Nihilist poseurs and tiresome decadent rebels?

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Not really a rant. I love this forum and I like most of the people here but on occasion I roll my eyes at some statements about existence or human life, not because I completely disagree (sometimes I do, sometimes I dont) but the manner in which it's expressed. It can seem a bit performative.
Sometimes they're talking about the meaninglessness of everything, in a manner perhaps a bit too grand and majestic for someone who believes that. Or maybe I've misunderstood them?

Why does nihilism sometimes attract poseurs, with sometimes fascist leanings? I'd like to know exactly what inspired the depiction of nihilists in The Big Lebowski. It's funny to imagine them based on real people.

In dark and heavy music in particular there is a lot of this. Even some musicians I deeply respect define themselves too much in opposition to the people they don't like. I don't believe you can properly flourish if you focus on being the opposite of people you hate, you might end up even being a sort of similar yet distorted mirror image of them.

Boyd Rice exudes some of these qualities so much I don't really want to listen to his music.

I recently read a negative review of Huysmans that suggests he's a bit like some of this. Is he? Is it a part of decadent art to be selfconsciously outrageous?

Thoughts?

[Raul Urraca]

Nowadays, any sort of unusual belief-system attracts edgelords. Nihilism is pretty edgy, and fascism is even moreso; I imagine certain people like to combine the two to achieve maximum 9edgy18me. Also, the promise of destroying all moral claims attracts people that are called immoral (such as fascists, along with other political zealots).
Certain pessimists / nihilists / antinatalists lack a sense of humor. I try to use humor to soften my rantings on the awfulness of things. A little jocularity goes a long way. Another thing to consider is that people often sound silly whenever they talk about their feelings (especially those of existential dread/despair). I don't think it's a good thing to directly talk about one's feelings. I think the antinatalist / nihilist / pessimist community should devote more time to making good memes and ####posting; IMO this would be very productive.
I haven't read that much Huysmans; I've only got two chapters into "Against Nature." They were written in a clear, flaubertian prose style, not the stereotypical hysteric, emotional style you would expect from your hollywood nihilist.

I second Raul. Life is a joke, so why not laugh?

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Quote Originally Posted by Raul Urraca

Certain pessimists / nihilists / antinatalists lack a sense of humor. Another thing to consider is that people often sound silly whenever they talk about their feelings (especially those of existential dread/despair). I don't think it's a good thing to directly talk about one's feelings. I think the antinatalist / nihilist / pessimist community should devote more time to making good memes and ####posting; IMO this would be very productive.

I might agree with the first part but I'm not sure. Some people say it's necessary to have a sense of humour about yourself to have humility and not turn into an awful person but I'm not sure why that would be necessary. A person might not have a sense of humour about looking ridiculous but that shouldn't mean they're angry and insecure about looking ridiculous.

Disagree about the second part. I find it refreshing when people can be nakedly honest about their feelings, and refreshing when they're talking in romantic language without being afraid of ridicule. Humour is wonderful of course but it can have a tyrannical presence in people's lives if every sincere utterance is just going to be undercut with humour and people saying "sorry I don't want to sound like a pretentious dick". That level of wariness about looking ridiculous is a weakness and it often gets used by friends to subtly bully each other.

Is there anything good about ####posting?

[Ibrahim]

Quote Originally Posted by Nirvana In Karma

Life is a joke, so why not laugh?

That is of course nonsense. Since we do not exist outside or apart from Life, we are part of the joke & the joke itself does not laugh.

Perhaps inversely we might ponder the conundrum if a sentient sentence in a joke would laugh about or even see the punchline.

When a constituent part of a joke reaches self-awareness, what kind of Singularity would that entail?

There should be a new Turing test.

[Raul Urraca]

I'm something of an extreme ironist, so that naturally colors my perception of things. A bit of self-effacement is healthy. Self-love and self-importance can really ruin a person. Of course, you have to be careful with this. One can overdose on irony and be totally ruined, turned into an empty, jesting shell issuing ever-more bizarre declarations of nonsense. The most ironic of internet memes physically disgust me.
I'm not anti-romantic. The world would be a much better place if Keats and Shelley were given the respect they deserve (but not Lord Byron, that charlatan!). I'm just a very stiff-upper-lip kind of fellow. I don't talk about my feelings except in my creative endeavors. People oughtn't to be so self-effacing that they undercut every sincere utterance. They just need to cool things down, use a little less emotion.
Excrement-posting is an excellent way to while away the time. It also brings people together.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Isn't ####posting supposed to derail discussions and annoy people?

[Raul Urraca]

Sometimes it undoubtedly is. Other times, it is a social event among friends (I've indulged in it quite often with my internet pals). The latter kind is the kind I'm talking about.

[Revenant]

I'm a sixth level nihilist. I won't read any book that doesn't come in a black cover. Preferably with a skull.

[Cnev]

Poseurs can be found everywhere. Just look at pop culture, for instance. All people are striving for something, and there is a lot of identity-searching that goes along with that. Who really knows who they are? Searching for that is difficult, and can lead people down some very awkward and cringey paths. Life is hard, especially when it's in alignment with a person's truth about themselves and their lives. It's easy to get derailed, and find ourselves in unknown internal territories. Navigating out of them in the dark isn't easy, and maybe a person navigates into areas that aren't really who they are in an attempt to find a way to live a life. There's nothing wrong with that. It's difficult.

Nihilism attracts a specific mindset, and I'd argue that a lot of people who find value in it are bitter, angry and feel as though life has screwed them unjustly. Vindictive feelings usually sprout within those emotional areas, and the anonymity of the internet provides a perfect atmosphere to unleash those kinds of hell. Creating a personality that is always in conflict with the norms of a world that a person views as deceitful and harmful to them might be a method of catharsis and existential justice.

This forum can be intimidating, given the level of literary mastery found within its members. Maybe people are drawn to the subject matter but lack the writing skills, and in trying to assimilate into a group they find worthwhile they overcompensate by trying too hard with rudimentary writing skills. I'm not a writer, and have no aspirations of being one. I love Ligotti and weird fiction, but I know enough about myself through trial and error to know that I can't write. I don't have it in me. Maybe some people are still discovering that about themselves.

A few more beers tonight and I might just pour my heart out on this forum. It's happened before, I'm pretty sure. Or, I've just acted like a jackass. Either way, stay tuned and you might find a glowing example of that which you speak.