noahfor

I think people act because of various drives. I mean it's pretty evident. Without these drives would people be able to act? Without feelings would we do anything at all? Are our actions merely reactions? Why does god act? Would god act without something driving him to act? Does god choose what drives him? Is he merely being controlled by his drives? How can god be controlled?

tiberry

Ok - here's my view...

People 'act' so that they can experience the outcome of their actions. God 'acts' so that he can experience the outcome of his/her actions. Without experience, there can be no existence.

If I were god, and I were all that there was...the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end...how would I even perceive myself? I can't perceive that which I AM unless there exists something which I AM NOT, right? Do you see how merely CONCEIVING of that which I AM NOT, makes it so? It doesn't really matter if I can PROVE that there is something that I'm not, as long as I can CONCEIVE of it...therein lies the secret to the power of creation and I mean that literally.

People conceive of, everyday; things, situations, realities, circumstances, etc - that do not exist. Their power of conception and creation is so strong, yet their desire to EXPERIENCE is stonger. Thus, they work to make manifest their conceptions so that they can measure them and prove them and thereby make the experience stronger and more intense. Its all an illusion my friend, albeit a necessary one.

Anything you can conceive of IS reality...its as simple as that. Step outside the illusion and EXPERIENCE the reality of this truth!

__________________
My life's work is to bridge the gap between that which is perceived by the mind and that which is quantifiable by words and numbers.

noahfor

Ok. I still want people to reply to my original topic, but this sort of pertains to what you are talking about, which I don't fully understand yet. Think about another universe existing. That's it. I don't really reach any conclusions, but just thinking about another universe existing outside of this one just kind of enlightens me to the nature of existence without me really understanding it or being able to verbalize it. I don't know maybe in a couple years. It exists, but nowhere.

Mantus

Tiberry,

Where does out need for experience come from? It’s that just curiosity which could be pinned down as yet another animalistic tendency?


I believe that the drive behind our actions is largely instinctive. We have a base set of objectives in life. The main one is reproduction; all other needs derive from satisfying it. We also have our minds, which have the power to shape the instinctive forces that drive us. I am still questioning whether the mind can create its own motives. It seems that everything, which appears original to our brains, resembles an instinct in some shape or form. Though we see our world though metaphors (we identify things that look alike and group them together) so we might have trouble telling an original mental urge apart from an instinctive urge.

tiberry

I don't look at experience as a need Mantus - moreso, experience to me is a REQUIREMENT. It is an absolute...without it, there would be no existence (see my example). The fact that we DO experience is the reason we exist; the reason we exist is to experience...

As for our main objective being reproduction - I see this as a secondary matter to the fundemental "reason to act" that is the experience of having or creating a child. Wouldn't you agree that this is probably THE most intense, enlightening, incredible, deeply rewarding experiences in life?

The mind has no need to create motives - it has but one purpose...to experience. Every idea, every thought, every feeling is just the mind EXPERIENCING reality. Every action we take starts with a qualifying thought. Don't confuse this with instinct which is secondary...

We humans tend to create things we THINK OF so that the experience will be more intense. Our problem is that we have a limited ability to perceive that which is the true reality, without the use of one of our five senses. If we can't touch, see, taste, hear, or smell something - we tend to not accept its existence. So we have one of two choices:

1. Make stuff. Then we CAN sense it.

or

2. Devise a way to MEASURE stuff. Then we can PROVE its existence indirectly.

Just think about the electron or any other elementary or quantum particle. They've always existed yet only in the last century could we prove it. I'm not sure if we stumbled on their existence, or if we conveived of it and then developed a means to measure its existence...either way, we now accept it as truth.

Its easy to see that as long as you can devise a tool or a measurement for 'something' you can prove that 'something' to exist. See how grand the illusion is? Its so simple, its no wonder it alludes us! Everything that is, is. Just find a way to measure it and its there. THAT"S THE ILLUSION. You don't need to measure something for it to exist, but without the experience of a 'somethings' existence, its existence is irrelavent.

_________________

If you had but the faith of a mustard seed, you could move mountains - Someone who "got it".

__________________
My life's work is to bridge the gap between that which is perceived by the mind and that which is quantifiable by words and numbers.

:::OshnSoul:::

thoughts create actions.
We bring a thought into our mind, it will then begin to mold into our life and perception, thus creating our actions from that thought.

For example: "I hate my job." This thought triggers our brains into a brainwash of perception that the job is terrible- a judgement. Nevertheless, we act upon those thoughts, i.e. slacking, negative attitude at/toward job, which can affect everything else in your life.

Another example: "I want to lose weight." Well, even if it takes days or years, if you let that thought keep churning in your head, eventually you will act upon it.

Our actions are our "re-actions" from our thoughts. Whatever you think, you will re-act to.

Thus leads to this:

Mantus

So you refer to experience in a broader sense of it being any sort of influence or interaction upon an object or force?

As in ‘a ball experiences the hit of a bat, and experiences flight though the air’ or ‘I experience an instinctive urge to mate and approach a girl with the goal of experiencing asking her out’?

Essentially without experience there can be no causality.

gorilla

why humans act: if we didn't we wouldnt do anything

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