 Foto von Craig McLachlan auf Unsplash When I was younger I would visit the paternal side of my family more frequently, as we would have large gatherings for events. At this one gathering, I asked my sister to put some lipstick that she had on me just because I wanted to wear it. One of my uncles saw me a bit later with that lipstick on me and wasn’t very happy. He promptly took a napkin and forcefully wiped the makeup from my lips. He has since apologized, but when he did that, there was something in his head, an idea and an impulse that made him react like that. I’ve faced comments and similar treatment for doing more feminine things because I was a “boy” doing “girl” things.
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 Foto von John Cafazza auf Unsplash From time to time I like to browse the egoist quarters of the internet. Partly to see some funny jokes and amusing memes regarding a subject I’m deeply invested in, partly to see what the discourse of the day is about. The discourse itself however is often in my humble experience a question on what our beloved Max Stirner would think of a subject. What would Stirner think of transgender people? What would Stirner think of the war in Ukraine? What would Stirner think of me wanting to be a slave to a dommy mommy voluntarily?
 Foto von Patrick Tomasso auf Unsplash Right at the start of the 21st Century, The Human Genome Project had completed mapping out all of the genetic information in humans. During the public announcement in June of 2000, “Craig Venter, Head of Celera Genomics and chief private scientist involved with the Human Genome Project, claimed that 'race' was not a scientifically valid construct” (McCann-Mortimer et al., 2004, p. 409). Racial distinctions “are not genetically discrete, are not reliably measured, and are not scientifically meaningful” (Smedly & Smedly, 2005, p. 16).
Race is an extremely important aspect of our contemporary world. It’s one of the first things you recognize in someone from as young as 3 months old and negative association begins before most enter preschool (Sullivan et al., 2021, p. 395). It alters our perceptions and opinions of each other. We check them off in boxes for applications of many kinds, but it has no biological basis. Race is an entirely social construct that many have tried and failed to base in biological science. Using Max Stirner’s (2009) words, race is a spook.  Foto von Patrick Tomasso auf Unsplash Both Max Stirner and numerous mystics highlight the significance of radical individualism and self-autonomy. Mysticism advocates for the transcendence of created phenomena to attain divine unity with the self. On the contrary, Stirner's philosophy champions autonomy by pursuing freedom from the constraints of social and ideological regulations. Interestingly, many mystics also align with Stirner's views, advocating for the transcendence of not only societal norms but also religious structures. This raises a thought-provoking question: How could the mystics of the ages of antiquity have so much in common with the writings of a 19th century German philosopher?
 Foto von Josh Sonnenberg auf Unsplash “Man is the last evil spirit or spook, the most deceptive or most intimate, the craftiest liar with honest mien, the father of lies.” – Max Stirner, 1844 (2017: 129) Beyond Egocentrism
When the heliocentric model of the universe was proposed in the 16th century, it was an enormous scandal. The pope eventually condemned Galileo as a heretic, banned the publication of his books, and kept him on house arrest until his death. Why did the Church respond so aggressively? The decentering of Earth from the universe inherently challenged crystalized beliefs about humanity’s importance. In the heliocentric model, our planet loses its significance in the cosmos. Not only did it challenge religious dogma, on an emotional level it was far less satisfying (at least at first glance). Similarly, Darwin’s evolutionary theory was another blow to the significance of humanity. Evolution, like heliocentrism, decentered humans from their environment. The significance of human existence continued to be challenged. The traditional view of the importance of humanity appears to derive rather spontaneously and without much reflection. When challenged about their self-importance, there is an emotional reluctance to accept scientific observations (Elias 1978).  Foto von Kilian Seiler auf Unsplash The notion of radical art bifurcates shortly after the great democratic revolutions at the end of the 18th century. Radical artists no longer painted propaganda for church and state, no longer did art mean the painting of flattering portraits of the rich; instead it meant on the one hand painting and drawing which mobilized the consciousness of the poor towards revolt, and on the other it meant pure research into the nature of art and the human experience without regard to any external source of appraisal of standard of values. This bifurcation continues to this day and can be seen in nearly every artist and critic – but can perhaps be summarized in the artistic mode of difference between Picasso’s Guernica, which expressed outrage over the fascist destruction of a small Spanish city; and his pure research into forms in his Cubist period.
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The Creative Nothingis an independent zine (part of The Paradox Magazine Family) focused on the work and legacy of Max Stirner. 
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