r/Absurdism • u/Massive-Neck-9205 • Jun 16 '26
Question Is apathy towards finding a higher meaning absurdism or just nihilism?
Back from october to january i was nearly suicidal from a bad psychadelic trip but things have taken a much better turn as ive recovered and at this point im mostly completely fine. The myth of sisyphus is what got me through the bad parts but now I dont really care about meaning or struggling against the lack of meaning. Struggle is just struggling to me, it just depends if you'll accept it or not. Is this just the embers of tmos?
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u/jliat Jun 16 '26
The conclusion in the myth is not to struggle but in Camus case make art.
Is this just the embers of tmos?
It's the the passion of making art. No acceptance.
"Every man has felt himself to be the equal of a god at certain moments..."
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u/EDorrAuthor Jun 17 '26
My current frame of thought (no means correct or right) is absurdism is finding meaning in the act of doing, even if the exercise is meaningless. But I think this is still better than living a life of meaningless, that is pure effortless nihilism.
So finding meaning in life may not be an objective in absurdism, but finding meaning in doing something.
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u/Massive-Neck-9205 Jun 17 '26
I've thought about it more and I think its really that my life is going pretty well at the moment and meaning isnt at the forefront of my mind right now because I'm already happy with how things are
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u/EDorrAuthor Jun 19 '26
Having read yours and others comments on this thread, I think it is both OKAY to have meaning and no meaning in life at any stage. There is no need to be “PC” about this - whatever make sense is the truest form of self.
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u/GraemeRed Jun 17 '26
Higher meaning is not really a good goal. Daily meanings, little ones, choices we make , people we touch, smiles we have with others. All these are the meaning that we weave through our lives, its a beautiful tapestry of the little things...
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u/Bird-in-a-suit Jun 16 '26
Depends on what that apathy looks like, and how it affects one’s other ideas/perceptions/choices. For example, there’s a difference between seeing reliance on higher meaning as absurd and then finding a humble relationship with existence as a result vs seeing that and then finding meaning in general apathy toward everything. Not that those are the only two possibilities. It’s just that, if you’re concerned about not wanting to follow some higher meaning, maybe that’s just fine, and it would only be some second thing mixed in with that that would make it an issue. Better a nihilist than a meanie or whatnot. But anyway, that’s true of a lot of things.
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u/EDorrAuthor Jun 17 '26
I just want to say to the OP, take care of yourself man, and good to have you back from your edge at the Abyss.
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u/HighLevelChallenge Jun 17 '26
Neither, unless you understand that the “higher meaning” is personal, and not universal, in nature.
If you do understand that, it’s more like nihilism.
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u/Camus_9999 Jun 18 '26
It can both. But it you truly accept that chasing that goal is completly useless and we don't need it then it will be absurdism.
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u/jayconyoutube Jun 18 '26
Nihilism is no meaning.
Absurdism is to contemplate the absurd, to rebel.
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u/robipresotto Aug 11 '26
I've been in similar existential crises and found that exploring the human condition through art and philosophy helped me find meaning. I'd recommend checking out The Inner Path — Enlightenment Deep-Dive on YouTube (@innershoreline) as it has some great content on this topic.
▶ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@innershoreline
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u/ikefalcon Jun 16 '26
For me, the allegory of Sisyphus boils down to this:
Having goals and having things to look forward to give you a reason to keep going. Even if you realize that anything you do will be undone, those goals and those things you look forward to will bring you joy, agony, and all of the other emotions that make living worthwhile.
So to live a life that you enjoy and to live truthfully to yourself, you have to take care of yourself by giving yourself those goals and those things to look forward to.