Blame it on the ‘08 Recession, climate change or Tumblr’s own Matty Healy, buta nihilism somehow became cool. There is a lot of social clout available to people who simply cannot be bothered to involve themselves with distractions and protests to the inevitable collapse of society. The choice not to care because it seems ultimately unproductive or illogical is misguided. People should be proud and vocal about what they care about, even if it is fleeting, from niche obsessions to broader social issues.
Before people considered nihilism to be a variety of countercultural enlightenment, the coolest belief was that four square was the best game on the playground. This was not an opinion I held in my childhood.
Though now I am an adult with strange interests, once upon a time, I was a child with strange interests. I read “Eyewitness” books with the attention to detail of a neurosurgeon mid-operation, and recited facts about Viking naming customs or obscure Japanese mythological creatures to anyone around, regardless of whether they listened. I made a worm graveyard with my friends, naming the fallen inverts in alphabetical order as if they were hurricanes, and held burial ceremonies for them. As the oldest of three, my special “big kid” treat on Friday nights was staying up until 10 p.m. to watch “Love It or List It” on HGTV. If nobody was around to play soccer or wiffle ball, I put on my dad’s old work shirt and pretended to be a mad scientist in the backyard, mixing red clay and water to concoct a groundbreaking antidote to rattlesnake bites or diphtheria. The examples of my childhood oddities are endless.
The combination of my active imagination and lack of social awareness protected my profound uncoolness for years, and I am eternally grateful for it. I cared an awful lot about my home renovation shows and bizarre medicinal creations, and I did not stop for a moment to consider if people thought it was weird. While I spent my time memorizing trivia like I was preparing for “Jeopardy!,” my “cooler” peers played hide and seek or tag, neither of which were my strengths as a slow child who stood several inches taller than most kids my age.
Of course, youthful joy fades over time and grows into a different powerful monster: teenage self-consciousness.
Eventually, I did learn about social norms, and I soon became preoccupied with fitting in. I wore the skinny jeans 2017 fashion norms mandated, learned what Brandy Mellville was and also learned that I could not wear Brandy Mellville clothes because they were too small. Being “uncool” and pursuing the interests I enjoyed was a lot more fun than basking in self-pity because I could not wear the same pants Emma Chamberlain did. The problem was not the popular hobbies themselves, (though, Brandy Melville has its issues) the problem was that I would not care about what was popular if I did not care about fitting in.
In recent years, I have grown to accept that superior pants do not make a superior person, though, at times I wish it were that simple. As life goes on, popularity becomes less contingent on pants and more reliant on personal beliefs. It is understandable to contemplate the purpose of life as adulthood responsibilities creep in, and we spend our days waiting in lines at the DMV and co-existing with our difficult co-workers, and wonder why we must deal with any of it.
I forget when I heard someone say, “Nothing matters, the Earth is just a floating rock in space” for the first time, but I remember thinking that they were wrong. While it is technically true, the fact that Earth is a floating rock did not change my perspective on life. Tons of issues matter: hunger, homelessness, social justice, cancer and, yes, even my 10 p.m. viewing of “Love It or List It.” Clearly, some of these issues matter more than others, but the point remains: Just because an issue will not matter in a billion years, does not mean that it is insignificant now.
Though the world is bleak, acceptance of the end and the choice not to care is not the “cool” take. The choice not to care about the people and issues in one’s life on the basis of the greater philosophical understanding that all life must come to an end is ultimately a tragic, fatal flaw.
Caring about anything comes with the reality of painful moments. Participating in a political campaign or rooting for a sports team means confronting the potential for loss. However, it also opens one up to tremendous amounts of joy: winning the race, becoming the national champion or any other victory.
Nihilism deprives people of experiencing the breadth of human emotion and connection. There is meaning to life, and to reject that notion is to reject the lived experiences of people all over the world. My life may be meaningless to someone else, but it is meaningful to me. The highest purpose of my life is whatever I want it to be. The choice to care in a world that is often difficult or unstable is the bravest and best choice one can make. In this world, all we have are the little moments that make us happy — embrace them.