to die and it will be the best part as I will be rid of the infinite misery and suffering of life, assuming my last moments of consciousness do not last for all eternity reliving the pain in the prospective my dying mind!
Hmm… seems too upbeat and out of character.
The core of Everything everywhere all at once.
Loved that movie, it checked all the boxes for me
You are cultured, I see…
Naw. Fuck Metallica.
I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news…
