Resident YouTube atheist-therapist Britt Hartley discusses the autism-atheist-nihilist interface, with some excurses on ADHD. I didn´t know suicidal ideation and actual suicide attempts were *this* common among people on the spectrum. There is also some interesting criticism of "standard" therapy when applied to autists. Still, the end-point feels rather tragic, as Hartley reaches the conclusion that the universe actually is meaningless, but somehow we have to find/create meaning in our little backyards.
That being said...it struck me when listening to her podcast that certain forms of religion/spirituality can also be given a nihilistic spin. Buddhism as usually (mis)interpreted in the modern West is one example. Another would be Gnosticism in both the light and dark versions. Even mainstream religions such as Christianity or Islam can be interpreted in a nihilist-adjacent way, for instance by emphasizing martyrdom over anything else. So the nihilist thing isn´t just an atheism predicament.
Perhaps everyone has to come to terms with their "body" (to use Hartley´s favorite word), the physical world around them and, I suppose, their backyards...
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