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Comment by mrmiserable | Hacker News Reader

I understand the Nietzsche quote but not how the one from Camus applies?

Aren't they talking about two very different things?

Camus is talking about Absurdism. [1] How it's related to the Nietzsche's quote depends on how you see it. (Nietzsche was a kind of absurdist himself)

It is a broad theory. It says life is basically absurd because the world is meaningless and indifferent to man's desires/prejudices/beliefs. The world just doesn't care about man and we can't apply any universal laws to human life. Life is full of randomness/surprises. Loss/defeat/death can come anytime in any form but man continues to be in denial about them. This makes man vulnerable to boredom/pessimism/nihilism. I think this situation is what the article's 80% of people represent.

The solution Absurdists give is, man should create his own meaning in life and live for it but by being constantly aware of life's absurdity. Instead of denying it or seeking permanent happiness in some supernatural world or after life, we should embrace this life and all its absurdities. This attitude makes us live life to the fullest and as Nietzsche says it leads to the 'celebration of life'. I think the article's 20% of people fall under this.

[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism

Also see:

The Myth of Sisyphus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus

Eternal Return - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_recurrence#Friedrich_Ni...

Amor Fati - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amor_fati

Maybe I am projecting, or misinterpreting because I lack context, but I actually find the quote posted by angrycoder to be (by Nietzsche's standards, anyway) rather uplifting, and not about absurdism or a fundamental lack of meaning in the world. My take on it is quite the opposite - that he was expressing something noble and almost 'hyperreal', namely the triumph of curiosity and exploration over the safe and familiar.

I may have totally missed the point, of course. Thanks for replying - I'll definitely check out your links.

I think I didn't explain properly. Your interpretation of Nietzsche's quote is correct and Absurdism says exactly that. It says instead of seeking a 'safe life' and striving for a life that is 'acceptable' by the society, we should make our own meanings and choices no matter how crazy they might appear because we're not answerable to anyone but ourselves. All novels of Camus contain this same theme. Some of the Nietzsche's famous quotes like "live dangerously" and "become what you are" also contain this sentiment.

Remember that both Nietzsche and Camus refused to belong to any particular philosophical school of thoughts but many of their thoughts overlap. So I'm just trying to link both.

"Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs."

-- Lao Tzu

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