Great article. The irony is that perhaps artificial intelligence will make us real again. What the tech world calls innovation, might be an intervention as AI strips us down and makes us contemplate what our actual purpose is. It's not going to be an apocalypse, but an exposure. Human connection might, indeed, become a thing again once we realize how precious it is.
Jung also explicitly critiqued Nietzsche for being too one sided- I.e. the "enantiodromia", and the psychological dangers of over-identification with certain archetypal figures leading to an overwhelming confrontation with one's inner psyche. .
I share the same opinion but have never heard about all these nihilistic philosophies. I came to the same conclusion from an evolutionary/biological standpoint. And so you could say that that viewpoint is "coherent" with reality.
I'm in IT infrastructure automation now and enjoying it. My meaning bit is that I only want to make open source software. Music too. I've been in New Orleans since 2017 and the hedonism has never really worked for me, mostly because the other hedonists are so vicious and petty. And, ultimately, ugly. I lost my older sister on the way here, which led me to some pretty dark places due to lack of healthy boundaries with death and everything ugly about life on the way to it. I don't really like, trust, or respect people any more. I do love them and wish to see us all thrive.
I could use more basic material security, mostly in the food and medicine department. Someone to love might be nice. My shelter is stable, thankfully. From experience, I don't think the Maslow hierarchy of needs is totally invalid. I've been homeless before, and, no, I wouldn't be able to write software or experiment with live A/V production from that place. I've always been pretty clear on what I want to do with this life, and disruptions to that hierarchy have constituted disruptions to my goals. Even social rejection can throw me off.
I think lots of people are about to get some harsh reminders about that hierarchy in coming years. Maybe I'll end up with a larger selection of likeable, trustworthy, respectable people then.
did you watch Terminator-0 on netflix? I dont want to spoil it - but highly relevant to these thoughts you have here. Great read - thank you for sharing.
I really liked your thoughts. Could you write about how you think we, as humans, could transition from our current mindset—with different types of personalities and priorities (for example, those who prioritize power, social status, and other potentially harmful priorities)—to a mindset that prioritizes caring and connection?
Wow, great post! It definitely sparks optimism about the future. That said, I feel like that optimism plays out in the long term, meanwhile many people still have immediate financial pressures—bills to pay, responsibilities to manage—before they can REALLY focus on deeper questions of mission and meaning. Have you written anything on bridging that gap between survival and true economic freedom?
Very well said! I usually just think of nihilism as the flip side of apathy in a social context. Now if I hear someone use the phrase ‘post nihilism’ I won’t just reflexively laugh , but laugh and then listen.
In the early 2000s Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson&Johnson brand/family, prompted by his equally bored-out-of-his-wits dad, decided to fight his own boredom by making a documentary about his filthy rich close friends, all very young and heirs to some of the biggest fortunes.
"Born rich" was released in 2003, to a string of lawsuits by the "close friends" featured in it, like Ivanka Trump and Georgina Bloomberg.
I found it fascinating, that is, how much extreme wealth can fuck someone up. I felt grateful for my poverty. Well,..almost.
There were those proud of their heritage, along those who avoided the association like the plague, those happily newly rich, along those considering themselves established aristocracy scoffing at the newbies, and all of them were living a soul destructive life devoid of any purpose other than intermarry and maintain the social/financial ranking (save that one guy who didn't want to have anything to do with his fortune, and though he was still officially the owner, he declined any profits, let it all be run by lawyers and accountants, and chose to work at a menial job for 50k a year).
Yeah. Money can buy you a hell of a lot, but it can't buy you meaning
Suffering abolition technology will completely obviate the problem of meaninglessness and its resultant boredom. Boredom is a chemically induced emotion, and there is no reason to suspect that it can't be engineered out of human neurology. Once this happens, people will not need a purpose or meaning, they will be happy merely existing. If this sounds depressing, keep in mind that this is what monks and hermits seek and achieve in their spirituality: happiness with merely being, not needing to do anything in particular to feel complete. When this is framed as enlightenment rather than wireheading, you can see that this outcome is what humanity has saught for millennia. Nihilism is a technological challenge, and is one that humanity with the aid of superintelligent AI will be able to overcome.
Very good! 👏 Thanks for writing that. Love your Postnihilism quip on the Void! Very useful text for me personally. For I find it not that easy to relate to people finding it hard to find meaning to them living. After solving for the basic (and further) layers of Maslow hierarchy. Resigning my last job shackled 8-18 to my desk almost 10yrs ago now (hurrah!) was one of the highlights of my life in my latter years. Have not been bore one second since then. On the contrary, between code, research and reading wonderful stuff on the Internets (incl your posts) having my mind blown, (may live to see AGI maybe ASI-yay!!) this is like living a third lifetime now! Total privilege ngl.
You write a lot about personality choices, and it’s quite solid, worth restacking. 👍
The other part of the ledger — ability and freedom — is not covered though, and I think it’s a bigger blocker than personal “what is to be done?” musings. This was actually the title of the banned Russian novel that fed Lenin’s ideas on how to change things up. We know how that went. 💥
So, on ability. These days our deep connections and interdependence feeds the nihilism. Not the lack of them.
We have a new government that went all the way Nitzschean and deeper yet, into the abyss.
We need a good guide how not only find meaning in hyperpolitical and automated world, but how to actually preserve our degrees of freedom.
Many Recovered alcoholics and addicts will understand exactly what you’re talking about.
Make / join a tribe, care about that tribe, let that tribe care about you.
Do the internal work necessary to stop being a selfish dick and start living with a sense of community and purpose.
Power could loosely be defined as autonomy and influence, if I have the ability to live authentically and my words and actions have actual meaning and impact on the lives and thoughts of others, I am wielding a great deal of power.
To me altruism is simply doing for others without the expectation of profit. It does not mean that there is no exchange or benefit to me, just no presupposed plan for such.
By doing the internal work necessary to not be a selfish dick, my authentic intentions become benign to others and leave infinite space for them to explore and experience their own authenticity.
By joining with others in altruistic action, my influence grows and I develop a deep sense of purpose through my impact on the lives and thoughts of others and theirs on mine. I have achieved true community.
A unified community of humans can bend reality. Within reason of course 🚀
This is great thanks. I've stumbled into this by using the GI Bill to come back to s broad and interdisciplinary masters on social change. It's broad enough where I can pick my own path on working inconsequential issues, which has been great for flexibility, but bad for getting something done.
I think I've got something that's good now and I'm rolling with it. We'll see where it takes me, but I'm optimistic now. It feels like I'm headed out of the nihilistic tunnel of despair.
Great article. The irony is that perhaps artificial intelligence will make us real again. What the tech world calls innovation, might be an intervention as AI strips us down and makes us contemplate what our actual purpose is. It's not going to be an apocalypse, but an exposure. Human connection might, indeed, become a thing again once we realize how precious it is.
I watched Don’t Die based upon your recommendation. Thanks.
Jung also explicitly critiqued Nietzsche for being too one sided- I.e. the "enantiodromia", and the psychological dangers of over-identification with certain archetypal figures leading to an overwhelming confrontation with one's inner psyche. .
I share the same opinion but have never heard about all these nihilistic philosophies. I came to the same conclusion from an evolutionary/biological standpoint. And so you could say that that viewpoint is "coherent" with reality.
I'm in IT infrastructure automation now and enjoying it. My meaning bit is that I only want to make open source software. Music too. I've been in New Orleans since 2017 and the hedonism has never really worked for me, mostly because the other hedonists are so vicious and petty. And, ultimately, ugly. I lost my older sister on the way here, which led me to some pretty dark places due to lack of healthy boundaries with death and everything ugly about life on the way to it. I don't really like, trust, or respect people any more. I do love them and wish to see us all thrive.
I could use more basic material security, mostly in the food and medicine department. Someone to love might be nice. My shelter is stable, thankfully. From experience, I don't think the Maslow hierarchy of needs is totally invalid. I've been homeless before, and, no, I wouldn't be able to write software or experiment with live A/V production from that place. I've always been pretty clear on what I want to do with this life, and disruptions to that hierarchy have constituted disruptions to my goals. Even social rejection can throw me off.
I think lots of people are about to get some harsh reminders about that hierarchy in coming years. Maybe I'll end up with a larger selection of likeable, trustworthy, respectable people then.
did you watch Terminator-0 on netflix? I dont want to spoil it - but highly relevant to these thoughts you have here. Great read - thank you for sharing.
I really liked your thoughts. Could you write about how you think we, as humans, could transition from our current mindset—with different types of personalities and priorities (for example, those who prioritize power, social status, and other potentially harmful priorities)—to a mindset that prioritizes caring and connection?
Wow, great post! It definitely sparks optimism about the future. That said, I feel like that optimism plays out in the long term, meanwhile many people still have immediate financial pressures—bills to pay, responsibilities to manage—before they can REALLY focus on deeper questions of mission and meaning. Have you written anything on bridging that gap between survival and true economic freedom?
Very well said! I usually just think of nihilism as the flip side of apathy in a social context. Now if I hear someone use the phrase ‘post nihilism’ I won’t just reflexively laugh , but laugh and then listen.
In the early 2000s Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson&Johnson brand/family, prompted by his equally bored-out-of-his-wits dad, decided to fight his own boredom by making a documentary about his filthy rich close friends, all very young and heirs to some of the biggest fortunes.
"Born rich" was released in 2003, to a string of lawsuits by the "close friends" featured in it, like Ivanka Trump and Georgina Bloomberg.
I found it fascinating, that is, how much extreme wealth can fuck someone up. I felt grateful for my poverty. Well,..almost.
There were those proud of their heritage, along those who avoided the association like the plague, those happily newly rich, along those considering themselves established aristocracy scoffing at the newbies, and all of them were living a soul destructive life devoid of any purpose other than intermarry and maintain the social/financial ranking (save that one guy who didn't want to have anything to do with his fortune, and though he was still officially the owner, he declined any profits, let it all be run by lawyers and accountants, and chose to work at a menial job for 50k a year).
Yeah. Money can buy you a hell of a lot, but it can't buy you meaning
Suffering abolition technology will completely obviate the problem of meaninglessness and its resultant boredom. Boredom is a chemically induced emotion, and there is no reason to suspect that it can't be engineered out of human neurology. Once this happens, people will not need a purpose or meaning, they will be happy merely existing. If this sounds depressing, keep in mind that this is what monks and hermits seek and achieve in their spirituality: happiness with merely being, not needing to do anything in particular to feel complete. When this is framed as enlightenment rather than wireheading, you can see that this outcome is what humanity has saught for millennia. Nihilism is a technological challenge, and is one that humanity with the aid of superintelligent AI will be able to overcome.
Very good! 👏 Thanks for writing that. Love your Postnihilism quip on the Void! Very useful text for me personally. For I find it not that easy to relate to people finding it hard to find meaning to them living. After solving for the basic (and further) layers of Maslow hierarchy. Resigning my last job shackled 8-18 to my desk almost 10yrs ago now (hurrah!) was one of the highlights of my life in my latter years. Have not been bore one second since then. On the contrary, between code, research and reading wonderful stuff on the Internets (incl your posts) having my mind blown, (may live to see AGI maybe ASI-yay!!) this is like living a third lifetime now! Total privilege ngl.
You write a lot about personality choices, and it’s quite solid, worth restacking. 👍
The other part of the ledger — ability and freedom — is not covered though, and I think it’s a bigger blocker than personal “what is to be done?” musings. This was actually the title of the banned Russian novel that fed Lenin’s ideas on how to change things up. We know how that went. 💥
So, on ability. These days our deep connections and interdependence feeds the nihilism. Not the lack of them.
We have a new government that went all the way Nitzschean and deeper yet, into the abyss.
We need a good guide how not only find meaning in hyperpolitical and automated world, but how to actually preserve our degrees of freedom.
Many Recovered alcoholics and addicts will understand exactly what you’re talking about.
Make / join a tribe, care about that tribe, let that tribe care about you.
Do the internal work necessary to stop being a selfish dick and start living with a sense of community and purpose.
Power could loosely be defined as autonomy and influence, if I have the ability to live authentically and my words and actions have actual meaning and impact on the lives and thoughts of others, I am wielding a great deal of power.
To me altruism is simply doing for others without the expectation of profit. It does not mean that there is no exchange or benefit to me, just no presupposed plan for such.
By doing the internal work necessary to not be a selfish dick, my authentic intentions become benign to others and leave infinite space for them to explore and experience their own authenticity.
By joining with others in altruistic action, my influence grows and I develop a deep sense of purpose through my impact on the lives and thoughts of others and theirs on mine. I have achieved true community.
A unified community of humans can bend reality. Within reason of course 🚀
This is great thanks. I've stumbled into this by using the GI Bill to come back to s broad and interdisciplinary masters on social change. It's broad enough where I can pick my own path on working inconsequential issues, which has been great for flexibility, but bad for getting something done.
I think I've got something that's good now and I'm rolling with it. We'll see where it takes me, but I'm optimistic now. It feels like I'm headed out of the nihilistic tunnel of despair.
Just brilliant, beat that AI!