What is your view of the Universe(philosophy)?

[BronyPony 575]

Imagine humanity being able to now colonize other planets, go to other galaxies and then maybe finding other life(or not). Then one day, you are in your home going to sleep. Before you get out of bed you just suddenly ask the question: What is the point of all of this? Why am I getting up? Why is humanity so eager to explore the Universe? Is it just an instinctive evolutionary trait of survival with a rapidly growing human population? Or do you feel there is a deeper purpose for humanity(and/or other life elsewhere in the Universe)?

 

All of this comes down to one simple question: What is the meaning of life?

 

I am deeply religious and scientific. Though I have my own opinions, I want to explore the beliefs of others.

 

I know you may have noticed that I post many philosophical threads and it may get annoying, but I just want to explore the inner mind of humans on their belief of our meaning.

Edited July 31, 2013 by BronyPony

[Scootalove 10,689]

I think there is a purpose for humanity, and there is a purpose for us to travel around the universe to discover planets to see if there is any signs of life on the other planets besides Earth. The point of humanity is, the reasons on why we live on this Earth and why we were created to live as a species and explore the universe. We visit the universe to also, make history again like when astronauts landed on the moon. Even if, people still don't believe that we did.

[Cactus 155]

May I insert a quote from Carl Sagan to start?

"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

 

The universe is not something we are looking out on and trying to understand, we are part of it. We are the natural way that the universe can learn and understand itself. Take that for what you will. I do not believe there is a greater purpose, but I do not believe it is as mundane as "just being there."

 

Edit: Aha, for the second question, let me now use a quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson. 

"We are all connected; to each other, biologically, to the earth, chemically, to the rest of the universe, atomically."

Edited July 31, 2013 by TheDarkCynder

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

I am an Anti-Theist and I commonly get questioned on, "How I live with myself."

 

Truth is that we have no purpose, no destiny, we are just organisms. 

 

However, there's one thing that makes us different from the other organisms on Earth. We have evolved enough to have independent thoughts, at our core we are a pack animal, a very very intelligent pack animal. We decide what we want to do with our lives, we can choose to sit around and do nothing, we can try to be the next great thing. We are simply living in what I call the, "Now."

 

Past, present and future are essentially illusions of the mind and concepts that help us organize our lives. In truth, we only live in the "Now." We can think about the future but the future isn't real, only what our brains experience is real. Thus we have no destiny or purpose, we carve out our own path and purpose in life. If life had a purpose then we'd know it. It's better this way, we can change what we want tomorrow to be and constantly adapt.

 

That's my idea.

[BronyPony 575]

May I insert a quote from Carl Sagan to start?

"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

 

The universe is not something we are looking out on and trying to understand, we are part of it. We are the natural way that the universe can learn and understand itself. Take that for what you will. I do not believe there is a greater purpose, but I do not believe it is as mundane as "just being there."

I didn't mean the selection to be an insult or counter argument-type statement. I didn't know how to put it.

 

I can understand what you are saying. If I understand it correctly, your view is the Universe is like an organism that tries to understand itself and it is "living" in a sense.

[Remi 1,309]

I view life as a short time period where we can experiment various things. Such as love, happiness, coitus, laughter, sadness, and the rejoice of being part of humanity and the Earth. And I view Death as a gift of Eternal Rest for our hard work throughout our lives. However, if we are chosen to be conscious in this body we are in randomly, I believe we can be reborn, after all, our atoms disperse into the atmosphere after we die, so how many atoms would it take for someone to become you in consciousness again?

 

Or what if we are born into a while new species, time span, galaxy, universe, dimension! The possibilities are endless.

 

Live is a gift, and we are given the opportunity to enjoy it, that is how I view life in the simplest of terms.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

The problem with humanity exploring space is that at least with physics as we know them, it would be impossible to return to Earth due to the sheer time it would take. Humans are kind of cowards by nature, so I doubt many will just readily volunteer to leave their home planet forever. Exploration is possible but unlikely.

 

I do not believe in any higher power, or purpose for the universe really, not one that's just there, anyways. We have to create the purpose for ourselves and then follow our own chosen paths. Humans usually resort to the whole predefined destiny thing to get out of the blame for their actions, that's really it.

 

I am deeply scientific, and I'd go as far as to say I loathe religion for slowing down scientific progress as it has done throughout history. I am almost one hundred percent certain Religion is merely a coping mechanism for avoiding truth that is too hard for some to accept. I am very open-minded and as such choose to accept and understand that one day I will die, and that's it. No more me. No afterlife, nothing. It works that way for everybody.

 

I believe that the whole "deity" idea is based on the fact that humans are just narcissists. We like to believe that we were created specially with some higher purpose. That is not the case, at least through what I can observe. Our existence comes down to chance.

 

It's not so much the mere existence of these beliefs that angers me as it is that they go out of their way to ruin the work of those who are bright-minded, or in the worse cases, kill them. It's a shame that so much scientific progress has been lost to a system meant to be a shield you can use to defend yourself from the truth, AKA religion.

 

This isn't to say that there are no consequences for your action, just because some greater power doesn't punish you doesn't mean that your fellow man or nature won't strike you down. We're just lucky that there is at least a little bit of good nature innate to humanity.

 

The universe exists this way by pure chance. To fully understand it is not just impossible because you don't have enough time, but your brain is not physically advanced enough to understand it, nobody's is. Considering the universe is ever expanding, we can assume at the moment it's infinite. And it's reasonable to assume you would need infinite processing power to process infinite information. Nothing has infinite processing power.

 

However, with anecdotal evidence, I can point out that it is at the very least, highly probable that there is no higher power or greater purpose for humans as a whole. There is no evidence to the contrary. The truth is, one day we're just going to be dust. Might as well enjoy the story that is life. After all, death is merely an end to an adventure you were lucky you even had the privilege of beginning.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Harmonic Revelations

[Shiki 5,855]

To assume humanity even has the slightest impact on the vastness of the universe is one who does not understand that said vastness.

 

You are not even a speck of a speck of a speck of a speck of a speck in comparison to the universe.

Eliminate humanity, and the universe continues without any harm done whatsoever. Blow up planets, and the universe will continue. Kill suns, the universe continues.

 

We have no purpose except the ones we create ourselves, and to create our own purpose that actually effects entirety of the universe is to be pretentious beyond reason.

 

---

 

The universe itself, too, has no meaning, except the one we give it.

 

Get rid of the universe and what are you left with?

 

Nothingness.

 

Is that nothingness negatively affected by the lack of a universe?

 

No.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Iroe

[BronyPony 575]

To assume humanity even has the slightest impact on the vastness of the universe is one who does not understand that said vastness.

 

You are not even a speck of a speck of a speck of a speck of a speck in comparison to the universe.

Eliminate humanity, and the universe continues without any harm done whatsoever. Blow up planets, and the universe will continue. Kill suns, the universe continues.

 

We have no purpose except the ones we create ourselves, and to create our own purpose that actually effects entirety of the universe is to be pretentious beyond reason.

Sub-particles are one of the smallest things in the Universe yet they make the biggest difference with the existence of the Universe. 

 

Also, actually if you get rid of the Universe you have space, which is not nothingness. Then we have the theoretical dimensions that exist. 

Edited July 31, 2013 by BronyPony

[silverreverb 129]

What is the point of all of this?

none at all. there's no real need for a point or purpose, they tend to get in the way.   

Why is humanity so eager to explore the Universe?

I would say because its fun. for one reason or another humanity as a whole is very curious. the universe is our biggest home, tool and toy. we just want to learn to use the best we can :3

[LunaUmbra 108]

I am a bit confused on what you're askin' here. Are you askin' our opinion on the meaning of life? Our thoughts on exploring the universe in the distant future? Humanity's endless need to discover and expand? All of thee above?

[BronyPony 575]

I am a bit confused on what you're askin' here. Are you askin' our opinion on the meaning of life? Our thoughts on exploring the universe in the distant future? Humanity's endless need to discover and expand? All of thee above?

I though they connected philosophically. Discovery is motivated by curiosity and I believe that curiosity is linked in someway with purpose I guess. 

[Shiki 5,855]

 

 

Sub-particles are one of the smallest things in the Universe yet they make the biggest difference with the existence of the Universe.

I thought we were discussing what humans identify themselves as, not what they're made of.

 

Humans have no impact. What they're made out of certainly do.

 

 

 

Also, actually if you get rid of the Universe you have space, which is not nothingness. Then we have the theoretical dimensions that exist

I am not educated whatsoever on many topics, so I'll probably be wrong on multiple things.

 

My point was that everything only has scalable meaning relative to what the observer is viewing from. Delete humanity, and the universe is okay, as I've already said. Delete absolutely everything, and the nothingness is not affected.

 

I find this fact of nothing having true meaning to be a reason not to bother thinking on such scales. Even if we have a "reason" to exist, that reason is absolutely irrelevant, still, on the bigger scale, and what is the point in having meaning if it's not a true meaning, in the end?

 

Perhaps others feel differently on this, but if any meaning we hold is not a meaning in the absolute end, I don't see any true value in it.

 

---

 

Taking a step away from thinking bigger and bigger, I still don't see how we could have any "reason" for existence whatsoever. If we explore the universe and understand it 100%, one day, so what? How does that effect the universe? Even if we create black holes or something crazy like that, so what? The universe will be fine, regardless. In the end, there's no impact that can be great enough to have an effect on the universe, except, say that thing about the universe getting so big it collapses in on itself (or whatever that thing is).

 

Either the universe is there or it's not. Nothing can affect that except the universe itself. Humans have no role.

[Discordian 6,015]

It's difficult to put what I believe into words. I'm sure words do exist out there but I don't know them yet. I've been described as a fatalist before and in a sense that is sort of where my beliefs lie...in that I fully believe in leaving everything up to fate but not that everything is predetermined. If something happens, I won't really be concerned about who was right or wrong. I'm perfectly okay with never worrying about what will happen in the future or in the afterlife. Whatever it turns out to be there's little I can do to change that. I know what I'd like to believe but I feel I would need far more concrete answers to make any solid decision so I just kinda go with the flow and let my beliefs change based on what I hear or see, how I reason and what suits me best.

[Quilava 1,290]

*Gah* I simply hate this topic..always gets the gears in my head turning TRYING to come up with a solid answer for why we are here.

 

I want to say that there is a reason that we are here, living as we are, communicating with each other in hopes of benefiting ourselves/others/humanity/etc., but really? Should there really be a true reason why we live? 

 

*May sound a bit negative here but* In all reality, there is no point for us to be here. Even if there was something higher up than us, twisting our strings, what would that being be from? The thing about this world and its laws, is that everything is always conserved and exchanged, never destroyed completely. That being said, how was everything created then? If nothing can be truly created without the use of anything else, then how did the particles that make up the universe come to be? Our universe makes no sense when you think about it. Life itself really doesn't make sense. We are the result of the cosmic plane hitting the jackpot prize in the lottery with the smallest of all chances for EVERYTHING to go right just for us to start off. Much like in humans with our DNA/chemical make-up, if one thing is corrupted and doesn't follow suit with the master schematic, everything will fall apart after that. If one thing had changed during the building of our "realm" of existence, we wouldn't be here. But then what? Nothing, that's it. We wouldn't know...how could we? Who knows, this could realistically be the 10th or 1.7947259567e24th time that this has happened, but we just don't know it.

 

Overall, this world just kills my head everytime I try to think about the past (way before us), the future (way after us), reasons, and humanity in general. None of it makes sense to me...

Edited July 31, 2013 by ~Lugia~

[Discordian 6,015]

*Gah* I simply hate this topic..always gets the gears in my head turning TRYING to come up with a solid answer for why we are here.

 

I want to say that there is a reason that we are here, living as we are, communicating with each other in hopes of benefiting ourselves/others/humanity/etc., but really? Should there really be a true reason why we live? 

 

*May sound a bit negative here but* In all reality, there is no point for us to be here. Even if there was something higher up than us, twisting our strings, what would that being be from? The thing about this world and its laws, is that everything is always conserved and exchanged, never destroyed completely. That being said, how was everything created then? If nothing can be truly created without the use of anything else, then how did the particles that make up the universe come to be? Our universe makes no sense when you think about it. Life itself really doesn't make sense. We are the result of the cosmic plane hitting the jackpot prize in the lottery with the smallest of all chances for EVERYTHING to go right just for us to start off. Much like in humans with our DNA/chemical make-up, if one thing is corrupted and doesn't follow suit with the master schematic, everything will fall apart after that. If one thing had changed during the building of our "realm" of existence, we wouldn't be here. But then what? Nothing, that's it. We wouldn't know...how could we? Who knows, this could realistically be the 10th or 1.7947259567e24th time that this has happened, but we just don't know it.

 

Overall, this world just kills my head everytime I try to think about the past (way before us), the future (way after us), reasons, and humanity in general. None of it makes sense to me...

Consider:

 

There are two standing theories as to why life exists in the first place.

 

1. It's pure chance. All of the chaos and randomness in the universe just happened to come together in this one instance that created order, life and sentience.

 

2. That if a god or higher being did create us, it wouldn't necessarily make sense that they could do it. They would have the ability to bend reality so it wouldn't make sense in any human capacity of understanding so we couldn't hope to comprehend how it happened, even if we are told the result as in the Christian Bible.

 

2a. There's also the other theory that isn't thought about as much, usually because it clashes with MANY peoples' views on what a god should be, but basically there's the possibility that all things that happen, all natural physics in the world, are the act of the gods. This goes along with some of the more ancient mythologies where all natural phenomena are explained via a higher being that governs it. Most people want to believe that gods should be supernatural and have the ability to do whatever they want but what if they happen to be just natural?

 

There is written "proof" that the Christian god falls under theory 2a as well as theory 2. From my time in the church I found that many of God's miracles are just natural occurrences and not some act of supernatural "that's not possible" though he can certainly do those things too but they are far less common because most situations do not need the impossible to make a believer.

 

There are even cultures out there that worship natural occurrences as gods themselves (though I couldn't name them off the top of my head) but as I said this kinda goes against some peoples' belief that a God shouldn't just be a natural thing that happens.

 

.....You could say I'm a bit of an amateur philosopher. I've more or less explored the many possibilities out there for the existence of all things from multi-dimensional theory to joining a Christian church and exploring the existence of that god, to just trying to figure things out logically.

 

I've come to the conclusion that there are so many possibilities that it's possible that they all exist and hinge on the beliefs of that one person or that none of them exist and it's just humans fooling themselves into believing there's more to the universe than there actually is or even that just one exists, any one, and everyone else is wrong but we have no actual way of proving which one exists to everyone since many of these beliefs are only possible through faith that it does exist and not everyone has the ability to hold onto that faith.

I thought we were discussing what humans identify themselves as, not what they're made of.

 

Humans have no impact. What they're made out of certainly do.

 

 

 

I am not educated whatsoever on many topics, so I'll probably be wrong on multiple things.

 

My point was that everything only has scalable meaning relative to what the observer is viewing from. Delete humanity, and the universe is okay, as I've already said. Delete absolutely everything, and the nothingness is not affected.

 

I find this fact of nothing having true meaning to be a reason not to bother thinking on such scales. Even if we have a "reason" to exist, that reason is absolutely irrelevant, still, on the bigger scale, and what is the point in having meaning if it's not a true meaning, in the end?

 

Perhaps others feel differently on this, but if any meaning we hold is not a meaning in the absolute end, I don't see any true value in it.

 

---

 

Taking a step away from thinking bigger and bigger, I still don't see how we could have any "reason" for existence whatsoever. If we explore the universe and understand it 100%, one day, so what? How does that effect the universe? Even if we create black holes or something crazy like that, so what? The universe will be fine, regardless. In the end, there's no impact that can be great enough to have an effect on the universe, except, say that thing about the universe getting so big it collapses in on itself (or whatever that thing is).

 

Either the universe is there or it's not. Nothing can affect that except the universe itself. Humans have no role.

I see you're thinking on a somewhat macro level. "No matter how many small things happen the large things will not be affected" but I believe it's because we cannot affect the overall state of the universe that we put so much importance on the little things we can change. No one likes to feel useless so we do things to affect our minuscule lives on this planet to affect just the people around us, because it's all we can do.

 

To us, as micro beings in a macro universe, the small things are all we really have and it's neither productive nor good for anyone to just live life thinking "even if I do this, it won't change anything" but if you think about it you do change people's lives every day, every time you walk down the street, every time you talk to someone or help them through a difficult situation or even destroy their lives. You affect people who then affect other people who then affect even more people.

 

Every action you take will spread to another person's view or actions which will in turn affect another person even if it's just telling them "so this happened today..." and then that person tells another person or they act differently towards a situation or person because they heard it happen elsewhere. Humans affect humans so to say "in the end it doesn't matter" for the universe is like saying we should even try to have an affect on the universe. We should perhaps think of how we can affect the human race or even just the people around us since that will accomplish far more.

 

Whether we have a purpose or not is a different subject but we should always strive to affect the world and people around us because we can do great good and great evil with our actions and that is an affect that matters to us as humans.

 

-___- I used "affect" way too much. Redundancy and sucking at words ftw?

Edited July 31, 2013 by Discordian

[Quilava 1,290]

Consider:

 

There are two standing theories as to why life exists in the first place.

 

1. It's pure chance. All of the chaos and randomness in the universe just happened to come together in this one instance that created order, life and sentience.

 

2. That if a god or higher being did create us, it wouldn't necessarily make sense that they could do it. They would have the ability to bend reality so it wouldn't make sense in any human capacity of understanding so we couldn't hope to comprehend how it happened, even if we are told the result as in the Christian Bible.

 

2a. There's also the other theory that isn't thought about as much, usually because it clashes with MANY peoples' views on what a god should be, but basically there's the possibility that all things that happen, all natural physics in the world, are the act of the gods. This goes along with some of the more ancient mythologies where all natural phenomena are explained via a higher being that governs it. Most people want to believe that gods should be supernatural and have the ability to do whatever they want but what if they happen to be just natural?

 

There is written "proof" that the Christian god falls under theory 2a as well as theory 2. From my time in the church I found that many of God's miracles are just natural occurrences and not some act of supernatural "that's not possible" though he can certainly do those things too but they are far less common because most situations do not need the impossible to make a believer.

 

There are even cultures out there that worship natural occurrences as gods themselves (though I couldn't name them off the top of my head) but as I said this kinda goes against some peoples' belief that a God shouldn't just be a natural thing that happens.

 

.....You could say I'm a bit of an amateur philosopher. I've more or less explored the many possibilities out there for the existence of all things from multi-dimensional theory to joining a Christian church and exploring the existence of that god, to just trying to figure things out logically.

 

I've come to the conclusion that there are so many possibilities that it's possible that they all exist and hinge on the beliefs of that one person or that none of them exist and it's just humans fooling themselves into believing there's more to the universe than there actually is or even that just one exists, any one, and everyone else is wrong but we have no actual way of proving which one exists to everyone since many of these beliefs are only possible through faith that it does exist and not everyone has the ability to hold onto that faith.

 

The thing is, not sure if I clearly stated it earlier, even if Gods are the true cause to this world, then how did they come to be? The thought of "divine powers" is just something that makes no sense in this world because of the laws and edicts that prevent us from doing so. 

 

How can something be infinite? But...at the same time, how can something be finite? There always has to be an end to something, but, if that something DOES truly end, then what is beyond that? An end is a boarder, dividing that one thing from another. Which then, in turn, heads back into the direction of infinity. It's hard to comprehend how something can be forever/immortal when we can only comprehend what we know from our studies. That of which, is that our physical bodies are constantly dying and being reborn at a constant rate, that eventually switches gears as the time after birth increases. But what if the immortal beings aren't like us, they don't have bodies like ours, and instead are more of just shapes, orbs if you will. Then what are their "bodies" made of? 

 

I do like the concept of theories, and accept a good amount of them, but when theories are practically near to impossible to truly prove, they annoy me. In my eyes, a theory is something that CAN be tested and proven to be right or wrong with experiments, tests, etc. If said question can't be proven, then what power does it have on us? Nothing, but at the same time, it's the trial TO prove something that helps us to advance. This world is full of contradictions and the likes.

 

Even if it is true we just "exist", there would still be a reason why we would. The is always a reason something happens. Why does something get burned? Because it was left over a high heat source for too long, altering the chemical make-up of the object to a new design. Everything has to have a reason, but I don't think that, even if we WERE to find THE reason, we'd want to accept it.

[Discordian 6,015]

The thing is, not sure if I clearly stated it earlier, even if Gods are the true cause to this world, then how did they come to be? The thought of "divine powers" is just something that makes no sense in this world because of the laws and edicts that prevent us from doing so. 

 

How can something be infinite? But...at the same time, how can something be finite? There always has to be an end to something, but, if that something DOES truly end, then what is beyond that? An end is a boarder, dividing that one thing from another. Which then, in turn, heads back into the direction of infinity. It's hard to comprehend how something can be forever/immortal when we can only comprehend what we know from our studies. That of which, is that our physical bodies are constantly dying and being reborn at a constant rate, that eventually switches gears as the time after birth increases. But what if the immortal beings aren't like us, they don't have bodies like ours, and instead are more of just shapes, orbs if you will. Then what are their "bodies" made of? 

 

I do like the concept of theories, and accept a good amount of them, but when theories are practically near to impossible to truly prove, they annoy me. In my eyes, a theory is something that CAN be tested and proven to be right or wrong with experiments, tests, etc. If said question can't be proven, then what power does it have on us? Nothing, but at the same time, it's the trial TO prove something that helps us to advance. This world is full of contradictions and the likes.

 

Even if it is true we just "exist", there would still be a reason why we would. The is always a reason something happens. Why does something get burned? Because it was left over a high heat source for too long, altering the chemical make-up of the object to a new design. Everything has to have a reason, but I don't think that, even if we WERE to find THE reason, we'd want to accept it.

You're still trying to make sense of something that humans probably don't have the ability to understand, hence why we can't prove or disprove they exist because we don't have the mental capacity nor the tools to test such a thing.

 

Humans seem to believe that you have to be able to prove something for it to exist, or it has to make sense for it to exist, but if humans are in fact not the highest being in existence then they aren't the ones who need to understand such things.

 

If a higher being exists, do they have a "body"? Does the mere concept of a "body" even work with them? What if their "body" is the universe? Just like how humans can't really see the thought of other people perhaps a higher being's thoughts and ability to understand are not possible to see with the human eye or even the "third eye" that allows us to perceive, understand and translate a concept into something we can accept.

 

That's the kicker here: Acceptance. Humans do not want to believe beyond the capacity of their understanding. Some accept that they can't understand the vast existence of a being such as the Christian God. Mayhap the concept of infinity is merely humans not being able to understand the limits of a finite body. Imagine if some higher being had some dimension we couldn't conceive under any circumstances the way a second dimensional being could never understand the third dimension's concept of "depth". There's already eleven (or was it thirteen? Fourteen? I don't remember) dimensions and it's impossible for us to understand them all since we only live in the lowly third dimension.

 

As simple, and possibly infuriating, as it is. "Just because we don't or can't understand it doesn't mean it can't exist" much like how a child can't understand a lot of concepts adults think or talk about or an animal can't understand the technology we've created.

 

Humans have this pretentious thought that they should be the be-all-end-all of the universe and that they should have the right and privilege to understand the universe even if it's not actually possible. Why do humans so fully believe that it has to be "physically possible" to exist? Because it's the limits of what a human can understand? Because it's what we've come to understand up to this point? All it takes is one piece of evidence to change the way we think of everything.

 

I work under the process of thought that it is possible there are things out there humans cannot under any circumstance understand even with the mathematical concepts we do know and I will hold to that to my dying day. Logic is my antithesis. I see logic as a limiter.

[Quilava 1,290]

You're still trying to make sense of something that humans probably don't have the ability to understand, hence why we can't prove or disprove they exist because we don't have the mental capacity nor the tools to test such a thing.

 

Humans seem to believe that you have to be able to prove something for it to exist, or it has to make sense for it to exist, but if humans are in fact not the highest being in existence then they aren't the ones who need to understand such things.

 

If a higher being exists, do they have a "body"? Does the mere concept of a "body" even work with them? What if their "body" is the universe? Just like how humans can't really see the thought of other people perhaps a higher being's thoughts and ability to understand are not possible to see with the human eye or even the "third eye" that allows us to perceive, understand and translate a concept into something we can accept.

 

That's the kicker here: Acceptance. Humans do not want to believe beyond the capacity of their understanding. Some accept that they can't understand the vast existence of a being such as the Christian God. Mayhap the concept of infinity is merely humans not being able to understand the limits of a finite body. Imagine if some higher being had some dimension we couldn't conceive under any circumstances the way a second dimensional being could never understand the third dimension's concept of "depth". There's already eleven (or was it thirteen? Fourteen? I don't remember) dimensions and it's impossible for us to understand them all since we only live in the lowly third dimension.

 

As simple, and possibly infuriating, as it is. "Just because we don't or can't understand it doesn't mean it can't exist" much like how a child can't understand a lot of concepts adults think or talk about or an animal can't understand the technology we've created.

 

Humans have this pretentious thought that they should be the be-all-end-all of the universe and that they should have the right and privilege to understand the universe even if it's not actually possible. Why do humans so fully believe that it has to be "physically possible" to exist? Because it's the limits of what a human can understand? Because it's what we've come to understand up to this point? All it takes is one piece of evidence to change the way we think of everything.

 

I work under the process of thought that it is possible there are things out there humans cannot under any circumstance understand even with the mathematical concepts we do know and I will hold to that to my dying day. Logic is my antithesis. I see logic as a limiter.

 

As you said, it does infuriate me.

This is something that has always killed me in thought as there is no real answer to be found...yet. The thing is, even if I were to find out the true reason behind us, I don't think I'd be finished. I don't even know why I posted here fully knowing what this would entail (if I were to continue with you, both of us know this would NEVER end and would only get into semantics :3).

 

It is in humanity's blood to be thirsty for knowledge. Everyone is always looking for why they are here, what their true "destiny" is and what it may do to this planet and its inhabitants. While others, look for why they are here. Again, like I said prior, we live in a world of contradictions. Even if we had proof (light use of this word) that there is no way we can prove everything, there will be those that challenge this and go through every possible way imaginable to divulge something that we missed by a hair.

 

And you're right, logic is, in a sense, a limitation. Logic prevents us from really traversing through waters because "they aren't logical" or "aren't compatible with us". But logic is how we live. With logic, we're able to find formulas/answers that help our world. Then, there are those who are "crazy" and start warping those results just to for kicks to see what happens. And it continues on.

 

And I believe, according to String Theory (something I haven't looked into for eh, maybe 3-4 years? so don't quote me 'ere) there were a possibility of 26 different dimensions. Doesn't really matter to us since we can never really interact with them for the true reasons you've already stated.

[Sylentmana 271]

I think we are just an accident in the universe and have no real meaning. To apply some deeper spiritual or philosophical meaning to it seems pointless to me.  We have no grand destiny in the universe and it will stay that way until the day Cthulhu awakens and destroys us all. 

[Discordian 6,015]

As you said, it does infuriate me.

This is something that has always killed me in thought as there is no real answer to be found...yet. The thing is, even if I were to find out the true reason behind us, I don't think I'd be finished. I don't even know why I posted here fully knowing what this would entail (if I were to continue with you, both of us know this would NEVER end and would only get into semantics :3).

 

It is in humanity's blood to be thirsty for knowledge. Everyone is always looking for why they are here, what their true "destiny" is and what it may do to this planet and its inhabitants. While others, look for why they are here. Again, like I said prior, we live in a world of contradictions. Even if we had proof (light use of this word) that there is no way we can prove everything, there will be those that challenge this and go through every possible way imaginable to divulge something that we missed by a hair.

 

And you're right, logic is, in a sense, a limitation. Logic prevents us from really traversing through waters because "they aren't logical" or "aren't compatible with us". But logic is how we live. With logic, we're able to find formulas/answers that help our world. Then, there are those who are "crazy" and start warping those results just to for kicks to see what happens. And it continues on.

 

And I believe, according to String Theory (something I haven't looked into for eh, maybe 3-4 years? so don't quote me 'ere) there were a possibility of 26 different dimensions. Doesn't really matter to us since we can never really interact with them for the true reasons you've already stated.

I've already been a little redundant in the things I've said. I hate going in circles. This conversation will inevitably just be us talking at each other the same things but I do so love to challenge peoples' beliefs. In a way it's for their own good.

 

I fully believe that one should never fully and 100% believe in one possibility. Ever. It's because of this that I could never be a Christian when I tried, why I could never fully trust in math or logic and why people will probably just get super pissed at me because of my "fuck logic" mentality.

 

Man's thirst for knowledge has brought about many wondrous technologies and luxuries in our lives so I can't complain. The only reason we are able to talk about this in the first place is because over time each generation gets smarter and smarter. I've talked to people before who have said "I can't believe those kids are so smart! When I was their age, I couldn't even do math!" and such so I think it's a testament to our access to knowledge via the internet and also the fact that the previous generation built upon the knowledge of the past just as we will to give us a stronger foundation.

 

I do so love to talk about philosophy.

I think we are just an accident in the universe and have no real meaning. To apply some deeper spiritual or philosophical meaning to it seems pointless to me.  We have no grand destiny in the universe and it will stay that way until the day Cthulhu awakens and destroys us all.

The belief in Cthulhu is in itself a spiritual meaning to the universe. If our "purpose" is to be destroyed by Cthulhu then that's adding a meaning to our existence, even if it's a dark purpose.

 

Even if that was thrown in there as a joke it's contradictory to your statement. Cthulhu itself is a supernatural dark being (depending on where you learned of him) that has a purpose of it's own and if it is predetermined that he will destroy us then that in itself is believing in a meaning or purpose for our existence. Any sort of predetermined and unstoppable event is the belief that there is some higher force guiding us which by default gives us a purpose if our lives is already mapped out for us like that.

Edited July 31, 2013 by Discordian

[Fire Bomb 121]

Im going to start by saying that my entire life (around 15 years) has been based on learning as much about the universe as I can, so i will say this. In my opinion the universe is what we decide to make of it, if humanity never leaves earth then it will be the sun, moon, stars, and a few other planets. However if we do leave earth, develop a ship that can move faster then the speed of light (about 300,000 kms), and colonize other planets, it will be a source of infinite discovery and exploration. We might find the source of all life everywhere, or leave it within religions. Or humanity could eventually outgrow the universe (after billions of years by which time humanity would have evolved ((if you believe evolution)) or a universal disaster could wipe everything out ((such as the black hole in the center of the milky way starting up again)).) and that is my view on the universe.

[Scrumpy 159]

What is our meaning? Is there a higher being?
I don't believe there is a purpose, however I believe we define our own destiny. The Universe has its own mechanism

We have no moral obligation, we give things meaning and purpose ourselves by how we feel about them, but without our subjectivity they do not posses any innate value. But that doesn't mean we should just outright be buttholes to eachother, it takes a strong and kind person to do a good deed for another person with no expectation of reward, not even the reward of feeling smug about doing a good thing.
 

Is there unity in the Universe between organisms?
Yes, I feel there is. We feel it everyday.

In the way that the effects of events ripple forward in time shaping and changing the events and settings of the future and the 'fate' of people. ...without going into quantum mechanics and all that jazz. Also... The planet even has a relationship in a non-emotional sense with us as we live on it because we shape it's surface and it though unaware and not obligatorily provides for us the resources we need to survive. Though because without subjectivity things do not posses innate value if the human race were destroyed the universe at large would hardly notice our passing out of existence or mourn the loss of us, and we shouldn't kid ourselves otherwise.

So there you have it, life is short and cold and a total bitch, all the more reason to make the most of it while you can and in the words of Bill and Ted: Be excellent to eachother.
If you don't like that then there is back up theory 2:
"When it comes to theology I'm not trying to claim anything is real because it's existance cannot be disproven, like a god or the force (JEDI FTW!), in that sense I'm agnostic, however I am claiming that anything is possible by dint of strange sh*t happens."
 

Edited July 31, 2013 by Scrumpy

[Sylentmana 271]

 

 

The belief in Cthulhu is in itself a spiritual meaning to the universe. If our "purpose" is to be destroyed by Cthulhu then that's adding a meaning to our existence, even if it's a dark purpose.Even if that was thrown in there as a joke it's contradictory to your statement. Cthulhu itself is a supernatural dark being (depending on where you learned of him) that has a purpose of it's own and if it is predetermined that he will destroy us then that in itself is believing in a meaning or purpose for our existence. Any sort of predetermined and unstoppable event is the belief that there is some higher force guiding us which by default gives us a purpose if our lives is already mapped out for us like that.

 

My whole previous statement was actually meant to set up the last part about Cthulhu simply because they thought was contradictory.  Just my lame, dry sense of humor.

[BronyPony 575]

I liked hearing the thoughts of many users.

 

I simply go by the philosophy that "Even if you may not understand it, it does not mean it doesn't exist". I mean, back then it was thought that the Earth was the center of the Universe(and the claim that it was all because of the Catholic Church is somewhat true and somewhat false). It was commonly accepted(theist or atheist) that the Earth was the center of the Universe. It was also believed that the Universe was steady state and had no apparent beginning. This does not mean they were truths. We just did not have the right equipment or mathematical understand to see what was there.

 

It is like the common question "If the tree falls in the middle of a forest, but no one hears it did it really fall?" My statement would be "Even if we do not understand God in the understanding of science, it does not mean he doesn't exist".

 

Just food for thought.