In This Selection Nagel Reflects on the Sense of Absurdity

question 11

True/False

In this selection Nagel reflects on the sense of absurdity that most of us feel from time to time. The sense of absurdity arises, he says, from the "collision between the seriousness with which we take our lives and the perpetual possibility of regarding everything about which we are serious as arbitrary, or open to doubt." Nagel thinks that Camus's response to the absurd (defiance or scorn) is inappropriate; it's "romantic and slightly self-pitying." He prefers instead to approach the absurd with acceptance, with irony instead of heroism or despair.
-Nagel says that the absurdity of our situation derives from a collision between our expectations and the world.

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Definitions:

Multicollinearity

A situation in statistical models where several predictor variables are highly correlated, which can undermine the statistical significance of an independent variable.

Predictor Variables

Independent variables in statistical models that are used to predict the value of a dependent variable.

Linear Regression

A statistical method for modeling the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables by fitting a linear equation to observed data.

Correlation Matrix

A table showing correlation coefficients between variables, indicating the strength and direction of relationships.