by logansrun 52 Replies latest jw friends
Bradley,
Let's imagine for a moment that you find the answer to your question. How does that answer benefit you or anyone else?
A better question might be "What should I do next?"
Gumby,
Have you ever read "The Blind Watchmaker"? You might find it interesting.
James Thomas,
I LOVE your fried chicken, Dude! ...I mean, Colonel, SIR!
Why not, Bradley? Either question is unanswerable, but interesting to think about.
James Thomas, I LOVE your fried chicken, Dude! ...I mean, Colonel, SIR!
Thank you Nathan. We look forward to your visits. Be careful though. It's been said that eating too much fried chicken can reduce the blood circulation to the brain. j
This question makes my brain hurt.
rem
James,
He who knows the Tao does not speak of it,
He who speaks of it does not know it.
I think I get your drift.
rem,
Yes, it's excruciating isn't it? It doesn't make any f*ck!ng sense that anything is here at all. Reality is weird, who's to say it is not even weirder than we can comprehend? Who's to say that there isn't some sort of God or Super Intelligence out there? That doesn't make any sense either but -- remember -- neither does our current view of existence. Just a thought.
Bradley
What is confusing are the two sides of life we see. We see in the animal world.....a mother protecting and raising it's young just like a loving mother would do...............then we go to the wild animal kingdom and see a pack of wolves chasing down a deer and eating it alive. These two differences I do not understand.
That's because you're thinking of them as differences. They're not. They're different aspects of the same basic drive, the drive to survive; not of the individual organism but of its genes. All animal and plant behaviour (and most human behaviour) can be interpreted in this way.
"Why?"
The eternal question...
God or no god, why is there something rather than nothing?
Because there is. Why? To enable you to ask the question is as close to right as any other answer. And just as wrong. Your first mistake is assuming there is a reason. Presuppositionalism is no way to figure out anything.
Why do elements have properties?
Because they are made of different quantities and/or arrangements of particles and these same things give rise to what we call properties. Of course, if you're drilling down to a 'deeper' why, again, you're assuming there is one.
Why does consciousness exist?
Unknown. Either a feature of the scale of our brain (i.e. add enough connections and consciousness is a by-product), or the ability to be self-aware and sentient was an evolutionary advantage? If you mean the 'deeper' why, again, you are making the same mistake as every caveman that flinched at lightning did, all over again.
These are questions that I think about almost every day.
Have more sex, smoke more pot. The answers to those questions will have near to zero impact on your life, IF there are 'answers' (a human concept) about something (existence) which is in no way obliged to conform to human conceptions.
There is absolutely nothing clever about asking 'unanswerable' questions, or asking questions where the accuracy of the answer is indeterminable. It's a form of masturbation really... philosophers love it.
I always recommend that philosophers engaged in such quests of knowledge take the 'Abaddon Reality Test'.
Simply place yourself in the path of a fast moving truck in such a way that it hits you with a velcoty of 70mph. If you cease to be aware, then reality is fuunctionally real. If you continue to exist, then reality is not real.
If reality is real the best course of action is to get on with it. If it isn't then snapdragon cantaloupe marshmellow raspberry kiwi wahawalouptakolukkapip-pip-pip!
Oh... would people who see an eye and think 'what a marvelous example of design' please get their head out of the Evolution book and study evolutionary scienece, or if they have already done this, present something more substancial as an argument? Mentioning design and then probability theory is just one of those little ways people who have studied evolution a bit can tell someone doesn't know the first thing about evolution.
I've yet to encounter a teleological theory of existence that isn't wishful thinking for grown-ups who can't get over the fact this is it.
Abaddon,
You must admit, you do come off as an arrogant, know-it-all bastard sometimes, right? All the same, I'll adress some of the points you make.
God or no god, why is there something rather than nothing?Because there is. Why? To enable you to ask the question is as close to right as any other answer. And just as wrong. Your first mistake is assuming there is a reason. Presuppositionalism is no way to figure out anything.
Experience tells us everything has a cause. Even if there is no "purpose" to it all, or if the universe is just an outgrowth of quantum fluctuations that still would be the reason as to why we exist. Of course, one might accuse you of the same thing you fault me with -- presuppositionalism. You presuppose there is no reason and you don't even give a shit (so it appears).
Why do elements have properties?Because they are made of different quantities and/or arrangements of particles and these same things give rise to what we call properties. Of course, if you're drilling down to a 'deeper' why, again, you're assuming there is one.
I was fully aware of the first part. Yes, I was looking for a "deeper" reason. No, I didn't expect anyone to answer that for me but it is interesting to talk about. Oh, or perhaps you don't like talking like that. Sorry.
Why does consciousness exist?Unknown. Either a feature of the scale of our brain (i.e. add enough connections and consciousness is a by-product), or the ability to be self-aware and sentient was an evolutionary advantage? If you mean the 'deeper' why, again, you are making the same mistake as every caveman that flinched at lightning did, all over again.
How do you know that there is no "deeper" reason? Let's say there is and everybody takes your position. We would never find out then, would we? At the very least, it is a humbling thought experiment. Humility. Look it up.
These are questions that I think about almost every day.Have more sex, smoke more pot. The answers to those questions will have near to zero impact on your life, IF there are 'answers' (a human concept) about something (existence) which is in no way obliged to conform to human conceptions.
Goddamn. Just because something may or may not be "obliged to conform to human conceptions" does not mean one cannot ask the question.
There is absolutely nothing clever about asking 'unanswerable' questions, or asking questions where the accuracy of the answer is indeterminable. It's a form of masturbation really... philosophers love it.
At one point there were a lot of "unanswerable" questions which we have answered. But, if you wish to proceed through life in a totally unimaginative and unreflective way, be my guest.
I always recommend that philosophers engaged in such quests of knowledge take the 'Abaddon Reality Test'. Simply place yourself in the path of a fast moving truck in such a way that it hits you with a velcoty of 70mph. If you cease to be aware, then reality is fuunctionally real. If you continue to exist, then reality is not real. If reality is real the best course of action is to get on with it. If it isn't then snapdragon cantaloupe marshmellow raspberry kiwi wahawalouptakolukkapip-pip-pip!
There is a difference between a "quest of knowledge" and solipsistic thinking.
I've yet to encounter a teleological theory of existence that isn't wishful thinking for grown-ups who can't get over the fact this is it. Again, are you so bold to say that we "just are"? How different are you from hard-core theists how are absolutely sure that Jesus is in their back pocket and earth is only 6,000 years old? (okay, there's a difference, but you do seem rather overconfident of your worldview) B.
...Man is a stranger to his own research;
He knows not whence he comes, nor whither goes.
Tormented atoms in a bed of mud,
Devoured by death, a mockery of fate.
But thinking atoms, whose far-seeing eyes,
Guided by thought, have measured the faint stars,
Our being mingles with the infinite;
Ouselves we never see, or come to know...
--Voltaire--
