Without meaning/purpose, there is nothing you will want to do, therefore you will do nothing. You virtually lose all ability to act. Whatever current state you find yourself in when you lose all purpose/meaning is the state you would remain in until you died.

@Pinprick

I never thought of Nihilism in this manner, maybe is the portrayal of Joker (idk he is awesome) that got me to perceive a Nihilist as one who just do things as random, when questioned, he usually has no justification for it as his acts has no ulterior motives of greater purpose.

How I perceive Nihilism can be portrayed in the case below:
When let’s say a Nihilist faces a choice of A or B, people who have purpose will gravitate towards one or another to reach closer to their ideals. However a nihilist doesn’t consider the outcomes, he is ok with either A or B, a “whatever both has no meaning” attitude, maybe he leave it to chance or just simply choose one. What you propose is that a Nihilist will choose neither, which is a possible option. Fascinating and interesting! Your point really got me thinking!

I was left with the impression that that, in a way, frees us to chart our own destinies which, paradoxically, is, by your logic, like coming out of one cage and getting back inside another.

That’s a great way to put it, thanks for opening the concepts for broader discussion!

You have a point I guess, when people willingly submit themselves to a leader, they somewhat unintentionally also chose to bear the consequences.

That I’m not so sure, however correct me if I’m wrong, may I propose that a nihilist has no motivation, he does things randomly without much meaning and purpose. He is free to whatever he want.

Going back to the Joker example, you could say his motivation is to destroy life, but his acts are random. Out of the blue he kills someone for no reason.

It could be that we don’t understand a nihilist motivation or maybe he doesn’t have one.

Your initial choice for that purpose may be considered free, however your subsequent choices will be restricted by that choice.

I pardon the comic reference but it seems valid in such case. An example would be Batman and Joker. You could say Bruce Wayne freely chose to be Batman, his purpose is to save Gotham and to distinguish himself from criminals, he does not kill. That purpose now restricts his decisions as now he subconsciously is not free to kill others. Meanwhile, when looking at the Joker, who sometimes is seen as a nihilist, he does not care about anything as he has no purpose, he just does things, hence in The Dark Knight he says,” The only sensible way to live is without rules.” And the interrogation scene Batman is constantly tempted to break his one rule, but he does not do so because he has a purpose.

I understand your point that a lack of purpose will give you freedom, but my point is that purpose takes away your freedom. I hope this clarifies, and please keep the discussion going! :)

I’m amazed at how quick the reply was, so thanks for just engaging in the discussion!

My basic understanding of nihilism is the notion that life is meaningless and have no purpose. So when nothing has meaning your choices can’t be influenced in any way.

Haha so yeah it’s one of the random thoughts that keeps looping in my mind, keeping me up at night, so decided to see what others thoughts are. :)

The first idea that came to mind was the Joker quote: Madness is like gravity, all it takes is a little push.

Maybe the issue you’re having is the differentiation between a madman and a genius, as the people you’ve quoted I’ll consider are the later.

But yes I agree that penning this concepts down do help as its somewhat like taking a mental dump, so with all this knowledge and ideas boiled up inside their head, not denying it will drive them mad if kept inside for too long. Hence I agree with you that concepts keeps us sane.