What is life? (page 4)

Xanthippe

Hi Punk, I drove home from work really tired this evening and that always makes me feel down but then I saw lots of Christmas lights in a little village. It was so pretty, trees full of lights and even reindeer shapes picked out in lights. It lifted my spirits. Ordinary people living their little lives, being as happy as they can.

Somebody at work today who is suffering from depression thanked me for being kind to her last week which meant a lot to me.

I enjoy food, wine, mountains, blue skies, stars, friends, movies, art, music and travel.

I don't know what the hell it's all about Punk but we live in a huge universe and when people say we understand it all I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Don't give up, keep an open mind. Your brain won't fall out, it may just get happier.

slimboyfat

Punkofnice a few years ago I could have written your opening post.

Now I am deeply sceptical about the idea that life is just accidental or that there is no afterlife.

I don't know how but I think there is a direction behind existence. And I doubt we are destined for oblivion, although sometimes that may feel appealing.

One thought I've had for a while is the idea that maybe humans are destined to create ourselves. Since time may not always have existed (a contradictory statement - I don't know how to put it). Or since there may be conditions under which there is no such thing as time. Or time may be a way of looking at things rather than an objective reality.

Anyway since time isn't necessarily the immutable stream we sometimes thought it might be. And since human technology becomes ever more advanced. Might technology and human/artificial intelligence reach a stage where humans can create life, conscious beings, worlds, a universe? If that is possible then maybe we will do so. And if we do so, maybe we have done so, and if we have done so, maybe we are such. Only if time is a linear stream is the idea that we created ourselves necessarily ridiculous. In some ways I think it's the only answer that makes sense. But then again my scepticism kicks in. I'm only suggesting an idea no firm conclusion.

As regards afterlife. If consciousness results purely from the material stuff we are made from, then essentially we consist of information that can be retrieved at some point. If there is an almighty being this should be no trouble for him. If there is no almighty being, but humans become almighty (or some decendent species or conscious being) in the future then he or they would be able to retreive the consciousness and inner life of those who existed. I don't see how this would be a problem. It's a matter of will.

If on the other hand consciousness is more than simply an epiphenomenon of our material bodies then this may suggest that reality consists of more than purely the material. I suspect this may be the case actually. Probably because materialism is such a dominant orthodoxy in the period we live in, makes me suspect all the more that there is something deeply wrong with it. Materialism cannot be proven in philosophical or logical terms, which makes the insistence from certain atheists that we must accept it anyway all the more suspect.

Anyone who thinks materialism is a straighforward, and should be taken for granted way of looking at the world, I would recommend to read Mind and Cosmos by Thomas Nagel. The materialist worldview has a comforting sort of nihilistic certainly about it, which blinds many, who perceive themselves to be warriors fighting irrationality, to its many shortcomings.

deegee

"Always Look on the bright side of Life"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep9Vzb6R_58

from Monty Python's parody: "Life of Brian":-

"Some things in life are bad they can really make you mad

Other things just make you swear and curse

When you're chewin' on life's gristle, don't grumble give a whistle

And this'll help things turn out for the best

And....always look on the bright side of life (Whistle)

Always look on the light side of life (Whistle)

If life seems jolly rotten there's something you've forgotten

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing

When you're feeling in the dumps don't be silly chumps

Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing

And always look on the bright side of life (Whistle)

Come on

Always look on the bright side of life (Whistle)

For life is quite absurd

And death's the final word

You must always face the curtain with a bow

Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin

Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.

So always look on the bright side of death...

(Whistle)

Just before you draw your terminal breath...

(Whistle)

Life's a piece of shit, when you look at it

Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true

You'll see its all a show, keep 'em laughin as you go

Just remember that the last laugh is on you

And......

Always look on the bright side of life......(Whistle)

Always look on the right side

of life......(Whistle)

C'mon guys, cheer up

Always look on the bright side

of life......(Whistle)

Always look on the bright side

of life......(Whistle)

Worse things happen at sea you know.

I mean - what have you got to lose?

You know, you come from nothing - you're going back to nothing.

What have you lost? Nothing;

Always look on the right side of life......(Whistle)

What have you got to lose?

You know, you come from nothing - you're going back to nothing.

What have you lost?

Nothing!

Always look on the right side of life......

Nothing will come from nothing ya know what they say?

Cheer up ya old bugga c'mon give us a grin!

There ya go, see!

Always look on the right side of life.....

Cheer up ya old bugga c'mon give us a grin!

There ya go, see! "

prologos

SBF: "--Since time may not always have existed (a contradictory statement - I don't know how to put it). Or since there may be conditions under which there is no such thing as time. Or time may be a way of looking at things rather than an objective reality.

Anyway since time isn't necessarily the immutable stream we sometimes thought it might be.

Time is not a stream but a dimension through which you might move. (depending on your speed, acceleration) Life has to move through time, because it can not exist at the speed of light, or in a black hole, where movement through time ceases. Movement through time made evolution our emergence possible. Life is moving through time past our death to sharpen the human race. It is not called a race for nothing, the race through time.

DATA-DOG

anointed1

Interestingly, the writer of Hebrews had a clear understanding of life and what happens after life. For him it was like children coming out from their house on to play-ground, and returning to house from where they came. (Hebrew 11:13-16) Such a simple view of life was clouded by complicated teaching of grace or undeserved kindness through faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus (which is again meaningless as it is linked to some ancient myth borrowed from other cultures).

punkofnice

flipper - Thanks for the kind words. I would like to keep away from the vampires that wear me down, unfortunately I have other family members that do just that, I can't escape them.

prolog - I await a big bang that showers me with goodness.

searcher - I'd like to believe there's more but cannot see it.

baker - ?

cofty - Thanks. she's a good lass,

punkofnice

xan - Well done on making someone happier. I was told that I am very kind, it made my day.

sbf - thank you for taking the time to explain that. I shall keep that book in mind. I believe the Doctor said that time is 'Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.'

degree - Gotta love the pythons

prolog - Will Jehovah(tm) speed it up in his own time? Ho Ho Ho. (Inserts cheeky smiley face emoji)

Data - A still from a film?

anointed1 - We are all children out to play. Some are bullies in the playground, some are not.

anointed1

punkofnice

It is true that some choose to be bullies. For example, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor—that was their choice, but they could not have chosen its results which were in the hands of US, and US made them reap the consequences, and Japan learned the lesson, and stopped attacking other nations altogether. This is how the play goes. Suppose Japan did not learn the lesson! They will be forced to learn the lesson by some other means sooner or later. It may be same with individuals also.

punkofnice

anointed1 - The whole of human society seems a bit warped to me. I think socially we've gone totally the wrong way. It's a joke. Politics is a joke. Religion is a joke. It's all a killing joke.

I think I feel the way that some of the characters in the Watchmen felt, Rorschach and the Comedian.

What is life?

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