The constructive 'negativism' that may help in our absurd lives (IANS Column: Bookends)

Living in a world governed by cause and effect and universal natural principles, most human beings have a propensity to expect the same arrangement in their own lives. But if they want to see correspondence between the natural world and ours, than they have to delve into the atomic and sub-atomic quantum world where the random complexity may upend notions of causation, certainty, and what "reality" is.

Once we realise - and accept - that what we call life is just simply combination of atoms with no special attributes, only matter accomplishing some "extraordinary" things - as the laws of physics dictate, it shows that the numerous ways evolved to explain it - magic, religion, philosophy, and even science - are just human constructs. This brings us to crucial juncture of thinking about us and the world we are in.

On the other hand, those who don't, or would not, go into such depths but otherwise find themselves facing the same concerns due to certain actions/reactions and happenings they face in their otherwise untrammelled lives, may come to the same juncture.

This mood of a general despair at a pointless existence or arbitrariness of human principles underpins the concept of nihilism. While it seeks to question one or all the usually accepted aspects of human existence, such as an "objective" truth, morality, values, or meaning, but, across its spectrum, one common thread is that life is without intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose. However, this is not just a pessimistic resignation of the situation, as we will soon see.

While we can seek the trace the origin of this system of thought, finding it has a mythological

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