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Combating Nothingarianism   11>|


DadgeJan 5, 2005 1:07pm
It's not even there if I enter it at dictionary.com: the word "nothingarianism". But it's an important word. Here in the UK, religious observance is minimal. It's as secular a society as East Germany's was. Churches are empty, sometimes sold and converted into flats or nightclubs, and there are probably as many mosque-goers as church-goers. There is no battle for humanists or atheists to win: it was won long ago. All that remains is the question: does it matter? As a humanist, I'm kind of pleased to live in a non-religious society, but is it a good thing? What about the void, the nothingarianism, left by the absence of religion? People who live life on the surface: breeding, buying, partying, dying. Is there a need to fill the void? For our own sakes, for society's sake? What's the role of humanism in filling the void? Or shouldn't we bother?
189980Jan 5, 2005 1:59pm
I don't have answers for you, but I'm pretty sure that void is there (inasmuch as a void can "be there") because consumerism has replaced religious practices: movies have replaced church, etc.

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homebaseJan 5, 2005 2:03pm
Why do you say there is nothing? There is something. All that is missing is some make believe entity that never existed in the first place. When a child grows out of her make believe friend, is she left with nothing?
We have a better story of our origins now. We have better explanations of the phenomena we see around us. Maybe we miss the community and ritual of church-going, but that can be replaced through other means. Getting rid of religion is a good thing. Now we just gotta figure stuff out for ourselves, instead of fooling ourselves.
BrotherJustinJun 16, 2005 6:24am
I think that belief in anything which is beyond us is a religious belief in its essence. We have our plates filled in the here and now: in any direction you turn, you are surrounded by real monstrosities. And, let me guess, you might also know that these monstrosities are also within you yourself

Obviously there's something. The question is always, what is it? And this is a question which depends on who is viewing it . Not just postmodern bullshit: if you want to understand complexity, look to how you yourself look at the world.

It all comes back to this: it's definately there, but what is it ?

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KingBoyJun 16, 2005 6:41am
The meaning of the universe, and where we fit in to its implicate order, if at all. The inevitability of consciousness and how it impacts on an observer-created universe. The future of humanity, no less!

Far from there being a spiritual void in my life since I abandoned my religious conditioning in my teens, I've found more to explore than I can manufacture time for! So I seek shortcuts around cultic bullshit with science, philosophy, epistemology, semantics, etc. Quantum physics has buoyed me no end.

In Ireland too, materialism has been adopted all too readily. It's like a hangover of the Celtic Tiger economy that's being treated as another day's partying, when in fact it's almost entirely lacking in meaningful solace and succour. One step forward, two steps back.
BrotherJustinJun 16, 2005 7:01am
I agree, but am less rossy about academia. My experience has been that, generally, people have their nose up their own ass... Not everyone is bad, but many are malignant. When it comes to great thoughts, some people were in the academia, many were not - for ideological reasons, as well as due to the 'selective' nature of academia in general.

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KingBoyJun 16, 2005 7:09am
The research I've done has been in my own time, from my own chosen booklist. I have no desire to return to college to study any of this. I agree, much of the academic community is conservative and prejudiced.

Studies have suggested that it takes about 60 years for a revolutionary idea or theory to become mainstream, because the relevant academic personnel need to have grown up with said theory, or chances are they won't be able or willing to update their world view.

Even Einstein was bothered by nonlocality; now it's gaining momentum from alliances to quantum computing/security and cosmology. (Not to mention Taoism, though that overlap's still somewhat contentious).
BrotherJustinJun 16, 2005 7:45am
Sorry! I'm just a bit bitter, faced with the explosion of reality in my face about the academic system. I realize that to peruse my own interests I need to adopt a mercenary position within the system... I'm just not over being indignant about that! Especially when it all boils down to narrow mindedness...

But I hope this anger will pass, or at least be turned into some productive outlets...

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KingBoyJun 16, 2005 8:02am
Justin: That's understandable. Even while in college I educated myself better by reading outside the curriculum. Not to disparage my Alma Mater, but most institutions, educational ones included, are beset by laziness, fear, neophobic agendas and myopic control-freakery.

After years of anger, frustration and their insidious cousins having a bad rave in my head, I've lately been won over by incurable optimism. Sometimes a short sharp shock is all it takes to catalyse a thorough rearrangement in one's priorities. I'm sure it will pass for you too, whatever personal terms it takes on. :) It can be difficult to carve out a satisfactory degree of freedom for oneself in any social/industrial system, where ideological compromises tend to loom largest.
BrotherJustinJun 16, 2005 8:11am
Hear hear!


Combating Nothingarianism   11>|