I feel the same way. I was dead for billions of years before I was born. So what’s the point? It’s all going to be sucked into the black hole at the center of the Galaxy anyway…
The fact that there really is anything at all, rather than just nothing is quite a miracle when one thinks about it. But then again there are days when I can’t help suspecting that utter nothingness would be a significant improvement.
But wait – it isn’t our own infinity of nothing before and beyond our blip that we’re here to be made aware of! Rather, as we step out of nothing and walk towards nothing, our part is to plumb, to the depths of our senses, our own small piece of an infinity of everything. To marvel deeply at the pieces that we get to glimpse; to send our thoughts back and forward in wonder at all that we missed, and will miss. We exist not to ponder our own tiny part, and the gape of blackness in which it nestles, but to be a living piece of the magnificence of the tapestry’s whole.
It isn’t the nothing we used to be and the nothing we will be that matters. It is that our mind and eyes, coming from nothing, can open to infinity and see forever from here.
Is girl ever going to smile again? Seriously in the last month I don’t think Girl has smiled once. You know what the next comic after this one should be? Girl immolating herself because apparently her existence is meaningless.
A dip into solipsism? Come on Dorothy. Your life is inherantly value. We’re thrown into this world for a finite time, but our actions have meaning. We choose to make the world better or worse for ourselves and those around us.
I wondered about this some time ago, and came to the conclusion that: sure, it’s all meaningless and the universe doesn’t care. But as long as you’re here, it has meaning to you, so you might as well make the best of it. We all go through life trying to do the things that make us feel good (helping other people is among those). These things vary, and some people aren’t very good at figuring out what would be best for them, and what pleases some people is harmful to others so society is created to balance them out… basically, that’s the gist of it.
it depends on if God is there or not, i guess. an it depends on if your God is an all-loving giant teddy bear or a unbendable dictator ready to open the hatch below your feet. i wont know till i die and im ok with that. i wont know im dead anyway. or will i? dun dun duuuuuunnn!!!!
And our children’s progeny on down the line until the forces of evolution turn them into unthinking heaps of quivering, gelatinous flesh perpetually tended by robots incapable of pondering the purpose of their existence.
I advise girl to start drinking heavily, or maybe she should get into paint. That’s quality time with Cat.
I think every existence can be sorted into systems. So life follows certain rules and has certain meanings within the system of life. The infinite unending unbeginning universe is a supersystem of life, and in that supersystem, life is meaningless, from nothing and to nothing. But we are not concerned with that supersystem, all we know is that life is separate from the universe somehow. We are different; we are a subsystem separated out because we don’t follow the rules the same way.
And so that what has meaning in life, these values like money and friends, good deeds and intentions, they are all meaningless in the supersystem. Of course they are; why would the supersystem care about the inner workings of the subsystem? All that matters is the consistency of the subsystem’s output. But within that subsystem, meaning is established for itself. Every aspect of life provides context for all other aspects of life. We don’t need to compare this system to the universe to find meaning. We create our own meaning within our system for use within our system.
Think of a base in the game of baseball. A meaningless white plate to anyone who is not within the system of the game, yet a vital component within the game with a meaning established by the game.
It’s like how a the individual words in a language are meaningless when compared to all languages and the metalanguage, but, ignoring all that, these words have meaning within the language, and that meaning is established by the language itself, without reference to the supersystem of ‘all languages’ or ‘the metalanguage’.
It’s just that with life, that meaning is usually constructed by whatever society we subscribe to, and accepting that we have to conform to another’s ideals to be valuable in this system is kind of frustrating. Don’t you think? I find it frustrating. Give me a deserted island with no social obligations. That’s true nothing-to-nothing existence.
The impact of actions diminish over time. One can, as in calculus, project as far into the future as one wants in order to get that impact below any level. But to zero?
I love reading just the first several words of the first line of each paragraph in long posts like yours.
“I think every existence can be sorted into systems.
And so that what has meaning in life
Think of a base in the game of baseball.
It’s like how a the individual words in a language are meaningless
It’s just that with life, that meaning is usually constructed by whatever”
I really liked this comic, it expressed something I’ve been feeling but could not put into words: that there is a possible contradiction in the obvious conclusions of nihilism. We’re experiencing another Golden Age of Cat and Girl, Dorothy has really been on point lately. Also, I’m not saying that Girl should smile more to please *me*, but I hope things start going a bit better for her and she starts smiling on her own. But then again, times have been tough all around.
@Sev – Don’t go the Idiocracy route, dude. Socrates would have loved to get his hands on the Hadron Collider, while the general populace of either time period would be busy fretting over the details of their own lives. People aren’t getting dumber or lazier just because we have an easier time surviving, and I think it’s safe to say that they never will.
@ifw – Well said, well said.
What I think I was trying to get at originally, using the terms you’ve put down, is that our lives are given meaning by the context that has been constructed by those before us; since we’re passing from nothing to nothing anyway, why NOT contribute to that overall system, since it will be there longer than we will?
@ John A Fries – I’m not quite sure what the contradiction is that you’re noticing. From what I’m seeing, Girl is stating that life has no inherent meaning, and then asks if life does have meaning (to make use aware of its meaninglessness). But if this is proper nihilism, then we’re simply alive and our awareness of meaninglessness isn’t a factor in anything. Care to elaborate?
I don’t think it’s safe to say anything about evolution, and it’s mighty arrogant of us to assume that our color television and striped toothpaste exempt us from change.
In which, Girl becomes a spirit medium and starts channeling King Solomon: “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”
October 20, 2009
Today, for the first time in my life, someone recognized my Cat and Girl FCoA pin.
“I LOVE that comic. It’s my favorite.”
“Mine too.”
That is all.
— MrJM
October 20, 2009
I feel the same way. I was dead for billions of years before I was born. So what’s the point? It’s all going to be sucked into the black hole at the center of the Galaxy anyway…
October 20, 2009
The fact that there really is anything at all, rather than just nothing is quite a miracle when one thinks about it. But then again there are days when I can’t help suspecting that utter nothingness would be a significant improvement.
October 20, 2009
Yo Girl, thas deep.
But wait – it isn’t our own infinity of nothing before and beyond our blip that we’re here to be made aware of! Rather, as we step out of nothing and walk towards nothing, our part is to plumb, to the depths of our senses, our own small piece of an infinity of everything. To marvel deeply at the pieces that we get to glimpse; to send our thoughts back and forward in wonder at all that we missed, and will miss. We exist not to ponder our own tiny part, and the gape of blackness in which it nestles, but to be a living piece of the magnificence of the tapestry’s whole.
It isn’t the nothing we used to be and the nothing we will be that matters. It is that our mind and eyes, coming from nothing, can open to infinity and see forever from here.
Even if we maybe can’t reach it.
October 20, 2009
Nothin’ from nothin’ leaves nothin’
October 20, 2009
Nothing can be pretty amazing, if you consider this comic is part of that nothing.
October 20, 2009
Well? Shall we go?
October 20, 2009
Is anyone else finding it hard to maintain a positive outlook on life while reading this comic?!
Still, what is said is very philosophical, very true.
October 20, 2009
(they do not move.)
October 20, 2009
You’ve come from nothing, you’re going back to nothing. What have you lost? Nothing!
So, when you’re chewing on life’s gristle. . .
October 20, 2009
Is girl ever going to smile again? Seriously in the last month I don’t think Girl has smiled once. You know what the next comic after this one should be? Girl immolating herself because apparently her existence is meaningless.
October 20, 2009
A dip into solipsism? Come on Dorothy. Your life is inherantly value. We’re thrown into this world for a finite time, but our actions have meaning. We choose to make the world better or worse for ourselves and those around us.
October 20, 2009
Because, that’s why!
October 20, 2009
This comic never, ever, ever disappoints me.
Cat and Girl readers never, ever, ever disappoint me, either. (Beckett references? I love you all!)
October 20, 2009
I wondered about this some time ago, and came to the conclusion that: sure, it’s all meaningless and the universe doesn’t care. But as long as you’re here, it has meaning to you, so you might as well make the best of it. We all go through life trying to do the things that make us feel good (helping other people is among those). These things vary, and some people aren’t very good at figuring out what would be best for them, and what pleases some people is harmful to others so society is created to balance them out… basically, that’s the gist of it.
October 20, 2009
“Always look on the bright side of life” *whistles*
October 20, 2009
Authentication required by wireless network
Passwords or encryption keys are required to access the wireless network ‘DETARAME’.
X Cancel DD Connect
October 20, 2009
it depends on if God is there or not, i guess. an it depends on if your God is an all-loving giant teddy bear or a unbendable dictator ready to open the hatch below your feet. i wont know till i die and im ok with that. i wont know im dead anyway. or will i? dun dun duuuuuunnn!!!!
October 20, 2009
“I won’t miss me when I’m dead”
October 20, 2009
So we’re all just waiting for the heat death of the galaxy? What do you want to do until then? Crosswords? Sandcastles?
October 20, 2009
Or we can make things and NOT try to take them with us, so that our children can build upon them.
October 20, 2009
And our children’s progeny on down the line until the forces of evolution turn them into unthinking heaps of quivering, gelatinous flesh perpetually tended by robots incapable of pondering the purpose of their existence.
I advise girl to start drinking heavily, or maybe she should get into paint. That’s quality time with Cat.
October 21, 2009
There’s a point. You just don’t get to see what it is.
October 21, 2009
I think every existence can be sorted into systems. So life follows certain rules and has certain meanings within the system of life. The infinite unending unbeginning universe is a supersystem of life, and in that supersystem, life is meaningless, from nothing and to nothing. But we are not concerned with that supersystem, all we know is that life is separate from the universe somehow. We are different; we are a subsystem separated out because we don’t follow the rules the same way.
And so that what has meaning in life, these values like money and friends, good deeds and intentions, they are all meaningless in the supersystem. Of course they are; why would the supersystem care about the inner workings of the subsystem? All that matters is the consistency of the subsystem’s output. But within that subsystem, meaning is established for itself. Every aspect of life provides context for all other aspects of life. We don’t need to compare this system to the universe to find meaning. We create our own meaning within our system for use within our system.
Think of a base in the game of baseball. A meaningless white plate to anyone who is not within the system of the game, yet a vital component within the game with a meaning established by the game.
It’s like how a the individual words in a language are meaningless when compared to all languages and the metalanguage, but, ignoring all that, these words have meaning within the language, and that meaning is established by the language itself, without reference to the supersystem of ‘all languages’ or ‘the metalanguage’.
It’s just that with life, that meaning is usually constructed by whatever society we subscribe to, and accepting that we have to conform to another’s ideals to be valuable in this system is kind of frustrating. Don’t you think? I find it frustrating. Give me a deserted island with no social obligations. That’s true nothing-to-nothing existence.
October 21, 2009
This comic meaningless. And quite a bore too.
October 21, 2009
bird crap, AND GIANTS!
October 21, 2009
Yes. Good.
October 21, 2009
The impact of actions diminish over time. One can, as in calculus, project as far into the future as one wants in order to get that impact below any level. But to zero?
Here kitty, kitty, kitty …
October 21, 2009
Dear ifw,
I love reading just the first several words of the first line of each paragraph in long posts like yours.
“I think every existence can be sorted into systems.
And so that what has meaning in life
Think of a base in the game of baseball.
It’s like how a the individual words in a language are meaningless
It’s just that with life, that meaning is usually constructed by whatever”
I really have not choice but to agree.
October 21, 2009
Dear idkrash,
Thank you for enjoying a tl;dr post for its potential crypto-poetic value. I may have that read during my eulogy.
October 21, 2009
I really liked this comic, it expressed something I’ve been feeling but could not put into words: that there is a possible contradiction in the obvious conclusions of nihilism. We’re experiencing another Golden Age of Cat and Girl, Dorothy has really been on point lately. Also, I’m not saying that Girl should smile more to please *me*, but I hope things start going a bit better for her and she starts smiling on her own. But then again, times have been tough all around.
October 21, 2009
@Sev – Don’t go the Idiocracy route, dude. Socrates would have loved to get his hands on the Hadron Collider, while the general populace of either time period would be busy fretting over the details of their own lives. People aren’t getting dumber or lazier just because we have an easier time surviving, and I think it’s safe to say that they never will.
@ifw – Well said, well said.
What I think I was trying to get at originally, using the terms you’ve put down, is that our lives are given meaning by the context that has been constructed by those before us; since we’re passing from nothing to nothing anyway, why NOT contribute to that overall system, since it will be there longer than we will?
@ John A Fries – I’m not quite sure what the contradiction is that you’re noticing. From what I’m seeing, Girl is stating that life has no inherent meaning, and then asks if life does have meaning (to make use aware of its meaninglessness). But if this is proper nihilism, then we’re simply alive and our awareness of meaninglessness isn’t a factor in anything. Care to elaborate?
October 22, 2009
@DoubleW
I don’t think it’s safe to say anything about evolution, and it’s mighty arrogant of us to assume that our color television and striped toothpaste exempt us from change.
February 2, 2011
Wait, if we CAME from nothing, and we’re GOING to nothing, wouldn’t what’s in between, right here and right now, be the ONLY thing that matters?
October 7, 2013
In which, Girl becomes a spirit medium and starts channeling King Solomon: “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”