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Optimistic Nihilism

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell · 18.9M views · 2017-07-26 · 7:26

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Overview

Kurzgesagt's short animated take on optimistic nihilism. It argues the universe has no inherent meaning, so we are free to create our own and enjoy life.

On Hacker News

HN users recommend it as a comforting, clear introduction to nihilism for anxiety, mid-life doubts and feeling behind in life.

Recommended by 5 HN people across 6 months · HN mentions 2018–2022

Topics

Philosophy & ethics
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philosophymeaning of lifenihilismstoicismkurzgesagt

What people said

vitorbaptistaa · 2022-09 · Strong recommendation

Your comment reminded me of the Optimistic Nihilism video by Kurzegesagt [1]. I highly recommend it, as they explain these concepts very well in a short 6min video. [1] [VIDEO]

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dinamic · 2021-04 · Strong recommendation

There is a beautiful video by Kurzgesagt. It makes a similar point and I feel better every time I watch it. [VIDEO]

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stared · 2022-03 · Recommendation

> The thought may be freeing to you, but many others become paralysed by it, obsessing about “the right choices” at every moment. I had been struggling with the same issue. The opposite (“our choices don’t matter”) is depressing. However, two things help me: The first is “Optimistic Nihilism” ( [VIDEO] ) - a view very close to Zen/stoicism. The second is that ALL choices matter, but their impact is finite and subject to randomness. I used to think that all of my choices were forever and set in stone. While technically correct, it misses that the future changes only a bit. We might be tempted to think that “the grass is greener”, or “I should have bought Bitcoins”, but it is like “I miss I didn’t join my friends when they went to a cassino”. Moreover, it is FAIR that a finite effort results in a finite result.

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Sources

Video by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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