Try to forget...

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by truestory, Oct 13, 1999.

  1. Vanja Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    105
    I would prefer to exist just like I am now. I like me and I like where I am, even though life can be difficult. I'm in the 21-40 bracket. Is this for some type of study?
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. Vanja Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    105
    I would prefer to exist just like I am now. I like me and I like where I am, even though life can be difficult. I'm in the 21-40 bracket. Is this for some type of study?
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. truestory Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,122
    Hello Vanja, and welcome... Yes, in a way, I guess you could say that it is a personal study. Thanks for your thoughtful response.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    Tiassa,

    Glad to help with the clarification. If you don't mind my saying so, the more I read of your thought processes (through your posts), the more I am impressed by the depth of your thought and the manner in which you use the gift of your special mind.

    Thanks to all who sofar have taken the time to post their thoughtful responses!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. 666 Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    378
    Trustory,

    Give me door #2, Im 21-40.

    ------------------
    The Belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it
    seems to me the depest root of all evil that is in the world
    -Max Born
     
  8. Searcher Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    651
    Truestory,

    I like my life pretty much as it is - an eternity in my present body (though a few years younger would be nice) with my present life circumstances or better, would be great! So I guess that as long as I can pretend I have the choice, I would choose door #2. The third choice would end the mystery for me, and I enjoy trying to solve it myself too much to want that!

    I'm in the 41-60 range.
     
  9. Boris Senior Member Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,052
    truestory,

    Consider indeed the position of knowing nothing about the world other than the concepts of life and death. Furthermore, consider facing a choice between the three options.

    What does choosing 3) give you? Eternal bliss. One you can't back down from. One you will soon get desensitized to. One which will either end your conscious experience by turning you into a cuddly vegetable, a drug addict on a never-ending high -- or finally reveal itself to be the most exquisite torture imaginable.

    What does choosing 1) give you? Absolutely nothing, as it obliterates your very existence.

    Personally, given a choice (and the simplistic state of mind you propose), I would first observe the fact that I am indeed capable of making a choice. Supposing for a moment that actually making a choice will immediately assign myself to one of the fates -- why would I want to choose 1) or 3)? Neither of these options allows me to make choices any longer. They essentially take away a big part of my existence, of who I am. Option 2) is really the only one that preserves my capacity of making a choice. Since both 1) and 3) are permanent, I would rather choose 2). After all, I can exist for an indefinite amount of time in state 2), and then I could always make up my mind and switch to 1) or 3) later. Why make the choice now, why hurry when an eternity awaits either way? Might as well enjoy the here and now until I am absolutely sick of it; then and only then decide between 1) and 3), given their finality.

    <hr>

    Now, backing away from the naiive blank slate, we must consider what is actually <u>known</u> about the world of which we are a part. There is overwhelming evidence that mind and brain are one and the same. This points to the inevitable conclusion that with the destruction of the brain, the mind, or the "self" associated with that brain, is equally destroyed. If death is equal to destruction of the brain, then choice 1) is really the only option, and not even an option. Rather, it's a foregone conclusion.

    I'm 22.

    ------------------
    I am; therefore I think.
     
  10. SkyeBlue Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    260
    Yuky. I don't really think I like any of the three choices! Not that I believe for a second I actually have a choice, but if I did, I wouldn't know which one to choose! I believe something like #1 is closest to the truth.

    true' - here's what I believe, for whatever it's worth. Maybe this will help you figure out what you're looking for a little, maybe not.

    I believe our conciousness is a manifestation of electrical impulses. Our bodies are organic machines - we require fuel, and we almost literally 'burn' our fuel - giving off heat, moisture, and energy (electricity found in our bodies). Upon death, there is no way to sustain the current of electricity - the intake and processing of the fuel subsides. Energy and matter are one and the same - matter is basically energy at rest. Neither can be created or destroyed, so my conclusion is then that the electrical impulses that create our conciousness dissapates into the environment. The matter that is left behind - our bodies - is recycled by the environment. Ditto for those electrical impulses. I'm no physicist, so I can't tell you what happens to the energy in the environment, but that's what I believe happens.

    Looking at it this way - it's a form of reincarnation! Of course, the energy and matter are completely randomized, but each one of us is made from all the matter and energy that's been around since before history, recycled, and re-recycled. What is now my body and 'soul' (electrical current) will some day become trees, and grass, and maybe a thunderstorm or two. The grass grown out of my remains might be eaten by a deer, that is shot by a hunter and served up as dinner. That dinner is digested by a pregnant woman, and some of that fuel is used to create new cells in her developing baby. When that baby is born, little invisibly miniscule bits and pieces of me are part of the bits and pieces of the baby, and I am re-used. Nothing of my remaining conciousness is left, the baby has no idea that I'm there, but nonetheless, I am, along with billions and billions of other dead people, rats, trees, some sunlight, a little rain...etc.
     
  11. SkyeBlue Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    260
    Oh, yeah, I'm 24.
     
  12. Oxygen One Hissy Kitty Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,478
    Age 32.

    Why do you tell us to put aside any conceptions of a god when you do not do so yourself in order to ask question #3?
     

Share This Page