Yakk

It sorta was actually. =p

Belief that there is a concept called "God", which exists in people's minds, is not really something an atheist would deny. And that's the only belief mentioned.

They give a meaning for one's life on earth possibly. Heaven-based religions, however, give no real basis for existance, other than hedonism. They just offer infinite reward for playing the game while you live as a carrot. Hedonism, thinly vieled. Reincarnation religions offer hedonism by reincarnating 'better' often.

If one's life is but a part of the story, then raise your arguement to 'what meaning does existance have', and the tricks religions use tend to fall apart.


Refuting. You said 'the things you do [in life] have meaning', then wondered 'how do [the things you do in life] give your life meaning'?

It seems you have distingished between your life and the things that you do in your life. If you remove that distinction, there is an answer for you.

Your existance will still have been. Nothing was destroyed by your death, in a wierd way: all events, consequences and actions done are not undone.

I hope you talked to other people in those 17 years. What you learned and passed on will not go away, it will persist. The line will continue.

You can't contribute to social projects that occur after you die, nope, I agree. Well, not directly: you could set up foundations, inspire others, etc etc. But that is only the central part of existance, so don't worry about it. =)

You are diminished by the fact the universe is large?

Imagine if the universe consisted of you and a flower, on a rock floating in space. Just because there was nothing except you and the flower, would that make your actions mean any more? I would argue no: with less other there is fewer chances to matter, fewer consequences to your actions.

The universe is a big place. A cute fact, but really, so what? Why does that make your existance matter less? It gives you that much more to look at, that much more to touch, that much more to experience.

Just as your life shouldn't be defined by the fact it is about to end, your importance shouldn't be defined by the ratio of your mass to that of the universe.

Heh, sorry about that. I caught my misuse and forgot to remove it. =)

I disagree. As your belief system doesn't seem to have any use to me (it doesn't imply anything useful, nor does it seem to be backed with any evidence), and it seems that it makes you feel insignificant and useless, I will keep my beliefs, and you can go play with yours if you insist.

I don't need a reason to exist, not in some holy roller philosophical way. I mean, I exist because my parents had a baby, if you want a 'reason'. But that isn't what you are looking for.

Assertion without basis, as far as I can tell. I mean, I wouldn't join him, mainly because I don't like people named bob, but you are claiming his actions are absurd for no reason that I can see.

Make one up. I mean, I can write down reems of meanings you can select from.

The universe is the single most interesting thing you have ever seen. If you can't find meaning in a place this wonderous and interesting, quite possibly you should just give up and quit. Be polite and quiet about it, and try not to distirb those of us who are still enjoying ourselves.

The fact we live in a large reality doesn't mean we are any less for it. 6 billion humans diminishes you not at all.

However, I did say I could give you some meanings. How about:
It is quite possible (I'd even say probable)[1] that humankind is one of the first intelligent lifeforms in the universe, if not the only. Your ideas and their decendants may one day outlive every proton in the universe: they may live on without bounds.

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[1] Why do I say it is possible or probable we are an early intelligent lifeform?

Let say humanity is still going 100,000 years from now. I'd fully expect we'd have left the solar system and have colonized adjacent solar systems. Lets assume 10 stars are colonized.

Given a 0.1% population growth rate over the long term, every 1000 years or so humanity will have colonlized twice as many stars.

There are about 100 billion stars in the Galaxy.

So, 33,000 years later every star in the Galaxy will have been colonized. (10 * 2^33 is about 100 billion)

In case you haven't been keeping track, we are still talking about a blink of an eye in the lifetime of the universe. And, for those who don't know their astrogeography, we actually couldn't pull this off because the Milky Way is 300,000 to 100,000 light years in diameter.

Basically, our rate of colonization becomes only limited by relativity.

And, with a few thousands of years of more technology, we should be able to pack civilization seeds into relatively small machines, and make them move at speeds relatively close to that of light.

Intelligence, once it is past gestation, should be able to spread at relativistic speeds over the entire universe. So, if intelligence that passes the gestation phase isn't rare as yet, we'd have been colonized by them before we ever got here...

How is that for a grand purpose to place meaning in? I can give you foma that might be more to your liking if that one isn't pleasant enough for you.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.