Sooo... you're a glass half full type guy aren't you?
Yes. Half full means positive. Half empty means negative.
moozooh wrote:
The point is not living forever, the point is spending the time you live so that it fills some purpose defined by yourself, be it the continuation of your kin, gathering experiences, deriving pleasure, anything else, or any combination of them. If you have no such purpose, killing yourself is an option (hint).
I am an undead. An immortal. So... I'm sorry if my words confuse you. To you, my words seem to come off as negative... but because I'm undead, they are positive for me. You are immortal too, even though you might not be aware of it. Death is just a memory loss.
People's understanding of death saddens me sometimes... so I want to tell them that there is no death. But... they will all find out later on their own. It's not my job really.
Joined: 6/13/2006
Posts: 3300
Location: Massachussetts, USA
moozooh wrote:
The point is not living forever, the point is spending the time you live so that it fills some purpose defined by yourself
I plan on living forever by not dying. So far so good. Also, if I show up late to my own funeral, that should help.
Although some tool almost cut me off on a rotary yesterday (2 cm away from a crash), and the accident would very likely have been fatal since he was going a few 30 mph faster than the speed limit, but shhhhh that doesn't count.
I like you nfq.
Dan, moozooh, Deign, thanks for the responses guys. I'm not going to elaborate any more on my situation, that was kinda stupid, but I appreciated reading some other people's perspectives all the same.
Deign wrote:
Dear Fabian,
Is it possible that we could ever be super awesome fun friends?
Deign
Yes I think it's possible. It's going to take some luck though, as I'm neither super or awesome or fun.
All this is really quite a complicated issue. Most people will define success in life as money or love based, but there probably the least important things, but its all people will ever really talk about. Some people will judge things by success or failure, in that aspect only a small fraction of people will succeed. So I wouldn't define that as greatly important either. Some people will try to live there lives for other people will others will live for themselves. Personally I would try to strike a balance between the two, but ultimately you, yourself are the most important thing however much spin, argument or counter argument you put against it.
I don't personally think existence has any purpose other than to take advantage, enjoy and appreaciate whats round us. In the end I feel its important to pass gained knowledge on. As thats how people evolve and better themselves. Rather than the aspect of "I managed to figure it out myself and so should you" If that attidude existed we'd probably still be stuck in the stone age. Although to cap it off there is still things about life and the universe that puzzle me and I'm afraid I'll never be able to figure it all out before my time comes to an end.
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
nfq wrote:
nothing matters...
Absolute statements like that have a tendency of being contradictory or confusing in some way.
1. Nothing matters.
2. So, the statement "nothing matters" does not matter.
3. So, I don't need to care about statement 1?
4. So, maybe there's a chance that something matters after all?
Maybe there's something wrong with that logic, but to me it seems ok. It makes certain type of absolute statements look silly:
1. Everything ends someday.
2. So, the situation that "everything ends" is a valid statement, ends someday.
3. So, there might be something that does not end afterall. Right?
Similarly:
1. Everything is temporary.
2. So, the temporality of everything is temporary too.
3. So, does this mean that everything is not temporary afterall?
Also:
1. Everything is relative.
2. So, relativity is relative too.
3. So, relativity is not absolute.
4. So, there might be something that is not relative afterall?
Oh, this one seems cool:
Everything should be questioned!
Well, just like nfq, I'm not good with logic, because I lack some conceptual tools for better handling of these situations, but in any case, statements like "nothing matters" don't matter to me. The world is more complicated than that. And maybe it is not the logic of the statement that is important here anyway. The more important thing is that it is certainly possible to genuinely have the negative feeling that nothing has purpose. The feeling can be problematic for some people and the problems should be resolved somehow. I'm not professional with that kind of stuff, but for me, purposefullness is not necessarily required for anything.
Fabian wrote:
Do you have any advice for me? What do you think I should do? Thanks.
Your own answer to that question seems to suggest that the question is rethorical in the sense that nobody can really give you any better advice than you yourself did. Nobody really knows what you should do. People have different backgrounds and worldviews, so it is meaningless to even try giving any normative advice. It would not work. Just like you can't tell someone to "just relax", if the person in question hears a voice in his/her head or has some serious phobia.
Well, anyway, here comes some random thoughts of mine that got summoned by this thread, possibly not helpful at all:
I can't understand the thought of "wasting time". I have cancelled school twice, but I still feel the years were not anyhow wasted. Maybe I missed some point somewhere.
People get confused easily these days, because it seems that the world tells them what they should be. I've met many people who have tremendous pressure on them and the source of the pressure is external. The world tells you to grow up, even though there exists no such people as "adults". The world tells you to gather property and achieve some certain thing that actually has no more or less meaning than some other thing. If you stop and listen carefully, nobody really forces you to achieve some certain thing. People mess around. The world is silent. Enjoy the silence.
I have achieved mostly nothing in my life (if you measure it in the way contemporary western media measures it), but I've been happier than most people I've met. My whole property would easily fit in a chest. I have not planned my life financially at all. Things will work out somehow. If I meet a brick wall someday and can't zip through it, I'll enjoy the drama. Tragedies are one of my favorite forms of art anyway. Like, I once dated a girl whose father was a millionaire. She was beautiful, I cared about her, she loved me and everything seemed great. Anyway, I dumped her, because of another girl, who I had fantasised about for a long time even before the current relationship had started. Sadly, this new girlfriend turned out to have some tragic childhood traumas that made the relationship very difficult, so it did not last long. In the process I did learn a lot about all kinds of important things that I would have otherwise missed, even though I lost the potential load of money from the first girl's father and my fantasies about the other girl shattered. I think I also lost the concept of romantic love at some point, for the time being. Sometimes our decisions have surprising results. It is funny and makes life enjoyable in the long run, even though eventually all of us will be hurt badly at some point.
All the other people can handle life until they die, so it can't be that bad for you or me either. Many people are poor in this world and lack water to drink. That is sad, but I have done nothing to change it. So, the fact that I don't know what to do for living seems a bit embarrassing, when my basic needs are satisfied, even though I have no real job. I could choose any school I want, but I seem to get bored in them at some point, because there is currently no urgent need for me to achieve formal education. Maybe I should look further into the future, but it is difficult, when nobody forces me to do so. Maybe I'm just stupid and can't see the whole picture, but if I look at some cats, they seem to lay around and hunt some small animals. I have no need to achieve more than they do, but I must admit I pollute a bit more than cats, which is unfortunate. It is also unfortunate, if you don't know "what to do with your life", if you have some externally delivered need for "doing something with your life". Anyway, try not to worry if possible, something happens sooner or later and every uncertain situation in life will get resolved in a way or another as time passes. Hopefully you find a way to resolve the problems yourself.
[redundant]Well, that didn't help much, I suppose.[/redundant]
AKA wrote:
Although to cap it off there is still things about life and the universe that puzzle me and I'm afraid I'll never be able to figure it all out before my time comes to an end.
Yeah, and no matter how much you know, you still have no chance of fully understanding even yourself (although, maybe with some drugs, one might achieve a temporal state of seemingly "understanding everything"). For me, it is possible to cope with the puzzling feeling and even enjoy the constant precense of a mystery. Enjoy what you've got. There's plenty of possibilities for small-scale "eurekas" every day, but it requires an open-minded attitude and realistical acceptance of one's own incompetence. I have no tremendous urge to understand stuff, but I thoroughly enjoy when I learn something new. Sometimes I intentionally seek experiences that are against my normal life, like visiting a gay bar, just to avoid getting stuck into some strict thought models. Negative closed-mindedness can occur easily and I may not even notice it myself. I agree with AKA that sharing knowledge is important. We live interesting times, when I think about that. Oh, but I don't want to derail Fabian's nice thread too much.
The squirrel comic Dromiceius posted is good. It took me many years before I learned to enjoy squirrels. I like the sound they make. They seem to be puzzled most of the time, possibly due to the presence of a human, but they enjoy the silence of the forest. If you can enjoy the silence of the forest, then you have no worries. *sigh*
Maybe somebody (like moozooh, who can write well) should make a thread called "TASer Interviews", which would include about 100 questions for TASers to answer, if they want to, so that people could answer some questions without making multiple threads like this one. I'm sure some people (like me) would be interested sharing their thoughts about stuff.
Oh, I almost forgot:
Dear Fabian,
What do you think about squirrels?
It doesn't really matter if you care about it or not. But it can also matter. Because it's a matter of choice.
4. So, maybe there's a chance that something matters after all?
That nothing matters means that anything can matter. 0=X. Since X*0=0, 0/0=X. That life has no meaning (undefined) means that it has infinite meaning.
3. So, does this mean that everything is not temporary afterall?
The fact that everything changes never changes.
4. So, there might be something that is not relative afterall?
Since relative and absolute are opposites, they must be the same thing. Opposites can't exist without one another, and the only way they could be connected like that is if they are the same thing.
I can't understand the thought of "wasting time".
I have no time to waste because my time is eternal.
girlfriend
Girls don't matter because I'm not a boy or a girl. I'm just nothing... that is everything to me.
with some drugs, one might achieve a temporal state of seemingly "understanding everything").
To understand everything, all you have to do is to understand that there is nothing to understand.
Joined: 5/2/2006
Posts: 1020
Location: Boulder, CO
nfq wrote:
0=X. Since X*0=0, 0/0=X. That life has no meaning (undefined) means that it has infinite meaning.
hate to be the math nerd, but 0/0 is not infinite, undefined has no meaning. its closer to meaning all values simultaneously rather then one single infinite value.
besides,
6*0=0
6=0/0
does not make 6 infinite.
Not that its the only thing wrong with that logic.
Dear Fabian, do you brush your teeth before having breakfast or after having breakfast (assuming you are going to eat breakfast)?
I always brush my teeth immediately when I get up. I wake up, turn on my computer, go to the bathroom and brush teeth + etc. I normally don't eat breakfast, but when I do, my teeth are still brushed. Which is really stupid of course.
but when I do, my teeth are still brushed. Which is really stupid of course.
Actually, it is the recommended way.
Brushing teeth immediately after eating something is not a good idea. Part of the tooth's surface gets dissolved during the eating, but remineralizes in an hour or two.
If you wash teeth before that happens, the dissolved content is lost and the teeth are left weaker.
This is what I remember reading recently somewhere.
Google "remineralization" for more information.
Hey guys,
The recent thread asking for relationship advice reminded me of this one. If you want to get good feedback on something in your life, feel free to ask away here.
This happened to me today:
Person: "How did your presentation go?"
Me: "That was last week."
Person: "Yeah, but I haven't seen you in the meantime."
Now I was thinking "But you did see me, and you asked me then also how the presentation went". Would you tell him, of think "fuck it"?
This happened to me today:
Person: "How did your presentation go?"
Me: "That was last week."
Person: "Yeah, but I haven't seen you in the meantime."
Now I was thinking "But you did see me, and you asked me then also how the presentation went". Would you tell him, of think "fuck it"?
Most of the time, I wouldn't say anything. The reason is I find people who need to point unimportant stuff like this out to others to show they're right (or the other person is wrong) are really annoying know-it-alls. I try my best to have people not see me like that and let small details like this go.
Fabian, why are you bumping this thread? I don't get it. Also, is the forum any better now? Also, do you think it's strange that I seem to be so obsessed with you?
Fabian, why are you bumping this thread? I don't get it. Also, is the forum any better now? Also, do you think it's strange that I seem to be so obsessed with you?
Not sure there's much to "get". For the same reasons I thought a thread like this could be good when I started it, I think it could generate some good stuff worth reading today. Of course, this largely depends on good questions being asked.
The forum is a lot worse today, no question about it. Worse in the sense that discussions don't really happen any more, and if they do, it's about useless boring shit like physics and math.
I don't think it's strange that you seem obsessed with me; in fact, I always thought JXQ was the target of your obsession. Obsession is the most sincere form of flattery, or something.
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself.
It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the
kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional
functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success."
- Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Sticky, didn't read mz's post very carefully, but probably something along the lines of that I'm an idiot attention whore who does stupid things and stirs up drama needlessely. That said, I'd never insult bossman out of nowhere, so the joke is on him!
