Hm...well, a person's existence can't be completely nothing, I suppose, if one defines the absence of existence as true nothingness. That said, I think a person can be worthless without actually being nothing at all.
[Komaeda looks thoughtful, and after a moment lifts his right hand to look at it.] Think of a person's body; it's composed of multiple elements that are vital and important. Skin, organs, veins, nerves, blood, bones...all elements with a vital role. But what holds those things together? What does nothing more but support all the other elements, simply by existing? The flesh. Flesh serves no real purpose other than to occupy space, to permit the existence and function of the more vital elements around it. In essence, flesh's one virtue is that it fills space that needs to be filled. But the flesh itself isn't important. Obviously, if you removed all the flesh from someone at once - if that could be done - the rest of the body would die, because the change would be too fast and too radical. But slowly replace every bit of flesh with different flesh, or transplant the more vital pieces of a body to a different body, and the important things are unaffected. The only worth of the flesh is the more important things it supports, and no individual chunk of it has any meaning in itself.
I think that's a good way to think of society. People with talent, with inherent value, truly amazing people...they're the vital functions. But there are millions of people who are essentially just the flesh holding them up. People like me, with no intrinsic worth. The only way worthless people like me can have value is by supporting those who do matter.
[He smiles at Chikusa.] So...a person can't be nothing, but they can be worthless. But not having inherent worth doesn't mean you can't give yourself value in supporting others, so as long as you exist at all, despair isn't inevitable!
[Komaeda, if the world may gently inquire, what the fresh hell was that verbal journey you just took us all on. Why are you complicating Chikusa's self-worth issues like this. Komaeda why]
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[Komaeda looks thoughtful, and after a moment lifts his right hand to look at it.] Think of a person's body; it's composed of multiple elements that are vital and important. Skin, organs, veins, nerves, blood, bones...all elements with a vital role. But what holds those things together? What does nothing more but support all the other elements, simply by existing? The flesh. Flesh serves no real purpose other than to occupy space, to permit the existence and function of the more vital elements around it. In essence, flesh's one virtue is that it fills space that needs to be filled. But the flesh itself isn't important. Obviously, if you removed all the flesh from someone at once - if that could be done - the rest of the body would die, because the change would be too fast and too radical. But slowly replace every bit of flesh with different flesh, or transplant the more vital pieces of a body to a different body, and the important things are unaffected. The only worth of the flesh is the more important things it supports, and no individual chunk of it has any meaning in itself.
I think that's a good way to think of society. People with talent, with inherent value, truly amazing people...they're the vital functions. But there are millions of people who are essentially just the flesh holding them up. People like me, with no intrinsic worth. The only way worthless people like me can have value is by supporting those who do matter.
[He smiles at Chikusa.] So...a person can't be nothing, but they can be worthless. But not having inherent worth doesn't mean you can't give yourself value in supporting others, so as long as you exist at all, despair isn't inevitable!
[Komaeda, if the world may gently inquire, what the fresh hell was that verbal journey you just took us all on. Why are you complicating Chikusa's self-worth issues like this. Komaeda why]