From Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1979:
Absurdism – a philosophy based on the belief that man exists in an irrational and meaningless universe and that his search for order brings him into conflict with his universe – compare existentialism
Existentialism – a chiefly 20th century philosophy that is centered upon the analysis of existence and of the way man finds himself existing in the world, that regards human existence as not exhaustively describable or understandable in scientific terms, and that stresses the freedom and responsibility of the individual, the irreducible uniqueness of an ethical or religious situation, and usu. the isolation and subjective experiences (as of anxiety, guilt, dread, anguish) of an individual therein
What if both of these are wrong? What if it’s the universe that’s fundamentally rational (in the sense of conforming to knowable rules) and it’s man that’s fundamentally irrational?
I think the conclusion would be that an individual, seeking rationality and coherence, should withdraw from society, and expose himself to nature, as much as possible. I’ll call this philosophy
isolationism.
I acknowledge that the isolated individual is himself inevitably irrational, as are all humans. But this approach should minimize the irrationality, and maximize the rationality, impinging upon an individual's consciousness.
Of course, a corollary of isolationism is that the universe really shouldn't give a shit about humanity one way or the other.
