This is one of those interesting galvanizing points where different people's POVs are fascinating to me. To abuse your metaphor a bit... I get the sense that

This is one of those interesting galvanizing points where different people's POVs are fascinating to me. To abuse your metaphor a bit... I get the sense that some people see the "nihilist pit" (or somesuch) as a dark scary thing (it is). Maybe they have gotten lost in it a little bit, did not like the experience, got out, and so advise everyone else to avoid it, too. Other people have spent more time in the pit, whether by choice or the lack of it, gone deep down, and found the bottom. And that can be a wonderful, freeing feeling, to get to the end of that hard journey. I guess for my own part, at the bottom of my pit, I found that there is something to stand on down there. It was an absolute relief to find, life-affirming, and has helped me ever since. YMMV of course (: Different people are different.