blog3

Albert Beckham

Culture and Communication

The concept that was most interesting to me this month from the reading is nihilism.

Nihilism is basically the belief that life has no meaning, and it rejects religious principles. From

the reading, we learned nihilism is “characterized by a kind of doom and despair, a sense of

meaningless and hopelessness caused by prolonged oppression.” It is interesting to me the way

some people think because, personally, I could not go through life each and every day without

purpose. It would seem almost impossible to live in the moment every day but have such a

skeptical perspective on every aspect of life.

There is meaning in life, no matter how small or “insignificant,” so to believe otherwise

makes me sympathize with the people that think this way. I understand that these people have

their reasons to think this way about life and it has been the summation of their experiences that

produced this perspective but there is so much more that life has to offer. It is appalling that they

can still think there is no meaning to it. If they were optimistic towards the opportunities offered

to them, I feel they would have a better life experience altogether.

It also makes me question how they approach their loved ones, if they have any, or how

they approach their careers. I also wonder how their families, partners, and coworkers approach

those individuals and seek to motivate them. I cannot imagine staying motivated myself if I was

surrounded by individuals like that. I also wonder if there is any research that points to how

successful people with a nihilistic mindset are. Obviously, this is not a huge faction or feature of

society but it has developed over time. It seems interesting that it has evolved and maintained for

as long as it has. However, it may serve a bigger purpose as a balance of some kind.