It doesn't take a lifelong dedication to philosophy to know that life is ultimately pointless. That is something we all figure out at some point--some earlier than others. Contrary to popular belief, religion is not a warm blanket to escape how worthless life is--in fact, it can be more depressing than Nihilism at times. Take a look at the Bible & turn to Ecclesiastes!
Every religion understands there is no point to life other than dying, & they make that clear. But instead of wallowing in self-pity, they try & make it up by making a meaning. Y'know, so we don't go insane as a species & kill ourselves out.
That is the ultimate goal in life, isn't it? To live, & make more life. Is that bad? No. & I'm sick & tired of people making it that way.
But why do we want to live so much? What causes us to do absurd things, just to keep our lives? We know life is worthless & temporary, yet we want to keep it. Why? I'm not sure. It's not like any of us are going to be written down in forever history--what could we possibly do to want to cling onto our lives so dearly?
Some people say it's because we don't know what happens after we die. But so what? We don't truly know anything; we just pretend that we do. I don't really know what's going to happen if I put on my sweatshirt; I just have faith that it's going to end up on my body rather than strangling me somehow. We don't know the outcome of many things we do every day--why would death be any different? Even people who think they know what happens are still on edge about dying. Even if they might be going to "the good place".
I'm not a Nihilist. In fact, I'm a born-again Christian, & I have quite a strong faith. Mere words or thoughts don't bother me, simply because I don't let them. Some people call it closed-minded; I call it stubborn. But this is still something quite interesting to think about. I want to hang onto life--why? I know quite well there isn't anything for me in life, so why bother?
Another basic fact: life stinks. It doesn't treat us well most of the time, & we really can't do anything about it. We are obsessed with the negative after all, & that's all we bother to see. It doesn't help that none of us are actually good people. We're selfish, prideful, ignorant, gross, stupid, secretive jerks. We can't help it, but the least we can do is acknowledge it, & try to fix it. But in the end, what does it matter? We're all gonna die--we're all going to waste another breath of air doing something stupid, so what's the point?
Well, I've concluded that whining about the 'point' is another waste of air--asking stupid questions when you already know the answer is quite stupid if you ask me. There is no point, except for what you choose to make it. Is it going to have any impact on anything? No. This is not an inspirational speech. But because life sucks, & because life is worthless, that means our suffering is worthless, so it cancels itself out. Why do we let it bother us so much? Why do we always complain about it? For the love of everything holy, get a life. & that's coming from me. A philosophy nerd with a blog. Can your situation get any worse??
Moral of the story: don't think about it--it's not gonna help anyone or anything. You're not cool for being depressed because life sticks us in the cheeks a lot of the time. Our suffering doesn't matter, & we actively choose what we want to make of it.
Option A) Wallow in self-pity, which makes no difference.
Option B) Decide that because nothing matters, it doesn't matter. Which, again, makes no difference.