Nihilism - Anxiety a contradiction of logic

[Grayman]

Anxiety is supposed to be a symptom of Nihilism but if nothing has meaning what are you anxious about?

 

[OrLevitate]

lol

 

[Analyzer]

Nihilism is based on contractions in itself.

 

[Ex-User (8886)]

I think nihilism is related to depression.

 

[doncarlzone]

Nihilism is based on contractions in itself.

We're all walking contradictions

 

[PhoenixRising]

From what I've seen/experienced, I think anxiety is an emotionally charged resistance to something. It could be that for some people, the conclusion of meaninglessness that Nihilism puts forth is hard to accept, so they push against it. This might cause anxiety for some.. perhaps this is a common reaction? I'm not sure.

 

[Hadoblado]

Speaking nothing as to the truth value of nihilism, it is often the symptom of an anxious/depressed mind. IMO you've got the causality in the wrong direction.

 

[Variform]

Anxiety is supposed to be a symptom of Nihilism but if nothing has meaning what are you anxious about?

Where did you read that?

"Nihilism (/ˈnaɪ.ɨlɪzəm/ or /ˈniː.ɨlɪzəm/; from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical doctrine that suggests the negation of one or more putatively (supposedly - note Variform) meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism, which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.[1] Moral nihilists assert that morality does not inherently exist, and that any established moral values are abstractly contrived. Nihilism can also take epistemological or ontological/metaphysical forms, meaning respectively that, in some aspect, knowledge is not possible, or that reality does not actually exist."

Source: wikipedia.

I think the English language has to many synonyms sometimes.

As a solipsist I am an ontological nihilist. Always funny, all these definitions. It is word puzzle. Take any word and connect it up to another and you have a new School of Philosophy! If I would not be detrred by that, I'd be a stoic ontological nihilist and because solipsism is also a form of idealism, I'd be a Stoic Idealist Ontological Nihilist. Or maybe a Nihilistic Stoic Idealistic Ontologist. Or...or...

Anxiety a symptom? How? Isn't anxiety a response? So anxiety as a response to nihilism? I can see that.

When I discuss my solipsism with people who do not really get what it is, they feel offended and that too is a response. But maybe that response is based on anxiety, basically I am telling people I am a solipsist making them think I am saying they do not exist. That is a frightening idea. After all, what if he is right and I am just a figment of his imagination?

Maybe underneath All Things there is an anxiety, a fundamental fear to be alive. An existential dichotomy at the heart of the human psyche, between love for live and fear of it. It could well be that when you consider the fear of death we share, the love for life gets channeled into the transference symbols of the afterlife. An affirmation of life and love at the side of god is to be preferred above the fear of life, which is supported by our deepest physiological and instinctual responses, that is the survival mechanism.

So I have no issue with anxiety as being a response to nihilism but when you talk about a symptom, which means, something indicative of a disorder or disease, then nihilism would be the disease. And nihilism is not a disease but a philosophical doctrine.

Or we could just have fun and plan a forum BBQ.

 

[Minuend]

I haven't actually read up on nihilism in depth.

But nihilism seems purely like an observation of a reality of our world. I don't really see why lack of inherent values, definitions etc should be a cause for distress.

And I don't think it usually is. The despair and frustrations with the universe having no such inherent traits, seems mostly to surface when the individual is suffering from other frustrations in life. Not fitting in, being ill mentally or physically, traumas etc. But if the individual is otherwise content, it will usually not be emotionally bothered by the nihilistic universe. Because in itself it has no negative consequences. It's only if the human themselves decides that it is a bad thing, abuse it, being raised entire life to think one has meaning but then realizes it hasn't etc.

But inherently, it is not.

If the despair and negativity is a inseparable part from what is currently defined as nihilism, then I consider that a logically flawed perspective.

 

[Grayman]

Perhaps the term Nihilistic Delusion would have been better.

I agree with Hadoblado.

So if Nihilism is a frame of mind adopted to deal with the past emotions and such, how do they maintain this illusion knowing that things do have meaning and how can they be convinced to stop believing the idea that is inherently false?

 

[ZenRaiden]

Human mind is constantly trying to resolve contradictions. A human brain is there to resolve these contradictions. Contrasts and contraditctions are the main source of the meaning. The fact that our mind has made a coherent universe for it self does not mean that universe in its self has meaning. Its rather a delusion. Look at how ugly and wrinkled and twisted the mind must be to maintain that delusion. We have to lie to our selfs on daily basis just to keep a piece of reality. And yet who can define reality? We do not even have a definition of reality. Take a schizophrenic for example. They have distorted reality. The only people that can however say so are the people around. The schizophrenic does not know that his reality is distorted. Or take a human with the tiniest flaw in perception and compare him to the "normal man" will not his perception deviate from the norm?

 

[StevenM]

Anxiety is supposed to be a symptom of Nihilism but if nothing has meaning what are you anxious about?

Fear and anxiety:

Fear is an instinctual response to danger, or something that is threatening your life. When the fight/flight response kicks in, a person is almost forced to do something to get out of harms way, such as fleeing, or fighting the offending source.

Anxiety is pretty much the same thing. It's a lot harder to switch off the fight/flight response though, when you can't convince the limbic system that the risk of danger has been resolved.

Perception

A large portion of the world you sense around you, is in perception. And your outlook, or perception, is mostly the results of your assumptions, and core beliefs. When you change your beliefs of the world, your perception will change as well, and will effect your emotions.

Nihilism

I'm not an expert philosopher of nihilism, but I have came to similar nihilistic conclusions of reality. And while these philosophies may be true, some of them seem to threaten our identity, and our sense of purpose for life. I find that even if our sense of individuality and ego is a delusion, it's one that promotes well-being and connection to ourselves and reality. If you let nihilistic philosophies depersonalize, and derealize your outlook, your psyche may feel threatened in a very eerie way, and experience anxiety.

This is my two cents worth.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Nihilism ignores the fact that we experience meaning and purpose. It's ontological selectivity (all and stupid.

It defines meaning as something abstract permeating the cosmos with unified purpose and then proclaims it doesn't exist. It's a lot like saying we can't be moral without God, in fact it's the same fucking thing. Retarded. Stupid. Fuck nihilism.

 

[TBerg]

Nihilism is the confrontation of contradictions without resolving the contradictions by use of synthesis. If the parts don't fit together, then how are we supposed to build the whole?

And, Cherry Cola, I am not really a defender of amoralism, as I think that morality is a key human tool for resolving social conflict, but I recognize that morality does not exist without intelligence, and I would bet that any serious cosmologist would not be able to find intelligence without life, thereby showing that morality is dependent upon an intelligence that does not eternally and universally exist. You can be moral without God, but only when other intelligent beings contemplate it.

 

[Grayman]

Nihilism is the confrontation of contradictions without resolving the contradictions by use of synthesis. If the parts don't fit together, then how are we supposed to build the whole?

What are the largest and most common parts and why dont they fit?

 

[TBerg]

What are the largest and most common parts and why dont they fit?

I have had grandiosity, for example. I also have a lot of problems that contradict that grandiosity. Thus the way I am currently constructed has been in frustrating conflict. What has animated me and given me bliss cannot be resurrected.

Another thing is liberalism. Political correctness, which is a cultural way of acknowledging equality, comes into conflict with the freedom of thought all the time. We pretend that political correctness does not limit the amount of discourse in our society, but that is wrong. It limits our ability to see the truth, which bigots were supposedly distorting and trampling upon in a tyrannical manner. Thus we see the principles of the Enlightenment come into contradiction.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Nihilism is the confrontation of contradictions without resolving the contradictions by use of synthesis. If the parts don't fit together, then how are we supposed to build the whole?

And, Cherry Cola, I am not really a defender of amoralism, as I think that morality is a key human tool for resolving social conflict, but I recognize that morality does not exist without intelligence, and I would bet that any serious cosmologist would not be able to find intelligence without life, thereby showing that morality is dependent upon an intelligence that does not eternally and universally exist. You can be moral without God, but only when other intelligent beings contemplate it.

Nihilism entails a categorical denial of values though. In truth all it does is picture the greatest value that can be imagined, deny this and then deny all the others as well since the fall under it on an hierarchical scale. It's ontological selectivity because the hierarchy is just an abstract concept and not relevant, and even as such one would wonder why only top-down is valid and not bottom-up.

In any case Nihilism denies all values. That's why it's stupid. We are driven forwards by values, by desire. Try to imagine consciousness without values. To experience is to value.

Then you can go down the route of panpsychism as well.

 

[Grayman]

I have had grandiosity, for example. I also have a lot of problems that contradict that grandiosity. Thus the way I am currently constructed has been in frustrating conflict. What has animated me and given me bliss cannot be resurrected.

Another thing is liberalism. Political correctness, which is a cultural way of acknowledging equality, comes into conflict with the freedom of thought all the time. We pretend that political correctness does not limit the amount of discourse in our society, but that is wrong. It limits our ability to see the truth, which bigots were supposedly distorting and trampling upon in a tyrannical manner. Thus we see the principles of the Enlightenment come into contradiction.

Then why cannot you discard these pieces? Grandiosity has no validity due to it's contradiction and no use in a calm and stable psyche.
Political correctness is just a tool. It's use is relevant when it is relevant but it exists outside the psyche as a lever to be pulled. As a personal value it holds contradiction so why don't you remove it as a value and use it as a lever for the benefit of greater values?

 

[scorpiomover]

Anxiety is supposed to be a symptom of Nihilism but if nothing has meaning what are you anxious about?

If nothing means anything, then all your goals, dreams, and desires, mean nothing, and can bring you no benefit. The only thing left is pain and suffering, to come, and come, and come, until you can take no more, and keep coming even more, every single day. Why wouldn't that make anyone anxious?

 

[TBerg]

Panpsychism is nonsense because there is no way in hell my bone matter is conscious the way my frontal lobe is.

 

[TBerg]

Then why cannot you discard these pieces? Grandiosity has no validity due to it's contradiction and no use in a calm and stable psyche.

Have you experienced a real grandiosity hangover? It's like not knowing what is good or pleasurable anymore.

 

[h0bby1]

nihilism is often just deamoralization of hate , that because nothing have value or meaning, it should be subjected to evil intention or whatever else, because it doesn't matter

it's often in pair with asocial mentality, and feeling of separation/alienation from the rest of the world, it's different from zen in the sense nihilism doesn't really cultivate absence of though or belief, but just deny the consequences of those as important, or worthy to be considered

nihilism can often be in an i don't care about the end of the world kind of scenerio, or even borderline into xenophobia or asocial mentality

 

[Cherry Cola]

Panpsychism is nonsense because there is no way in hell my bone matter is conscious the way my frontal lobe is.

Homosexuality is wrong cuz you cant put dick in dick or vagina in vagina it dun work hehe lul

 

[Brontosaurie]

Have you experienced a real grandiosity hangover? It's like not knowing what is good or pleasurable anymore.

ah so that's the thing

 

[Grayman]

Have you experienced a real grandiosity hangover? It's like not knowing what is good or pleasurable anymore.

After I realized I fooled myself the first half of my life that christianity was real I had nothing substantial to hold onto. Most values and ideas where adopted through the religious system.

I hit fthe delete all button and rebuilt from scratch.

 

[principle]

Niihilism is such a vague word that can't always be out into context related to anything really until you specifics which subtype you are talking about.

For example a metaphysical nihilist will think that objects are not real, perhaps believe everything is virtual like the matrix, and that the world is heading toward disaster. This does not mean for the time being the mp nihilist will disregard every moral belief and ignore every consequence to his action while still believing that everything is fake. Nihilism simply is the belief that some abstract or physical part of the world DOES NOT TRULY EXIST. Someone quote me if I'm wrong but they can still care and take in terms of their consequences as a nihilist even though there belief in a particular thing does not exist.

Moral nihilism is another thing where they believe morals don't exist so they can do whatever they want without expecting consequences.

 

[Transcendent]

Humans are not primarily rational creatures, though it can become one.
A lot of our actions are based on unconscious will, and being unconscious of it, the conscious mind often creates a story to maintain a coherent picture of the self. Because of these unconscious wills to maintain or gain a social position to gain favorable partners to breed, controls the actions of humans, but humans being evolved a bit too much for their own good,
can question too much, to find most of the social structures are baseless and can fall into the existentialism. 'Intrinsic' value, what does it even mean. How can anything have any value by itself unless a conscious observer give it?
It is very easy to derive the conclusion that there is no objective purpose. Facing this stuff, can be troublesome to some humans as these type of thoughts can prevent one from desiring to maintain social position or do things to find an appropriate mate to breed.
Most probably that is why, this types of thoughts produce anxiety to some and may be the vice versa is true.
Now, it is true then whatever you do, ultimately it does not matter but there are still consequences, there are still subjective meanings to pursue, to build up, there is still passion,
will to power and all other things. Contrary to what some people are saying here, though I am not an expert, i have not found anything claiming that nihilism also negates the subjective experience of purpose and the possibility of subjective meaning, though it may say that all meanings are meaningless and all, but still nothing can deny, the subjective meaning and all.
Ultimately nihilism is not some ultimate philosophy, it is just a base upon which a new story is to be built up, a true philosopher must find the way to true happiness, must understand the oneness, and see the divinity and all that.
To find a way to live, a way to be happy, and be harmonious and be peaceful, nihilism is of no work, one have to find a different philosophy and nihilism does not deny it.
If there is no meaning to be happy, there is neither any meaning to be sad,
but we cannot do nothing, so it is better to do what makes us happy, or even better to find it within.
Sorry, I went, a bit off-topic, perhaps.

 

[principle]

Humans are not primarily rational creatures, though it can become one.
A lot of our actions are based on unconscious will, and being unconscious of it, the conscious mind often creates a story to maintain a coherent picture of the self. Because of these unconscious wills to maintain or gain a social position to gain favorable partners to breed, controls the actions of humans, but humans being evolved a bit too much for their own good,
can question too much, to find most of the social structures are baseless and can fall into the existentialism. 'Intrinsic' value, what does it even mean. How can anything have any value by itself unless a conscious observer give it?
It is very easy to derive the conclusion that there is no objective purpose. Facing this stuff, can be troublesome to some humans as these type of thoughts can prevent one from desiring to maintain social position or do things to find an appropriate mate to breed.
Most probably that is why, this types of thoughts produce anxiety to some and may be the vice versa is true.
Now, it is true then whatever you do, ultimately it does not matter but there are still consequences, there are still subjective meanings to pursue, to build up, there is still passion,
will to power and all other things. Contrary to what some people are saying here, though I am not an expert, i have not found anything claiming that nihilism also negates the subjective experience of purpose and the possibility of subjective meaning, though it may say that all meanings are meaningless and all, but still nothing can deny, the subjective meaning and all.
Ultimately nihilism is not some ultimate philosophy, it is just a base upon which a new story is to be built up, a true philosopher must find the way to true happiness, must understand the oneness, and see the divinity and all that.
To find a way to live, a way to be happy, and be harmonious and be peaceful, nihilism is of no work, one have to find a different philosophy and nihilism does not deny it.
If there is no meaning to be happy, there is neither any meaning to be sad,
but we cannot do nothing, so it is better to do what makes us happy, or even better to find it within.
Sorry, I went, a bit off-topic, perhaps.

Reading the upper half of your post, the words depression and anxiety kept on poping up in my head

 

[Transcendent]

Reading the upper half of your post, the words depression and anxiety kept on poping up in my head

It is because when you read it you read it from your own mental state which is structured by natural selection and natural selection don't like these views,
(Please don't assume that I am trying to say that natural selection is some designer, I am just merely personifying it for the sake of explanation)...you associate my views from your own biases and own mental states, and your own subjective lens and preconceived notion. I don't associate feelings to views, and belief systems.
I only care for the truth, if it is, then it is.
I was anxious once upon a time, and depressed too, but I had conquered all of it,
through self training. You don't have to associate or assume my mental states associated with what I had written, state a flaw in the reasoning if you see them.

If one says that one is an orphan and his parents were killed in front of the one,
and that is what really happened, then that is the truth, it does not necessarily means that the one is depressed over it at that moment.

And also the second half mostly consists of the positive part that tries to describe the way to refute the depression one might feel.

Nihilism is not the final level, I see it more like clearing up the junks,
rub off the canvas, to pave the way for one to start paint his\her own
picture.

 

[principle]

It is because when you read it you read it from your own mental state which is structured by natural selection and natural selection don't like these views,
(Please don't assume that I am trying to say that natural selection is some designer, I am just merely personifying it for the sake of explanation)...you associate my views from your own biases and own mental states, and your own subjective lens and preconceived notion. I don't associate feelings to views, and belief systems.
I only care for the truth, if it is, then it is.
I was anxious once upon a time, and depressed too, but I had conquered all of it,
through self training. You don't have to associate or assume my mental states associated with what I had written, state a flaw in the reasoning if you see them.

If one says that one is an orphan and his parents were killed in front of the one,
and that is what really happened, then that is the truth, it does not necessarily means that the one is depressed over it at that moment.

And also the second half mostly consists of the positive part that tries to describe the way to refute the depression one might feel.

Nihilism is not the final level, I see it more like clearing up the junks,
rub off the canvas, to pave the way for one to start paint his\her own
picture.

I realize that do tend to think in terms of my own mental state, a bad habit that I must overcome. As for what I said I only said to contribute an idea from reading your post, I'm sorry if you thought otherwise.

 

[Transcendent]

No need to apologize, I knew you were just expressing your immediate thoughts that appeared from reading my post. It is not really a bad habit,
how can you do it otherwise anyway?
The only way to perfectly understand other's view point is to become them,
as long as that is not possible, you are only left to compare it to your own subjective perspectives and preconceived notion.

 

[principle]

No need to apologize, I knew you were just expressing your immediate thoughts that appeared from reading my post. It is not really a bad habit,
how can you do it otherwise anyway?
The only way to perfectly understand other's view point is to become them,
as long as that is not possible, you are only left to compare it to your own subjective perspectives and preconceived notion.

Hmm would any intp make this simple mistake?

 

[TBerg]

After I realized I fooled myself the first half of my life that christianity was real I had nothing substantial to hold onto. Most values and ideas where adopted through the religious system.

I hit fthe delete all button and rebuilt from scratch.

How similar was your experience to this?

http://samvak.tripod.com/faq66.html

 

[Grayman]

Hmm would any intp make this simple mistake?

Transcendence is too new. Until relational or historical data of her or his personality exists we are subject to large assumptions.

 

[principle]

Transcendence is too new. Until relational or historical data of her or his personality exists we are subject to large assumptions.

Judging by his post count it can be a new account made by any one of us, in order to succeed in some kind of trickery! O.o

 

[Transcendent]

Hmm would any intp make this simple mistake?

It may be strange to say this in an MBTI forum, but I lack knowledge on MBTI, so I don't really understand your point. I am more interested in philosophical ponderings,
and INTPs are being more often referred as 'Thinkers' and all that and thus I joined this forum.

As far as I know, an INTP can probably be more objective and try to evaluate one's position more objectively, but still it can never be perfectly objective as we are subjective beings, and all evaluations will still be based on past experiences, observations and subjective interpretation.

 

[Grayman]

Judging by his post count it can be a new account made by any one of us, in order to succeed in some kind of trickery! O.o

You arguing with yourself... the perfect cover... until someone checks your ip address....hmmmm...yep... figures.

 

[principle]

You arguing with yourself... the perfect cover... until someone checks your ip address....hmmmm...yep... figures.

Wish someone can check BOTH of our ip addresses

 

[Variform]

Human mind is constantly trying to resolve contradictions. A human brain is there to resolve these contradictions. Contrasts and contraditctions are the main source of the meaning. The fact that our mind has made a coherent universe for it self does not mean that universe in its self has meaning. Its rather a delusion. Look at how ugly and wrinkled and twisted the mind must be to maintain that delusion. We have to lie to our selfs on daily basis just to keep a piece of reality. And yet who can define reality? We do not even have a definition of reality. Take a schizophrenic for example. They have distorted reality. The only people that can however say so are the people around. The schizophrenic does not know that his reality is distorted. Or take a human with the tiniest flaw in perception and compare him to the "normal man" will not his perception deviate from the norm?

Quite right! My relationship of 14 years is down the drain because my girlfriend suffers from mental illness and has symptoms of a delusional nature. She lies to herself daily, that the things she hears in the distant muffled talk of random people in the street or outside her window 3 floors down can be understood by her.

And I can no longer submit to appeasing her irrationality. I question it, confront her and to her that is so undermining of her trust in me, that for 3,5 years she denied me intimacy. As a result we have drifted apart.

So to me this is a very...whats is the word...poignant issue. She is rather alone believing in her delusions and ideas of reference and possible auditory hallucinations than to be with me. And all our relationship, all we shared, all we have been to each other is worth less than that single trust she demands of me, which has become larger than any other consideration.

So who will talk to me about how deeply people need to believe their own lies and folly! How twisted she is indeed. Using sex as a weapon to demand trust so that she can remain in her delusional reality.

In principle I have always been interested, fascinated by other states of mind. I would love to be schizophrenic for a while and be psychotic, just to be able to analyze the state of mind later and to come to understanding of the nature of reality. Ontological research! That is why I love psychedelics. The true INTP Quest for understanding!

But I draw the line where it harms others. My girlfriend harms me with her madness. But she calls child services and the police because she believes in things that are untrue and in doing so, harms that family. I cannot live with that very well. It is immoral. And since truth, no Truth is vitally important to me, it seems that I have my own delusional reality, in where I place Truth as an abstract above my relationship with my woman.

And so I am to blame as much as she is, we both have her own folly and cannot loosen our grasp on it. You gotta wonder if love is no more than sharing a non-conflictive delusion.

Tell me about norms... my god. I have drawn a line I feel she crossed. Should I be proud? Should I tell myself 'Well done buster, you held your ground'. Maybe a nice gravestone text.

Here lies Variform
He sure defended the norm
But his Lady didn't take to it
It is his loss, he would admit

RIP Vari.

 

[Grayman]

How similar was your experience to this?

http://samvak.tripod.com/faq66.html

Did you intend to send a link to an 'inverted' narcissist vs a narcissist?

For me it was the equivalent of personality suicide. Everything from birth that I grew up knowing as true or false as good or bad. What was supposed to be a sin might now be okay what was not a sin might now not be okay. What pleasure is good what pleasure is bad? Am I a bad person am I good. I am worthless. God sees me as evil. People see me as evil. I am going to hell because I am evil and sinner and I am worthless. All gone... Start over... What few things are important above all else..... build off that. Hold onto that.... choose what you want to be. Make yourself what you want. Define yourself.

 

[Variform]

Another thing is liberalism. Political correctness, which is a cultural way of acknowledging equality, comes into conflict with the freedom of thought all the time. We pretend that political correctness does not limit the amount of discourse in our society, but that is wrong. It limits our ability to see the truth, which bigots were supposedly distorting and trampling upon in a tyrannical manner. Thus we see the principles of the Enlightenment come into contradiction.

"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate. "
-- Noam Chomsky

 

[Double_V]

Anxiety is supposed to be a symptom of Nihilism but if nothing has meaning what are you anxious about?

Well, to be frank I developed anxiety as a side effect of a prolonged (chronic) illness (of one of my children). In a way it was about 'nothing'. Nothing could be done, and we could do nothing - go nowhere, commit to nothing, find no floor or stable ground, get no sleep, etc.

It was also based in fear - of death, of injury, of loosing the life you live, and having no control.

It was invisible, but very real. At it's worst I couldn't even stand the idea of walking to the mailbox. And I'm and E.

 

[Variform]

Well, to be frank I developed anxiety as a side effect of a prolonged (chronic) illness (of one of my children). In a way it was about 'nothing'. Nothing could be done, and we could do nothing - go nowhere, commit to nothing, find no floor or stable ground, get no sleep, etc.

It was also based in fear - of death, of injury, of loosing the life you live, and having no control.

It was invisible, but very real. At it's worst I couldn't even stand the idea of walking to the mailbox. And I'm and E.

You poured too much libido into the object by using your inferior function. And the more you put in, the worse it got.

As an E you look at the world through a formula. You focus on the objective. And general ideas. With this formula you decide on good or bad. Good is what corresponds to the formula, what opposes it is bad. This formula you regard as in conjunction with the meaning of the world.

It becomes a world law. All things must comply or be deemed unreasonable or stupid or ruthless.
There are no exceptions to the rule.

Compassion with the sick is a matter of feeling. The formula does not fit because you cannot believe someone is stupid because they are sick. If your formula is narrow minded, the danger is dogmatism en self-righteous criticism.

The fact the chronic disease of your son was beyond you control and you could not blame him for not following the rule, became a conflict internally. Your Feeling could not be shut down completely, it never can. And the more you blocked it, the more energy was invested in the object and because the object was not at fault and you were helpless, the more you wanted to invest, the harder it became and so on and so forth, causing great anxiety.

 

[xirekm]

Anxiety is supposed to be a symptom of Nihilism but if nothing has meaning what are you anxious about?

Maybe for some people nihilism is good (if nothing has sense, they don't have anything to worry about), but for us INTPs is bad, because a 'feature' of INTPs is kind of searching of meaning of life or of what you do. For us everything has to be logical, if it isn't, it causes discomfort.
If the only conclusion you get is nihilism (ie nothing has meaning), for an INTP it's a problem, hence the anxiety.

Unfortunately I have nihilism and anxiety too. I even didn't know 'nihilism' word before, but in my last neurotic hospital a co-patient with humanistic background told me that I'm a total nihilist.

 

[Daddy]

Ever since I saw the documentary on the Unabomber, sometimes I feel very empty when I realize how disillusioned I've become with society. The nihilism feels real. So much of society is just a feeling or way of life you just go with and never stop to think about. We're like herded cattle in a concrete money jungle, chasing the monies and racing like rats, shopping and spending and doing it in a way that's all disconnected from everything, but that. And you're supposed to find meaning and happiness in it, even if you hate it. And you have no real say in the matter, unless you are rich enough to fuck off your entire life.

I mean people can spend the majority of their lives depressed because of their environments, yet they can't do anything about it because of their environments. And fighting the environment isn't even really considered a valid option. It's like the Native Americans versus the European colonists. And I've been watching Mars on Netflix and it makes me wonder. People could find so much meaning in going to a barren wasteland of a planet where survival is slim and you're likely to die, but that's of some kind of unique value to people. Why don't people feel contented with Earth? But it kind of freaked me out in Mars when they lost power and one of the guy's started to lose his mind by being trapped in the darkness away from his passion. He killed himself in a hallucination of his fondest memories and sometimes I think society is a lot like that. You're kind of trapped in it no matter how dysfunctional it is, even though most people know what would make their lives more meaningful.