Digital Nihilism – The Void is Within and Without
Among Nietzsche’s theories for nihilism, he stated that anomie and existential dread might be sated by finding meaningful experience in the outside world, by engaging in the discovery of beauty and in appreciation with it, whether beauty in the natural world, beauty of artistic expression or beauty of emotional experience. By accruing these experiences with the engagement of beauty, we might find meaning in an existence that is otherwise meaningless.
Furthermore, Nietzsche expressed that asceticism may be a second solution to the experience of existential dread. By engaging with the soul and divorcing it from its need for meaning, it may be free of existential anomie. This is the path the Buddha defined as comfort outside the material world, leading to Nirvana.
Thus, we conclude that the void is within and without. It is the void in the external world, in its endless expanse, where beauty may be found and the experiences of life may be defined, and it is the void in the internal world, where emptiness of the soul may be confronted and addressed.
Indeed, this fact is easily discerned by any individual, as one can directly commune with the external void by looking up into the night sky – an expanse with no end. And one can experience the internal void simply by closing one’s eyes and seeing an endless black.
We can see also, that the system of the soul, as defined by numerous religious groups, theologians, and philosophers, codifies a set of values that addresses both external behavior and internal state. These external behaviors, things like compassion, kindness, intelligence, etc., aim the human race, upon their mass adoption, toward a civilized foundation that allows for individuals to more readily engage with the experiences that allow the highest meaning: creation and exploration.
Meanwhile, the system of the soul also defines a way of being that, upon individual adoption, leads to freedom from the pursuits of the material realm and connection to the oneness of all things, each perfectly meaningless in their own function.
As the internal void has an end-state – nirvana – so, too, must the external void, which we can define as the total empowerment of all beings to accurately define and fulfill their purpose without external inhibition, either by the world or other humans. In other words, complete, uninhibited freedom to explore the beauty of the universe at their leisure and to have any experience present in the universe available to them. Any action in the direction of achieving that ultimate goal may be said to have meaning, insofar as the only pure meaning the exists is the subjective meaning of the cessation of suffering of self.
The two parallel voids must not be taken as separate entities, however, but as one congruent void. We can reach this conclusion intellectually by understanding that without the inward faculties of introspection – awareness of oneself and one’s wants, of intelligence and common sense, and so on – we lack the capacity to engage intentionally with the external world. And vice versa – without accruing meaningful experiences with the outside world, through human relationships, education and exposure to beauty, we lack the fullness of experience to give foundation to our introspection.
Thus, we can see the shape of the void: an ever-expanding spiral in two directions, each beginning at the point of the individual soul.
It should be noted that this shape, defined in mathematics as the 3-6-9 pattern, is present in repeating fashion throughout the chaos of creation.
Furthermore, if we know that the void is infinite in either direction, that the final destination of the inner void is oneness with all things, and the final destination of the outer void is complete access to all experience, we can surmise that the void is a loop; as oneness with all things implies access to the experience of all things, and access to the experience of all things implies oneness with all things. Thus, any point in the void in either direction, in its infinity, is both its beginning and end, and each individual soul is a point within the void. Thus we begin our briefest introduction to metaphysical experience, which we know to be true. As one soul can touch another through its experience in life, one must surmise that another outside his or herself can be recognized and known to a degree, and an aspect of their soul can be inspected just as well as one’s own soul can be inspected. This is the basis of perception, empathy, perspective and compassion. If two souls can connect via external experience, one aspect of a singular void, and be understood internally, a second aspect of a singular void, we must surmise that the void both entities experience is the same void. If that is true, we must also conclude that souls are intrinsically connected, whether we recognize their connection through experience or not.
