167: Nihilism

Nihilism

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Title text: Why can't you have normal existential angst like all the other boys?

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Explanation

Cueball is walking with Beret Guy telling him about his beliefs in nihilism. At first, it seems as if he agrees to Cueball's statement, adding his own morbid point of view as if he follows the same psychology. Cueball agrees and continues the conversation, explaining how anything anyone does won't matter eventually, a common belief attributed to nihilists. Beret Guy responds rather dismissively and Cueball stops to ask Beret Guy why he's climbing the tree. When asked why he is doing so, Beret Guy responds with a cheerful and optimistic response about the future more fitting for his character, completely going against Cueball’s lecture. Cueball is now either trying to convince him otherwise or is put off from the sudden change of mood, while Beret Guy is oblivious to this. Squirrels are a reoccurring character in xkcd.

The title text can be taken in two different ways. One way it can be interpreted is that Cueball is telling Beret Guy to have “normal existential angst” like other guys. People do usually have angst, but not in a existential, nihilistic sort of way. It can also be interpreted as Beret Guy scolding Cueball for having “existential angst” of an abnormal sort rather than having a normal amount of existential angst.

Nihilism is a philosophy that rejects some facets of existence. Usually, it's viewed as the idea that everything is pointless because we’re all eventually going to die. This is, however, just a specific “position” of nihilism called existential nihilism. Other positions include the idea that moral values don't exist and that knowledge is impossible. The concept of nihilism can be found in the fields of ethics, epistemology, metaphysical philosophy, and axiology.

Transcript

[Beret Guy and Cueball approach a tree while talking.]

Cueball: There is no God. Our existence is without purpose.

[Beret Guy looks toward Cueball]

Beret Guy: Oh, definitely.

Beret Guy: We are adrift in an uncaring void indifferent to all our mortal toil.

[Cueball stops walking]

Cueball: Exactly! In the end, nothing we do matters.

[Beret Guy starts to climb the tree.]

Beret Guy: Totally.

Cueball: We just... Why are you climbing that tree?

[Beret Guy is now completely in the tree’s branches.]

Beret Guy: Because the future is an adventure! Come on!

Cueball: But--

Beret Guy: Hey! I found squirrels!

Trivia

This is the first xkcd comic featuring Beret Guy and the first comic that mentions Squirrels. The first drawing of squirrels in a comic is in 635: Locke and Demosthenes.

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Discussion

That's his logic for dong random stuff?Guru-45 (talk) 16:33, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

He is saying that climbing a tree is as reasonable a response to nihilism as acting all mopey and depressed. 184.66.160.91 03:21, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

And also suggesting that it is the better option (or at least the one he'd rather be doing) of the two. 108.162.237.158 22:00, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

And he is soooo correct. I wish I knew now what a waste of time worrying about certain things happening or not happening would wind up being. I wish I'd spent more time climbing trees or doing other things that made me feel happy or that I had fun doing instead of worrying about how I would look to others doing so. Life should come with a users manual or at least a FAQ or something. I know, I know there's lots of books out there that attempt to do that but I mean one that you KNOW is true because it was written for YOU. 173.245.54.190 10:37, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

You are basically talking about a religious text since many of those claim to be written for your salvation/enlightenment/well-being. A lot of people claim that something must be true because it reflects their experiences perfectly. -- Flewk (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

You might as well not bother being nihilistic. It's not like you'll accomplish anything by it. 173.245.54.52 21:03, 30 October 2015 (UTC)

I found this while reading about absurdism, my own philosophy. I would assume that the beret guy is in fact an absurdist, which is slightly different from nihilism. Would this be correct?108.162.219.78

Lol, describing Beret Guy as any kind of -ist feels wrong. He is Beret Guy and nothing else, existing outside the ordinary laws of nature, society, and probability. He doesn't really "have" beliefs --- he just is them. 172.70.211.170 02:17, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Yes and no. Maybe. Are there even definite definitions of Nihilism and Absurdism? Meaning: Nihilism is frequently associated with Nietsche, who, in his own understanding, fought Nihilism. But thats how I read stuff, and I am sure there's at least 10k people who would disagree. -- 141.101.107.78 20:07, 16 May 2020 (UTC)

Unless otherwise shown, I always read Beret Guy's dialogue in a happy voice :) Psychoticpotato (talk) 22:52, 20 May 2024 (UTC)
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