Despair or indifference
Category: Opinionated | 24 Comments | Posted 12:01Hm, this entry is as a response to someone who doesn't have a comments feature on their diary. 
That person is basically saying that they can't be happy unless (or until) they've found out what the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything is (hehe, can't help quoting wonderful Douglas Adams). Funnily, I've had some debates about this with people.
See, the whole "wondering about the meaning" is me 10yrs ago. Lying in bed at night, thinking about the vastness of the Universe and my place in it. They said it was infinite - just trying to imagine something that never ended was almost too much. And then of course there was the question if it was real. Who was to say it wasn't just an illusion? I had a phase where I imagined the whole world was only a dream of mine, which was rather neat as it made me the centre of the universe. Rather rotten dream though as things never went my way.
I spent years pondering these issues. I never found a satisfying conclusion I think, or at least I can't remember it. The vastness of the universe, tho it still amazes me, doesn't unsettle me any longer. Why should it, it doesn't affect me directly. And the meaning of life... I wouldn't say I've stopped looking, it's more that I've accepted there is none. Of course our consciousness makes us wonder, I think it lies within human nature to try to find "an answer". And I don't think we will ever stop.
But the question is "why should there be a meaning?" Does there need to be one? So the universe came into being, and so did our planet, and so eventually did we, in an infinite chain of coincidences (hehe, love me that phrase). Is that not enough? Why not? Because it doesn't attriubute enough importance to us? Because it reduces us to near-nothingness, a whim of nature that doesn't take up more than a second in the 24hr existence of the Earth?
If you leave a bit of bread out for too long and mould builds up on it, do you ponder about the deeper meaning of this mould? About its purpose in life? No, you accept that bacteria + air + bread = mould. We are the mould of the Earth. We don't have a mission to fulfil, except perpetrating our kind.
I like the idea of parallel universes. Everytime you make a decision, you choose one way for things to happen. But maybe another you chose a different way. Then the whole world changes, simply because this infinitesimal part of it changed. This happens billions of times every second, all around the world, maybe all around the universe. So we have an unimaginable number of parallel universes - in some of these there is no Earth, in some the Earth is still populated by dinosaurs, in some the Cuba crisis escalated in '62 and we blew up the planet, in some I'm simply drinking juice instead of Coke.
Isn't that a cool idea? Not only is there one infinite universe, no there's an infinite number of infinite universes! And still no reason. Absolutely none. Some would call it absurdity, and I like the Absurd, but we only call it that because it seems so strange to us that there should be no meaning. There are no questions really, the Universe doesn't ask questions. It's us asking, and us failing to find answers. Us us us. The mere act of asking questions makes it all about us, too. No one gives a damn but us! 
I say, embrace your meaninglessness, your smallness, make the most of it. Why waste your life thinking about stuff you cannot answer? A lifetime is not enough to answer the ultimate question, and you have but one lifetime. Lying on your deathbed at 80, you might well regret not having made more of your life. The meaning you won't have found anyway, while in the meantime you could have made friends, seen videos, and bought cars. 
>> For some reason I found that pretty kyoot.
(
tho)
>> TIS fascinating but I don't really buy it.
No, I don't really either tbh. Cool tho
Life? Don't talk to me about life! Loathe it or ignore it - you can't like it. 
To enhance your idea of meaningless of our way of thinking:
The question of why is based on our system of logical conclusions. Logic is based on implications (if-then). But this kind of logic exists in a world of linear time only. There has to be a before and after for logic to work. But if time is just another dimension, it may be possible for other creatures to move free on the timeline. There could be even complete unimaginable dimensions (in fact those are common in mathematics). Without a linear time a question of why is senseless.
So as the question of why is specific for the thinking of the human world (as sensed by us) there can't be a "right" answer.
Posted by: Tobias at August 22, 2003 01:25 PM>>That person is basically saying that they can't be happy unless (or until) they've found out what the meaning of Life
But there's no meaning in life 
lol
>>The meaning you won't have found anyway, while in the meantime you could have made friends, seen videos, and bought cars.
Exactely 
LMAO @ Marvin. I know who you are 
Tobias: Why does there need to be a before-after? Why can't logic work simultaneously? 
I can say "if I'm a Luxembourger then I'm a European" - that works outside of time too, as it is always true. I think. 
LOL @ Lo. cUUUte! I have your questions btw 
Was meant exactly*
Wuahh my life is meaningless, I can't even spell
simultaneous posting!
1 min diffoorence
>>LMAO @ Marvin I know who you are
I knew you would
I knew you'd know I would. (er... )
The phrase "if I'm a Luxembourger then I'm a European" doesn't make sense, if you invert it. Therefore the before and after is important. And maybe the meaning of "Europe" in 1000 years will be complete different. So the correctness depends on the context of its saying. But the context is our way of linear thinking. The answer to the question of the meaning of life is beyond this context.
Posted by: Tobias at August 22, 2003 02:01 PMTobias is making my diodes hurt 
I think I need upgrading.
Dunno, but I think it's not just human to question the sense of life, of what you're doing, of what others do. I think the societies in this world want you to question it, because the question motivates you to go on in life, working hard, finding a family and all these things. People always fear their life doesn't make sense, so they build some sense for themselves. For different purposes it is a good thing for all kinds of societies to question the sense of life - for economy, religion, science and stuff.
But deep down I also believe there is no meaning really, and you're just there to vegetate as best as you can. But to believe in a meaningless life makes you wonder - then why should I keep on living at all and why should I work hard on goals when it has no meaning really.
Posted by: Michelle at August 22, 2003 02:15 PMHum @ Tobias. My diodes are overheating too. Of course Lux > Europe doesn't make sense if you invert it, that's the whole point. OK the context is important, but only because a question is always asked within a context. Even without time there must be a different dimension that provides the context - so even other beings that don't have the constraint of time might be asking "why" - just in a different way (that is unimaginable for us, of course).
>> think the societies in this world want you to question it <<
Erm, aren't societies human?
>> why should I keep on living at all and why should I work hard on goals when it has no meaning really <<
Ah but there is a meaning! It just doesn't go beyond your own life. You live for yourself & those around you. Isn't that enough? You're here now after all, why not make the most of it?
Who's Marvin?
>>The phrase "if I'm a Luxembourger then I'm a European" doesn't make sense, if you invert it.
Eh?!
If I'm a European, then I'm a Luxembourger doesn't make sense.
PS. Marvin
Posted by: Clarissa at August 22, 2003 04:15 PMWeird. And um... it does? Kinda...
You've not got a 'specs' icon...
Posted by: The BML at August 22, 2003 04:34 PMNope. Don't like that one.
Posted by: Clarissa at August 22, 2003 05:46 PMI'm too tired to even think about this right now.
The purpose of life is to live it.
Posted by: Bill at August 23, 2003 10:25 PMAmen brother! 
My favorite lines are, "Lying on your deathbed at 80.". There are things to do and places to go to stimulate our bodies and minds before we go.
Another idea about lying awake at night trying to figure out why we are here is too exhausting. We will never have the energy to keep up with this sort of behavior.
It is time that we, US to adopt the 'live and let live attitude', if not, then, us would find ourselves eaten alive by the power networks.
SAT
Posted by: SweetAssTea at September 19, 2003 01:21 AM
>>there is none. Of course our consciousness makes us wonder, I think it lies within human nature to try to find "an answer".
Agree with that. Humans just can't help but look for the bigger picture. I guess they're too egotistical to accept they serve no purpose other than play a minor role in the billion year evolution process.
>>bacteria + air + bread
For some reason I found that pretty kyoot.
>>I like the idea of parallel universes. Everytime you make a decision, you choose one way for things to happen. But maybe another you chose a different way. Then the whole world changes, simply because this infinitesimal part of it changed.
Oh God... *getting headache* TIS fascinating but I don't really buy it. Cool idea tho.
>>No one gives a damn but us!
True. We can never just accept, can we?
>>The meaning you won't have found anyway, while in the meantime you could have made friends, seen videos, and bought cars
LMAO!
What a conclusion...
Posted by: The BML at August 22, 2003 12:41 PM