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An insufficiently deep introspection by a capricious and mercurial 20-something.

Started by Freeky, November 02, 2012, 08:20:59 PM

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Mistre

Uber Supreme Poobah of Pope-Groping™

He who acknowledges his own inability to answer a question is wise, he who does not seek one is stupid.

Kai

Quote from: Richter, Baron von on November 02, 2012, 10:49:29 PM

If we look at the  universe as devoid of gods, spirits, morality or higher purpose, just a cold wiff of spinning complications of hydrogen, then what is there to move ourselves by?  It's a lonely view.
My only cure thusfar has been momentum and focus.  I have Science!, and will carry it out as long as I can.  I will observe and learn and poke,  I will endure in this pursuit as long as I can, until my perspective is extinguished.  If there is more, then looking for it is worthier than just winking out in despair.  If there was nothing there anyways, well then it's still the better for having explored it.

Is it weird that I've started thinking of the bolded question as really odd and nonsensical?
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

Lord Cataplanga

Quote from: ZL 'Kai' Burington, M.S. on November 05, 2012, 01:33:21 AM
Quote from: Richter, Baron von on November 02, 2012, 10:49:29 PM

If we look at the  universe as devoid of gods, spirits, morality or higher purpose, just a cold wiff of spinning complications of hydrogen, then what is there to move ourselves by?  It's a lonely view.
My only cure thusfar has been momentum and focus.  I have Science!, and will carry it out as long as I can.  I will observe and learn and poke,  I will endure in this pursuit as long as I can, until my perspective is extinguished.  If there is more, then looking for it is worthier than just winking out in despair.  If there was nothing there anyways, well then it's still the better for having explored it.

Is it weird that I've started thinking of the bolded question as really odd and nonsensical?

It is an odd question. I used to have that question stuck in my brain in a shelf full of "cold case" philosophical questions.
I have since completely forgotten why I even asked that question.
I ought to throw away the whole thing, as the shelf is blocking one of the doors of my prison cell.

Elder Iptuous

Quote from: ZL 'Kai' Burington, M.S. on November 05, 2012, 01:33:21 AM
Quote from: Richter, Baron von on November 02, 2012, 10:49:29 PM

If we look at the  universe as devoid of gods, spirits, morality or higher purpose, just a cold wiff of spinning complications of hydrogen, then what is there to move ourselves by?  It's a lonely view.
My only cure thusfar has been momentum and focus.  I have Science!, and will carry it out as long as I can.  I will observe and learn and poke,  I will endure in this pursuit as long as I can, until my perspective is extinguished.  If there is more, then looking for it is worthier than just winking out in despair.  If there was nothing there anyways, well then it's still the better for having explored it.

Is it weird that I've started thinking of the bolded question as really odd and nonsensical?

nope... it seems odd and nonsensical to me as well. however, i think i understand how it naturally arises.
without the universal constant to orient ones self by, if not a bedrock to latch onto or push off of, the feeling of treading water seems almost inevitable.  all creatures have a limit when treading water where they simply fall to despair and stop swimming.  in the case at hand, i believe we naturally invent the needed Terra Firma, and what a feeling of salvation that must be!

Placid Dingo

I'm sure its just another false dichotomy, but I've been developing a sense that people are expected to go two ways, nihilism or religion. Nihilism embraces the meaninglessness of life (sometimes wearing mascara like emo, and sometimes dressed in sequins drinking into oblivion like Kesha). Religion embraces the Great Truth, whether thats God, The Political System that will save us all or The Cause.

This ties in directly to where I see Discordia; rejecting both absolutes, building castles out of the sand of nihilism, making and embracing beautiful things, but never forgetting its all just sand and ocean, and not embracing our own illusions to the point of being surprised when a gentle wave melts them away.
Haven't paid rent since 2014 with ONE WEIRD TRICK.

Dalek

I have a few theories about meaning and I'm still a bit lost between them.

Theory one: Human beings, with their free will introduce negative entropy into the Universe by inputting chaos (viewing the universe as a system, where everything is cause and effect, our free will, being free can be perceived as random information). So in a way, I think it might be possible that life is the Universe's solution to entropy. I'm not really sure on the physics on this one, so if anyone has a better understanding, feel free to correct me

Theory two: I had a shroom trip that consisted of a three-hour long loop, where I would try to figure out what the meaning of existence was, reach a conclusion, then deny it as too simple and start all over again. After the first hour I felt like the thought was stuck in my head forever as it was as if every minuted, the process repeated hundreds of times. This made me really think about searching for meaning, as  it seemed as the error was even posing the question and making the error of searching for it. It reminds me of the retarded christian argument that since clocks are made by people who make clocks, the universe should have a creator, since everything is made by someone. The same way we conclude that life must have a meaning, since we're used to shit having a meaning, but this is an example of inductive reasoning (if you haven't seen any white horses it doesn't mean that white horses are non-existent).

Now that I saw the comics, posted in the comments, I think that it best describes my current approach to life's meaning. If anything I'm pretty certain there is no right way to do it, just a huge selection of options that are fun to play around with.

A nice read on the topic is Shroedinger's "What is life?". I haven't still finished it, but it looks reaally promising : ]

Freeky

I don't know where this nihilism thing came from.  It's kind of off putting, I didn't say everything in life is meaningless, I said up until recently I've been a tube face that did nothing worthy of note.

The Good Reverend Roger

Here's why, Freeky:

Quote from: Dalek on November 08, 2012, 07:11:51 PM
I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip


Never listen to fucking burnouts when you need help in the head department.  They're all idiots.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Freeky

Quote from: Mitt Romney's Favorite Wife on November 09, 2012, 04:59:32 PM
Here's why, Freeky:

Quote from: Dalek on November 08, 2012, 07:11:51 PM
I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip
Never listen to fucking burnouts when you need help in the head department.  They're all idiots.

It isn't just dalek, though.


Anyway, here's a few more thoughts.

Good times are good, and trying to fit everything I like into a good moment ruins the moment. 

LMNO

Exactly. For example, trying to mix oral sex with whiskey tends to sting.

Freeky


LMNO

Yeah.  You can do one, you can do the other, but I wouldn't suggest using anyone's orifice as a drinking glass.



Even if they do call it a "snifter".

Freeky

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on November 09, 2012, 06:57:01 PM
Yeah.  You can do one, you can do the other, but I wouldn't suggest using anyone's orifice as a drinking glass.



Even if they do call it a "snifter".
:lulz:

Dalek

Quote from: Mitt Romney's Favorite Wife on November 09, 2012, 04:59:32 PM
Here's why, Freeky:

Quote from: Dalek on November 08, 2012, 07:11:51 PM
I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip


Never listen to fucking burnouts when you need help in the head department.  They're all idiots.

Good job, making conclusions based on a single fucking sentence of my post :mind ray:

The Good Reverend Roger

Quote from: Dalek on November 12, 2012, 04:50:18 PM
Quote from: Mitt Romney's Favorite Wife on November 09, 2012, 04:59:32 PM
Here's why, Freeky:

Quote from: Dalek on November 08, 2012, 07:11:51 PM
I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip

I had a shroom trip


Never listen to fucking burnouts when you need help in the head department.  They're all idiots.

Good job, making conclusions based on a single fucking sentence of my post :mind ray:

Well, it sort of makes everything else suspect, you know?
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.