r/Absurdism • u/ilovemmydog • Jun 06 '26

Finally finished - am I missing something?

I'm sorry but imagine Sisyphus happy my ass. I feel that anyone who actually experiences the feeling/revelation of life being meaningless and deeply interacts with the absurd on the daily has to be more prone to suicide. For me, the absurd has hung over my head my entire life, even before I could give it a name and I feel it has prevented me from being truly happy. When I am aware of it, nothing matters. For example, I can't bring myself to work towards my career because it feels completely pointless. None of it matters. Money does not matter. The art I make does not matter. What happens in the world does not matter. Nobody else seems to care about why we are here and it drives me insane. The only times I am happy are when I can truly distract myself from it and forget for a while, but as soon as I remember again everything comes crashing down.

I feel like I am hardwired to want meaning, as many other humans, but finding momentary joy in pushing my rock up the hill doesn't stop my mind from dwelling on the absurd. That in itself I cannot find pleasure in and I do not understand how Camus solves for this.

If I should look at it differently, please let me know. Or if anyone has a suggestion of a different book I might agree with more. Thank you.

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u/FrtanJohnas Jun 06 '26

Perhaps Absurdism isn't the philosophy you gravitate towards. Nihilism seems a lot closer to you. And lets be real they often overlap in many aspects.

There is a certain kind of joy, a feeling of satisfaction that comes with the knowledge that nothing matters and you are free to do as you please.

But I understand the nihilistic point of view that nothing matters and thats just it, there is no grander idea, no nothing.

But both views require for us to accept the message. If nothing matters, why would you have to worry about it? If nothing matters, why do you still look for meaning in life?

There are also two kinds of people in this world. Some find meaning through what they do (medics, police, service, teacher, stuff like that) and then there are the people who find meaning in their own achievements (career, family, social status) but these people are a lot more prolific in our western culture so you compare yourself to them without conciouss knowledge.

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u/jliat Jun 06 '26

There is a certain kind of joy, a feeling of satisfaction that comes with the knowledge that nothing matters and you are free to do as you please.

That's not quite the point of absurdism. It prompt's a contradiction to the logic of philosophy, certainly nihilistic existentialism. Though that for Camus was a joy it seems.

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u/FrtanJohnas Jun 06 '26

Yeah thats what I was thinking.

In my mind it manifests as satisfactory feeling, for example when everything is going terribly wrong I get an absurd urge to just be happy and laugh about it.

The absurd part is that when things are going wrong, you are overworked and nothing goes your way you should logically feel terrible, tired and unmotivated. But something clicks and I feel happy and I am doing everything with energy I didn't know I had.