#nihilismm

My sister asked me something once. Only ten years old right now, and already so full of existential questions.  I don’t think she understands that you don’t REALLY have any answers to any of the questions you had as a kid. I cannot explain to her the reasons why we don’t have those answers in the length of the car ride. Or at all for that matter, to be quite honest.

She asked me what the point of life is and we get on the subject of death. She just seems more confused when I tell her that she can assign her own purpose to her life. That as a result of this, there is really no assigned, pre-existing meaning to her being alive at all. Of course, she is dissatisfied with this answer. She wants to understand WHY life has value, when we just die anyway.

Only ten and she wants to understand the nature of her own mortality.

She went into detail on her thought process. To her, life/existence that ends in death is like going into a gallery and viewing the most beautiful artwork you have ever seen. It is wonderful, it is complete, it is whole and it is breathtaking. She then proceeds to illustrate to me that existence with the inevitability of death, to her, is like taking this painting and shoving it in a wood chipper. After the painting has been chipped it is gone forever and it has no point, use or value to anyone or anything anymore. It is now a pile of rubbish. Its creation,meaning, and existence is rendered null by the wood chipper.

I don’t know why I thought it so important to explain to her that the experience of painting the picture mattered, or how many other people would enjoy the painting. I went back to “assigning” meaning to the painting, and everyone interpreted the subject of the painting differently. But she just said that it was too late. It all goes through the wood chipper so it didn’t matter anymore.  

She basically wants to know:

What is the meaning of life?

Why life?

Why death?

Why ANYTHING?

I was shocked to see that she is developing in this way so early in life. I hope she doesn’t become as pessimistic as me. I will continue to encourage this type of thought process and line of questioning.

Un val uriaș de popor care merge compact în aceeași direcție uitând de animozitățile curente îi conferă o putere și o energie de răsturnat munții. Ori măcar, un guvern. Așa stau lucrurile la începutul revoltei. Tocmai s-a demonstrat. Cu așa o determinare, strada ar putea răsturna și adunătura de hârciogi numită parlament dacă, după două-trei zile, din pricini naturale dar mai ales nenaturale,…