The Feral Underclass
28th April 2004, 07:15
Following a discussion on Live Chat last night, I felt that I should justify myself, so here goes...
Nihilism rejects opinions because opinions are ideals, collections of theories and what ifs. When reduced opinions can be dismissed as easily as they are defended, because at the very core of an opinion it is simply a choice of an individual to either agree or disagree with a concept which ultimatly has no truth.
Opinions in other words are subjective which brings the question, if something is not a fact, why do we believe it? Someone, such as Marx, can argue that the emancipation of the working class is logical because they create the means of production which they have no control over. He has then taken a very basic concept of human thinking, right and wrong, fair and unfair, and applied it to something in his sphere of existence. In other words, he has taken an objective fact, that workers are unfairly treated and created a subjective opinion about it, that is it unfair.
Why should I care about that subjective opinion anymore than caring about buying some clothes, or getting drunk? The reason is basic. Starvation, unhappiness, drug addiction, exploitation are all objective facts. People go without eating, fact. People have chemical reactions in their brain which create negative effects, fact, people are used to create wealth which ultimatly they never see, fact. Why are these things wrong?
They are wrong because they make me sad. Why, because I would not want to be treated that way. These objective facts create a chemical reaction in my brain that makes me feel emotions which I judge based on whether I would want to feel them. I do not want to be starving, I would hate that, so I equate it to others situations, and that makes me sad. This is unexplainable, or simply as explained as why I would fall in love, or why a sunset makes me nostalgic, or why comedy makes me laugh. It is simply a fact, neither explainable or rejectable.
Emotions are objective. They exist as a physical thing from a reaction in my brain to a consequence of my actions. I am an animal. I am an animal who has a large brain. That large brain is affected by conditions which I had no control over. I was simply born. Created into a world that makes me feel sad. As an animal with a large brain I have the ability to be critical. I have the ability to take objective facts, then make a decision on them, how? How anyone does. By how would it make you feel?
Watching someone starve to death makes me feel sad. It makes me sad because I could not imagine living like that. I realise how terrible that would be for me as an individual. It is no different to anyone else. No one likes to starve, so no one should. I hate being unhappy, why would anyone else like it. No one does. So no one should. I would hate to be used, so why would anyone else. They wouldn't, so they shouldnt be...
I subscribe to opinions, not because of some moral obligation, because I have known, not because of ethics, because they dont exist, but because starvation, suffering, exploitation simply make me sad, and the principle of everyones existence has been, and should always be, to reject that which makes you unhappy.
Nihilism rejects opinions because opinions are ideals, collections of theories and what ifs. When reduced opinions can be dismissed as easily as they are defended, because at the very core of an opinion it is simply a choice of an individual to either agree or disagree with a concept which ultimatly has no truth.
Opinions in other words are subjective which brings the question, if something is not a fact, why do we believe it? Someone, such as Marx, can argue that the emancipation of the working class is logical because they create the means of production which they have no control over. He has then taken a very basic concept of human thinking, right and wrong, fair and unfair, and applied it to something in his sphere of existence. In other words, he has taken an objective fact, that workers are unfairly treated and created a subjective opinion about it, that is it unfair.
Why should I care about that subjective opinion anymore than caring about buying some clothes, or getting drunk? The reason is basic. Starvation, unhappiness, drug addiction, exploitation are all objective facts. People go without eating, fact. People have chemical reactions in their brain which create negative effects, fact, people are used to create wealth which ultimatly they never see, fact. Why are these things wrong?
They are wrong because they make me sad. Why, because I would not want to be treated that way. These objective facts create a chemical reaction in my brain that makes me feel emotions which I judge based on whether I would want to feel them. I do not want to be starving, I would hate that, so I equate it to others situations, and that makes me sad. This is unexplainable, or simply as explained as why I would fall in love, or why a sunset makes me nostalgic, or why comedy makes me laugh. It is simply a fact, neither explainable or rejectable.
Emotions are objective. They exist as a physical thing from a reaction in my brain to a consequence of my actions. I am an animal. I am an animal who has a large brain. That large brain is affected by conditions which I had no control over. I was simply born. Created into a world that makes me feel sad. As an animal with a large brain I have the ability to be critical. I have the ability to take objective facts, then make a decision on them, how? How anyone does. By how would it make you feel?
Watching someone starve to death makes me feel sad. It makes me sad because I could not imagine living like that. I realise how terrible that would be for me as an individual. It is no different to anyone else. No one likes to starve, so no one should. I hate being unhappy, why would anyone else like it. No one does. So no one should. I would hate to be used, so why would anyone else. They wouldn't, so they shouldnt be...
I subscribe to opinions, not because of some moral obligation, because I have known, not because of ethics, because they dont exist, but because starvation, suffering, exploitation simply make me sad, and the principle of everyones existence has been, and should always be, to reject that which makes you unhappy.