Loughner Grew More Paranoid in Last Year, Friend Says.

[elleng]

Loughner's behavior had become increasingly erratic over the last year, underscored by his fear that two of his closest friends were planning to kill him, one of those friends said Tuesday. . .

“He started to get really paranoid, and said he did not want to see us anymore and did not trust us,” Mr. Gutierrez said.

“He thought we were plotting to kill him or steal his car or something,” Mr. Gutierrez added. “It got worse over time.”

Mr. Gutierrez said Mr. Loughner had mentioned Ms. Giffords only once, saying that he had been unhappy with how she had responded to a question he asked at a public appearance about the nature of government. Mr. Gutierrez said Mr. Loughner had shown little interest in politics.

“He was a nihilist and loves causing chaos, and that is probably why he did the shooting, along with the fact he was sick in the head,” he said. . .

“I go to a psychiatrist, and he should have been seeing one back in high school,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “He had the most incredible thoughts, but he could not handle them.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/us/12giffords.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

[bemildred]

1. So I guess Mr Gutierrez is not one the "friends" who was planning to kill him?

I notice he picked up the "nihilist" meme right away too, and he has no idea what the word means.

[elleng]

2. I think you're mistaken,

as the article says:

Mr. Gutierrez said Mr. Loughner would call at 2 a.m. and ask, “Are you hanging out in front of the house, stalking me?”

“He started to get really paranoid, and said he did not want to see us anymore and did not trust us,” Mr. Gutierrez said.

“He thought we were plotting to kill him or steal his car or something,” Mr. Gutierrez added. “It got worse over time.”

Nihilism: a.An extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence.
b. A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.
2. Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief.
3. The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nihilism

[bemildred]

3. No, that's what Mr Gutierrez says.

Mr Gutierrez is getting his 15 minutes of fame.

That dictionary is free for good reasons. Nihilism was a Russian revolutionary movement, it fits #3, not "loves chaos". I would like to know what a belief that denies all existence looks like. Does it deny itself too, or does it not exist?

[elleng]

4. 4. also Nihilism A diffuse, revolutionary movement

of mid 19th-century Russia that scorned authority and tradition and believed in reason, materialism, and radical change in society and government through terrorism and assassination.
5. Psychiatry A delusion, experienced in some mental disorders, that the world or one's mind, body, or self does not exist.

[bemildred]

5. And none of those fits "loves causing chaos", which is not in any case a philosophy, but a tactic.nt

[CLANG]

7. Your definition is the 5th of 6 at dictionary.com

ni·hil·ism (nahy-uh-liz-uhm)

–noun
1. total rejection of established laws and institutions.
2. anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity.
3. total and absolute destructiveness, esp. toward the world at large and including oneself: the power-mad nihilism that marked Hitler's last years.
4. Philosophy.
a. an extreme form of skepticism: the denial of all real existence or the possibility of an objective basis for truth.
b. nothingness or nonexistence.
5. (sometimes initial capital letter) the principles of a Russian revolutionary group, active in the latter half of the 19th century, holding that existing social and political institutions must be destroyed in order to clear the way for a new state of society and employing extreme measures, including terrorism and assassination.
6. annihilation of the self, or the individual consciousness, esp. as an aspect of mystical experience.

Origin:
1810–20; < L nihil nothing (var. of nihilum; see nil) + -ism

—Related forms
ni·hil·ist, noun, adjective
ni·hil·is·tic, adjective
an·ti·ni·hil·ism, noun
an·ti·ni·hil·ist, noun, adjective
an·ti·ni·hil·is·tic, adjective
non·ni·hil·ism, noun
non·ni·hil·ist, noun
non·ni·hil·is·tic, adjective
un·ni·hil·is·tic, adjective

[bemildred]

9. Ah, you can read, good. nt

[CLANG]

6. He was a nihilist

Nietzsche states that nihilism as "absolute valuelessness" or "nothing has meaning" is dangerous, or even "the danger of dangers": it is through valuation that people survive and endure the danger, pain and hardships they face in life. The complete destruction of all meaning and all values would be tantamount to suicide or mass-murder.

[bemildred]

8. Did he have a membership card in the nihilist club or something?

Extensive philosophical writings on Nietzsche and the meaninglessness of it all?

One wonders how animals manage to survive and prosper without all those "values" to prop them up. How many dogs commit mass murder?

[CLANG]

10. Are you saying dogs are nihilists?

[bemildred]

11. They certainly get by without "meaning" and "value" and most of our other mental bullshit.

And I do mean "mental".

[CLANG]

12. How you know that? They certainly value food.

And you may not thing they have meaning to their lives, but they may beg to differ.

[bemildred]

13. How do you know he's a nihilist?

I'm sure he values food too.

[CLANG]

14. Do you know him personally?

[bemildred]

15. LOL.

:popcorn: