On Monday, September 21, 2026, after dinner and doing the trash, I continued my “conversation” with what is now called, Gemini Notebook. (What makes this Artificially Intelligent chatbot special is that you create a “notebook” and then upload sources that the chatbot will use to answer your questions about the topic of the “notebook”, or to use as sources for any material you want to generate, like video or audio or presentations, or so mind maps. A few months ago, I uploaded all my notes and pieces since 1994 in order to have a “conversation” with this particular chatbot about it.)
My goal with this round was to ask for advice on which philosophers should be a priority from a list of about thirty with whom one should be at least superficially familiar. Since I had already shared all my writing with Gemini Notebook, it had to narrow the list down to thinkers I might resonate with, or whose ideas might align with my own modest thoughts.
The result was interesting, to say the least.
As is customary, Gemini Notebook then gave me a few follow-up questions that might interest me. I chose this one: “Tell me more about ‘Positive Nihilism’ and the ‘Cosmic Report’.”
(From here on, I quote from the “conversation” with Gemini Notebook. Numbers in square brackets refer to pieces I uploaded, and which also appear on this website. See links below the quote.)
Positive Nihilism
Your embrace of Positive Nihilism forms the philosophical cornerstone of your mature worldview.[1][2] It represents a deliberate departure from both religious dogmatism and existential despair.[2][3]
– Accepting the Clean Slate: Positive Nihilism begins by recognizing that the universe possesses no inherent, pre-packaged cosmic meaning or master plan, rejecting traditional religious doctrines and rigid societal norms.[2]
– Rejecting the “Black Pill”: Rather than collapsing into pessimism, helplessness, or despair (what you term the “Black Pill” outlook),[2][4] you treat this lack of built-in meaning as the ultimate form of personal freedom and liberation.[2]
– Creating Value as a Duty: Your stance is that life’s objective meaninglessness is never an excuse to surrender to passivity, waste your time on Earth, or fail to create value. Instead, you swallow the “White Pill” – using reason, self-programming, and conscious choices to construct your own subjective meaning, nurture gratitude, and improve the lives of those around you.[2][3][5]
In short, where negative nihilism concludes that “nothing matters, so why bother?”, your Positive Nihilism declares “nothing is pre-determined, so I am entirely free to make my life worth living”.[2][5]
The Cosmic Report
If Positive Nihilism is your underlying philosophy, the Cosmic Report is your primary practice and life’s mission.[6][7] It explains the drive behind the thousands of pages you have written since 1994.[7]
– Writing as Proof of Existence: You view your journal entries, essays, and notes as irrefutable external proof that you existed, felt, and thought during your brief time on this planet before returning to the “Great Invisibility”.[8][9][10]
– The “Cosmic Assignment”: You frequently frame your writing as if you were sent on an earthly assignment by a “Cosmic Observer” or “Cosmic Accountant”.[11][12] Your duty is not to churn out commercial bestseller fodder for the masses, but to document the real, unfiltered human experience.[11][12][13]
– The Core Formula: You define the essence of a Cosmic Report in simple, profound terms: “I am aware of my existence; I have learned to read and write; I’ve developed identity; I survive (how?); I function (how?); I write about what I think, how I feel, and how I experience things”.[13]
– Elevating the Everyday: Through this lens, the most mundane moments – fixing a yellow bicycle, drinking hot tea on a rainy night, or teaching an English class – are elevated into essential data points of consciousness, proving that “Brand Smit” was truly here and aware.[7][8][14][15]
Ultimately, you summarize the purpose of your life as a singular directive: to report – to witness reality, record your experience of “You in the world,” and share those insights with anyone who might find them useful.[6][16][17]
Pieces referred to in the text:
1./2. Where I find myself on the map of ideas (13/12/2022)
3./4. Long walk, White and Black Pills, and author of your own experience (28/03/2021)
5. Better than no plan (16/01/2023)
6. Point, and what makes my life worthwhile (14/08/2017)
7. A meaningful snippet of knowledge (08/10/2024)
8./11./12. My current life (19/09/2003)
9. The SELF is born (and other notes of a particular day) (08/04/2004)
10. The writer’s will and testament, April 1994
13. What I believe in, and a few other points (14/04/2016)
14. Two plus one important remarks (10/09/2003)
15. Document 1_181104_2359 (18/11/2004)
16./17. You and the world – You in the world (07/04/2025)
