4 ms·
This an unpopular opinion If you just look around a little bit, you discover that the whole universe is alive There isn’t a single dead thing From that obser
by nico 3y ago
This an unpopular opinion
If you just look around a little bit, you discover that the whole universe is alive
There isn’t a single dead thing
From that observation you can realize that life is already everywhere
And just like energy, life is never created or destroyed, only transformed
- stubish 3y agoYes, when define 'life' that way, it is indeed everywhere. And a tautology.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> isn’t a single dead thing This is as profound as saying everything is dead matter. It’s poetic, but largely useless for gaining deeper understanding.
- nico 3y agoIt’s not about the depth, it’s about being conscious of it and acting on it We all “know” that our lives are completely dependent on, and intertwined with, our environment Yet, we mostly go about our days being oblivious to it, oblivious to our impact on the environment and its effect on us Why do you need to be dismissive instead of curious? Is there no value in exploring ideas? Or does someone just needs to be right?
- bowsamic 3y agoI don’t understand what you are referring to
- nico 3y agoWhat we call life is just a convenient definition for a normal daily life However, at the end of the day, it’s just an agreement There is no basic universal physical law that defines life If we allow ourselves to re-think the definition, or just do without We can create alternative models, think differently and discover new ideas
- bowsamic 3y agoI mean, you can say that about anything. Hegel took this to the extreme and said that reality itself cannot even be said to exist unless you use words to describe it, that before humans named water there was no water. However it’s not very useful to say, since by definition the undetermined unity contains nothing of interest unless it is split up into determinations
- nico 3y agoUseful for what? Seems like it’s pretty useful to make us think And you said quite a few very interesting things Why do you say the undetermined unity contain nothing of interest? Having a conscious experience of undetermined unity, can be a life changing event (as for example, reported by astronauts when going to space) Experience, and for that matter consciousness, doesn’t need thought But we kind of live in the intersection of both
- bowsamic 3y agoYou can’t have a conscious experience of the undetermined unity because it isn’t a thing. It contains nothing of interest because it’s totally indeterminate. It literally doesn’t exist, it’s like pure death. It’s just the starting point before consciousness and thought. The absolute is the state of maximum development away from this original undetermined point. Attempting to return to it is to try and reverse time If you understand German this video may help, else there are subtitles https://youtu.be/mh_KE4VwPDk?si=-zCwWSAIFdQi8nKe https://youtu.be/mh_KE4VwPDk?si=-zCwWSAIFdQi8nKe
- mock-possum 3y agoHow is a toaster alive How is the corpse of a loved one not a dead thing
- nico 3y agoA corpse is teeming with life It might not have the consciousness of your loved one, but the whole process from “death” to complete decomposition, is part of life and done by living things (animals, bacteria, plants, funghi, other microorganisms) Would you say your arm is alive? Is your foot alive? Your nails? And if they are not, then are you alive? You can’t just put together a bunch of dead things and call it life. Just like splitting loving things won’t make them dead (even if it ends our perception of that thing’s consciousness) Everything is completely intertwined with its environment
- mock-possum 3y agoHow is that not just equivocation on the meaning of the term ‘life’ though? Isn’t that like saying nothing is ‘cold’ because coldness doesn’t really exist, its just a lack of heat? When I say “this toaster is not alive” you know exactly what I mean. When I say “this corpse is dead” you know exactly what I mean. Why play word games about it?
- nico 3y agoBecause when you look at it closely, there isn’t a fine and clear line that defines life vs death Exploring these limits and definitions have had tremendous impact in at least the medical field It also has an impact on the way we see, understand and treat the world around us Questioning our basic assumptions and perspective is what leads to scientific insight and progress Would you prefer we never wonder about the definition or meaning of any words? Or only certain words?