Nihilism, a philosophical movement based on the belief that nothing really matters, is perhaps best known because of the work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It’s unclear how Loughner came to adopt the philosophy, but according to his friend, Bryce Tierney, Loughner believed that life had no meaning and that the world literally had no substance.
"By the time he was 19 or 20, he was really fascinated with semantics and how the world is really nothing – illusion," Tierney told Mother Jones.
He also liked the idea that words meant nothing, and reportedly asked Representative Giffords, “What is government if words have no meaning?" when he met her in 2007 at a Congress on Your Corner event, similar to the one Giffords held the day of the shooting.
