3 ms·

But what's the poooiint..

by Jasamba 10y ago

cortesoft 10y ago
What would be a satisfying point to you? Can you describe an imaginary universe/reality that DOES have meaning, by your definition?
- Jasamba 10y ago
  The point is that I am an unwilling participant in an evolutionary unfolding of life that I could not even make sense of until Mr. Darwin figured it out. Isn't it absurd that you are a critical thinking being, thrown onto a random planet with a certain set of initial conditions and limited knowledge collected by a few generations before you? And being aware of this, we go around like it's no big deal, buy our starbucks coffee and go on to complain about the tax rates and suicidal muslims.
  - nosuchthing 10y ago
    It's not absurd, I enjoy existing over not existing. If you want to leave, you're free to go.
  - cortesoft 10y ago
    What makes is absurd? The planet isn't random, it is one that can sustain life in our form. That we don't know everything about our existence, that we have to piece it together as best we can, and share our findings with the next generation, is all very exciting and amazing and awesome to me. I guess I am just the type of person who loves open world games :) Also, it makes me get less upset when I see shitty things in the world - the fact that life that is just evolving to survive can get our shit together as well as humanity has, is frankly pretty amazing and impressive.
    - Jasamba 10y ago
      I agree with you and you are right, the world games are amazing and fun, but how many of us are aware that these are just games? And what happens when one ties their human worth to 'winning' these said games in succession (cause obv one is never enough). I wish we could just take this time for what it is, a gift of time, as a commentor pointed out. I guess I've just been running into too many people desperately running to 'get ahead', 'prove themselves', 'gain respect and admiration', that they become blind to the fragile and fleeting nature of it all.
      - cortesoft 10y ago
        There is nothing inherent in our existence that makes us need to do those things (tie your human worth to 'winning', 'getting ahead', or 'proving yourself', etc), and the best part is that whether you define yourself by those things or not is completely up to you. You don't need to change anyone else in order to not do those things yourself; when you say 'I wish we could just take this time for what it is, a gift of time,' you can totally do that! There is nothing stopping you - you don't need to convince anyone else of that in order to live it yourself. You lament that you run into so many people who care about those things, and they are blind to the fragile and fleeting nature of it all, but I am unsure why that is such a horrible thing. Everyone is going to choose their own meaning for their lives, and sure, some will choose things that I don't understand and I don't think are important. But that is their life, and them choosing to care about those things doesn't change your life. You are not bound by their preferences. In fact, I think it is great that all different people have such varied opinions on what is important. I get to observe them all, and see what life would be like under various scenarios. The human existence is so amazing because we all get to lead our own separate little 'experiments' in how we should live our lives (what we should do, what we should care about), and then we can share with each other what we have learned while trying these things. Some of the experiments will be utter failures, and some will be successes. We can learn from them all.
ZenoArrow 10y ago
The point is to enjoy it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Here are a couple of my favourite songs that I think put it well: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMoRVrqx_I https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMoRVrqx_I http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z46va http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z46va Here's one of my favourite stories about the same thing: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/25/margaret-mead-meaning-of-life/ https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/25/margaret-mead-meani... Sometimes it can be fun/stimulating to consider the nature of existence, but if it isn't taking you to that place, why do it? I half remember a story about a famous mathematician who drove himself mad trying to solve a problem regarding infinities, to me this is a great example of the difference between intellect and wisdom. If you're driven to understand something, I'd suggest that tells you something that's interesting in its own right, so to turn it back on you, why do you want to know?
- Jasamba 10y ago
  Thanks for the links! I guess I'd like to know because without it, there's not much else I can do except wake up/eat/take s shit/go back to sleep. We are even able to have this conversation because someone somewhere wanted to go deeper and know more. About mathematicians, as a physicist, I'm no better myself and don't see why the possibility of going crazy should stop you from going after a problem you think you just need to know and are uniquely equipped to find the answer to, especially if you happen to be a famous(so probably a very talented) mathematician.
  - ZenoArrow 10y ago
    You're welcome. :-) Thank you for your answer, I think I understand your reasoning a little better. With the example of the mathematician, you can read it a number of different ways, but one of the things I took from it was the difference between a healthy curiosity and an unhealthy curiosity. It sounds to me that you have a healthy curiosity, and enjoy the mental stimulation of exploring the big questions. As long as it remains something you enjoy and you're still open to enjoying other things then you can't really go wrong. If you'd like to find kindred spirits that also enjoy thinking about the big questions, you can find plenty in the world of philosophy. I can recommend The School of Life as an enjoyable way to explore philosophy. As some examples, here are a couple of my favourites from TSoL: http://youtu.be/fI1OeMmwYjU http://youtu.be/fI1OeMmwYjU http://youtu.be/WLAtXWaz76o http://youtu.be/WLAtXWaz76o Learning can be done for your own enjoyment, but what I would suggest is the mindset that many of us used to get us through school isn't likely to help with that. I think this video puts it well: http://youtu.be/ERbvKrH-GC4 http://youtu.be/ERbvKrH-GC4 Related to this, here's a discussion about deschooling you may find interesting: http://youtu.be/Avd1EgAHnD8 http://youtu.be/Avd1EgAHnD8 One last thing... http://youtu.be/KgzQuE1pR1w http://youtu.be/KgzQuE1pR1w Best of luck!
ominous 10y ago
There is no point, no "for" reason. Only a "because" reason. Because you were given time. You are here because you were given time. Don't look for a point. Look for uses for time.
- Jasamba 10y ago
  I like the concept that I have been given 'time' to act as I please. But am I acting as I please, because for the most part I am reacting to an ensemble of random events.

But what's the poooiint..

by Jasamba 10y ago

But what's the poooiint..

What would be a satisfying point to you? Can you describe an imaginary universe/reality that DOES have meaning, by your definition?

Jasamba 10y ago
The point is that I am an unwilling participant in an evolutionary unfolding of life that I could not even make sense of until Mr. Darwin figured it out. Isn't it absurd that you are a critical thinking being, thrown onto a random planet with a certain set of initial conditions and limited knowledge collected by a few generations before you? And being aware of this, we go around like it's no big deal, buy our starbucks coffee and go on to complain about the tax rates and suicidal muslims.
- nosuchthing 10y ago
  It's not absurd, I enjoy existing over not existing. If you want to leave, you're free to go.
- cortesoft 10y ago
  What makes is absurd? The planet isn't random, it is one that can sustain life in our form. That we don't know everything about our existence, that we have to piece it together as best we can, and share our findings with the next generation, is all very exciting and amazing and awesome to me. I guess I am just the type of person who loves open world games :) Also, it makes me get less upset when I see shitty things in the world - the fact that life that is just evolving to survive can get our shit together as well as humanity has, is frankly pretty amazing and impressive.
  - Jasamba 10y ago
    I agree with you and you are right, the world games are amazing and fun, but how many of us are aware that these are just games? And what happens when one ties their human worth to 'winning' these said games in succession (cause obv one is never enough). I wish we could just take this time for what it is, a gift of time, as a commentor pointed out. I guess I've just been running into too many people desperately running to 'get ahead', 'prove themselves', 'gain respect and admiration', that they become blind to the fragile and fleeting nature of it all.
    - cortesoft 10y ago
      There is nothing inherent in our existence that makes us need to do those things (tie your human worth to 'winning', 'getting ahead', or 'proving yourself', etc), and the best part is that whether you define yourself by those things or not is completely up to you. You don't need to change anyone else in order to not do those things yourself; when you say 'I wish we could just take this time for what it is, a gift of time,' you can totally do that! There is nothing stopping you - you don't need to convince anyone else of that in order to live it yourself. You lament that you run into so many people who care about those things, and they are blind to the fragile and fleeting nature of it all, but I am unsure why that is such a horrible thing. Everyone is going to choose their own meaning for their lives, and sure, some will choose things that I don't understand and I don't think are important. But that is their life, and them choosing to care about those things doesn't change your life. You are not bound by their preferences. In fact, I think it is great that all different people have such varied opinions on what is important. I get to observe them all, and see what life would be like under various scenarios. The human existence is so amazing because we all get to lead our own separate little 'experiments' in how we should live our lives (what we should do, what we should care about), and then we can share with each other what we have learned while trying these things. Some of the experiments will be utter failures, and some will be successes. We can learn from them all.

ZenoArrow 10y ago

The point is to enjoy it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Here are a couple of my favourite songs that I think put it well: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMoRVrqx_I https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMoRVrqx_I http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z46va http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z46va Here's one of my favourite stories about the same thing: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/25/margaret-mead-meaning-of-life/ https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/25/margaret-mead-meani... Sometimes it can be fun/stimulating to consider the nature of existence, but if it isn't taking you to that place, why do it? I half remember a story about a famous mathematician who drove himself mad trying to solve a problem regarding infinities, to me this is a great example of the difference between intellect and wisdom. If you're driven to understand something, I'd suggest that tells you something that's interesting in its own right, so to turn it back on you, why do you want to know?

Jasamba 10y ago
Thanks for the links! I guess I'd like to know because without it, there's not much else I can do except wake up/eat/take s shit/go back to sleep. We are even able to have this conversation because someone somewhere wanted to go deeper and know more. About mathematicians, as a physicist, I'm no better myself and don't see why the possibility of going crazy should stop you from going after a problem you think you just need to know and are uniquely equipped to find the answer to, especially if you happen to be a famous(so probably a very talented) mathematician.
- ZenoArrow 10y ago
  You're welcome. :-) Thank you for your answer, I think I understand your reasoning a little better. With the example of the mathematician, you can read it a number of different ways, but one of the things I took from it was the difference between a healthy curiosity and an unhealthy curiosity. It sounds to me that you have a healthy curiosity, and enjoy the mental stimulation of exploring the big questions. As long as it remains something you enjoy and you're still open to enjoying other things then you can't really go wrong. If you'd like to find kindred spirits that also enjoy thinking about the big questions, you can find plenty in the world of philosophy. I can recommend The School of Life as an enjoyable way to explore philosophy. As some examples, here are a couple of my favourites from TSoL: http://youtu.be/fI1OeMmwYjU http://youtu.be/fI1OeMmwYjU http://youtu.be/WLAtXWaz76o http://youtu.be/WLAtXWaz76o Learning can be done for your own enjoyment, but what I would suggest is the mindset that many of us used to get us through school isn't likely to help with that. I think this video puts it well: http://youtu.be/ERbvKrH-GC4 http://youtu.be/ERbvKrH-GC4 Related to this, here's a discussion about deschooling you may find interesting: http://youtu.be/Avd1EgAHnD8 http://youtu.be/Avd1EgAHnD8 One last thing... http://youtu.be/KgzQuE1pR1w http://youtu.be/KgzQuE1pR1w Best of luck!

ominous 10y ago

There is no point, no "for" reason. Only a "because" reason. Because you were given time. You are here because you were given time. Don't look for a point. Look for uses for time.

Jasamba 10y ago
I like the concept that I have been given 'time' to act as I please. But am I acting as I please, because for the most part I am reacting to an ensemble of random events.