MHB 08 – The Nihilism Curve and the Malevolent Outlier: Part One

Welcome to the MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my eighth episode. Tonight we are going to discuss the nihilism curve and the malevolent outlier. I’ll explain more about what that is shortly. At the time of this discussion, the United States is reeling from yet another attack on a school. The event, as usual, was followed by a barrage of political talking points disguised as ways to prevent future attacks. You can always tell if a solution is just a talking point if the solution does not account for the cause. In order to prescribe an effective remedy one must diagnose the cause of the problem. So what’s causing this? The active shooter phenomenon has become more and more common since the 1990s. There are many people from prior generations that report never having to worry about incidents like these when they were young. It seems clear to any observer that something has changed between then and now.

Before we talk about generational changes I want to make two distinctions. First, we are going to focus on the Western world since the recurrence of this particular problem is most noticeable in the West. Second, the problem we are discussing has nothing to do with ideological terrorism. That is an entirely separate discussion.

So let’s start off by comparing what has changed from the prior generation with what hasn’t changed. For simplicity, I’m going to refer to the time period of the 1950s to the 1980s as the prior generation. I realize that there are many aspects of life and society that have changed since the prior generation – but I believe only three of them are relevant to our problem today.  Change number one: people in the West are living in more prosperity now than ever before. Change number two: advances in technology (especially the internet) have brought overwhelming benefits to the West more rapidly than ever before. Change number three: church attendance in the West is lower now than ever before. So those are the changes.

Now let’s look at what has not changed. Availability of firearms has not changed – if anything, regulations on the sale of firearms are tighter now than ever before. Media coverage of these types of events has not changed – JFKs assassination was broadcast live. So if firearms were just as available then as they are now, and the news media covered these events just as well then as they do now, we can determine that these two factors have little to do with the rise in events.

So let’s investigate deeper into the three changes. Change number one is that people in the west are living in more prosperity now than ever before. This allows us to rule out the conclusion that these events are caused by material poverty. If that were the case, the hot spots for these events would be third world countries – not the West. There are two elements of prosperity that we can take clues from. First, how does a country become prosperous? Socioeconomic prosperity requires stability, and stability requires a common moral code paired with a sovereign ideal. Having the moral code is not enough – you must also know why you should abide by the moral code.

The stability in the United States is delivered through its rule of law which is framed on Judeo-Christian values. If you remove God from the picture, then you still have the legislation but no reason to follow it – apart from being caught by human law enforcement. I believe this elevation in prosperity has led to a presupposition (or an assumption) that Western humanity is enlightened, and therefore not accountable to the sovereign ideal. Essentially that means: look at us, we’ve advanced so far we don’t need God anymore. This change in prosperity is directly linked to, and fueled by, change number two.

Change number two is that advances in technology (especially the internet) have brought overwhelming benefits to the west more rapidly than ever before. You might think, what’s wrong with that? The internet and modern medicine are hardly a bad thing. And you’re right. Technology and the advance of science is wonderful for humanity and should be encouraged. The problem occurs when people begin to worship advancement. Because science has solved so many problems so accurately and quickly, people have began to look to science to discern their reason for being. The issue is that science cannot provide you with reason for being and so the people who look to it come up with nothing. Enter nihilism.

Nihilism comes from the Latin word nihil which means nothing. Coincidental huh? You go to science for existential meaning and you find nothing. Nihilism tells you that your life has no meaning because when you die nothing happens and you cease to exist. Nihilism tells society that humanity has no value because eventually the universe is going to suffer a heat-death causing it to end in nothing – it will all just cease to exist.

The most famous nihilist was the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Arguably, Nietzsche explored nihilism more thoroughly than anyone else who has ever lived. His conclusion, from The Parable of the Madman was this:

The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. “Whither is God?” he cried; “I will tell you. We have killed him — you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

Following his declaration that God is dead, Nietzsche predicted that millions of people would die in the 20th century in the competition over whose values would reign supreme. He pointed specifically to communism. And he was right, it happened just as he said it would. Nietzsche tried to conceptualize a world without God and what he found was nothing.

The idolization of science leads directly to nihilism because science is limited in that it can only describe the how of existence – not the why. So while we should fully support technological advancement and scientific discovery, we should use caution against seeing science as a replacement for God. This tendency to idolize that which brings us marvelous things is not specific to modern humans. Ancient Babylon was a cutting edge city during its time. It was such a wonder to behold that people who came there began to worship Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon. He was the state-sponsored god, if you will.

The reaction ancient humans had upon seeing Babylon is no different than the reaction modern humans have toward science. Something that brings such wondrous things into our lives must be able to answer what our true meaning is. Right? This is the classic formula for idolatry – and we can see its pattern repeated all throughout history. Prosperity leads to the worship of the item or discipline which is perceived to have brought the prosperity.

Humanity has left God behind in exchange for science and the result is nihilism. But the idolization of science isn’t solely responsible. The corruption of the church is the other component. You see, in the prior generation it was like a badge of honor to belong to a church.  Today, it is more like something you are embarrassed to admit.

The assumption that science can give us the answer to why we are here (which is an assumption backed up by zero evidence) has led to the idea that if you believe the Bible you must be anti-intellectual. Pair that stigma of anti-intellectualism with the awful behavior of some church leaders (pedophilia, extortion, false teaching, etc.) and you will get a misunderstanding of the Christian worldview. It’s embarrassing to admit belonging to this misunderstood Christianity.   But it’s just that – a misunderstanding.

This misunderstanding feeds itself because the greatest thinkers assume they must go elsewhere outside of the church if they are to find the answers. An intelligent person who is just starting to form his or her worldview would never look at the misunderstood Christianity as a serious place for thought. So they pursue something like science instead. This illusion of anti-intellectualism in Christianity is how the West ends up with universities that are dominated by nihilistic professors. These professors train the students who become the teachers of elementary, middle, and high schools. Not to mention all of the other students who become activists and statesmen. Nihilism is built into our education system.

What does all of that have to do with the attacks on schools? This is where nihilism curve and the malevolent outlier comes in. Picture this with me – or get a pen and piece of paper to draw it if you need to. In the center of the paper draw a circle. Label this circle with four words “Christ; meaning; purpose; value.” Draw a bigger circle around the outside of the center circle – but not far away from its perimeter. Label this circle with four words: “prior generation; biblical truth.” The prior generation circle, due to the popularity of being in church, was steeped in the idea that life has transcendent meaning, purpose and value attributable to Christ. Now, outside of this second circle, put a dot. This is your outlier from the prior generation. This outlier was a misfit who would do things like graffiti school property or get into fist fights. So you should have a Christ Circle in the center; a Prior Generation Circle just outside of that; and a Prior Generation Outlier just outside of that.

Now I want you to draw a third circle outside of everything you have on the paper. Label this one with four words: “nihilism curve; science only.” This nihilism curve is the common young person who did not belong to the prior generation. This person has no source for transcendent meaning, purpose, and value. Any meaning, purpose, or value in their lives has to come from their external worldly circumstances. Go outside of your third circle and place a dot. This dot is the malevolent outlier. This is the person who has zero value for human life because his or her worldly circumstances are not giving them any sense of meaning, value, or purpose. Notice I did not say that their circumstances had to be bad. Their perception of their circumstances is the only thing that has to be bad. That’s why it’s so hard to spot these people. It doesn’t matter what they look like from the outside. If from the inside they have no sense of meaning, purpose, or value for their life or the lives of others then that is a recipe for tragedy.

And there’s something else: the malevolent outlier’s point of reference is bound to whatever the normal mode of being is. That’s why the outlier from the prior generation still has a sense of meaning, purpose, and value in human life. This person, though an outlier, is still closer to the center circle. This outlier’s sense of meaning, purpose, and value is based on transcendent truth and not on circumstance.

The point of reference for the malevolent outlier is the current norm of the nihilism curve.  Since the norm itself depends on its worldly circumstances to find meaning, purpose, and value then that is also what the outlier must do. When the outlier fails to find value in human life, the outlier becomes a monster. Video games and movies are not causing this. The graphic nature of games and movies are manifestations of the nihilism curve. The nihilism curve was there first, and the attitudes of the people belonging to that generation are what produced the games and movies. The games and movies did not produce the attitude.

Look at your paper. We can bring that nihilism curve back in closer to where all of our children and parents will find transcendent meaning, purpose, and value in their lives. Since their feeling of these things will not be dependent on their circumstances, they will become resilient to what’s around them. Resiliency will prevent people from being offended by everything and PC culture will end. It’s not a coincidence that all of these things are tied to each other. This is what happens when you exchange God for an idol.

So how do we bring the nihilism curve back in towards the center? We familiarize ourselves with that center circle and then we lead by example. We teach individuals about Christ. We show them that Christianity and science are not mutually exclusive in any sense. We give people a sovereign ideal whom they can aspire to be like.

We know this works because it has been done before. In 1945, Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested and imprisoned in the Gulag. During his imprisonment he witnessed a handful of people who seemed to be unaffected by the horrific conditions. No matter how bad things got, these people would not compromise on their principles or character. Seeing these people inspired Solzhenitsyn to write the Gulag Archipelago – a book that would expose the misdeeds of the Soviet Union and play a key role in its demise.

A handful of people acting in accordance with their sovereign ideal and being resilient to their circumstances inspired a ripple effect that would change the world from inside of a prison. It doesn’t take a majority of the population to correct the course of a country. It just takes a few individuals who choose to do the right thing even when it’s easy to do the wrong thing. Standing on the value of human life and the meaning of existence is how you bring the nihilism curve back to the center.

We must do our best to love people as Christ wants us to love them. And most of all, we must teach people that God loves them – even if it seems like no one else does.

If you find this content valuable, feel free to share it and to use it in your own studies. If you’d like to support this podcast, you can do so at http://www.patreon.com/michaelhbaun. There is a link in the description. Your generosity goes a long way to promoting the growth of this enterprise and the cause of free speech. Thank you all for joining me this evening, and I will see you in the next episode.