Why Fear Nihilism?

I'm not sure. I don't think our natural instincts are that corruptible. Would you kill someone if you'd been convinced, logically, that there was no logical reason to call it immoral?

There are really two kinds of 'nihilism'.

As there are 2 kinds of Nihilism, the ignorent mob will eventually confuse the 2 directions, and demagogues will help that process, thus it may go rampant, just like the holy wars, all manufacturing excuses to slaughter eachother and others.

It seems to me that a nihilist would be less likely to listen to the self-righteous, as they are more likely to challenge the conclusions said self-righteous person draws from experience.

One first has to draw the conclusion that a person is indeed selfrighteous, many simple minded people are not able to do so. For any large mass of people following any teaching, it is in it's nature to draw friends and family to such teachings, and thereby draw all kinds of people. Many are lead by flock instinct and group think.

If that's the case, one could argue that those individuals aren't nihilistic, if they are willing to suspend their disbelief regarding meta-theories.

The rejection of the possibility of intrinsic value includes a rejection of absolute truth, right action, and knowledge, schemes of belief and living that has guided humanity for thousands of years. Not every man is able to understand or to live by this inconvenient state of affairs, and to. moreover, take personal responsibility for knowledge and value in a serious manner.
The very real danger is that a majority will think that the lack of objectivity implies that any value or any knowledge will do, that these perspectives are all equal or all "biased," and that one should live by the throw of the dice.

From my limited experience with Nietzsche and Existentialism, it seems that widespread Nihilism would be a cataclysmic event for humanity. Why was Nihilism viewed in such a way?

The philosophical nihilist is convinced that all that happens is meaningless and in vain; AND that there ought not to be anything meaningless and in vain. But whence this: there ought not to be, From where does one get this "meaning," this standard?

I was rather relieved at the thought of a meaningless existence. The pressure was off! I find living for the hell of it much more appealing than some cosmic responsibility around my neck!

The problem with nihilism is, according to N., that men need to believe and that "Man would rather will nothingness than not will" (Genealogy of morals).The will of nothingness may become pretty destructive brought into actions.

On a private/personal level it need not to be so. Nevertheless, unless you live totally alone, you will probably feel constrained into social patterns and leading a kind of life that you feel is based on nothingness (by the way, Kaczynski tried to live totally alone and still he did what he did...).
Actually, there is also a tough chance that you observe that those values and norms not only are hypocritical and void of real content, but also that they are used as a tool for governing your life or to cast you out of society - so they are anyway around your neck. Hence you may rebel and there' s not such a huge leap before starting to plan terrorist attacks.

But again, it need not to be necessarily so... There are ashrams, hobbies, sports on tv, comfort food, pop music...

Although I do agree that man would probably will nothingness before completely ceasing to act, I don't think that either are necessary consequence of nihilism of any kind.

Although I agree that you are still constrained when interacting with others, it is through voluntary choice that you have submitted to the rules of the game you play. To use your example, Kaczynski lived as a hermit, but decided to attempt to bring society down. Since he had shed the typical values of society, he was free to create his own. Now, depending on what your goals are, this could be a benign or violent transition, but at least you are free to make that decision solely based upon your goals.

Also, trading one set or normative values with another seems to always result in violence. Perhaps dropping normatives altogether would sidestep the problems of nihilism?

Indeed it' s like you say. But I wonder if logical consequences are a way to explain the impact of nihilsm on History. Dynamics in History are not necessarily logical, actually very rarely.

If you can really drop them, all of them, it might. But is that possible?

Voluntary choice... really?

You describe how a former academic became a hermit and then the unabomber. But is that an explanation? How's that a man who chose to leave everything behind, then used all his intellectual skills to come back with a vengeance? Was he mad? Maybe it's true, the judge found that true (paranoid schizophrenia, according to Wikipedia). Maybe not. And if he was not, why has he done it?
He seemed quite happy to live alone in the mountains. Why did he care at all about the rest of us?

You say that he set new values and that this determined his goal to attempt to bring society down - and that he was free to choose that path as he was free not to choose it.
Sounds reasonable. There is no physical necessity, nor logical consequence between thinking that the industrial society has doomed humanity to sufferance and indignity and sticking bombs in mail parcels.
So, again, why did he choose the terrorist way? Why he chose that option and set that plan?
You seem to imply that he did so to live up to his values. Was is he still free in doing so?

Hence you add that trading one set of values with another on a society scale brings about violence. Historically this has proved quite true.

So no values, no problems - and men can perfectly live like that? Which men? Men that don' t want, not men that want nothing.

My (rhetorical) questions stop here. I apologize for being insisting, I meant no disrespect - just a way to invite you to reconsider your position.

I believe that your recipe is inhuman, all too inhuman (probably even subhuman) - but maybe it' s the future.
Mankind has evolved and changed so much, why not moving in that direction?
I just wonder if that day we will still feel alive... It reminds me of the film Zardoz.