"slither away, be quiet, think no more" — Gregory

Perhaps that's the end result, the culmination as it were, of deep thought, countless hours of intense focused ruminations, years of intense study.

What is your definition of nihilism?

They share one core philosophy: suffering is part of life and is unavoidable.

The differences are:

Buddhism: suffering can be reduced by detachment to worldly desires.

Cynicism: suffering defines life and it may or may not matter, therefore, blah.

Nihilism: none of it matters, therefore find/interpret joy or dissatisfaction as you will.

That is very impressive, I like that. Off the bat i'd say i am more a Cynic than the other two options. In response to Judaka I was going to say that I thought nihilist got tired of suffering and fell into a position where they found that they had no foundational beliefs

I was learning a little bit about Cynicism this morning. To me it sounded like ancient Greek nihilism. — Gregory

The Cynicism of Diogenes of Sinope & co is, I've always thought, a reaction against and active subversion of 'the nihilism' (i.e. unjustifiable arbitrariness) of social conventions and docile conformity. This isn't "quietism", as the OP suggests; that is, not at all merely renunciative or submissive. Neither are many Buddhist traditions and practices. Cynics, more or less like Buddhists, affirm a 'deflationist' interpretation of nature - that we are 'mere natural creatures' first and foremost - by negating, or rejecting, anti-nature (i.e. artificial, prophylactic) stances toward nature which they deem bad habits, or vices (not unlike karmic attachments that cause dukkha.).

Thanks for the clarification. I was trying to group them tightly and might have overlooked important details

Yet wouldn't Buddhism be insanity in Einstein's eyes: "doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result"?

What?

It seems to me that intense meditation and use of loans violate Einstein's principle, but maybe craziness is the end result of all human life

In my humble opinion, cynicism has its roots in human nature, depraved as it is most of the time and that's what counts, plus the depressing indifference of the universe as to our plight.

Nihilism is, at heart, a denial of all values, values that, even if baseless on examination, could do some good, you know, for society, for the tribe, for the indivdual, whomsoever cultivates these values.

Buddhism, as far as values having no leg to stand on, is on the same page as nihilism but the difference being Buddhism recommends that values that have a positive impact be nurture and memetically propagated, even if only in an utilitarian sense.

Cynic: Buddhism is as self-serving as Nihilism

Nihilist: Buddhism is as empty of value as Cynicism

Buddhist: Cynicism is as dangerous as Nihilism

Cynic: Buddhism is as self-serving as Nihilism

Nihilist: Buddhism is as empty of value as Cynicism

Buddhist: Cynicism is as dangerous as Nihilism — TheMadFool

Maybe, but I don't agree.

Nihilist: Nothing matters.
Cynic: "Nothing matters" also doesn't matter.
Buddhist: Nothing lasts, except nothing.

Emptiness is meaningful for Buddhists.

Maybe, but I don't agree.

Nihilist: Nothing matters.
Cynic: "Nothing matters" also doesn't matter.
Buddhist: Nothing lasts, except nothing. — 180 Proof

Cynic: I found out that nobody cares and if someone cares s/he only cares about herself/himself. Wary.

Nihilist: I searched for good reasons to care about something but found none. Now, I don't care. Disappointed.

Buddhist: I care even if there are no reasons to care and even if nobody cares and even if people care only about themselves. Happy.

Some people when they give up on life become humble or what people generally think of as quiest. — Gregory

Quietism?

That would be pointing out that the debate is a bit pointless, rather than giving up on life.

Autocorrect changed koan to loan in my last post. That's why it didn't seem to make sense lol

A traditionalist Aristotelian once told me that Buddhists were stupid people. He would have accepted G.K. Chesterton's quotation that "a healthy mind can accept a paradox", but failed to implement this thru a realization that there is an Easy and West in all of us. The mind wants to dominate, and reasonings can be a whore (said Luther).

I was learning a little bit about Cynicism this morning. To me it sounded like ancient Greek nihilism.. . . . To my Western eyes, Buddhism too seems, as to its practical advice, to say "slither away, be quiet, think no more". — Gregory

The hyper-critical Cynics were the Punk Rockers of their day : act like an animal, "don't give a sh*t about anything". Theirs was an extreme opposite reaction to the prevailing conventional bullsh*t of the day : abandon arbitrary social rules, instead "do it like you feel".

I too, was turned-off by the seeming nihilism of Buddhism. But now I realize that the Buddha offered a legitimate philosophical contribution to improving the world, by improving yourself first. Mindfulness Meditation was an early form of modern Rational Cognitive Psychology. I got that last opinion from the book linked below. :smile:

Why Buddhism Is True : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Buddhism_Is_True
Note : the book is not about religious doctrines, but about psychological methods of self-control.

I don’t think nihilism can honestly promote any particular lifestyle or way of approaching/confronting life, as all lifestyles/approaches are meaningless. Whereas cynicism and Buddhism do promote particular stances, etc.