The Worship of Death Nihilism turns chaos into a weapon.

Chaos is frightening.

We live by identifying patterns that repeat. Those patterns spare us the costly effort of total alertness that a totally unpredictable situation requires. When dangers are not recognizable yet surely present, our drive to survive pushes us into this supremely stressful mode.

Total awareness is overwhelming. Even more overwhelming is the need to choose a course of action. Among so many possibilities, how do we find the right path to choose? In the chaos, we cannot even know the nature of the threats well enough to set up triage, let alone a more deeply considered analysis leading to a proper setting of priorities. Chaos conceals the path to the best possible result.

Chaos without resonates with chaos within. When no clear path to reducing the chaos is evident, its burden terrifies us.

One solution to chaos is to deaden ourselves. If we do not care whether we live or die, then the urgency to preserve our life recedes along with the pain that indicates to us, like a hand on a hot stove, that our continued thriving requires action. Some choose chemical help and one can see the results of that choice all around the landscape, and in particular in large urban areas (though this plague is everywhere, it is more easily visible on city streets).

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