Nihilism and existentialism are both ways of thinking about life and meaning, but they have some important differences.

Nihilism is like thinking that life has no real meaning or purpose. It suggests that everything is meaningless, so there’s no point in trying to find meaning or value in anything. It can appear pretty bleak because it says that life is empty and without purpose. However, to the nihilist, the absence of meaning can be liberating. Yet, this kind of liberation can result disorderly behavior. If life has no meaning then there is no purpose to ‘good’ behavior. Some nihilists will develop their own ‘moral codes’ for the sake of social progression, but there is no greater good/purpose.

On the other hand, Existentialism is more about finding your own meaning in life, even if the universe itself might not have any meaning. It says that even though life might seem meaningless, we are responsible for creating our own meaning by making choices and finding things that are important to us. Existentialism encourages us to take responsibility for our own lives and find fulfillment in our own actions.

So, while nihilism says that nothing really matters, existentialism says that even though life might seem meaningless, we can still find meaning by living authentically and making our own choices.