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Nihilism is a philosophical position that, at its core, argues that life lacks inherent meaning, purpose, or objective value. It’s less a single doctrine and more a family of perspectives that challenge commonly held assumptions about truth, morality, and existence.

What Nihilism Claims

At its simplest, nihilism tends to assert one or more of the following:

• No inherent meaning: Life doesn’t come with built-in purpose.
• No objective morality: Right and wrong aren’t universal truths, just human constructs.
• No ultimate truth: Knowledge may be uncertain or even illusory.

Main Types of Nihilism

1. Existential Nihilism
   Life has no intrinsic meaning or value. Any meaning must be created by the individual.
2. Moral Nihilism
   There are no objective moral facts, good and evil don’t exist independently of human opinion.
3. Epistemological Nihilism
   Knowledge itself may be impossible or unreliable.
4. Cosmic Nihilism
   From the perspective of the universe, human life is insignificant and without purpose.

Not despair, but creation:

• Individuals must forge their own values
• Life becomes an act of authorship, not discovery

Is Nihilism Depressing?

It can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

Nihilism strips away given meaning, which can feel unsettling. But it also removes constraints, opening space for:

• Radical freedom
• Self-authored purpose
• Psychological flexibility

Some people move from nihilism into other philosophies like:

• Existentialism: (create your own meaning)
• Absurdism: (accept meaninglessness and live anyway)

A More Grounded Way to Look at It

Nihilism isn’t necessarily “nothing matters.”
A more accurate framing is:

“There is no pre-given meaning, so meaning becomes a human construction.”

That shift is subtle but powerful.

Shervan K Shahhian

Scenario thinking is a structured way of imagining multiple possible futures so you can prepare for uncertainty instead of reacting to it.

At its core, it’s about asking: “What could happen, and how would I respond if it did?”

What it actually means

Scenario thinking comes from fields like Strategic Planning and Futures Studies. Instead of predicting one outcome, it builds several plausible scenarios, especially when things are complex or unpredictable.

Simple example

Imagine you’re planning your career:

• Scenario A (best case): Rapid growth, promotions
• Scenario B (stable): Slow, steady progress
• Scenario C (disruption): Industry decline or layoffs

Scenario thinking asks:

• What would I do in each case?
• What signals would tell me which scenario is unfolding?
• How can I prepare now across all three?

Key components

1. Drivers of change
   Forces shaping the future (technology, economy, psychology, health, etc.)
2. Uncertainties
   The big unknowns (job market volatility, AI disruption)
3. Multiple scenarios
   Usually 3–5 distinct futures, not just optimistic vs pessimistic
4. Response strategies
   Plans that are flexible across scenarios

Why it’s powerful (psychologically)

From a cognitive standpoint, it:

• Reduces anxiety by turning vague fear into structured possibilities
• Enhances cognitive flexibility (you’re not locked into one narrative)
• Improves decision-making under uncertainty

It might be closely related to concepts like:

• Mental simulation
• Counterfactual thinking
• Anticipatory coping

A practical way to use it

Try a quick 5-step version:

1. Define a situation (career, relationship, health)
2. Identify 2–3 key uncertainties
3. Build 3 distinct scenarios
4. Ask: “If this happens, what do I do?”
5. Take 1–2 actions that help across all scenarios

One important correction

Scenario thinking is not prediction.
If you treat it like forecasting the “right” future, it fails.

It works best when you treat the future as multiple evolving possibilities, not a single destiny.

Shervan K Shahhian

Ambient anxiety is a low-level, persistent sense of unease that doesn’t seem tied to a specific, immediate threat. It’s more like a background “hum” of tension rather than a sharp spike of fear.

Think of it as the psychological equivalent of noise pollution, always there, subtly shaping your mood and attention even when you’re not consciously focused on it.

What it feels like

• A vague sense that “something isn’t right”
• Difficulty fully relaxing, even in safe situations
• Restlessness or mental scanning for problems
• Mild but chronic tension in the body (shoulders, jaw, stomach)
• Trouble concentrating because part of your mind is on alert

Where it comes from

Ambient anxiety might often build from cumulative influences rather than one clear cause:

• Information overload (constant news, social media)
• Living in a polycrisis environment (economic uncertainty, global instability)
• Unresolved stressors that never fully “close”
• Learned vigilance from past experiences
• Cultural pressure toward productivity or threat awareness

How it differs from other anxiety types

• Unlike Social Anxiety Disorder, it’s not tied to social situations
• Unlike Panic Disorder, it doesn’t come in intense, acute attacks
• It’s more diffuse, always “on,” but rarely overwhelming

A useful way to understand it

Your nervous system is acting like a radar that never powers down. It’s not necessarily detecting real danger, it’s just stuck in a mild threat-detection mode.

What helps reduce it

By lowering the baseline:

• Reduce input noise: limit constant exposure to distressing information
• Create “closed loops”: finish small tasks to signal safety/completion
• Body regulation: slow breathing, walking, or grounding exercises
• Attentional control: deliberately focus on one thing at a time
• Environmental cues of safety: lighting, music, familiar spaces
• Shervan K Shahhian

Polycrisis is a term used to describe a situation where multiple major crises happen at the same time and interact with each other, making the overall impact worse than each crisis alone.

Core Idea

A polycrisis isn’t just “a lot of problems.” It’s when problems are:

• Interconnected
• Mutually reinforcing
• Hard to solve in isolation

Simple Example

Imagine these happening simultaneously:

• Economic instability (inflation, debt)
• Extreme weather
• Constant Threat
• Constant Danger

Each one:

• Makes the others worse
• Complicates solutions
• Overloads institutions and decision-making systems

Real-World Context

The early 2020s are often described as a polycrisis period, including:

• The COVID-19 pandemic
• Supply chain breakdowns
• Geopolitical tensions
• Rising inflation and economic uncertainty

These didn’t occur independently, they fed into each other.

Why It Matters

Polycrisis situations could be especially difficult because:

• Solutions to one problem can worsen another
• Systems become fragile and unpredictable
• Traditional “single-issue” thinking breaks down

Psychological Angle

From a cognitive and behavioral perspective, polycrisis may lead to:

• Chronic stress and anxiety
• Cognitive overload (too many threats to process)
• Attentional fragmentation
• Increased reliance on simplified narratives or belief systems

In One Line

A polycrisis maybe a network of crises that collide and amplify each other, creating a complex, high-stakes situation that’s harder to understand and manage than any single crisis alone.

Shervan K Shahhian