Nietzsche condemned anyone offering ‘answers’ or ‘solace’ – but engaging with nihilism can teach us to face the discomfort of a potentially meaningless existence

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A trick I developed in the late stages of my first pregnancy to forestall inquiries, concern, recommendations and advice about having a baby was to refer to her impending birth as “the apocalypse”.

“I don’t know,” I’d shrug. “We’ll see what things look like after the apocalypse.”