Stop Wasting Your Time

[Felixion]

Now the post you're about to read will be taken out of context, hated by some, and probably somewhat insulting but I feel the need to speak my mind after reading so many posts in the last year about this topic. None of you know what you're talking about. Now for someone you've never met to say that to you over a computer is like "What the hell? This guy doesn't know me, or my opinions, or my expieriences, how can he say that?" I can because I don't know what I'm talking about either. None of you that has ever debated the meaning of life, the meaningless of life, the human condition, and expierience, and reality and what it all means, you are all talking out of your asses. In the end, most of us are young people who play video games who lack a VAST amount of knowlegde of the human expierience to be able to make the kind of claims that we're making.

We're all in the same mess, and not a single one of the billions of little lost souls on this rock will EVER know ANY of the answers to ANY of these questions. Accept that. All this groveling and arguing is pathetic, because in the end the only reason any of us talk about this, or think about it even is the desire for clarity, or an answer. We somehow believe that exploring this topic is going to shine some light on the subject and make us all feel better. Well accept it, it's not going to happen. It's like trying to dig a hole to China, either you're going to get some common sense and give up and realize it's futile, and hop out of your hole and enjoy what's in front of you, or you're going to be so hard headed that you'll dig until you get burned by magma, and die. And I mean that, these thoughts are destructive, and simply the fact that there are no answers is proof we're not supposed to know them.

And to see people like yourselves talking so matter-of-factly about things that you know NOTHING about is nauseating. And I mean that, none of you, or myself have any insight into any of these topics because we're all existing in the same state of uncertainty. So stop trying to preach as though you've discovered some kind of answer, because you haven't. You've just once again stumbled upon the vast incomprehensible world we live in, and need to vent your feelings. So don't rebuke with your little theories, or opinions, because they're all falling into the same category: ********. And deep down inside of you, you know that it's true.

You're here once, and you can spend all day for the rest of your life until the morning of your death and you're going to look into the mirror and realize that you're no closer to clarity then than you were typing on that gaming forum 50, or sixty, or seventy years ago. You can waste a life talking about this. So in the end, my disgust is not born of contempt, but of love, for I wish that everyone could let go with their obsession with control and clarity, and just accept our world.

Fall in love, learn a language, climb a mountain, smell a flower, make a friend, acheive a goal.

These are the fruits of out existence, and perhaps in the vasntness of the cosmos they are as insignificant as a fly ********, but enjoy them, because it's all we got.

[Gaidin]

I can because I don't know what I'm talking about either.

This whole post became a trite experience in comic BS to me once I hit that line. Well done sir.

[The Prodigy]

This seems like a troll, sis-pool to me....:hmmm:

[Dzhel]

Not a troll. The truth.

No one has any answers as to why life is as it is. Doesn't mean we can't learn from each other how to live better.

Just my thoughts and you can't believe everything you think anyways.

[The Prodigy]

Not a troll. The truth.

No one has any answers as to why life is as it is. Doesn't mean we can't learn from each other how to live better.

Just my thoughts and you can't believe everything you think anyways.

But this whole post.. It just seems like saying... Ok well, dont think because theres no reason! No matter how hard you try, your not gunna figure it out! I cant sit idly by and agree

[Darth Wong]

In the end, most of us are young people who play video games who lack a VAST amount of knowlegde of the human expierience to be able to make the kind of claims that we're making.

I'm a 36 year old licensed engineer with two kids. I am not just another "young person who plays video games".

And I mean that, these thoughts are destructive, and simply the fact that there are no answers is proof we're not supposed to know them.

The wise man seeks understanding, not easy answers.

And to see people like yourselves talking so matter-of-factly about things that you know NOTHING about is nauseating.

I know plenty. The problem with your argument is that you presume anything which requires thoughtful analysis is too complicated; you want an easy answer and you find out out that there isn't one, so you declare that all of the people who examine such matters should just give up.

[RazorOutlaw]

*sigh*

I might never be certain about the existence of God, but I can be certain that a man named Jesus lived thanks to the discussions on this forum. Save the sweeping generalization for another audience, good sir. Some of us might play games, but some of us are scholars too. You know, the types that can be certain about what they're talking about.

[Last Roman]

so exchanging ideas, thoughts, ideas and general knowledge and thus basically all of human existence is useless? Guess I'll just crawl under a rock and die.

[Gaidin]

Guess I'll just crawl under a rock and die.

REALLY?! RAWK!!


sorry...couldnt help it...

[IamthePope]

so exchanging ideas, thoughts, ideas and general knowledge and thus basically all of human existence is useless? Guess I'll just crawl under a rock and die.

Not so.
The unexamined life is not worth living (ho de anexetastos bios ou biôtos anthrôpô) -Socrates

[Felixion]

All of you are completely disregarding the entire purpose of my post. The point of what i'm saying is not to disuade consideration of our life, and meaning, but not to become wrapped up in it to the point of being irrational, and presuming to have answers. You can all go on for hours on how many degrees you have, or how old you are, or how many kids you've brought into the world, that means nothing in the context of this discussion. No matter how much is achieved and accomplished, you still cannot go on and presume to have found some higher meaning in life than the rest of us. Go read through the posts in this forum, and you will find countless posts by people who talk as though they have understanding that others don't and it makes me sick. You all take my post, as I presumed, as an assumption of your life expieriences, or what you know, but it doesn't matter. Because in the end, an 80 yr. old who's been to war, and a six year old have the same knowledge of the meaning of life, no one has more or less, we're all in the same boat no matter how many "hair raising" expieriences you've had, you still know no more than anyone else, or have no more understanding.
I don't encourage you not to ask questions, but not to let them affect your lives in a negative way, something I see FAR too often on this forum.

[Darth Wong]

All of you are completely disregarding the entire purpose of my post.

No, we're disagreeing with it. Not-so-subtle difference.

The point of what i'm saying is not to disuade consideration of our life, and meaning, but not to become wrapped up in it to the point of being irrational, and presuming to have answers.

Perhaps you should explain why any particular answer is invalid, rather than making blanket statements that all answers are worthless.

You can all go on for hours on how many degrees you have, or how old you are, or how many kids you've brought into the world, that means nothing in the context of this discussion. No matter how much is achieved and accomplished, you still cannot go on and presume to have found some higher meaning in life than the rest of us.

Who says we're trying to? I've said many times that the search for "higher meaning" is itself meaningless, because no one even knows whether a higher meaning exists.

Go read through the posts in this forum, and you will find countless posts by people who talk as though they have understanding that others don't and it makes me sick.

Some of us have an understanding of scientific methods that others don't. That's a fact. As for "higher meaning", you are presuming that such a thing even exists. I make no such presumption.

I don't encourage you not to ask questions, but not to let them affect your lives in a negative way, something I see FAR too often on this forum.

How do you know whether any of this affects anyone's life? Do you know any of us in our personal lives? TWC has a negligible effect on my life. My wife doesn't even know what TWC is.

[Last Roman]

Not so. "The unexamined life is not worth living" -Socrates

What? that's what I was basically getting at but using this thing known as sarcasm.

[HMMcKamikaze]

Humans are imperfect, so the chances of knowing such importants questions is extremely thin, but you cant claim that no one knows such answers. If i knew the the meaning of life and could fully comprehend it i wouldnt go running around telling everyone about it. Its hard to see things from another perspective since we live with ourselves and our follies 24/7.

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

None of you that has ever debated the meaning of life, the meaningless of life, the human condition, and expierience, and reality and what it all means, you are all talking out of your asses. In the end, most of us are young people who play video games who lack a VAST amount of knowlegde of the human expierience to be able to make the kind of claims that we're making.

Speak for yourself sonny. I'm a 39 year old business owner with several university degrees, quite a bit of international travel and some life experiences that would make your hair stand on end.

We're all in the same mess, and not a single one of the billions of little lost souls on this rock will EVER know ANY of the answers to ANY of these questions. Accept that.

Thanks - I 'accepted' that as an undergraduate doing first year philosophy. If you think that questions are only worth pondering if they have definitive answers then perhaps it's you that needs to do a bit more thinking. There are plenty of other reasons to ponder, discuss and debate questions which we can never fully answer or answer definitively - (i) to explore the nature of the question itself to begin with, (ii) to analyse possible answers to or positions on those questions, even if we can never be totally sure they are the correct answers, (iii) to examine and test our preconceptions and explore other possible answers and perspectives.

Lots of people down the centuries have usefully and productively pondered, discussed and debated questions which have no definitive answers. They were all wasting their time? You would have walked into the Lyceum in Athens and told Aristotle to go get a life and 'stop wasting your time'?

All this groveling and arguing is pathetic, because in the end the only reason any of us talk about this, or think about it even is the desire for clarity, or an answer.

Yes, 'a desire for clarity'. I can get clarity on an issue by formulating an expression of my position on it. Or I can get clarity by reading the expressions of others' positions, regardless of whether I agree or disagree with them. Both are entirely valid, useful and legitimate regardless of whether there is a definitive and objective 'answer' on that issue. If we limited thought and discussion to simply the things which have definitive and objective 'answers' we'd live in a very small and narrow intellectual world.

You can do that if you like. I don't think I will join you though, thanks.

And to see people like yourselves talking so matter-of-factly about things that you know NOTHING about is nauseating.

And what do you know about the extent of my knowledge on anything, kiddo?

You can waste a life talking about this. So in the end, my disgust is not born of contempt, but of love, for I wish that everyone could let go with their obsession with control and clarity, and just accept our world.

Ummm, how about accept it while still analysing it and testing and reviewing that analysis constantly? That sounds like a much better option.

Fall in love, learn a language, climb a mountain, smell a flower, make a friend, acheive a goal.

Yes, all that too.

[Felixion]

For instance, I was born with a heart problem and have undergone 8 open heart surgeries, as well as losing those very dear and close to me in my short time on earth. Many would consider this life expierience that would give me better perspective on life, but in the end, I don't know any more about our existence than the next guy. That's not to say life expierience doesn't help one's journey, but it doesn't put someone above another in understanding.

[The Prodigy]

For instance, I was born with a heart problem and have undergone 8 open heart surgeries, as well as losing those very dear and close to me in my short time on earth. Many would consider this life expierience that would give me better perspective on life, but in the end, I don't know any more about our existence than the next guy. That's not to say life expierience doesn't help one's journey, but it doesn't put someone above another in understanding.

So what does put one on a higher level of understanding? Someone who reads a book, does not have higher understanding of said book, even though he read it? Seems a little flawed...

[BlackSheep]

Felix, Your statement is self-defeating. You can't say "There is no truth", because that very statment would be a truth.

I suppose what your saying is closer to "We don't know anything" or "We don't know the truth", but these statments are really all one and the same.

We do know things to be totally true, for example, the fact that I exist, or at least the fact that you exist.

Better stated:
"I think therefore I am"

which really means that:
"I can't be aware of the fact that I don't exist, therefore I must exist"

What you've really outlined here is the philosophy of relativism, or somtimes called perspectivalism, but philosophers debunked it from the beginning.

The questions of understanding, truth, belief, ect. fall under the catagory of Epistemology.

I can assure you Felix, pepole do, or don't understand things about life.

But don't take my word for it

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

Felix, Your statement is self-defeating. You can't say "There is no truth", because that very statment would be a truth.

I think what he was trying to say is 'Some of you guys don't know as much as you think you do.'

Can't argue with that.

Where it got a bit tangled up in itself is where he seemed to be trying to argue that no-one can know anything much, which simply isn't true at all.

[RexNecros]

Dude, like, Rene Descartes was like, Ergo parce sum…

Which pretty much summarizes your whole argument, the only thing I am certain is that I am alive; yes total skepticism as he said in his meditations of first philosophy or as it was portrayed in the matrix when Neo woke up only to find out that other reality (sorry for the lame example).

I use to be intrigued by that idea and discussed that to death and ended up reading vastly about it. At the end, I am still human and this is my reality, whatever that means is better is just for the better, a big dream, an induced reality, maybe I am schizophrenic, best I can do about anything I do is just to make me happy… at the end I still uncertain of everything but my own existence…