Clipmarks | Nihilism Clips

Holy Father encourages young people to discover God to find true freedom

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:10:38 GMT

"And what can we say," he added, "of the fact that in modern consumer society earnings and success have become the new idols before which so many prostrate themselves? The consequence of this is that people are led to give value only to those who ... 'have found fortune' or who are 'notorious,' and not to those who must struggle with life every day."

The crisis of a society begins when it no longer knows how to transmit its cultural heritage and its fundamental values to the new generations, the Pope observed. “I am not only referring to the system of education. The question is a broader one. ... Jesus said: 'The truth will make you free', yet modern nihilism preaches the opposite: that freedom will make you true. There are, indeed, those who maintain that there is no truth, thus opening the way to rendering the concepts of good and evil meaningless, even making them interchangeable."

Tags: pope, catholicism, freedom, truth

Nihilism

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:13:21 GMT

clipped by: jonka

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

For them the objective meaninglessness of life can often be viewed as quite liberating because it frees humans from the demands of tradition which are themselves based upon false assumptions about the binding wills of gods and ancestors.

Sh*t Happens

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:05:46 GMT

clipped by: moonspirit4ever
clipper's remarks: I live in farm country. We really appreciate sh*t here.

Clip Source: www.katinkahesselink.net

TAOISM: Shit happens.

CONFUCIANISM: Confucius say, "Shit happens".

ZEN: (What is the sound of shit happening?)

JESUITISM: If shit happens and when nobody is watching, is it really shit?

ISLAM: Shit happens if it is the will of Allah.

COMMUNISM. Equal shit happens to all people.

CATHOLICISM: Shit happens because you are bad.

PSYCHOANALYSIS: Shit happens because of your toilet training.

SCIENTOLOGY: Shit happens if you're on our shit list.

ZOROASTRIANISM: Bad shit happens, and good shit happens.

UNITARIANISM: Maybe shit happens. Let's have coffee and donuts.

RIGHT-WING PROTESTANTISM: Let this shit happen to someone else.

JUDAISM: Why does shit always happen to US?

MYSTICISM: What weird shit!

AGNOSTICISM: What is this shit?

ATHEISM: I don't believe this shit!

NIHILISM: Who needs this shit?

AZTEC: Cut out this shit!

QUAKER: Let's not fight over this shit.

12-STEP: I am powerless to cut the shit.

VOODOO: Hey, that shit looks just like you!

NEWAGE: Visualize shit not happening.

DEISM: Shit just happens.

In The Context Of No Context

Sat, 31 May 2008 13:00:21 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "In the meantime, I'm going to return to that Shania Twain loop in my brain. There's something to be said for lesser evils. "

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

If there's anything that sends me into a vortex of nihilism and despair faster than getting a Shania Twain song stuck in my head, it's starting to think about "Within the Context of No-Context." The seminal essay, by George W.S. Trow, is a doomsday prophecy about the corrosive effects of electronic media. It's also turned out to be a massive understatement.

"The work of television," his central argument states, "is to establish false contexts and to chronicle the unraveling of existing contexts; finally, to establish the context of no-context and to chronicle it."

And to think he wrote that having never read Gawker or watched Fox News or "The Daily Show."

In the 2008 version of "Within the Context of No-Context," it's not just slips of the tongue that are fair game. Pundits, bloggers and other chatterers are now also allowed to imagine what public figures are thinking and to invent conspiracy theories accordingly

And it multiplies.

Shocking Effects

Tue, 20 May 2008 13:52:03 GMT

clipped by: Tri-City Psychology

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Using electroconvulsive therapy for depression remains controversial. Dr Max Pemberton examines the evidence

Depression kills. Suicide in the UK constitutes nearly one per cent of deaths from all causes every year.

With around a quarter of us experiencing depression in our lifetimes, and between five and 10 per cent suffering from it at any one time, it represents a significant public health issue.

But depression is treatable. The development of talking and pharmaceutical therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy and antidepressants has meant that the lives of millions of people have been transformed.

But there remains a small cohort of people for which standard treatment does not work, and it is in this group that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is sometimes used.

It is particularly useful in older patients who present with severe forms of depression where they are so depressed they refuse food and drink, appear confused or paranoid, or experience nihilism.

Dictatorship Marches On

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:53:37 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "The BBC reported him (medvedev) saying that he is "going to pay special attention to the fundamental role of the law. We must achieve a true respect in law, overcome the legal nihilism."

"If those words were sincere, President Medvedev would have to reverse the dictatorial policies put in place by President Putin, who used the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony to announce that he intends to shape Russia's future by "formulating goals not for one or two months, but for 20 and 30 years ahead."

"The AP reported that Mr. Putin has been devoting his time to strengthening the prime minister's role while also assuming the chairmanship of the United Russia party, which monopolizes power throughout Russia.

"Everything suggests that Russia will continue to be ruled by the iron hand of a dictatorship, the only difference being that Mr. Putin will not, nominally, have the top job. "

Clip Source: www.charleston.net

Vladimir Putin has more than made good on his promise when he became president eight years ago to impose "a dictatorship of law" on Russia's unruly young democracy. When he made the remark it was reasonable to assume that he really meant to say that he would use "the rule of law" to restore order in Russia. Time has shown that his intention was to place the emphasis of governance on dictatorship, not the law.

Constitutionally barred from running for a third presidential term, he found a way around the law by arranging for the man he chose to be president to return the favor and nominate him for the job of prime minister.

When President Medvedev was sworn in he did pledge to uphold human rights and respect individual freedoms, which The Associated Press noted was in direct contradiction to government action before and after his election to the presidency. Anti-government demonstrations were banned and protesters and dissidents were harassed and their meetings broken up.

allaboutphilosophy.org

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:15:22 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: interesting site...

Clip Source: www.allaboutphilosophy.org

Philosophy: The Big Questions

Do you want a rational investigation of the truth? Philosophy poses many questions. Where did I come from and why am I here? Why is there suffering? Is there a God? What is my purpose in life? Get started on your trek to find answers to life's most important questions

Systems of Thought

Deism Dualism Existentialism^* Nihilism Postmodernism Agnostic Atheism Communism Cultural Materialism Cultural Relativism Humanism Materialism Moral Relativism Naturalism Secular Humanism

Matters of Thought

Cosmological Argument^* Absolute Truth Creation Vs. Evolution Does God Exist? Evolutionism God God's Love Is God Real? Is There A God? Morality Situational Ethics Why Am I Here?

Great Thinkers

Abd-ar-Rahman III^* Antony Flew Aristotle Blaise Pascal Accomplishments C.S. Lewis Quotes Gilgamesh Great Philosophers Greek Philosopher Plato Life of Confucius Life of King David Life of St. Augustine Nebuchadnezzar Philosophy Quotes Thomas Aquinas

Tags: philosophy, thought, thinkers

Eternalism, Nihilism: new forms, old superstition

Tue, 06 May 2008 09:47:03 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: <<<Throughout the Buddha's long period of teaching the Dhamma to His followers, He actively discouraged speculative arguments. During the 5th century B.C. India was a veritable hive of intellectual activity where scholars, yogis, philosophers, kings and even ordinary householders were constantly engaged in the philosophical arguments pertaining to human existence. Some of these were either ridiculously trivial or totally irrelevant. Some people wasted valuable time arguing at great length about all manner of subjects. They were far more concerned about proving their powers in mental gymnastics than seeking genuine solutions to the problems that beset humanity.>>>

Clip Source: zencomp.com

To develop Right View or Perfect View, we must first be aware of two views which are considered imperfect or wrong.

The first view is eternalism. This doctrine or belief is concerned with eternal life or with eternal things. Before the Buddha's time, it was taught that there is an abiding entity which could exist forever, and that man can live the eternal life by preserving the eternal soul in order to be in union with Supreme Being. In Buddhism, this teaching is called sassata ditthi ----the view of eternalists. Such views still exist even in the modern world owing to man's craving for eternity.

The second false view is nihilism or the view held by the nihilists who claim that there is no life after death.

The teaching of kamma is enough to prove that the Buddha did not teach annihilation after death; Buddhism accepts 'survival' not in the sense of an eternal soul, but in the sense of a renewed becoming.

Tags: eternalism, nihilism, buddhism

"Shit Happens": according to various religions and spiritual philosophies

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:07:58 GMT

clipped by: astronkyttaron
clipper's remarks: More at the site

Clip Source: www.katinkahesselink.net

TAOISM: Shit happens.

CONFUCIANISM: Confucius say, "Shit happens".

ZEN: (What is the sound of shit happening?)

JESUITISM: If shit happens and when nobody is watching, is it really shit?

ISLAM: Shit happens if it is the will of Allah.

COMMUNISM. Equal shit happens to all people.

CATHOLICISM: Shit happens because you are bad.

PSYCHOANALYSIS: Shit happens because of your toilet training.

SCIENTOLOGY: Shit happens if you're on our shit list.

ZOROASTRIANISM: Bad shit happens, and good shit happens.

MYSTICISM: What weird shit!

AGNOSTICISM: What is this shit?

ATHEISM: I don't believe this shit!

NIHILISM: Who needs this shit?

VOODOO: Hey, that shit looks just like you!

BUDDHISM: Shit happens, but pay no mind.

HINDUISM: This shit has happened before.

THEOSOPHY: You don't know half of the shit that happens.

JEHOVAH's WITNESSES: No shit happens until Armageddon.

RASTAFARIANISM: Let's smoke this shit.

CHARISMATIC: This is not shit and it doesn't smell bad.

SHINTOISM: Shit is everywhere.

HOPI: Corn fertilizer happens

Tags: entertainment, funny, fun, jokes

Baudelaire made Unsafe Again

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:31:55 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.hermenaut.com

From Rimbaud right down to Patti Smith, avant-garde Modernists—encountering whose work has been described as "looking into the Abyss"—have turned to Baudelaire as a primary source of inspiration. But over the past 150 years the abyss, in which bourgeois forms and norms are rendered meaningless, has become a refuge of sorts: Nihilism, like that which it negates, is ultimately a way of resolving existential tension. That's why it's important to revisit Baudelaire, for whom the vertigo experienced at the abyss's precipice is as terrifying as it is liberating. His tension-filled ideas about the nature of the self, of truth, and of good and evil transcend and shatter the comforting received notions of bourgeoisie and avant-garde alike.

Pascal's abyss went with him, yawned in the air - / Everything's an abyss! Desire, acts, dreams, / Words! I have felt the wind of terror stream / Many a time across my standing hairŠ / My spirit, haunted now by vertigo, / Yearns for extinction, insensibility

Tags: baudelaire

Top Ten Bizarre Mental Disorders

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:41:16 GMT

clipped by: wurdzgurl

Clip Source: listverse.com

10. Stockholm Syndrome

9. Lima Syndrome

8. Diogenes Syndrome

Diogenes was an ancient Greek philosopher, who lived in a wine barrel and promoted ideas of nihilism and animalism. Famously, when he was asked by Alexander the Great what he wanted most in the world, he replied, “For you to get out of my sunlight!”

7. Paris Syndrome

Paris syndrome is a condition exclusive to Japanese tourists and nationals, which causes them to have a mental breakdown while in the famous city.

6. Stendhal Syndrome

Stendhal Syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly ‘beautiful’ or a large amount of art is in a single place

5. Jerusalem Syndrome

4. Capgras Delusion

3. Fregoli Delusion

delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise.

2. Cotard Delusion

1. Reduplicative Paramnesia

Tags: mental illness

Christianity: The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:59:41 GMT

clipped by: FirstApostate

Clip Source: www.theapostates.org

Christianity: The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory

Michael Coren is a Toronto Sun columnist, a radio and Christian Television talk show host, and a British-Canadian convert to Catholicism. He condemns secular culture for its alleged double standards, postmodern nihilism and relativism, and persecution of Christians. In his Toronto Sun articles, he frequently makes provocative, sweeping assertions, but on his television talk show he's quick to hold his guests accountable for their perceived factual mistakes and errors of reasoning, especially if any of these guests cross the line and criticize Christianity.

Tags: christianity, conspiracy, religion

Nihilism Cartoon with Squirrels

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:22:05 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: xkcd.com

Tags: nihilism, humour, squirrels

Nihilism Today!

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:16:29 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.iep.utm.edu

Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence.

While nihilism is often discussed in terms of extreme skepticism and relativism, for most of the 20th century it has been associated with the belief that life is meaningless.

Camus was fully aware of the pitfalls of defining existence without meaning,

he describes at length how metaphysical collapse often ends in total negation and the victory of nihilism, characterized by profound hatred, pathological destruction, and incalculable violence and death.

"nihilist" is used to characterize the postmodern man, a dehumanized conformist, alienated, indifferent, and baffled, directing psychological energy into hedonistic narcissism or into a deep ressentiment that often explodes in violence.

nihilism's impact on the culture and values of the 20th century has been pervasive,

Tags: nihilism, culture

Absurdism ph

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:57:41 GMT

clipped by: Nunchuckington
clipper's remarks: Finally!

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

**(Simplified) Relationship between Existentialism and Nihilism**
	Atheistic existentialism	Theistic existentialism	Absurdism	Nihilism
1. There is such a thing as "meaning" or "value" to be found in life	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
2. There is inherent meaning in the universe (either intrinsic or from God)	No	Maybe, but humans must have faith to believe there is	Maybe, but humans can never know it	No
3. Individuals can create meaning in life themselves	Yes, it is essential that they do	Yes, it is essential that they do	Yes, but it is not essential	No, because there is no such meaning to create
4. The pursuit for meaning in the universe (either intrinsic or from God) is a futile gesture	Yes, and the pursuit itself is meaningless	No, and the pursuit itself may have meaning	Yes, but the pursuit itself may have meaning	Yes, and the pursuit itself is meaningless
5. The pursuit for human-made meaning is a futile gesture	No	No	No	Yes

Relationship with Existentialism and Nihilism

Tags: absrurdism nihilism philosophy