(Note: his opening question quotes (or paraphrases) the video I'd uploaded on the same day.)
QUESTION: @a-bas-le-ciel (Youtube name) re: "I know how you feel, not because I know you, but because I know an universal principle that I'm claiming to be true" Would you say Nihilism is completely irreconcilable with the concept of universality in this sense? Is there some sort of constant tension, between the meaning YOU bring forward in your life, and the meaning that everyone else brings? I suppose the difference would be that you're in a constant state of self-evaluation; even though you hold certain meanings, and would think other people would be in the "right" to adopt them (to paint the world YOU want to paint), you would consider a better alternative if it was brought up to you, (which I suppose you would ultimately evaluate with your subjective standards...).
—————ANSWER—————
@aqueronte Re: "Would you say Nihilism is completely irreconcilable with the concept of universality in this sense?"
What you're saying here is correct within limits, and incorrect outside of them: There are valid "universals", but they're things so uncontroversial, so banal, so meaningless, that they don't occur to you in the context of this conversation. Anthropologists compare various cultures to challenge or establish whether or not certain associations with the darkness of night are "universal" or not; is it really universal to consider a sunny day more cheerful than a moon-lit night? (etc.) Assigning certain "moral" values to sunshine may be "universal" in this sense --but it is utterly uncontroversial. Any issue worth contesting will be untouched by valid universal statements.
@aqueronte Re: "Is there some sort of constant tension, between the meaning YOU bring forward in your life, and the meaning that everyone else brings?"
The only word I'd object to is "constant". Although I despise the fact that Canada is built on genocide, it would be maudlin for me to say that it is a CONSTANT tension for me, living here (it would be better described as an intermittent or occasional source of tension). Likewise, France is much too Catholic for me, but I can't say the tension is CONSTANT, etc. And, with either of these two examples (hardly an exhaustive list!) I could escape the particular sort of tension --temporarily-- by relocating to Japan (a country that neither has the history of genocide nor Catholicism). However, of course, there will be some other tension of precisely the kind you're indicating: I will have to contend with the culture around me --but not constantly.
