Ima just call it now.. dude you replied to is more than likely another reincarnation of Boats n Hoes.
The way I see it, sure we're mind blowingly amazing, but all we do only matters to us. Everything else minds its own business, and so are we by doing what we do. So we can impress ourselves all we want but in the end it will all be gone. Time destroys everything. So whatever we do, wherever we go, nothing matters. If it's not permanent it doesn't matter - in my opinion. And since nothing we can do is permanent nothing matters. If we did not feel emotions or have desires... wouldn't we be like any other animal? As intelligent as we are we'd just be living for the day. Waking up in the morning to make sure we can live to see another day.
I'm gonna disregard everything else and just comment on this a little bit (hope you don't mind). "All we do only matters to us" the phrasing here I'm not sure where you were coming from. If you mean our actions are only meaningful in light of ourselves then this is a tricky thing to approach. Will a bee 'appreciate' that a human has created this artificial environment for it to thrive? (in case I'm not being obvious, I'm talking about beekeepers) No, of course not - it's incapable of appreciating that. As humans can we see the overall benefit of beekeeping? Absolutely. This might dive into the realm of, we only do things that make us feel good which you may have been getting at (like I said the phrasing kinda threw me off). But as altruistic humans continue to emerge, we continue to do things that we consider appropriate for the environment. It used to be if a species was going extinct, to hell with them - now we actively try to keep them alive. Which circles back to my, I think as humans continue to develop we'll understand our responsibilities on Earth a lot more. I,e. destroying the planet does not bode well for the future of humanity. As you said, in one of the parts I omitted, time is the great destroyer. But, humans are the great creators. Maybe I'm more optimistic than I should be, but I think if time has shown anything it's that humans have a great ability to survive and populate. I think we'll come to understand that survival isn't just merely eating, sleeping, being happy and having a good job, but survival is also maintaining an environmental equilibrium and we can do a lot, currently, to maintain that equilibrium.
I see where you're coming from. I still don't see how our lives are more meaningful than an insects. Or why there's any meaning in doing anything unless it's permanent. I'm still gonna work, laugh, smoke and try to be a productive person. But I consider it all to be pointless. The way I see it until we manage to transplant the human brain into a robot, and live eternally tht way. We have no worth.
I almost agree with that. But I can't because of important semantic points. You opened by asserting that what we do matters only to us. That is close to the truth. What we do can affect other creatures and then it matters to them, too. But otherwise, what w do does Matter only to us. And that contradicts any assertion that "nothing we do matters". It can't matter and not matter at the same time. I think we live in a very mysterious universe and it may turn out that nothing we know is or was what or how we actually thought or believed. It isn't possible to know. I've taken the position that unless I can prove otherwise, I shall proceed with my life under the assumption that the real purpose of life, at least as far as we are concerned, is to live; not merely to exist but to live powerfully and love with all our hearts and to be true to ourselves. Our experience here might matter little to anyone or anything but ourselves, but it matters SO MUCH to us that we can't pretend "nothing matters". It matters very much to us. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Define permanence? The writings of Socrates and Aristotle (among countless other authors/philosophers/scientists/mathematicians/etc) will be taught forever as humanity goes. You can immortalize yourself in various ways. Some people do it with the legacy of having children, others by writing novels, and some by reshaping the heart of knowledge. The beauty of being a social species is the fact that we can leave a legacy. I don't want to play devil's advocate too much because on-the-whole I agree with you. I think life and existence is inherently meaningless, but I also think that humans are still capable of creating artificial meaning (something Albert Camus wrote extensively about). Maybe you don't like the idea of artificial meaning, you'll have to tell me. Others might say we're guided by evolutionary purpose, but to some that's a disappointing response (myself included to be honest).
The thing tht throws me off is... 20,000 years. Odds are we'll all be gone by then whether it be at the hands of a meteorite, disease, drought or whatever else. Everything we've created will slowly decay until there's nothing but sand left. Who will appreciate us then? Right now sure we can find a lot of worth in our lives and our communities but in the inevitable future our achievements will hold the same worth as an ants hill. A lot of work to no fruition. edit: same response goes for dryice.
So in those 20,000 years you don't think we'll have mastered space travel? You know we went from a telegraph to a computer in your pocket in just 100 years.
Maybe so but for how long will we live on the next planet? or the one after tht. Odds are tht our species will go extinct eventually.
Meaningful? How do you judge what is meaningful? From what perspective? What makes you think a robot would survive forever? Does anything? Even the universe? What you do in your life will be very meaningful to you if not to me or the butterfly that just flew past my window. It doesn't have to be meaningful to anyone but you. I think in the grand scheme of things we tend to alternate perspectives throughout our life flip flopping from underestimating our own significance to underestimating it. What we do matters more than "nothing" because it matters to us but to the rest of the universe.... meh. If there is life elsewhere in the universe, it doesn't care whether you cheated on your spouse, helped a friend in need or ripped off family members. But it matters to you and may matter enough to others that their reactions and your own psyche may well generate life-changing consequences for you. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I personally think we're far too intelligent and concerned enough about surviving that we'll be motivated to expand (something Hawking has been trumpeting for awhile). But seems a simple matter of agreeing to disagree.
It doesn't have to matter forever to matter now. If things that don't last forever aren't worth anything, I've paid way, way, way, way too much for weed (and everything else). Things matter to us and that is enough. Things matter NOW and that is enough. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Why would it matter to anyone alive today whether or not the human race survives 2000 years more, 20,000 years or 20 trillion years? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
To me nothing is meaningful unless... well it's hard to explain. It's like the only way there's any meaning is if it abides by some conceptual law that we haven't thought of yet. I guess I feel like something is missing. If it ends it's meaningless, as nihilistic as tht sounds it's what I believe. We kill our fellow creatures and eat their flesh every single day. Don't you have to believe a cows existence is meaningless for u to kill it? But when I say I want to taste human flesh people look at me like I'm a freak. We decide what has meaning and what doesn't. Who's to say we're right tho? Right now I took a break from writing to spend a few meaningless seconds blowing smoke rings at my monitor. Nothing came out of it except I entertained myself. If you die and leave nothing behind and nothing to be remembered by; did your life have any meaning? What if you were the last person and earth and it ends with the same circumstances?
People will look at you like you are a freak for saying you want to taste human flesh because it's a freaky thing you want. When you die, one of two things will be true. Either death is the end of you or your consciousness continues in one fashion and form or another. If your consciousness continues, this life you are living will matter to you. If your consciousness doesn't continue, then you won't know or care whether your life had meaning. You will have been a candle flame that existed only while it burned to whatever degree it did and then it's over. The blue screen of death. Process terminated. Object instance killed. Memory cleared. Nothing saved. POOF. So live life like it matters because it does. When it's over, if it's the end, you won't care because there won't be a you to care. If there is still a "you", hopefully, you will have accomplished something that will benefit the "you" that lives on. But it's your life, so you make that call. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Philosophy aside, I can give you one major difference between an insect and a human. Unlike humans, insects can't get high on cannabis! With no cannabinoid receptors (specifically CB1 receptors), there can be no high from THC! Cannabinoid receptors are absent in insects. (abst - 2001) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11447587 Granny
All the evidence necessary to prove beyond any doubt that humans are superior (for those that like to contemplate that we aren't). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk