Wisecrack
WisecrackNihilism: Are We Missing the Point?
Nihilism is arguably the most trendy philosophy of our time. But why is this general rejection of meaning and overall malaise so appealing? And do we actually understand what nihilism means? Let’s find out in this Wisecrack Edition: What Is Nihilism, Really?
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=== Watch More Episodes! ===
Gaze Into the Abyss – Nihilism in Rick and Morty & BoJack Horseman ► https://youtu.be/PsotfzGpby8
The Philosophy of Everything Everywhere All At Once ► https://youtu.be/JBAhnxmU7o4
The Philosophy of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN ► https://youtu.be/cQEAZlNQbxY
Written by Michael Burns
Hosted by Michael Burns
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by Mark Potts
Produced by Olivia Redden
Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
#Nihilism #Philosophy #Wisecrack
© 2023 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming
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49 Comments
@WisecrackEDU
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMHey all – this is an attempt at doing something more straight-up philosophical. If you dig this format, let us know! And let us know what other philosophical questions, topics, or figures you want to see us cover.
And if you really enjoyed this, consider sharing with someone who you think might dig it!
Thanks y'all.
@BeyondThoughts-q6n
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AM@daviddelgado6090
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI find amusing that every atheist begins with a refutal of God, as if denying a negative makes any sense. Every known civilization has had at least one deity. It would seem that walking erect carries a religion.
@kevincarey6220
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMPhilosophy is crazy bs that people with too much time on their hands think up and push on other unsuspecting confused individuals
@russellmanweller6694
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMGood content.😊 Now do a video with anarchism vs nihilism. 😮
@Anonymous-gw1vd
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMGreat video, more like this please
@JosephDickson
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMAll isms are a problem when people use them to avoid critical thinking.
@ashurean
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMPessimistic/passive nihilism's "nothing has any meaning so why bother" vs optimistic/active nihilism's "meaning only exists where we create it"
@sorushnadery3417
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI loved this video. very concise and well explained.
@benewert3299
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMDo you have a video that explains utilitarianism?
@AutisticCuriosity
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMReally interesting that in videos like this by ‘the world’ you mean America and a few rich Western Europe countries. It’s such arrogant limited thinking with only reference to English speaking entertainment. Whilst the vast majority of the world aren’t nihilistic they’re just about surviving oppression and poverty
@UniversalistSon9
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMEven if life is a joke, create your own punchline
@deeznuts133
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI like this type of video. But also wish ur Livestream wasn't during work I wanna join
@ThutoLuphahla
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMi paused to watch the movie, then came back. not sure why i did that but thanks for the suggestion, 9/10 movie!
@LORDMORTICUS
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI’m a nihilist. Albeit a “optimistic nihilist”. As simply as I can put it, don’t know and don’t care. I acknowledge that in the grand scheme nothing matters. Obviously as a living being, things matter to me such as family, friends etc. matters to me personally, but literally nothing lasts forever. Also as long as I’m alive, might as well make the most of my life which includes making the effort to being as good a person as possible. If for nothing else, ensues the best possible life for myself and those around me. Everyone has their own paradigm of how they believe the world works. A solid rule I agree with “treat others as you would like to be treated”. So I do my best to attempt to see from others perspective, whether or not I agree. I make my best efforts to not be petty or get jealous.
@gonzolong144
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMSometimes I'm still an angry little 17 year old… But me and him are working on it 😂
@t8br00k36
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AM44 year old nihilist here.
@clementine5053
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMReally liked this video!! I know it’s a year late!! But definitely keep it up!! Educate the masses!!
@Rat-King27
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI've realised, as I try to find a religion or philosophy to help guide me, I've learned that I've been a nihilist most of my life. I'm just too tired and depressed to care about anything, and over time, that led to me believing nothing had meaning.
@houseonsand
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMuhhh "were"?
@GeorgeCilley
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMAlways Sunny is an awful show. I was enjoying your points about philosophy but have no interest in fan service videos.
@louisanthes
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMBuy books and drugs
@TheJofurr
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMWhat we have here is an entertainer who's been captured by an audience that already believes nihilism = bad and so he's used a singular, very narrowly defined version of nihilism, of which there are many valid definitions, to represent right nihilism in order to denigrate wrong nihilists as, well, wrong. Please clap! But it is both necessary and possible to do this masturbatory manoeuvre only in the absence of any kind of meaning because one cannot point to a proscribed, objective wrongness with which to denigrate wrongdoers otherwise, and proscribed, objective rightness isn't there to stop him from wrongly denigrating rightdoers. Thus, he does so!
Likewise, the popularity of Nietzsche's existentialism is itself a testament to nihilism's dominance over philosophy: Meaning made by the meaningless self-evidently amounts to precisely zilch, but who's to stop existentialists from doing it anyway? Nothin' at all.
The world can thus be divided into two categories: nihilists, idiots and liars.
(math isn't real either)
@lareligionvslarazonhumana4096
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMhttp://nihilismoparatodos.blogspot.com/2023/09/nihilismo-catastrofista.html
@dragonzed
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMMOREEEEEEEE PLEASE!
@Cincyboy56
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMIt is almost difficult to get through a single day without hearing the name Nietzsche 6:02 . He’s a superstar, there’s no other way to put it. How remarkable is that? The whole world remains fascinated with this 19th century lonely philosopher who thought thoughts no one had before or since.
@Alt3Tab
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMplease. more this. thanks
@jkeez959
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMWe shouldn't have been self-conscious in the first place because once a person learns enough how deterministic this universe is, how we dont even have the freedom to chose what to love or hate, its self-destructive, once we pass the era of religions and myths we will be screwed.
@kud5659
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMHaha I was a 17 year old Atheist, then became agnostic/nihilistic twords god. I just don't care if there is or isn't.
@raktimamchiforthe4thtime445
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI was an angry 17y old Atheist, now i am 18y old angry Atheist
@mikedl1105
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMThere is no point; that's the point
@rickkeam
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMTo answer your final question … yes, I like videos like this. Well done people!
@positivelivingmusic5497
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMSome event always happens to wake you up out of the "nothing matters" drivel. You can't even exclaim…"Why is this happening to me!?"; without being hardwired for meaning.
@coleride
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI love how unlimited convenience abortion is described as"Women's rights", as if more than half the babies were girls. Also modern Christianity's hardly right wing, if only… Most of the organizations involved in mass illegal migration are Christian or Catholic, and most of the churches preach obedience to wives and liberalism..
@totaltrumpet
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMRick is a hedonist i thought
@marcpadilla1094
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMWhat do u give the guy who has had everything – a simulation, naturally. Crisis du jour. Our culture becomes a narcissistic cadre of wanton psuedo meaningful supply and demand.
@superdudehello
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMalways sunny is so good, I also like you videos that are explicitly philosophical!
@rajehkumarmishra
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMLiving in hell
@Justlooking94
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMNihilism is just the truth of the universe, as a negative experience that we can enjoy
@LeninMcDonalds
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI want more of this . I want more , you hear me algorithm? Also can we do a piece on bonapartism and or Stalinism. Just to help peeps identify it in modern day contexts.
@arcticpossi_schw1siantuntija42
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI'm literally a 17-year old atheist, but I have a full spectrum of emotions like people do (mostly not anger)
@ThisisRubbishlo
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMAre we missing the point? Nihilists do not care
@battragon
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMThe one true faith.
@lalsenarath
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMWhat about we trusting blindly the scientists but, distance ourselves from methrology as untrustworthy? We trust BBC, it tursts the New Scientific, or Scientific Amarican, and they trusts what comes out of respected universities, and so on. It is a chain of trust, but like Humes Induction, there is no base, since suddenly we find big bang is wrong, maybe in future Einstein's Relativity is wrong! How does this relates to nihilism?
@helpyourcattodrive
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMIdk, 18:06 but I do live thus video. You could do one school of thought at a time or one philosopher at a time …
@helpyourcattodrive
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI didn’t like rick and Morty or sunny in P, but I liked bojack.
@helpyourcattodrive
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMThe world is upside down.
@guilhermelibardimaestrelo7053
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI was an angry seventeen year old teenager
@LlamaLawman
03/06/2025 - 12:17 AMI dig this!
Coming a bit late though, but I really enjoyed the video and most of your content.
You give me energy to go on learning and living with curiosity for more knowledge.