Life metaphors

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by birch, Jun 10, 2017.

  1. birch Valued Senior Member

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    I think this is an accurate analogy of life experience. It's strange that you don't wake up from a nightmare but to a reality of a nightmare. monsters and bad things are not in your dreams, they are in your reality. Life is often the nightmare.

    There are certain things that can never be, things or people you can never recover, time you can not get back, injustice that can not be undone, things you can never change and dreams that will never happen or past the point of possibility. There are so many deaths, small and big, in life.

    You start off so full of light, love, trust and hope, even believing the universe will be conspiring to ultimately be fair but you find out that is not true and there are no guarantees. that the very act of giving that beautiful, innocent and inspired trust was ultimately undeserved as well as ironicly the undoing. the strangeness of knowing the universe you thought was your home did not deserve your trust at all.

    It violates all that you hold dear and your soul. After a time, you can end up thinking what is the point anymore. Your little space of your life and your dream of a dream crushed beyond the point of no return, you can only then admire other people's happiness or luck or fulfillment like alice through the looking glass.

    I agree though with the wisdom that you should not get attached to this life where everything and anything can be stolen, destroyed, lost, decay, killed and even your very life. There are never any guarantees.
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2017
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  3. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    You must be a WOW at partys

    Every thought of being a clown or stand up comedian for a living?

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  5. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Right. All true.

    And yet oblivion (i.e. if life had never happened) would suck so much more. Because with life comes things that can be, things and people you can recover, injustices that can be undone, things that you can change, and dreams that will happen, births small and big. None of which would happen were oblivion the state.

    One way to look at it is on a much smaller scale. Every day you wake up, you make a decision to get out of bed, to face the trials and tribulations of the day, the stresses, the aggravation, the need to provide sustenance for yourself.

    But you could choose to stay in bed, have none of the trials, tribulations, stresses and aggravations. Of course, in bed, not only bad stuff doesn't happen - good stuff doesn't either. No friends, no fine meals, no sunshine on your face, or flowers in your nose, no books, jokes, conversations, new ideas.

    So, which does one choose: a day of both ups and downs? Or a day of constant, neutral, uneventful sameness?

    When is the last time you literally slept through an entire Saturday, clear into Sunday (or Monday)? If you didn't, why not? What got you - of your own free will - out of bed? Something did.
     
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  7. birch Valued Senior Member

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    gives an indication of who is always the ones left to perpetuate next generation after generation. majority assholes/scum and few saints.
     
  8. birch Valued Senior Member

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    This is true for the most part when dealing with subpar, below or average people in character which is still a significant portion of society.

     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2017
  9. danshawen Valued Senior Member

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    You just aren't making the fullest use of your dopamine and seratonin addictions then, are you? The people in the film appear to be drugged if they aren't having dinner. Why is that scene different? Would life be better, if all of us were always eating?

    Give it up, mammal. Come down here and slither around with the rest of us clueless reptiles and snakes and heirs of Salazar Slytherin. Lots of small mammals to eat.. Sssssss... Unhinge you jawbone and swallow them whole. Head first; they won't wiggle for long. They won't walk very far after they are digested either.

    Do all of your thinking with your amygdala, like the rest of us zombies and monsters and teenage adolescent humans who don't yet understand why dinosaurs went extinct. They had a pretty good run, you must admit, for monsters, that is. They were always eating each other, or fighting over their next meal. The fullest use of the gift of life, I think most homo sapiens would agree.

    You can always put on a suit and be a boss, or even president. They dine pretty well, don't they? Is this what life is really all about?

    Yes, that is a nightmare. This depresses you? You need a snack. The reptile G-d loves snacks, and the creatures that eat them.

    The film needed more snakes to clean up after the party.

    Those two chemicals aren't the problem with your nightmare. You either need more empathy with your food, or go vegan, for all the good it will do. Vegans are tasty too. Ask any omnivore monster, or for that matter, the plants that will thrive from the fertilizer of your rotting flesh. Why are these not monsters, exactly? Waste not, want not is my best dream, not fixating on how I got to the wrong side of the dirt.

    If you are having disturbing dreams like this one, maybe what you really need is a change of film genre. In my entire life, I watched one of those, and it was enough.

    Harry Potter's films have plenty of snakes, and food, but the acting is better. Eating popcorn shouldn't give anyone nightmares.
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2017
  10. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    By definition, 50% of the population is below average.

    But I take your meaning as much more derisive.

    You think you are a superior specimen. This is always a bad idea. The first error one makes is to assume one is not, themselves, as humanly fallible as others.
     
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  11. birch Valued Senior Member

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    i wasn't referring to one aspect such as iq as alone is not an indicator of one's character, ethics or values.

    some people are superior to others in some aspect or even in most but superiority or higher quality is a minority not vice versa. That is also just a fact, but that doesn't guarantee life is going to be any better or easier, so you can rest the misplaced guilt-trip in favor of scum cuz they do well without your pc but woefully ignorant sympathy since nature favors them. they are a sizable majority.

    The truth is that society wouldn't have the gravity of the heinous level of problems as it does if it wasn't for the number of evil or lesser quality people not just in iq but eq as well as morality.

    For instance, north korea is a small example/study on a micro scale. Evil people can't attain power without the support of others which translates to the reality that there must be more unethical people than vice versa. That is a clear-cut fact. That truth can be applied worldwide with all societies.

    Even when there isn't such obvious gross evil, in relative terms to areas more disastrous, it is still afoot underneath the relative overall stable function of society such as human trafficking, slavery, drugs, organ theft etc even in first world countries. And even if this is not readily apparent, you have obvious signs and symbols of debauchery, greed, waste and stupidity.

    amongst the unaffected in society with their ridiculously over-importance of the trivial or pettiness of their lives. if aliens came today, they would see a bunch of morons taking selfies incessantly and other banal crap that is hyped and heightened to pretentious and fake self-importance and narcissism. this may not seem to be related to borderline sociopathy but i would guess many people tend to be this way. hence why the world, history and society is the way it is.

    All the corruption in countries, governments, as well as the numerous despotic leaders or powers that be could not have been if the majority were more intelligent as well as more ethical. it really is that simple in this case. if better, honest, ethical ,responsible and kind people were the majority, the world would look very different. That is plain as truth as you can get.
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2017
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  12. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Neither was I.
    You're being opinionated.

    An opinion does not a fact make.
     
  13. birch Valued Senior Member

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    uh no, the specific point i made is a fact. if better people were the majority, then the world, planet and society would reflect the difference in relation to them and their steward of the planet.

    if one were to rate humans on a grading scale, most would not be stellar and that is a fact, not an opinion.

    what you mean is it's not pc to say so but i don't see this as being anything secret as it's obvious.
     
  14. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Define 'better'.

    Grading scale of what?

    These are trivialisms.

    It is a fact that if socks were wings we could all fly.
    But so what? These are not arguments.
     
  15. danshawen Valued Senior Member

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    https://www.forbes.com/sites/victor...ween-psychopathy-and-leadership/#108847bc4104

    Sociopaths (lie, cheat, steal, etc) make up about 1% of the total population
    Sociopaths make up about 3% of individuals in higher echelons of business leadership
    Sociopaths make up about 15% of most prison populations.

    Such individuals may be trained to approximate the behaviors of normal, caring people, and even succeed fairly well in the process. As it relates in the book "Snakes in Suits", don't imagine you will be able to easily prosecute such people for their "bad" behaviors. Most are more than capable of beating you or anyone else in court. Just because their emotional range is limited does not mean they are not intelligent, even brilliant, in other ways.

    Doesn't look like an opinion, really, does it? Aren't we all getting an object lesson in this statistic in the form of Donald Trump right now?

    What really are the chances, such individuals will ever do much of anything for the benefit of anyone but themselves?
     
  16. birch Valued Senior Member

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    only 1 percent? SERIOUSLY?? numero uno? only one percent lie or cheat? *COUGH*, that is very kind. LIKE SYRUPY, BULLSHIT KIND. no way it's NEAR ACCURATE but kind nonetheless. considering even good people lie sometimes, this is not accurate. even worse, average people lie way more without conscience and down the line. humans are not anywhere near this angelic. lying, cheating and stealing is like, um, commonplace and a cornerstone of life. there is more than one way to cheat or steal, they aren't just the ones who break into your house.

    it would make for an irrate society if people were actually judged accurately. you can't get the cooperation of a society by making them feel badly about themselves or having a negative self-image or low self-esteem. you must whitewash their ego. who wants to be labeled a sociopath, even if they are a sizable majority of the population? they have power, pitchforks and rope and would not take kindly to that, even if true.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2017
  17. Tralay Registered Member

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    eeks, this thread reeks of "free will" pushers
     
  18. birch Valued Senior Member

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    5,077


    Why the cruelty? there are things people have to do to survive. but many things that are justified are not necessary. it is gratuitous, frivolous and shallow. the suffering of another lifeform as the price is not worth or justifiable for it. and yes, people who see no problem with that are evil. life is hard enough as it is, why make it harder for others and vice versa?

    in this day and age, do you really need a fur coat, especially when it's worn for superficial reasons? is your ego worth more than the pain and suffering of another?

    even all the overabundance of redundant materialism is a symbol of abject carelessness of the impact on the environment and stresses on human production as well. The first thing, I would be concerned about with any production is how it will be done and how well the workers will be treated/how it will affect them and their work environment as well as is it necessary or worth it. Yes, materialism and even non-essentials have a genuine place for our enjoyment but the gross level indicates just how superfluously greedy people are. even insane. most items are not even that good quality anyways so why produce so many copies, versions, etc of the same thing?

    for instance, as a female, I always hear about a new 'makeup' line from a start-up company about every month or told about it excitedly from female colleagues. my reaction is like 'ugh, what? and?' as if the world really needs a new makeup line amongst the teeming crapload of other ones. my reaction is because, often, there is nothing new about any of them except packaging and image. Then I've seen videos of women buying all these cosmetics on a level no person could possibly use it all. I did not find it okay or impressive but disgustingly wasteful.

    one thing I am against is companies that are not really idea based but just a redundancy of producing more material product that the market is already oversaturated with and produces more pollution and waste.

    also, I always hear about another store or market opening up soon. as if the world really needs another convenient store when there is another one less than half a mile away or another grocery store etc.

    The way I see it now is, the world does NOT need anymore actual material wealth at this point. CEASE and desist, for godsakes! the oceans are teeming with tons of garbage as it is.

    The world needs more idea-based wealth, entertainment and management, not a new clothing or cosmetic or shoe or furniture line etc. At least, the former leave less footprint and actually engage the mind rather than the dumb accumulation of baubles that just require more physical storage capacity and are rarely used.

    I don't see how one can get a feeling of security from having excess of material goods unless it's something of actual utility like canned goods one may store in a bunker in case of the apocalypse or something. otherwise, having excess is junk. After a certain point, it's hoarding or waste.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2017
  19. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    They can't help it. They are compelled by their own brain chemicals. No freewill, right?
     
  20. Beer w/Straw Transcendental Ignorance! Valued Senior Member

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    And follows:
    Hence, could one or both of you elaborate, please?
     
  21. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    Sinse life as we know it includes horrors... i thank oblivion woud have been the beter state... ie... no life no horrors.!!!
     
  22. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    Everybody has free will. What you don't have is unlimited free will

    You can fly but due to the constraints of Physics most of us use aircrafts or other such devices as we are not able to fly by flapping our arms or come from another world and now live under a yellow sun

    Other impediments to totally free will are the unknowable workings of your brain neurones. You can make a decision and set out to accomplish the task you have set yourself only to be struck with a thought which totally derails you sending you off in a new direction

    Other more distractions, like meeting a mate and deciding to have coffee and not go to the movies are problematic for free will (the change of mind free will + is it really free puzzle?)

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  23. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    By the simple observation that you are still here, I think one can conclude that you, like most others, prefer life over oblivion.
     

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