Not So Random Thought Process
After the disappointment of 2012 as whole and not just the absence of the much anticipated Armageddon, 2013 promises to be one heck of a year. If you're a movie fanatic that is. Well, make that super hero movie fanatic. We kick off with GI Joe: Retaliation, which has already been accepted as a good watch. Not a great sequel but still, Dwayne Johnson does his part well. The same, however, cannot be said for pretty much anyone else in the movie. And after a not so boom-boom start to a promising season which teases us with Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Man of Steel, Jurassic Park, The Hunger Games 2, Wolverine, Hobbit, Jack Ryan, etc., it seems an average kick off shouldn't ruin that party.
Much like the majority superhero fans out there, I await to see how Iron Man 3 & Thor 2 turn out. Ofcourse, while whatever Robert Downey Jr. does is always worth a watch and Thor will have enough space bound scenes to keep everyone occupied; I look forward to watching the post credits scene in both films a tad bit more than the whole movie... I mean, its all very basic that the hero will rise from the humongous pile of trouble and near-death experiences to save the day, and like all Marvel movie fans would know, the teaser at the end gives us a real good mystery to discuss until the release of the next movie... My interest is more so based on the identity of the Super Villain seen at the end of Avengers: Thanos.
Before your searches begin, I'll let you know the basic knowledge about him. He's a bad-ass guy who is fascinated with, ahem, Death. In the Marvel comics, he's shown to be possessing the Infinity Gauntlet(Google later) which has the power to obliterate any life in one go. The main reason why he uses said weapon-apart from being crazy-is that he is a real believer of Nihilism. And that, is something I find intriguing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to finish life as we know it. Our friends at Wikipedia define the term as "Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life." Ergo, Life is without objective meaning, purpose, and/or intrinsic value. And that's one way of looking at it.
Many of us would probably choose to see anyone believing and practicing such a thing to be in a deep state of despair and hopelessness. And it makes perfect sense: Who would say that the complete basis of living is illogical? Doesn't that imply that everything we do is of no particular use? Anything like this would sound like the thoughts of a crazy person, who has either lost everything in life or has perhaps taken the word pessimism a bit too extremely. After giving it a fair amount of thought I understood why someone actually chose to come up with such a word. I understood how the most extremely pessimistic view of things can be turned around and looked at in a positive manner.
You see, pessimism originates from the fact that there is a negative way of looking at a situation. That simply implies that there was a optimistic way in whose opposite direction this new view is propagating. And so, no matter what the reason was to not go on the positive side of the situation, the negative only exists because it went against the first view. And that theory works Vice-Versa. Because we know this from physics: Positive & Negative are two sides of a coin. One cannot exist without the other existing. No matter how far apart they maybe. And to quote the upcoming Star Wars movie, "Evil never dies. It Evolves."
Coming back to Nihilism, I believe we can use this belief in a very constructive manner. Instead of demeaning the word and its lateral depths, why not seek the positive end of this acutely negative assumption? If we manage to fight the practice of Nihilism everyday; if we choose to imbibe in ourselves a system to make everyday worth living, will that be such a bad thing? Not only will that give you a valid reason to go and complete your to-do list today, it will be logical enough that you cannot argue with it.
You see, even in mathematics, the negative of a negative is a positive. That's what I understood we have to do. If something feels wrong and incorrect to you, well then go backwards on it! Two wrongs don't make a right, I know. But righting a wrong may as well work, seeing as right ≠ wrong just as +ve ≠ -ve.
And by that logic, wrong(wrong)= Right.
Much like the majority superhero fans out there, I await to see how Iron Man 3 & Thor 2 turn out. Ofcourse, while whatever Robert Downey Jr. does is always worth a watch and Thor will have enough space bound scenes to keep everyone occupied; I look forward to watching the post credits scene in both films a tad bit more than the whole movie... I mean, its all very basic that the hero will rise from the humongous pile of trouble and near-death experiences to save the day, and like all Marvel movie fans would know, the teaser at the end gives us a real good mystery to discuss until the release of the next movie... My interest is more so based on the identity of the Super Villain seen at the end of Avengers: Thanos.
Before your searches begin, I'll let you know the basic knowledge about him. He's a bad-ass guy who is fascinated with, ahem, Death. In the Marvel comics, he's shown to be possessing the Infinity Gauntlet(Google later) which has the power to obliterate any life in one go. The main reason why he uses said weapon-apart from being crazy-is that he is a real believer of Nihilism. And that, is something I find intriguing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to finish life as we know it. Our friends at Wikipedia define the term as "Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life." Ergo, Life is without objective meaning, purpose, and/or intrinsic value. And that's one way of looking at it.
Many of us would probably choose to see anyone believing and practicing such a thing to be in a deep state of despair and hopelessness. And it makes perfect sense: Who would say that the complete basis of living is illogical? Doesn't that imply that everything we do is of no particular use? Anything like this would sound like the thoughts of a crazy person, who has either lost everything in life or has perhaps taken the word pessimism a bit too extremely. After giving it a fair amount of thought I understood why someone actually chose to come up with such a word. I understood how the most extremely pessimistic view of things can be turned around and looked at in a positive manner.
You see, pessimism originates from the fact that there is a negative way of looking at a situation. That simply implies that there was a optimistic way in whose opposite direction this new view is propagating. And so, no matter what the reason was to not go on the positive side of the situation, the negative only exists because it went against the first view. And that theory works Vice-Versa. Because we know this from physics: Positive & Negative are two sides of a coin. One cannot exist without the other existing. No matter how far apart they maybe. And to quote the upcoming Star Wars movie, "Evil never dies. It Evolves."
Coming back to Nihilism, I believe we can use this belief in a very constructive manner. Instead of demeaning the word and its lateral depths, why not seek the positive end of this acutely negative assumption? If we manage to fight the practice of Nihilism everyday; if we choose to imbibe in ourselves a system to make everyday worth living, will that be such a bad thing? Not only will that give you a valid reason to go and complete your to-do list today, it will be logical enough that you cannot argue with it.
You see, even in mathematics, the negative of a negative is a positive. That's what I understood we have to do. If something feels wrong and incorrect to you, well then go backwards on it! Two wrongs don't make a right, I know. But righting a wrong may as well work, seeing as right ≠ wrong just as +ve ≠ -ve.
And by that logic, wrong(wrong)= Right.
Interesting. Made me google for Nihilism and a link led me to the Paradox of Nihilism- "The absence of meaning seems to be some sort of meaning". Which sort of sums up your positive-negative theory. There's no such thing as "nothing". <- That statement is a paradox in itself. :D
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd well, yeah.. Paradoxes everywhere... I actually believe that "Nothing" is the most important word in our lives. 'Coz nothing in life is permanent, except for the fact that "Nothing" is. :D
"Evil never dies, it evolves"
ReplyDeleteI still remember, when I saw that poster, you were the first person I called. And coming to think of it, it is true. Every superhero movie consists of two main things- a good person, and bad person. The bad always has to seem much more formidable and impressive than the good. And the fact that the good prevails despite the odds stacked up against it, makes it worth watching.
But showing that there is a positive side to pessimism, interesting line of thought KD.
Thankyou Shivang! :)
ReplyDeleteI guess our extended discussion over the year of superheros was the reason I looked into Thanos and Nihilism... And if the trend is to continue, I might get some ideas regarding T4 & its most dangerous weapons.. :D
Really thought provoking! I like your perspective on the whole Nihilism theory and pessimism and how you have linked it to the general mathematical rules. :)
ReplyDeleteThankyou, its always good to hear the relations and associations you guys are able to make and like. :)
ReplyDelete