The "leap of faith" is a problem for me, as I have had a sceptical, scientific approach to understanding the world for as long as I can remember. I hope we can all agree that this approach can only lead to nihilism, but for a long time I was naïve enough to equate truth with meaning. — daldai
There is a quote which, if memory serves, is attributed to Socrates - "all I know is that I know nothing." Well, that might have been true 2,400 years ago but with all the knowledge science has given us I now claim to know everything - in the wide sense of course. What I mean is that I can now close my eyes and see, generally, how everything fits together from a tiny fraction of a second after the big bang right up to now and, even in this age of specialization, I know I can't be the only one - that really would be absurd. — daldai
Anyway, this isn't about justifying nihilism (ha!), it's about finding a way to cure it, because I no longer care about the truth and I am lonely. — daldai
This is not a joke, I want to cure myself of nihilism and would consider hypnotism or even brain surgery in order to become someone capable of taking a "leap of faith." — daldai
The more truth you know, the less meaning your life has. — daldai
Well, that might have been true 2,400 years ago but with all the knowledge science has given us I now claim to know everything - in the wide sense of course. What I mean is that I can now close my eyes and see, generally, how everything fits together from a tiny fraction of a second after the big bang right up to now and, even in this age of specialization, I know I can't be the only one - that really would be absurd. — daldai
Recently, I came across some writings by Peter Wessel Zapffe, that seemed to ring true with my current core beliefs. What I got from it was that humans are basically animals with highly evolved intelligence and consciousness, who develop coping mechanisms - mainly rejection of negative thought, anchoring on items or ideas of importance, and distraction - to deal with the absurdity of life. In the absence or rejection of such coping mechanisms, one can end up over-thinking life, and searching for meaning where no such meaning exists.
My hope is that the same 'over-evolved' brain that finds despair in lack of meaning can move past this dilemma in a positive way. Perhaps if I can accept that life has no great purpose (or none that will be undeniably proven during my lifetime), I can be content with focusing on satisfying what seem to be our basic instinctive needs - food, shelter, family, community, love, freedom from pain, etc. — CasKev
Whilst I was searching for the truth it provided my life with meaning driven by the naïve assumption that it would all come together one day in some kind of revelatory "meaning of everything" moment. Instead, I was able to acquire so much objectivity, that I could see "everything" and it didn't have any meaning because I'd stepped so far back that, not just me, but the entire human race had shrunk into complete insignificance. The god's-eye view is not a myth any more, it's just really fucking scary and I want to come back.
Vastly more progress has been made since then than the rest of history. — daldai
For example, I have found that it is impossible for anyone to fall in love with a nihilist. If you think you're a nihilist and you think someone is in love with you then, I'm sorry, but you are wrong about one of them and I hope, — daldai
Meaning seems like it is something that would only exist in the context of, well, meaning. If a being does not communicate, it doesn't think in terms of meanings. Language is a tool, and we often overuse it, or use it in the wrong situations.It's biological, every other animal on the planet has meaning without looking for it. Humans have gradually lost meaning and have consequently acquired a greater need for meaning. See the absurdity principle above. — daldai
Modern science describes this almost completely and it doesn't require faith. — daldai
hasn't Buddhism always said that everything is impermanent? "This life is like a dewdrop at dawn, a bubble on a stream, a flash of lightning in the dark of night." But Buddhists are not unhappy on that account. — Wayfarer
As for truth and meaning, I can only speak of my personal experience. Whilst I was searching for the truth it provided my life with meaning driven by the naïve assumption that it would all come together one day in some kind of revelatory "meaning of everything" moment. Instead, I was able to acquire so much objectivity, that I could see "everything" and it didn't have any meaning because I'd stepped so far back that, not just me, but the entire human race had shrunk into complete insignificance. The god's-eye view is not a myth any more, it's just really fucking scary and I want to come back. — daldai
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…In other words : why am I in that body ?
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[…]
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…why am I attached to this brain, my brain, and not to another, another person's brain ?
.The only explanation that I found was that I was the only one who was able to think, and therefore to be, and that other people were just projection of my brain. But this way of thinking is called solipsism and though it is the most attractive and frighteningly indemonstrable and solid philosophical doctrine, it is also the one that makes me most afraid and whose veracity I cannot want...
.So will this problem remain eternally insoluble or do you have any other opinion that could move the debate forward ?
.So, your sentence "you are an intelligence (not confined to the physical brain) that manifests the physical body" pleased me very much but in this case why does intelligence manifest the physical body in this way and not another ?
.So I am a brain, my brain (or my body), I can understand that but in this case, why am I that brain in particular ?
.For instance (you may not see the link but for me it is important), let's suppose that during the great race of life, another spermatozoid than the one that led to me today reached the ovum first, what would have happened ? Probably, I would have been physically different but would it always have been "me" ? Would I be "born" ? Would my conscience have emerged like today ?
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