Absurdism vs Nihilism Explanations and Differences (What is Absurdism and Nihilism?) 

The difference between nihilism and absurdism is a sense of humor.

Absurdism: society is dumb, make fun of it. Nilhilism: Everything in life is meaningless.

Existentialism: through a combination of awareness, free will, and personal responsibility, one can construct their own meaning within a world that intrinsically has none of its own. Nihilism: not only is there no intrinsic meaning in the universe, but that it’s pointless to try to construct our own as a substitute. Absurdism: a search for meaning is inherently in conflict with the actual lack of meaning, but that one should both accept this and simultaneously rebel against it by embracing what life has to offer.

As I understand this, it is a matter of response. Nihilism and Absurdism both start at the same point of meaninglessness and futility, but they diverge in the direction they choose to turn in response to this reality. The Passive Nihilist simply closes the loop and concedes there is nothing at all that matters, and that is the end. The Absurdist breaks out of the futility, in a revolt which is perhaps even irrational, and chooses to fight futility through the creation of meaning. In some sense, the absurdist approach is the more original approach, if you consider that the narrative of all religions are perhaps absurdist creations which have simply been codified into creed and dogma, and passed down from generation to generation in the guise of truth.

I've always told people the only difference between Absurdism and Nihilism is the tone of your voice when you say "there's no meaning to the world and nothing matters." Low and sad? Nihilism. Cheery and peppy? Absurdism

The Myth of Sisyphus helped me feel ok with the meaninglessness of life. After reading it I found a mindset to keep on living even when I didn't want to, just to spite "the Absurd." Over time I learned to cultivate things that made that absurd existence worth living. I always remember that Camus said he found the most interesting part of the myth not the struggle to push the boulder, but that moment when the boulder rolls back down the hill, and Sisyphus has to descend to the bottom to start all over again. That descent is the truly absurd moment, when all the hard effort is undone in a blink, yet instead of giving up he walks all the way back down to begin again, in defiance of the absurdity of his task.

Wow it's crazy that I've basically been an absurdist my entire life without knowing it! I've often told people that I don't believe that there is any overarching, objective meaning to life as an agnostic who leans atheist, but that I believe that we are still "blessed" with the ability to live by some miracle. I think that we should each try to find our own, subjective meanings by pursuing what makes us happy.

I lean more toward Existentialism, myself. I think we all create our own meanings for our lives.

I would like to hear a conversation from an actual passive nihilist. Just to see their points of view and how happily they live their lives.

After watching this video, I’m leaning towards absurdism.

My biggest gripe with Nihilism is that it presupposes _meaning_ (and _purpose_ ) as something independent from subjective experience. Empirically, _meaning_ and _purpose_ can only be observed by its role in behavior. Rocks and clouds of gas do not have any observable connection to either _meaning_ nor _purpose_ . Rather, it seems that _meaning_ and _purpose_ can only influence those things that can express & demonstrate motivation. In fact, meaning and purpose can easily be conflated with motivation. They may be synonymous, empirically. That said, you and I are among those rare things (approximately 100% of the universe is lifeless and without motivation) that generate meaning and purpose. The most obvious and primal one, upon which our existence depends, is to continually survive. Those creatures which lacked this motivation or failed to achieve it are all dead. The next most obvious and primal one isn't as good as survival, but it makes our survival part of something _similar_ to survival (continuation of "things like me") is reproduction. Those species which lacked this motivation or failed to achieve it are all extinct. Maintaining health & security (rest, eat, maintain fitness, gather resources, attain social value) can traced back to these two motivations, directly or indirectly. Everything else can be traced back to these three, which can in turn be traced back to the two original. We seem really complex because our behavior is complex to survive and thrive in a complex world, and we're very social creatures. It's biological. The interesting little undercurrent to all of this (survival, reproduction) is that they all presuppose personal value: "I exist, and that's better than me not existing". Nihilism's assumptions completely dismiss the axioms of life itself. Psychologically, many of us Human animals also seek a "higher" meaning to help motivate us. Religion and philosophy have tried tackling this for ages. Lately we developed a formalized psychology, which has done a very good job of directly mapping this conceptual landscape. Empirical evidence is best here - observe people with certain defined purpose, observe people who lack that purpose. Gather data, find the pattern. I observe that the "highest meaning" is fulfillment, which is most often achieved by continually improving yourself for the sake of loved ones (family, friends, personal community), and enriching the lives of those loved ones. Another common path to fulfillment, which tends to lead to hubris but occasionally works, is to achieve something "great" (which is a socially defined metric). This answer isn't "objective meaning" but it's a behavioral norm among a species - us. That's as close to an objective meaning as you can get. If you can find me something that isn't Human but can communicate on this topic, I'd love to meet it. It would be interesting to see if the same meaning/purpose would work for, say, a talking dog or an alien species. If you can find a way to visit or observe a universe with different causality than this one, I'd love to see it. It would be interesting to see how motivation, meaning and purpose can operate there.

so what I got from all this is that absurdism tells us to "Play fool, for that's the only way to be happy" and i feel like I am agreeing to that.

Thank you for describing the difference between active nihilism and absurdism so clearly! I've often had difficulty putting my finger on the exact difference while knowing there IS a difference, and this really helped me find the words I was looking for

Glass Half Fullism: Something is always better than nothing and the fleeting nature of life is what makes it worth living. The desire to exist, to find any meaning at all is a miracle.

Brilliantly demonstrated Ben.

This is one of my favorite videos in RU-vid, for real. Greetings from Brazil

Good video. I had never heard the term "active nihilism", but I had heard some about the three philosophers that you mention and their philosophies, and in one description, I remember (perhaps incorrectly) that it was called "positive nihilism"; obviously, "passive nihilism" was called "negative nihilism". However, the concepts seem the same, and I've always been a "positive" or "active" nihilist. I remember being in my late teens and telling my friends "I don't think that there is any meaning to the universe; at least not one we didn't make up. But in a way, that's kind of empowering, because that means that we get to make up the meaning." My friend's older brother (who decades later has become my best friend) heard that and assumed that I had read Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus, and couldn't believe I hadn't at first; when I finally convinced him, he recommended checking them out, because they were on the same page, and wrote rather well on the subject. He has since done same thing that about many subjects, wherein I will say what I think about something, only to have him recommend several others who have said the same thing, and usually said it a bit better. Lol. I have always seen it as "yeah, nothing matters... so who cares? Why does it have to matter? Just learn to enjoy it, and do whatever you want, because the only thing that matters is what you say matters." I've don't envy those that think that there is some objective purpose, or god to serve, because that seems so oppressive and disempowering. I prefer a meaningless universe, upon which we can ascribe our own meanings. I also disagree that the meaning that you ascribe to the universe ends with your death. Look at Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus- the meaning that each ascribed to the universe (or lack thereof) lived beyond them.

Great content, keep going. Please don't let low likes and views discourage you. You are doing amazing service.

I've been struggling to distinguish the differences between these two philosophies, so thanks for the video, it was on point. I'd love to see your take on Emil Cioran and compare him with similar thinkers like Nietzsche, Camus, Schopenhauer..

Love this channel. Subscribed!! Young psychology college student and this is right up my alley

Playboy: “If life is so purposeless, do you feel it’s worth living?” Kubrick: “Yes, for those who manage somehow to cope with our mortality. The very meaninglessness of life forces a man to create his own meaning. Children, of course, begin life with an untarnished sense of wonder, a capacity to experience total joy at something as simple as the greenness of a leaf; but as they grow older, the awareness of death and decay begins to impinge on their consciousness and subtly erode their joie de vivre (a keen enjoyment of living), their idealism - and their assumption of immortality. As a child matures, he sees death and pain everywhere about him, and begins to lose faith in the ultimate goodness of man. But if he’s reasonably strong - and lucky - he can emerge from this twilight of the soul into a rebirth of life’s élan (enthusiastic and assured vigour and liveliness). Both because of and in spite of his awareness of the meaninglessness of life, he can forge a fresh sense of purpose and affirmation. He may not recapture the same pure sense of wonder he was born with, but he can shape something far more enduring and sustaining. The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death - however mutable man may be able to make them - our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfilment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.”

this is a really good summary to share with people new to absurdism but familiar with nihilism,, thank you!

Absurdism really resonated with me in highschool, I really thought I could get behind that way of thinking, made me realize why we were taught all those different ways of thinking, too.

Pretty interesting. I didn't think I would get it but you explained it simply and direct without getting too philosophical

I don't necessarily know if absurdism requires that there is no objective meaning, just that there is none that is accessible to us. It seems to me like Camus is really illustrating the necessary impossibility of a human search for meaning being fruitful, whether it's because there is no fruit or because we are incapable of reaching the branch it hangs from. Either way, he urges us to forget about the fruit and go find something we can actually have

omg i love your channel im glad it got recommended!

Both the 3 options for dealing with the absurd the first choices made me chuckle.

Thank you so much for your hardwork!

Excellent explanation. Thank you. Subscribed

Just found your channel, great videos. Keep up the good work!

Kudos brother, you're creating good content.

Thanks for these videos man. Just got subscribed

Definitely after watching this I noticed I’m more of an absurdist than any of the others purely because about twice a year my partner and I get into the debate about how the phrase “nothing is impossible” is such a beautiful conundrum but i believe it’s proof that everything is absurd. And they believe that it’s proof everything is a double edged sword that there’s just as much good as there is bad, that it’s about how we perceive those moments and how we allow them to effect us, to that I rose I can see that but isn’t that weird? Isn’t it weird how if you say a word enough times it loses meaning? Think of all music you loved growing up but can’t recall any bit of them now when they get stuck in your head and you wanna look it up but the lyrics keep slipping, all the meaning we’ve brought to everything in this world just as absurd, because at the end of the day if I ask you why enough times you can’t answer me. We built a language that we can’t even beat, because all of this is beyond us in some way shape or form and that’s absurd. We bucked back and forth for about an hour and a half. Then they politely asked to drop the conversation and we did. But that conversation was wracking my brain to grasp what I was feeling in that and this gave me better clarity.

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once is one of the greatest movies ever made, and an absolute Absurdist manifesto for 2022. Beautiful.

I regarded myself as an active nihilist since very early on in my life, the fact of the arbitrariness of all things has always been part of the groundings of my thinking. But recently, I'm starting to becone more and more aware of my stubborn adherence or clinging to a strange sort of ungrounded optimism. I see the world as a place in need of repair on every level, especially on the level of my immediate surroundings, and I can't perceive the world in any different way. Although nihilistic thinking has always been so integral to me, I never seriously saw an option in suicide, especially not in philosophical suicide. The seemingly vain attempt to create meaning is something I can never give up, and probably noone will ever be able to argue me out of it. Now that makes me an absurdist, a perfectionistic one, who cannot be satisfied nore broken. The fact that life can not be completed or solved hits me as an emotional assault. It is however the only practical course of action to embrace the adventure of life inspite of it's fundamental meaninglessness.

Very thankful for your content, thank you :)

Damn, Camus really hit it on the head with the three options. When I was trying to plan my life out further I kept bouncing between those exact 3 options. I guess I'm an absurdist then since I chose the 3rd option. Definitely gonna read some more Camus. Til now I've only read a tiny bit of Nietzsche.

I come to Absurdism through Alfred Jarry, and the theatre of the absurd, from my college days in the 60s, and have always identified as an absurdist--watching this video confirms that I knew what I was about. By the way, one of my first reads when the whole "pandemic" started was a reread of Camus' The Plague.

I still haven't found a philosophy to agree on.I think now the only thing that remains to do is to create my own philosophy

I personally believe that I have my own purpose. I find meaning in writing and drawing and I'm trying to become a professional illustrator. The issue is my belief in my ability. Growing up with a learning disability was hard. I'm trying to overcome this barrier.

To "imagine Sisyphus happy" is to believe that Sisyfhus is happy. To believe in that you must take leap of faith to that...

Ive been having a lot of thoughts relating to these ideas, some of which, I didn’t have words for. Thanks for putting these philosophies in such a concise manner. Good stuff

thank you so much for this explanation. i’m partially an active nihilist but definitely also an absurdist!

I actually have my own take on the meaning of life, which may be aligned with one of these great philosophers. I believe suffering can bring out the best depending on how you mentally process the situation. Pressure can either make you hard like diamond, glittering to the world, or break you like glass, brittle to harsh reality. I went through some suffering and I'm glad I went through that, and then you hear about people living in privilege and yet depressed.

Guess i am sort of absurd nihilist. I also really like stoicism

I always thought of the active nihilist as the nihilist and would have called the the passive nihilist an anarchist. I was unaware of the absurdist so i definitely feel enriched today.

Clarity comes with balance as this seems to be necessary to all things. Attitude, then, becomes the answer to all things... Reasonable assumption is our best tool as it's reasonable to assume that life is a dream.

I prefer to call myself a surrealist. I see this reality, but i refuse to accept my own sensory perception of them as absolute. What we see is not always what we get. Theres often a much deeper dimensionality to any aspect of reality. Even a change in the angle of vision can completely alter our perception of a landscape for example. Idk. Ive taken passive nihlism with a grain of absurdity and its worked quite well for me. Allows me to accept that ill never know so to speak.

Great video.

I always just assumed I was Nihilistic, but I’ve always felt a deep sense of relief and happiness because of it. Now after watching this I wonder if it is more Active Nihilism or Absurdism. 😌

This video is the first I've heard of "passive nihilism", but the video describes it as separating oneself from desires to ease the suffering of existence, which is a core part of philosophies like Buddhism and Stoicism. The interesting thing about that is that these philosophies don't start with the assumption of no meaning like Nihilism apparently does.

From: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl... "What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life - daily and hourly. Our answers must consist, not in thought and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfil the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping statements. "Life" does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete. They form man's destiny, which is different and unique for each individual. No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny. No situation repeats itself, and each situation calls for a different response. Sometimes the situation in which a man finds himself may require him to shape his own fate by action. At other times it is more advantageous for him to make use of an opportunity for contemplation and to realize assets in this way. Sometimes man may be required simply to accept fate, to bear his cross. Every situation is distinguished by its uniqueness, and there is always only one right answer to the problem posed by the situation at hand." - Viktor Frankl Man's Search for Meaning (p. 76 - 77)

Finally I understand who I am, an Absurdist. Thank you Ben!

Thank you. Great content 🤩 stereo audio may be a bit unfocused for headphone listening

The cause of both nihilism and absurdism is revealed in the photos of Sartre and Camus: Each had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, probably a 'Gauloises' (stinkaroo), and perceived themselves as meaningfully cool dudes in an early 20th century meaningless sort of way. My guess is that at the time of the photos they had just read Frankl's "Man's search for meaning" and found it challenging. My grandchildren's boundless enthusiasm for life subjectively influences my view on nihilism and absurdism

I feel that I identify more as an active nihilist. Thank you for your work! I enjoy your videos.

Nihilism: “the world is meaningless!” Absurdism: “TIGER KNEE!”

Interesting vid, cheers

It doesn't matter what individual approach you take on it, it could be different from person to person, it doesn't matter, as long as it's what suits you best in living your life.

Thank you. I just started reading Camus and I find his writing tedious I guess that's my fault because I did not yet understand where he was going and you answered that for me so i'll put the book down. I wish that I understood life but I don't. I now have an aggressive form of cancer so I am not going to find the answer. I have always felt that the understanding we seek was not knowledge as we know it, perhaps some direct insight into our true nature yes in way like Buddhism. I actually think along the lines of Spinoza. I also felt that we would not be put in a situation where we could ask a question and not be able to answer it. I could be right but haven't discovered the :how". Now I see that death is natural and I have no knowledge that allows me to question the natural world. Something else came to me recently and that is I did not choose how I would be affected by what came into my field of awareness. Nor do I choose most of my thoughts. Thanks again!

Awesome video

Thanks!

Yes. Thank you. It was difficult to categorize my nihilism till you layed it out in for me in this vid. It's particularly frustrating to talk about Nihilism because the general public misnomer is that people who ascribe to Nihilism just want to die. I mean, it doesn't matter if we do and I am curious but life is what is happening so might as well play with it. Do you have a Discord channel?

👏🙂 Cool stuff

Neither of these men knew anything about the scientific search for a model of consciousness, but both had an unconscious understanding of the duality of consciousness. Man's consciousness is divided into two parts; the brain, senses, body unity; and the mind, reason, understanding will. Consciousness and self-consciousness. The passive, unfree will; and the active free will. Percepts and concepts. The mind that deals with Nature and the linguistic mind. Modern man is taught language early on and lives life no longer in competition with Nature, but in harmony or discord with society. Modern man is transfixed by language and society reinforces this habit. So much so that man relies more on his linguistic interpretation of reality rather than reality itself. He relies on religion or science or philosophy to guide his actions rather than physical ability. Both Camus and Nietszche had an epiphany about the linguistic mind. For Nietszche it came in the form of Religious explanations of life. Religious meaning no longer held the power it once had, because modern life revealed it to be untenable and hopeless if not extraneous. Purpose became futile. The response to this futility was, first, the will to nothingness; and secondly the ubermensch. A rejection of intelligence and passion and then a reinvention of purpose centered on new conceptual definitions: meaning. For Camus it centered not on meaning and purpose but on the linguistic mind's proclivity for interpretation: perennial myth-making. Last year it was Atlas who held up the sky, today its gravity and air pressure, tomorrow it will be something else. He found this habit of the linguistic mind Absurd. Unlike Nietszche, who harnesses his will in the rational responses of passive and active nihilism, Camus rejects rationality altogether. For Camus, in the aftermath of discovering the futility of the linguistic mind's interpretation of reality, one must learn to live without mind, reason, mental coherency. Will without intelligence: Sisyphus: A.I. artificial intelligence, Siri. Live life responding to cues rather than understanding. Robots 🤖. Siri doesn't understand a word you say to it. Neither does it understand anything it says to you. It parrots the word without knowing the meaning. Just like Merseult in the "stranger". For Nietszche and Camus life is not all Nihilism or Absurdism. We still must eat, sleep and die. It is just our silly linguistic minds and it's trying to make sense out of everything that gets in our way. Get those silly interpretations out of the way and learn to live life anew. Discover what you can do, stop focusing on what you "can't". For Camus: Don't be cowed by the linguistic bully. For Nietszche: Either be a coward or become the new linguistic bully.

Thank you ☺️

Great🍁

Good video.

Nice vid

Good compare contrast.

This is interesting, thank you for doing it. My own take on this is that the ultimate meaning or meaninglessness of life is it self irrelevant. Whatever objective truth may be, humans evolved to Crave meaning. We define ourselves in relationship to that meaning, and without a sense of purpose, without a sense it all adds up to something no matter how small, return to flounder psychologically. This is simply the side effect of 300,000 years of human evolution. Our brains work this way because there is a survival benefit to them working this way. Take away the meaning and we are less survivable, more likely to just give up. So whether or not there is a real meaning, whether or not there's a God, we can never know. Nor do we need to. We simply need to invent a purpose if we are up to that challenge, or adopt someone else's purpose if we are not up to creating one of our own. That's my take on it, though I freely admit I am not nearly as knowledgeable as you are in such things

A perfect example of active nihilism is in the movie classic Fight Club.

A video about Antinatalism and Veganism would be nice. These philosophies go very well together.

I believe in existentialism, create your own meaning

I don't know I haven't heard anything, I just try to love myself ;)

Absurdism makes life easier for each one of us!

Interacting with this video for the algorithm

Yo just saving to watch later

I spent few years without being able to tell the difference between Nihilism and Absurdism. Then i realized that both are actually the same, just with a difference in attitude. Absurdism simply added the possibility of embracing the absurd instead of being demoralized by it.

So I am an optimist when I say 'Nothing is possible'

I believe Option 1 is a great idea

Good video

Nihilist : social media ppl Abursidist : ppl trying to enjoy their lives

"Meaning" and "Purpose" in the context of Life are both strongly linked to human emotion, if we did not have emotion then we would not feel the need to have meaning or purpose in our life. (We would also most likely lack any motivation to live life.) Enjoy life, do things that you find pleasure in, focus on things that will give you deep lasting happiness, and most importantly, be grateful that you're alive, grateful that you were given the chance to exist and experience something completely magical and irrational.

I'm neither of those. But. I see some aspects in those ideologies that in a given spot in the world's timeline, are needed soi things can swing back to the achievable normality.

When I die my purpose doesn't becomes meaningless, because it is not me that ends, it is the world that ends for me. The world will become meaningless, not my purpose.

I feel as though there is a confusion, here, between drive and embrace. One is of a control mentality and the other is of an acceptance mentality. What if one just accepts the ultimatums of life, fully choses to understand all of them, and embraces the conflict with joy and ambition towards instant gratification until it perishes, but logical enough to understand basic concepts enough to slightly cater to them enough to maintain the mean for desired instant gratification?

nice video

I really can't wait for a scholarly English translation of Philipp Mainlander.

Meaning is on the low end of philosophical principles. Purpose is on the high end. There are many successful people in this world who are nihilists, but few, if any, successful people who have no purpose.

first option seems attractive

You can't make cheese without first having milk. You can't make specific, local, subjective meaning without there first being general, cosmic objective meaning. If you have milk, you can make Stilton, gruyere, Norwegian Jarlsberg, or Venezuelan beaver cheese. You can't make cheese out of the void. The *problem* comes when people assume the cosmic meaning is automatically tailored specifically to them, without any effort of their own to refine it and adapt it to their specific case. When it turns out not to be, they despair.

Any good books on these topics? Ideally one that touches, at least briefly, on all of them

Absurdism is where it's at🔥

Life is a little like pushing a rusty wheelbarrow uphill on hot tarmac, without shoes... Why do I keep going when the days seem all too long? Because if I give up now. How will I ever know where I'll end up?

Absurdism suits me just fine.

Desultory!🔥

Interesting. I always thought i was a nihilist but i guess absurdist is more accurate. I think there is no meaning or purpose in the universe, aside from the meaning we give to it. I never even heard of absurdism but it aligns quite well with what i believe.

I thought I was an Absurdist but am now thinking I’m closer to an active nihilist.

I am commenting to boost the algorithm