I know boxing is the "Sweet Science", and a quick search seems to indicate that "Gay Science"[1] comes from Nietzsche, and seems to refer to... poetry or song?
A better translation from the original German is probably "Joyful Science", though.
Not sure if that's where the parent was going, but I learned something new today.
Calling Nietzsche a nihilist is a complete misrepresentation of him. He wrote on nihilism a lot, but only to criticize it. Nietzsche believed holding a nihilist viewpoint to mean that one, in short, has failed at life.
It's more accurate to call Nietzsche an existentialist, as long as one keeps in mind that this term can refer to a wide spectrum of different moral and ontological ideas.
There are a lot of flavors of nihilism, so I'm not sure that having a pessimistic worldview precludes joyfulness.
I'd call myself a realist -- and I think there's a lot of overlap with nihilism there, in that I try and see the world "as it is", and not "how I wish it was".
The world is a messy, ugly, dark place. It really is, and it's kind of amazing how people go out of their way to pretend that either that darkness doesn't exist, or that it's somebody else's job to keep it at bay.
There is a light in our world, though -- it's us, if we choose to be.
And so, regardless of the futility in the grand scheme of things, I invest effort to find joy in all that I can, and bring that sense of joyfulness to those around me, because it makes my corner of the world just a little brighter.
> There is a light in our world, though -- it's us, if we choose to be.
I can easily argue the opposite. The world itself is beautiful. Just sit at a mountain top or in the forest or on a beach and take in their beauty. Look at stars, galaxies, how they interact, it's absolutely stunning. Or zoom in looking at microbes, cells, molecules, atoms. The world is a gorgeous place.
What brings darkness is people. So much hate, greed, awful intrigues, all over the place. Look at the U.S. today, it's the epicenter. Everybody could be so happy. But no, hate because somebody wants to raise taxes. Or wears a gun. Or "wants to take away your 2nd amendment". Or is a misogynist. All covered over with a culture that expects everybody to find everything amazing, wonderful, best country in the world, or hate, cancel, exclude.
There is nothing inherently unhappy about nihilism or what Nietzsche wrote about. Personally, going into existentialism/nihilism has felt freeing since I do not feel obligated to follow societies view on what happiness is or how I'm supposed to have fun or that I have to share a common set of morals. TL;DR "The universe certainly doesn't give a shit, so why not have a bit of fun before it's over?"