From a page on this blog - Anecdotes of My Day...constitutes my daily experiences. link
Big, Big Words!
Doing a lot of reading recently and I am totally enjoying all the new information I am getting. One terminology that has refused to leave me is NIHILISM. Nihilism is a state of nothingness. Nihilism is loss of meaning or seriousness. If nihilism were complete there would be no significant private or public issues. Nihilism is the fundamental movement in the history of the West. Materialism is a symptom of nihilism. Materialism is the view that all meaning has gone from the cosmos, nature, and culture. Values are objective, explicit options which imply the existence of choice. (Source: ERIC)
Is life itself meaningful? Now the bottom line here is that in the state of a loss of meaning, all educational activity lacks meaning with particular reference to cultural practices. Example, a close friend of mine does not really get why she needs to teach her kids her local language. Her argument is that it is meaningless and not useful to him! Is he going to become the business mogul she knows he will become through the use of the language? In his time, how many people is he going to have to speak it to? Is it for survival?
If we look at her 'nihilist' arguments for the transmission of language deeply, we may begin to see reasons. In the transmission of values, a good question to ask ourselves constantly is..."does it have meaning?"
Now, here I am in my world, thinking, if so, many cultural practices are valueless - in a state of nothingness. If they are valueless, what makes a people unique? Are we human beings equally in a state of nothingness - nihilism? Do you get my drift? If you do, you are definitely in 'the spirit' with me because I guess we must find some meaning at some point as human beings.... otherwise we need not exist.
Now, here I am in my world, thinking, if so, many cultural practices are valueless - in a state of nothingness. If they are valueless, what makes a people unique? Are we human beings equally in a state of nothingness - nihilism? Do you get my drift? If you do, you are definitely in 'the spirit' with me because I guess we must find some meaning at some point as human beings.... otherwise we need not exist.
Nihilism! That is a big word indeed. This topic is quite confusing. I need to read it over again. I am not yet in the spirit with you. Lol
ReplyDeleteSame thoughts too but I hve a little picture of what u are saying I hve to ponder more on this NIHILISM never ever heard of it before now,weldone
ReplyDeletePhew! This article did my head in!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I think I got the gist of what you were saying. In plain English: if we don't hold values which are peculiar or unique to us eg; our local languages, traditions etc. How then do we stand out? What makes us different? What heritage do we hold pride in? These are the sort of questions that will be going through our minds, especially through the minds of our parents.
I don't want to sound like a cliche but the world has become a global village. We now have a Lingua franca and Igbo, Yoruba and Ibibio have no place there. What matters is solid education, entreprenuerial skills, making a difference in your sphere of contact. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying discard local languages but the way the world is going it won't really be relevant anymore. But what do I know????
As you may have deduced, I am that friend who wasn't really bothered about teaching her kids our local language *hides face*... That's yesterday's news because my first son who is 7years old is sooo excited to learn that I am currently speaking it more so he will understand. :)
9ce 1 LC. That was quite deep. U know, I really follow in this depth of urs. U hv transcended 4rm d rlly high-set standard of impacting knowledge on we followers of ur blog 2 touching our spirits with these mind sparkling lines u just challenged us with. U brought my mind bk on track; my spirit is thrilled; & my brains tickles; wow my whole being is sooo alive now. @sisieko keep keeping ur head in. Nihilism is a whole new ideology I reckon. I love d depth n d whole new meaning 2 life it brings.
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