About Nihilism, The Nihilist and Nihil.Org

Nihilism as a belief system has gained popularity in recent years as the futility of a belief system in human society has seeming gone awry. We went from having not enough civilization and civilized morals in our lives, to having lives that are almost nothing but moral and sentimental messages from society. Thus we are both conditioned toward social objectives, and determined to avoid them, forming a paradoxical state of mind.

This mental worldview is hard on people of a logical mindset, as they find themselves rebelling against anything which does have positive value, yet sickened with fear of that which they sense as negative, thus constantly in a loop shuttling between fear and inflated self-vision as "good." Many are finding nihilism is a logical solution to this problem. The nihilist strips away all of the values but the most basic materialist concepts: I am here and alive. This x will hurt me if I get too close to it, and this y is generally safe to eat. W is a firm friend and I trust him; Z has done nothing but borrow money to buy drinks.

Many have noted that since the introduction of technology to the Western world, communication of raw information in society has shot up exponentially. Both in physical form - newspaper, book, radio, magazine, television, internet - and in mental form, we are constantly at the center of a vortex of impulse-reaction messages. Nihilism strips away this conditioning, and lets us once again relax and select the things we do value.

Where many philosophical systems wax political, nihilism does not; it simply is and explains what is without neurosis, panic, paranoia and overburdening contemplation. There is no necessary action to be taken as a nihilist. Most of what nihilism entails occurs entirely in the mind of the philosophical thinker, and most nihilists do not look or behave abnormally.

The nihilist differs however in his or her attitude toward events in the future, values of social experience and impact of change. A nihilist first accepts, and then analyzes; nihilism is not an anti-rational or anti-logical belief system, only one in which prejudgments, especially those of a social or religious nature, are removed. If you find nihilism to be a useful cleanser for your philosophical outlook, consider subscribing to the electronic version of The Nihilist, a zine about nihilism, nihilists, and the effects and joys of a nihilistic lifestyle.