After the end it does not matter but while I am still alive it does. Nihilism has very few attractive features. Not much of a fan of fatalism either as a guiding philosophy.

 

Nihilism has very few attractive features.

I agree.

Suffering is still real for the moment and so is happiness. I am not suggesting one give up happiness or embrace suffering.

However, I don't think I can go on playing the game that our achievements (however big or small) in this life amount to anything eternally.


We eat, sleep, produce, reproduce so that new humans can eat, sleep, produce, and reproduce.

We love and like because chemicals influence our brains patterns.

Our body is nothing but a tool for the brain. The brain's ultimate goal is to spread it's DNA.

 

BJJ Grappler, I've had days like that. They eventually pass....

 

In a contemporary, minute-by-minute perspective, actions and thoughts matter. However, once the short-sighted perspective ends, nothing matters. There is no greater purpose, though many (including myself) wish there was.


One of the strategies of surviving an unpleasant or horrible situation is setting micro-goals for achievement. Once the small goal is achieved a new goal is set, until you are out of the mess, or you are dead.

At the end of it all, everything you have accomplished, even if it benefits future humans, doesn't actually matter and serves no greater good or purpose.

 

Well if you truly believe that, I feel sorry for you.

 

I'd like a coherent argument for the alternative. Certainly religious faith is one argument that attempts to give meaning to life. However, that faith can be scientifically tested and comes up flat. That's why it's called "belief" and "faith". As it cannot be proven. Just the opposite in fact. Most forms of faith are easy and straightforward to disprove. Those who believe and do it with intellectual honesty, will listen to an argument against faith. Those who believe blindly, will refuse to listen.

However, none of that changes my question. Please provide an argument for life's meaning.

I love life, I love my wonderful wife and her silly ways. I enjoy my toys, my friends, and the ability to roam this Earth, to explore, to understand. But when I die, I'm gone. My wants, needs and desires have evaporated into nothingness and carry no further meaning.

 

how i picture BJJ_grappler now.

lol

 

A hard night huh

 

BJJ you don't have a clue do you,if you really believe this way.
You will find out sooner or later,that you were so wrong ,and everything matters more
than you could ever dream.

 

BJJ you don't have a clue do you,if you really believe this way.

What do I not have a clue about?

You will find out sooner or later,that you were so wrong ,and everything matters more
than you could ever dream.

What mechanism will reveal the ultimate purpose of life (if one exists)?

 

Everything you do, make, think, believe, create, live for, die for, prepare for doesn't really matter.

Even if you invent something beautiful or change the world for 10,000 years, it won't matter because that will be forgotten too.

I don't know about you, but I'm super grateful to my ancestors from 10,000 years ago. Even the ones from 100,000 years ago. Do I know who they are? Nope. Did they make a difference in the world I live in today? Better believe it.

 

If they hadn't existed, you wouldn't know any difference, and ultimately it wouldn't matter if you did. Once you pass, all that you have done or not done will cease to matter to you and eventually will be forgotten and disposed of by others.

There may be a future so grand that the way we live now is "Neanderthal" in comparison. No one who exists currently suffers mental anguish of a far better unknown future.

 

Great pep talk coach!

Sent from a Galaxy S5 far far away.

 

BJJ, you're channeling your inner Percy Bysshe Shelley:

OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

 

Everything you do, make, think, believe, create, live for, die for, prepare for doesn't really matter [ delete really, and insert: AT ALL] .

I believe the above. However, I also recognize that we are fully sentient creatures capable of experiencing great pain and great joy. Due to our remarkable ability to reason, understand, love, express compassion and so on, bad behavior cannot reasonably be justified by the above statement.

During our existence, however short or long, we must not increase the suffering of others, and this includes the mistreatment of animals. Both humans (we are animal) and the lower animals have an expectation of life, of a mate or mates, social experiences, adequate food and so on.

I would argue that anything that increases the suffering trends toward bad or evil, and anything that reduces the suffering trends towards good. A kidnapper, who tortures his victim is clearly evil. Never think that such a thing "does not matter", as it most certainly does. It matters at the time, and often matters for the remainder of the victim's existence. It may also matter as the above act can touch others in various ways. A kidnapped mother can't raise her children, for example.

This is not to say that we must provide for others. Far from it, as such logic involves theft of the produce of one hard working individual, to provide for another who will not work towards his own well being. Instead, we should view the truly lazy as a form of evil and associate it with theft.

 

However, in the end, our Sun will grow into a red giant, and it's diameter will envelope the Earth's orbit. Long before then, the Earth will have been fully incinerated by the increasing heat and growing diameter of the Sun.

It is said that the Earth is about 4.543 billion years old. We estimate that the Sun will grow into a red giant in about 5.4 billion years. We are "middle aged" already!

Clearly, nothing we do on Earth will matter at the end of the Earth's existence. Unless we travel outward, to propagate. In which case, the same rules of good and evil will still apply.

 

Clinical Depression. Start taking your meds again. Maybe have a conversation with God.

 

Scratch that maybe part. Just do it today. Sure, I've got doubts about the afterlife and I question things daily, but I'm not willing to bet my eternal soul against it. He (it, them, she, whatever you choose to believe in) is a great source of strength when things are rough. I've survived two impossible scenarios unscathed. Was it luck? Was it divine intervention? I have no idea, I just know I'm here, today. That's about as preachy as I'll get, but there is something else out there greater than us. Even if it winds up being a race of benevolent space traveling aliens who planted us here, or the program that's running this simulation. Something higher is out there, what you choose to do with that knowledge is up to you. I know where I'm going when this part is over..... Until then I'm living life to the fullest I can, helping out where i can, and standing up against tyranny of all forms against my fellow man.

 

It's all about perspective. Reality isn't harsh or beautiful outside of our minds. It just is.

In my mind life on this planet is pretty bad ass and I feel fortunate to have gotten a chance at it.

 

I feel fortunate to of had 3 chances at it.

Sometimes its good to be grateful for the problems you don't have.

Remember, Where your heart is found, so will your treasure be also.

CPTSD catching up?

 

Alright then , I'm going to Long Dong Silvers and get me a greasy fish dinner platter for lunch. BURP

 

Alright then , I'm going to Long John Silvers and get me a greasy fish dinner platter for lunch. BURP

I'd argue that such a choice, made too often, will increase your suffering, shorten your life and affect the one's who love you, and therefore trends toward "bad".

I'd also argue that such a choice made infrequently, has little consequence on your overall well being. With the exception that once you are older, a high fat, pro-inflammatory meal will reduce Nitric Oxide levels, increase inflammation and directly cause blood vessel constriction, leading to distinct and real short term risk.

The old man who dies after a burger and fries meal is a very real thing.

 

People talk about going off grid which is quite challenging. In the same vein, humans can go off world by creating their own reality filled with everything they love. I watch what happens outside my world as a casual observer and attempt to remember that most of it is propaganda.

I don't take prepping quite as seriously as I used to but as my microcosmic world is part of the bigger theatre, prepping is a hedge against outsiders.

Find the joy, the ecstasy in your microcosm, experience the synchronicity of the universe and you won't care about "the meaning of life" or all the external stimuli and BS that swirls the planet. I had to distance myself from people that couldn't escape (even momentarily) from the theatre at large because they defended their programming and were willing to die for it rather than take a hard look at their own belief systems.

If I remember correctly there's even something in the bible about being IN the world but not OF it.

Edit: So, yes, it doesn't really matter because the light in the darkness is not out there, it's you. Some days it's brighter than others.

 

Does this get: Bright Side of Life
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M

Or
The Galaxy Song
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dvwH8Qij0JY

Look I have no idea why you seem to feel this way
But If nothing matters, why take it so seriously.

Hope you feel better

 

But it does matter to the people around you. You touch peoples lives every day, which while it may not change the world or make the history books, it will have an effect on them. The future is unknown so don't worry about how the world will see you in the future, it's how you friends and family see you today that counts.:thumb:

 

Nothing like a cheery thread on a rainy day...

 

Grappler; go over to the religious discussion area and peruse awhile. You can't post there because you aren't a believer obviously from your 'nothing matters' belief. Hope you find something higher to hand onto.

 

Everything you do, make, think, believe, create, live for, die for, prepare for doesn't really matter.

Even if you invent something beautiful or change the world for 10,000 years, it won't matter because that will be forgotten too.

If you are religious, your time on earth and decisions you make, might get you a ticket to do nothing meaningful for eternity.

It's harsh but true.

Interesting thesis.

Either you know for certain its true or you believe it so.

If you know, would you please help the rest of us and show us evidence that proves you're right. I ask sincerely.

If you believe this to be true, then you have to concede that your belief could be wrong.

Not trying to give you a hard time. I'm just trying to learn the basis of your certainty.

 

Don't start cutting yourself dude...it's really not that bad...just sayin'.

 

If you believe you are mortal and with little time on Earth, please enjoy your time here without creating pain for others.

If you believe you are immortal in an Evil Universe, please be different than the Universe and produce Good for others... just to show to this Evil Universe that something else and more interesting than Evil can exist.

If you believe you are immortal in an Good Universe, but you do not know the meaning of this Universe and it is too hard to find this meaning please try to do good in any form it pleases you (or others) and hope for the best.

If you believe you are immortal in an Good Universe, and you do know the meaning of this Universe then you can try discreetly to share this wisdom with others in a non-invasive way and at any point in your life do some good to others.

If you do not believe you exist and everything is a dream please do not transform it in a nightmare in case you are wrong and it is not a dream.

If you believe that you don't like this Universe please make a better one. Still, don't use other people's pain to build your piece of Heaven.

If you believe in God and you already talked to Him and He talked to you, please give good vibes to the ones that are desperate in this world and give insight to the ones that believe in that God as well.

Whatever you believe and do, remember that there are always others to consider than yourself. True world changer is the one that makes the world beautiful for others no matter for how long.

 

I've got to find my snorkel. This thread is over my head.

In the end, nothing matters.


Does this mean,
In nothing, the end matters?

 

Man I ****ing hate nihilism. Do you have an identity? You better find one.

Everyone's got a story, just because you don't see it on TV or a movie doesn't make it any less of a struggle and that's what this **** is about, struggle.

I think you should keep this **** to yourself man. If you're in crisis, or feeling suicidal, then I suggest you seek friends and family for company or frame of reference and get the **** off the Internet.

Sent from my SGH-M919V using Tapatalk

 

Man I ****ing hate nihilism. Do you have an identity? You better find one.

I don't believe this is actually a nihilist thread or that the OP is a nihilist. As a nihilist rejects all moral principals. I look at this as a "realist thread". Hence my clear interest in it.

I most certainly do not reject morals. I believe that "secular morality" exists, can be proven and guides everything from the most intelligent humans all the way down to the lower mammals, many birds and possibly some reptiles.

Scientists now know many animals have a moral compass, and feel emotions such as love, grief, outrage and empathy.

https://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waal_do_animals_have_morals

 

BJJ,

Please talk to Jesus, find a quiet place, and ask him to show you the way. He will talk to you, not like we talk to each other, but through your conscience. There may be other ways, but that is how it works for me. There are no requirements to be saved by Jesus, other than believing in you heart and soul, that Jesus took all of our sins upon himself, and paid the price of death, so that we would be sin free and live for eternity with him in Heaven, and that he was resurrected and lived again. This needs to be believed by faith alone. That is all it takes, no works are required. You should repent, which is to feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrong-doing or sin, not to stop sinning, as we cannot.

Jesus will change your life, prayers for you BJJ