You can choose to become either, that's what makes nihilism the ultimate freedom.Yfelsung said:Would you personally be depressed as a nihilist or happy about it?
Emotions make us less objective. This 'nihilistic epiphany' as you call it when you 'hit rock bottom' can only be less objective than the epiphanies you get when you are simply apathetic about the whole thing.Yfelsung said:When I first signed up to this site I had kind of fallen out of my nihilistic tendencies and began becoming an idealist. Becoming more concerned with what could be instead of what is, and this lead to me being pretty pissy most of the time. This usually happens to me once every few years until I have what I call a "nihilistic epiphany". I hit an emotional rock-bottom and then like a punch to the face everything sort of "clicks".
It's the point where the absurdity of the universe hits you like a brick in the head. It's a small glimpse of the universe in a mostly objective way instead of a subjective way. It's seeing objects as less than the sum of their parts. Looking at a human being and seeing atoms, not a person.
Also it is a common aspect of mental disorders to believe that you are 'seeing the world for how it truely is' when you are in some form of depressive, manic or schizophrenic episode. That's not to say that this is the case in your circumstances, but it is worth thinking about.
As an existential nihilist I somewhat agree with you. However as a student of psychology I would take issue with this link you seem to experience between an emotional state and a 'realisation.'