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byrnema comments on Open Thread: December 2009 - Less Wrong
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This paragraph (showing how you argued yourself out of some kind of nihilism) is completely relevant, thanks. This is exactly what I'm looking for.
What do you mean by, "existence is preferred over non-existence"? Does this mean that in the vacuum of nihilism, you found something that you preferred, or that it’s better in some objective sense?
My situation is that if I try to assimilate the hypothesis that there is no objective value (or, rather, I anticipate trying to do so), then immediately I see that all of my preferences are illusions. It's not actually any better if I exist or don't exist, or if the child is saved from the tracks or left to die. It's also not better if I choose to care subjectively about these things (and be human) or just embrace nihilism, if that choice is real. I understand that caring about certain sorts of these things is the product of evolution, but without any objective value, I also have no loyalty to evolution and its goals -- what do I care about the values and preferences it instilled in me?
The question is; how has evolution actually designed my brain; in the state 'nihilism' does my brain (a) abort intellectual thinking (there's no objective value to truth anyway) and enter a default mode of material hedonism that acts based on preferences and impulses just because they exist and that’s what I’m programmed to do or (b) does it cling to its ability to think beyond that level of programming, and develop this separate identity as a thing that knows that nothing matters?
Perhaps I’m wrong, but your decision to care about the preference of existence over non-existence and moving on from there appears to be an example of (a). Or perhaps a component (b) did develop and maintain awareness of nihilism, but obviously that component couldn’t be bothered posting on LW, so I heard a reply from the part of you that is attached to your subjective preferences (and simply exists).
Well, my bit about existence and non-existence stemmed from a struggle with believing that things did or did not exist. I have never considered nihilism to be a relevant proposal: It doesn't tell me how to act or what to do. It also doesn't care if I act as if there is an objective value attached to something. So... what is the point in nihilism?
To me, nihilism seems like a trap for other philosophical arguments. If those arguments and moral ways lead them to a logical conclusion of nihilism, than they cannot escape. They are still clinging to whatever led them there but say they are nihilists. This is the death spiral: Believing that nothing matters but acting as if something does.
If I were to actually stop and throw away all objective morality, value, etc than I would except a realization that any belief in nihilism would have to go away too. At this point I my presuppositions about the world reset and... what? It is this behavior that is similar to my struggles with existence.
The easiest summation of my belief that existence is preferred over non-existence is that existence can be undone and non-existence is permanent. If you want more I can type it up. I don't know how helpful it will be against nihilism, however.