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I think I'm cool with that. There is no meaning to any of this chaos, but I make an effort to make my life feel meaningful, and that's all that matters. Like cl

by NL807 5y ago

I think I'm cool with that. There is no meaning to any of this chaos, but I make an effort to make my life feel meaningful, and that's all that matters. Like clay, on its own has no purpose, but you can fashion it into bricks and build something with it.

bitexploder 5y ago
Though we know of the universe and it’s vastness, now, the thing that keeps me grounded is that we exist in a framework. The framework of the planet, of our evolution, of our exact position in space and time, etc. it all surrounds us. It is a great cosmic accident, or triumph if you want to be glass half full, that we exist. It seems a shame to not fully explore this framework of ours and understand as much as we can. I know I am just making up my own meaning, but I like to juxtapose the realness of discovery, knowledge, the human experience with the vastness of the cosmos. We are infinitesimal blips in the cosmos, yet for us it is everything. I think deep inside of me is an insatiable curiosity about everything and that drives me and keeps the existential crisis at bay because… there isn’t really one. It’s just us here on earth and we are enough. This isn’t a rigorous philosophical statement or way of approaching the world, but it works for me. (I have read a lot of philosophy and even dabbled in formal philosophy to try and make sense of everything, but I keep pulling up to simpler concepts to rationalize it all)
all2 5y ago
Chaos is an interesting word to use. Underneath all the chaos is so much order. Dare I say the universe is mechanistic in its working. The earth orbits in an orderly fashion, set at a distance from the sun that is just right to sustain life. The moon makes its transit, and with us all the planets here move in their own ordered fashion. Or I suppose we could go smaller. Your body moves and goes, replicating one of the most complex forms of machine code known to man. That replication is paired with voltage gradients across groups of cells that determine macro organization of cellular structures.. The human body is self replicating, self correcting, and even keeps itself clean. You see chaos, I see order (and I admit the order is becoming more chaotic). But that you recognize the chaos gives light to the fact that you desire order. And there is order to be seen if you look for it.
- rendall 5y ago
  I'm starting to see that chaos and entropy are metaphors that we who have experienced existential despair are using to describe something else that may not be clear to those who have not. Not sure, but people keep getting distracted by those terms, but it seems to be missing the point. Upstream post may well have said there is no meaning to all this order. Paying attention to the underlying order doesn't address the lack of meaning which is the essential part of the statement. There is no meaning to all this... *gestures vaguely around* might get at it better
  - all2 5y ago
    > there is no meaning to all this order This resonates (for lack of a better term) with me so much. I recommend reading the book of Ecclesiastes. The author's frequent refrain is "'Vanity of vanities', says the Preacher, 'all is vanity.'" You're right, chaos is a useless word. I've often tried to describe it as emptiness or worthlessness or a lack of intrinsic (self-contained) value. That is the efforts of my life are motes of dust in the history of the universe. The affect I have is empty, gone, "dust in the wind" as one artist puts it. I guess looking at a well organized array of widgets does not exude meaning. Those, too, are meaningless without context. I mentioned in another comment that the universe itself does not contain the context into which it was created and that context -- I believe -- is where the true meaning and value of everything arises. A tool is useless without the mechanic to use it. Clay is formless, void (meaningless) without a craftsman to shape it, fire it, and put it to use.
- NL807 5y ago
  There are emergent relationships from a system that is indeed chaotic, but ultimately this is all subject to entropy. Everything is converging towards maximum diffusion.

by NL807 5y ago

bitexploder 5y ago

Though we know of the universe and it’s vastness, now, the thing that keeps me grounded is that we exist in a framework. The framework of the planet, of our evolution, of our exact position in space and time, etc. it all surrounds us. It is a great cosmic accident, or triumph if you want to be glass half full, that we exist. It seems a shame to not fully explore this framework of ours and understand as much as we can. I know I am just making up my own meaning, but I like to juxtapose the realness of discovery, knowledge, the human experience with the vastness of the cosmos. We are infinitesimal blips in the cosmos, yet for us it is everything. I think deep inside of me is an insatiable curiosity about everything and that drives me and keeps the existential crisis at bay because… there isn’t really one. It’s just us here on earth and we are enough. This isn’t a rigorous philosophical statement or way of approaching the world, but it works for me. (I have read a lot of philosophy and even dabbled in formal philosophy to try and make sense of everything, but I keep pulling up to simpler concepts to rationalize it all)

all2 5y ago

Chaos is an interesting word to use. Underneath all the chaos is so much order. Dare I say the universe is mechanistic in its working. The earth orbits in an orderly fashion, set at a distance from the sun that is just right to sustain life. The moon makes its transit, and with us all the planets here move in their own ordered fashion. Or I suppose we could go smaller. Your body moves and goes, replicating one of the most complex forms of machine code known to man. That replication is paired with voltage gradients across groups of cells that determine macro organization of cellular structures.. The human body is self replicating, self correcting, and even keeps itself clean. You see chaos, I see order (and I admit the order is becoming more chaotic). But that you recognize the chaos gives light to the fact that you desire order. And there is order to be seen if you look for it.

rendall 5y ago
I'm starting to see that chaos and entropy are metaphors that we who have experienced existential despair are using to describe something else that may not be clear to those who have not. Not sure, but people keep getting distracted by those terms, but it seems to be missing the point. Upstream post may well have said there is no meaning to all this order. Paying attention to the underlying order doesn't address the lack of meaning which is the essential part of the statement. There is no meaning to all this... *gestures vaguely around* might get at it better
- all2 5y ago
  > there is no meaning to all this order This resonates (for lack of a better term) with me so much. I recommend reading the book of Ecclesiastes. The author's frequent refrain is "'Vanity of vanities', says the Preacher, 'all is vanity.'" You're right, chaos is a useless word. I've often tried to describe it as emptiness or worthlessness or a lack of intrinsic (self-contained) value. That is the efforts of my life are motes of dust in the history of the universe. The affect I have is empty, gone, "dust in the wind" as one artist puts it. I guess looking at a well organized array of widgets does not exude meaning. Those, too, are meaningless without context. I mentioned in another comment that the universe itself does not contain the context into which it was created and that context -- I believe -- is where the true meaning and value of everything arises. A tool is useless without the mechanic to use it. Clay is formless, void (meaningless) without a craftsman to shape it, fire it, and put it to use.
NL807 5y ago
There are emergent relationships from a system that is indeed chaotic, but ultimately this is all subject to entropy. Everything is converging towards maximum diffusion.