Sorry if I hijacked this thread in talking about religion...but I think when one talks about nihilism, then, for me, eternalism comes up. Which naturally leads to talk about religion. However, initially I was quoting Buddhism, which has a big metaphysical component stripped of the trappings of religion. As a philosophy I find Buddhism very interesting. Taoism is, I believe, a near cousin.

I can't really contribute much to this discussion. There is a starkness about nihilism that I would not say evokes fear as much as apathy.

The author Andrew Solomon includes a quote in his book on depression - I paraphrase - that depression is essentially a lack of enthusiasm, and a static state. It is not so much sadness as a mental and physical apathy.

I find that losing all the storylines makes for a boring existence. Nihilism, I say no to. But I am all for scraping away unneeded mental constructs.

In graduate school I studied some of what has been talked about here. But I found that all the conjecturing did not make me happy. I was mainly studying Buddhist philosophy, and, it was not...comforting. And I now realize it was a time in my life when I needed comfort and companions.

Dancing witches, fairies, leprechauns, unicorns, creation stories, chaos theory, love/sex, honor, relationship, hobbies, building things, destroying things then rebuilding. Ah, anything but boredom. For me that is the killer. And nihilism strikes me as...boring. I'm coming out of a period of silence. And I mean...S I L E N C E. I have been listening to music again and this week - Aretha. -- R E S P E C T, Queen of Soul!. That voice...saying YES to LIFE. (I am now thinking of the musicians who continued to play while the Titanic was sinking. That is...a full...emptiness.)

Sorry, again, I don't belong here among all you intellectual giants. I will just read and try to not comment anymore. I feel like a little frog jumping around in a pond of sharks. It is only a matter of time before I get...gulped!