FortyTwo
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There is no point to life. Anyone who says otherwise is either way too optimistic or religious (or maybe both).
This fact is not a bad thing.
This fact is not a bad thing.
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yally
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I definitely wouldn't want to encourage that kind of thinking.
It's striking a balance between not dismissing women because OMG GRUMPY WOMENS ON PERIODS and not dismissing women who suffer a lot mentally and physically on a monthly basis.
I should probably not extrapolate from my own experiences though. I just kind of wanted to discuss this.
Sorry, can't think straight, on the blob
ledboots
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In Buddhism, the point of life is to avoid suffering among other things, I guess. I'm no scholar.
But what this guy says, makes sense to me:
---- ------ ----- ---
"In Buddhism, the primary purpose of life is to end suffering. The Buddha taught that humans suffer because we continually strive after things that do not give lasting happiness. We desperately try to hold on to things - friends, health, material things - that do not last, and this causes sorrow.
The Buddha did not deny that there are things in life that give joy, but pointed out that none of them last and our attachment to them only causes more suffering. His teachings were focused entirely on this problem and its solution.
This is done by recognizing the impermanence of all things and freeing oneself from attachment to these things. This will lessen suffering and eventually end the cycle of rebirth. These teachings are expressed most concisely in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which together form the foundation of belief for all branches of Buddhism." http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/beliefs/purpose.htm
But what this guy says, makes sense to me:
---- ------ ----- ---
"In Buddhism, the primary purpose of life is to end suffering. The Buddha taught that humans suffer because we continually strive after things that do not give lasting happiness. We desperately try to hold on to things - friends, health, material things - that do not last, and this causes sorrow.
The Buddha did not deny that there are things in life that give joy, but pointed out that none of them last and our attachment to them only causes more suffering. His teachings were focused entirely on this problem and its solution.
This is done by recognizing the impermanence of all things and freeing oneself from attachment to these things. This will lessen suffering and eventually end the cycle of rebirth. These teachings are expressed most concisely in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which together form the foundation of belief for all branches of Buddhism." http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/beliefs/purpose.htm
Blobbenstein
.......
In a similar vein, I like knowing(/believing) that when I die I will just cease to exist. Sounds so.... relaxing.
Freesia
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Agree. We cant know anything about this existence for sure. What we humans know with our tiny brains is the tip of the iceberg.
Muggle
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Freesia
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I always felt that my life had a point, and that point is to have fun. But everyone has a different "point" to their lives. For some it is about service, for others it is about changing things for the better, and for others it is about exploration, or learning. For some it is about having children. Or working with animals. Or creating art or music. Or tidying things up.
FortyTwo
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But now, see, while all these things are definitely good goals to personally strive for, they are not the point of life. That would imply some kind of purpose that we were created with the intention of working towards.
Oddly enough, I believe in predestination, though of course not of a kind in which a being consciously decides the course our lives are to take. No, it's much different than that. From the moment proto-hydrogen was set in motion it's been going down a steady stream that was always "destined" to result in the Universe we know today. Everything we do is neurologically programmed into us, and by extension any interactions we have with others and our own reactions to them were going to happen from the very start. It's a bit hard to communicate this idea, but I see no other alternative for how the Universe works.
This, of course, does not mean that there was any intention in creating the Universe, or that we are more "valuable" in some way than the particles floating around aimlessly right now in the Horsehead Nebula and whatnot. This applies to everything.
Oddly enough, I believe in predestination, though of course not of a kind in which a being consciously decides the course our lives are to take. No, it's much different than that. From the moment proto-hydrogen was set in motion it's been going down a steady stream that was always "destined" to result in the Universe we know today. Everything we do is neurologically programmed into us, and by extension any interactions we have with others and our own reactions to them were going to happen from the very start. It's a bit hard to communicate this idea, but I see no other alternative for how the Universe works.
This, of course, does not mean that there was any intention in creating the Universe, or that we are more "valuable" in some way than the particles floating around aimlessly right now in the Horsehead Nebula and whatnot. This applies to everything.
Blobbenstein
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Blobbenstein
.......
it's a difficult idea to break out of, but I could suggest that the paradigm of cause and effect maybe only part of the story of reality....
eta: or maybe not.....
eta: or maybe not.....
Blobbenstein
.......
I suppose the cause and effect view is ok, the chronologic order of things may be irrelevant though, but if reality has always been, then there was never a starting point(I don't just mean this universe)....if there was never a starting point, then the whole system is open....so you can't work out any deterministic certainties.
or what ever.....but it is important to try to see beyond the paradigm of a mechanical reality...
or what ever.....but it is important to try to see beyond the paradigm of a mechanical reality...
FortyTwo
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Why, though? Unless you assume a multiverse.
Cause and effect do not truly exist. Neither does probability, because something is going to happen exactly the way it happens. If you reach into a bag with 3 red marbles and 3 green marbles and pull one out you do not have a 1/2 chance of pulling out either. You have a 100% chance of pulling out the one you put your fingers around.
Actually, I think that's a pretty good analogy for what I'm trying to get across.
Cause and effect do not truly exist. Neither does probability, because something is going to happen exactly the way it happens. If you reach into a bag with 3 red marbles and 3 green marbles and pull one out you do not have a 1/2 chance of pulling out either. You have a 100% chance of pulling out the one you put your fingers around.
Actually, I think that's a pretty good analogy for what I'm trying to get across.
cornsail
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Things seem to work probabilistically at the quantum level, though.
Blobbenstein
.......
we don't know, and may never scientifically know what even this universe is; its size, shape etc....and there may be no way to find out what else there would be...
Maybe there are other universes(many I suspect), maybe there are other forms, structures........we should try to remember that scientific models we build may be very limited compared to what actually is.....a bit like analogies that only stretch so far.
FortyTwo
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FortyTwo
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What I'm trying to say is, you sound like you're completely insane whenever you try to explain something even as simple as the standard model to someone.
"But you see, the quarks and leptons all come in flavors..."
"Flavors? Like raspberry?"
"No, it's just a random word that was assigned to them to separate them."
"Oh. Well what do these things look like?"
"Fuzzy space. Well, not really, no, you can't actually see them, but you can see what they did. And you can't actually tell where they are or how fast they're moving, only one or the other."
"If you can't see them, why is this one blue and that one red?"
"Oh, that's because of color charge. They're not actually colored that way, that's just what we call them."
"..."
"Oh, and they act differently when you're not looking at them."
cornsail
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Well yes, but I think that's all beside my point which was just that quantum behavior seems to be probabilistic. I think "probability does not exist" is too bold of a statement.
That's peculiar. You stated earlier that you believed in predestination, as in a deterministic universe? If so, cause and effect seem required for determinism, if not, I don't know what it means to be destiny (or determinism) mean.
Although, even in a predestined or deterministic universe, one can still talk about chance and probability. In other words, chance/probability are not mutually exclusive to a destiny or determinism.
