[QUOTE="Wikipedia"]
Absurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe ultimately fail (and hence are absurd), because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to the individual. "The Absurd", therefore, is commonly used in absurdist philosophical discourse to refer to the incongruity between the human search for meaning and the universe's lack of meaning. The word "absurd" in this context does not mean "logically impossible," but rather "humanly impossible."domatron23
Well that pretty much matches what I already believed so I suppose I'm an absurdist. It does sound a bit unfulfilling to believe that your personal search for meaning is futile but for some reason I'm a very fulfilled person despite that. I guess that first of all I much prefer to know the universe as it actually is even if it is absurd and second of all that I find a great deal of humour in absurdity.
For example in my cognitive science ****last year the lecturer was going over some examples of how behaviour that is inflexibly hardwired into the brain can yeild false positives and lead to a decrease in overall fitness. He gave the example of the cuckoo and how they will lay their eggs in the nest of a bird from a whole different species. The host bird can't distinguish between its own eggs and the parasite cuckoo egg and so it raises and feeds the cuckoo chick as one of its own even if it is smaller as in this picture.
Now something like that is patently absurd but by golly it cracks me up. The human case of such sphexishness is equally as funny in my eyes.
Aren't those "false positive" cognitive processes the same ones that can lead people to fixate, ideate, gamble, evalengelise, or be obsessive?
I think humour is key here. It seems like most peoples' fundamental objective from life is to be happy somehow, so humour counts for a great deal. I think absurdism fits well into my own post-modern view. I think the thing I dislike about it most is the ultimate acceptance of the unknown, which seems counter-intuitive to me.
Perhaps though it takes someone with the right kind of disposition to be fulfilled with an absurdist philosophy. Say for example you were in a tight-walled tunnel and a train was bearing down on you. Death is imminent so you could either believe that there isn't and train at all and succumb to the mysterious in order to cope, or you could accept that there is a train and in the face of such absurdity yell and scream and soil yourself before being killed. Or you could do what I would do and take out a deck-chair and chill out a bit before you're annihilated (either that or try to do a front flip just before you get hit).
domatron23
I guess I'd cack my pants, but it wouldn't really matter in the scheme of things. I'd have to accept it - I couldn't deny the facts of the sound, the wind, the shaking tracks, the blinding headlight... Then I might catch a glimpse of you in the gloom of the tunnel - my final absurd thought would be; "Where the heck did he get that deck-chair from?"
The problem with Absurdism (that maybe you could solve) is that its practically rubbing shoulders with Nihilism.
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