Nihilism/Existentialism, Fear of Death, Beginner Reader

Hey guys, I've been lurking here for a while despite not being a reader myself. I just recently decided to ready Trump's "The Art of the Deal" and really found myself learning from it as seen that I want to work as a Money (Asset/Wealth) Manager after leaving Uni.

Now I'm deciding to tackle something that's been on the back of my head since I was 10: My fear of Death. And something that I've been philosophizing a lot about for the past few years: There's no reason to life because in the end I'm going to die and nothing will have mattered.

I'm not looking for Beginner-Difficulty books, I'm just saying I'm a "Beginner" at reading because I want any and every recommendations.

I heard that Nietzsche has an awesome book on Nihilism (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) and wanted to know if there are any books that will enlighten me when it comes to having a reason to live, and about death.

I'm not suicidal, otherwise I wouldn't be fearful of death. And I wouldn't be having these daily existentialist crisis if I could live forever, because then I'd have a reason to live.

What should I read? I just recently grew out of videogames and mostly grew out of TV, so I have plenty of time to read. I will try and read every rec.

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>In the beginning, there was nothing.
Then where did anything come from? It had to be something, although not necessarily a thing. Categorically above; perhaps even above categories.
>Now I'm deciding to tackle something that's been on the back of my head since I was 10: My fear of Death. And something that I've been philosophizing a lot about for the past few years: There's no reason to life because in the end I'm going to die and nothing will have mattered.
I see. I often wonder why this isn't the case with more people, but it would seem that people tend to not take their world views seriously, or they simply skip the unconventional thoughts.

Your problem is your world view. Seek philosophers and religions. I mean it. If you find something of importance, you were wrong by definition. No matter what it is you found.

How well read are you?

>I'm not suicidal, otherwise I wouldn't be fearful of death.
Humans are not rational, and I think that some of us are not allowed to leave. Suicidal people can fear death. They just may be motivated by something else more.

Religion definitely sounds the way that I should go, yes. But I just can't wrap my head around believing in an omniscient being that created everything nor anything of the sort. I personally see myself as an Agnostic with very neutral views toward everyone but extremists (Extremist Christians, Extremist Muslims, Extremist Atheists, Extremist Buddhists)

I haven't found anything of importance yet. The most important thing in life for me is money- money controls the world, money is what makes the world go round. Money is the reason why people wake up every morning and the reason why our society is even remotely connected. But with that being said, at the end of everyone's life, nothing will have mattered. You could have been the richest, or the poorest person ever, you will be dead. It's just black from there.

You spend 70-80 years alive, doing your things, feeling bad, or good about things. Hurting, or helping others, then you die and nothing matters, because for you nothing is alive once you're not alive. It's just blackness. No thoughts, no matter, no feelings, just blackness.

I've read the High School books, and that's about it when it comes to literature. I've read some technical books in order to independently learn about financial markets, and I read a ton of articles. I mostly just watch stuff: Documentaries, Movies, Classes, etc. But I just realized how important reading is.

I've always turned a blind eye to Non-Fiction because I just thought that nothing that wasn't true didn't matter- I mean, you will obviously feel amused by a fantasy story, but ultimately it won't matter. But I realized I was wrong when I started actually thinking about it: You can get life lessons from books, reasoning to live, etc.

I genuinely don't know how to learn anything from literature. I read Trump's "The Art of the Deal" and I got a few great highlights on how to do a great deal and whatnot, but I don't see how reading about, say, Frodo will help me... ever. If you- or anyone- could educate me on this I would appreciate it!

Eh, true. But I really am not suicidal. I've been before, but then I realized that if I die, it's all just blackness and nothing will matter- or would have mattered- or will have mattered. Which is why I feel into this existentialist cycle of constantly crying myself to sleep to the thought of death, and that someday I would die and there's nothing I can do about it.

I've never had a 'real' girlfriend because of shyness, I'm working on fixing that. Maybe that's what I'm missing in my life, love?

>But I just can't wrap my head around believing in an omniscient being that created everything nor anything of the sort.
How many interpreters does your whole world have? Everything you have ever conceived has been conceived by a single being, you.
Being in the image of God starts to make sense after one stops limiting oneself.

>money controls the world, money is what makes the world go round
You thank the tool? Why not the user or the creator of said tool? Banks, states, mints, workers... Yet the social or the technological spheres are not all that is. You laugh at a joke, you've surpassed money.

That view of death necessitates believing in a definite identity; you have to believe in what is essentially a soul. That idea has already been shown to be impossible by the interaction problem/paradox, so there is nothing to worry about.

I have had much the same thoughts, almost every day since I was young. Getting a gf helps (distraction, things to do, sense of purpose, etc.) but doesn't make it go away.
I've found philosophy and Veeky Forums are also good as distractions, but you may want to consider a different, more head-on angle. Try Kubler-Ross or "Being Mortal" by Gawande.

>"Art of the Deal"
Meet the writer: youtube.com/watch?v=yb2NHTka-gw

>How many interpreters does your whole world have? Everything you have ever conceived has been conceived by a single being, you.

That's exactly how I feel. If I wasn't alive right now, nothing would be going on- from my perspective, which is the only one I have access to. Though I understand that the world would still be here if I wasn't, it wouldn't be here for me, which means it really wouldn't be here at all- again, as seen from my point of view.

>Being in the image of God starts to make sense after one stops limiting oneself.

What did you mean by this?

>You thank the tool? Why not the user or the creator of said tool? Banks, states, mints, workers...

While I agree that money is a tool, it's essentially the only thing that matters. No one wakes up saying "I will work because of the banks", everyone just thinks of money. Banks are merely a tool used to store and generate money.

>Yet the social or the technological spheres are not all that is. You laugh at a joke, you've surpassed money.

What did you mean by this? That there's more than that? And what do you mean by that last sentence?

>That view of death necessitates believing in a definite identity; you have to believe in what is essentially a soul. That idea has already been shown to be impossible by the interaction problem/paradox, so there is nothing to worry about.

I believe in identity, each person is living in their own 'bubble', when they die, everything stops for them. It's all blackness. I believe in what's essentially a soul, yes- not in a soul, but something very similar that's generated by each individual's brain. What defines a person is this 'soul' and nothing more. How has this idea shown to be impossible? And if it was shows to be impossible, why would this be something for me to not worry about? Wouldn't this mean that I'm right and after we die it's all blackness?

>Getting a gf helps (distraction, things to do, sense of purpose, etc.)

I feel like everything in life is a distraction to the fact that we will die someday. Thank's for the recommendations, will definitely look at them. Glad to find someone with the same views as me, first time I'm speaking openly about this to be honest.

I know he didn't write it, but the content is still genuinely him, his nature, etc.

Do you honestly believe that you are a completely unique entity that came from nothing, for no reason? Wake the fuck up.

>Getting a GF helps
Where do you think you are?

Yes. Give me reasons to think otherwise. What do you think happens when you die? An angel comes from the sky to get your soul to the gates of heaven? Do you think that happens about a few dozens of thousands of times per day? On India, On Japan, on the US, etc. Why would you think something with no real fundament/proof happens?

I respect your beliefs, but I have no way of understanding them.

Is the fact that this model of "unique entities" creates questions and paradoxes that can never be resolved not reason enough to discard it?

Which paradoxes exactly?

Ship of Theseus(an absolute border of the entity can never be defined, therefore no border exists.)
Interaction Problem(if the entity is truly intangible, we couldn't even speak of it.)
Assignment Problem(why is this person this person as opposed to being any other person?)

Bhikkhus, for a virtuous person, one whose behavior is virtuous, no volition need be exerted: ‘Let non-regret arise in me.’ It is natural that non-regret arises in a virtuous person, one whose behavior is virtuous.

“For one without regret no volition need be exerted: ‘Let joy arise in me.’ It is natural that joy arises in one without regret.

“For one who is joyful no volition need be exerted: ‘Let rapture arise in me.’ It is natural that rapture arises in one who is joyful.

“For one with a rapturous mind no volition need be exerted: ‘Let my body be tranquil.’ It is natural that the body of one with a rapturous mind is tranquil.

“For one tranquil in body no volition need be exerted: ‘Let me feel pleasure.’ It is natural that one tranquil in body feels pleasure.

“For one feeling pleasure no volition need be exerted: ‘Let my mind be concentrated.’ It is natural that the mind of one feeling pleasure is concentrated.

“For one who is concentrated no volition need be exerted: ‘Let me know and see things as they really are.’ It is natural that one who is concentrated knows and sees things as they really are.

“For one who knows and sees things as they really are no volition need be exerted: ‘Let me be disenchanted and dispassionate.’ It is natural that one who knows and sees things as they really are is disenchanted and dispassionate.

“For one who is disenchanted and dispassionate no volition need be exerted: ‘Let me realize the knowledge and vision of liberation.’ It is natural that one who is disenchanted and dispassionate realizes the knowledge and vision of liberation.
Well, stream-entry is seeing sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā, "all conditioned phenomena are impermanent," sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā, "all conditioned phenomena are suffering," and sabbe dhammā anattā, "all things are void of self." What you are seeing is a universal condition, not just what relates to you personally. To gain such universal insight you start with yourself, then contemplate others, and finally make the inferential breakthrough that this refers to everyone. Ajjhattabahiddhā, "internal and external," seems to imply such a universalisation.

>Ship of Theseus

Each and every change creates a new entity. If you change a plank of wood off a ship, it's a different ship. In the case of people, say that I have my arms amputated, I'm still the same person, because as I said before, what defines each person is their 'soul', which isn't a soul, but more of a unique identity to each person. While if you look at people with Dementia, they become completely different people after their brains start rotting.

>Interaction Problem

We can speak of concepts, and of feelings, which are both intangible.

>Assignment Problem

Each person is the protagonist of their own 'universe'- which is the same for everyone, except each person has their own point of view, which happens because each person has a different 'soul' generated by their brains.

So the soul is generated by the brain. How can the brain do that? What possible evolutionary advantage does that have?

>What possible evolutionary advantage does that have?

It's been this way since the beginning of times, for every being. Much like Gravity, the phenomena of a so-called 'soul' is omnipresent, except on every living entity and not as a field, like gravity. It's the base of life, much like how the universe is a medium for us to live in, our conscious that creates each individual person is also a medium for us to live. Without that, there's no life.

This is OP/The person who just wrote , I will sleep now and will be back in a few hours. Feel free to post your next reply and I'll answer once I wake up.

Cultural Christianity has spooked you into believing that nothing matters unless it's eternal. If you can find happiness for however long you exist, what more do you need?

Pro tip: laugh more. Seriously, that's the secret to life

This, enjoy your short existence while it lasts

Getting a GF does not help at all.

>What did you mean by this?
If you can see all of the world, yet you are in the world and in some sense inseparable from it it follows.
>While I agree that money is a tool, it's essentially the only thing that matters.
Nonsense. Get an erectile dysfunction, and no amount of Rhinoceros horn will help you.
>What did you mean by this? That there's more than that?
Wait for a clear night. Get the hell out of whatever urban hellhole you inhabit. Drive far from light pollution (poetic name for post-enlightenment cancer, too). 10km minimum from habitation. Then look around.
>And what do you mean by that last sentence?
You laugh at a joke, the joke gets value. It's not something you can trade. Not even with threats (another currency).

>I believe in ---
Yes. I believe that you will wake up afterwards. We are eternal, no matter what. If the Universe is a random product, we loop. If God is true, we are eternal.

why is it inappropriate to assign a soul to "dead" entities?

After all, if the soul is only the product of a Rube Goldberg style chemical machine composed of molecules (the brain)....

...then what is it that ordains a particular chemical reaction or process to conciousness?

>After all, if the soul is only the product of a Rube Goldberg style chemical machine composed of molecules (the brain)
Or the Rube Goldberg chemical machine is merely an antennae. Or a prison.

yeah, that was my point. sorry if i wasn't clear.
OP posits that the brain creates conciousness.
I'm curious what distinguishes the brain from other systems.

this is not even ironic, the only purpose nihilist philosophy should serve is to be identified and averted to improve yourself and to help others from following the same paths

many of us are lost in life and are looking for a place in the world and to indulge our curiosities or fill into a certain niche, humans are social animals and when you take the social part out then all you have is an animal, even anti-social people who follow nihilistic tendencies will likely at some point disclose the desire for some sort of intimacy or companionship

the inherent problem i see with nihilism today is that it is largely an excuse for individuals to avoid responsibility for humanity's progression as a whole on all levels and to live a free and baseless live where only hedonistic pursuits are of great importance to provide for hits of dopamine and false joy, it's really a destructive mindset to adopt, but life takes us down certain roads full of psychic shit that is out of our control, and these things can taint a man.

If you're reading about nihilism, irony is the next thing to read about as the two will go hand in hand.

I could build a bacon LAN party with all this Reddit

>the inherent problem i see with nihilism today is that it is largely an excuse for individuals to avoid responsibility for humanity's progression as a whole on all levels
Or the utter incapability of seeing a course of action that results in any goal being reached.
What if I don't want to improve upon most of mankind? What if I see them as cutthroats who will equalize mankind by taking my head if I were ever to act upon what is just?

get a job

How many levels over boomerism are you on my dude?

>If you're reading about nihilism, irony is the next thing to read about as the two will go hand in hand.

Great advice. Irony is the only logical follow up.
>have gf
Ironically
>She wants to celebrate her birthday
Celebrate her deathday
>Watch the news
>Thousands without a home starving
>Send bombs, not food
It's a comedy
>Men have died so i have freedom
>Can't kill myself
Forced to live by law