This is the first "blog" of any kind I've ever had, so it's probably not the greatest...
Just a little snippet about me:
I'd like to consider myself relatively tech-savvy; obviously I use Linux (Arch to be precise; K.I.S.S. FTW), and I enjoy learning new things about computers in general (both software and hardware-related).
This blog is mostly just for whenever I feel like telling the world about my experiences with computers/Linux (or just life in general), or just posting for the hell of it.
Just a little snippet about me:
I'd like to consider myself relatively tech-savvy; obviously I use Linux (Arch to be precise; K.I.S.S. FTW), and I enjoy learning new things about computers in general (both software and hardware-related).
This blog is mostly just for whenever I feel like telling the world about my experiences with computers/Linux (or just life in general), or just posting for the hell of it.
Nothing more than a helpless pawn...
Tags determinism, rant
When one feels like a helpless pawn of the universe, what does one do?
Do they simply live life in ignorance of their pain, only letting it silently build up in the background?
Do they end their life, hoping that there is some higher, more meaningful existence "beyond the grave"?
Do they bitterly accept it, and live their lives as they feel they should, i.e. that they really aren't special, and that they really aren't "them", they're just another grouping of particles behaving in a perfectly predetermined manner? Do they attempt to force this viewpoint upon others, claiming that it is the one and only truth?
Do they spend their whole lives searching for some kind of higher meaning, only to be crushed at every attempt to find it?
...
To be perfectly honest, I would tend to think that I fit mostly in the last category. I keep searching for something, ANYTHING to make my life mean something, and yet everywhere I go, determinism, determinism, determinism! "You're not "special" at all! You are an information state, nothing more. You have no free will. There is no such thing as a "soul" or "spirit". The only reason you are "conscious" is because your mind creates that illusion of self-awareness." Et cetera, and so on and so forth. It seems like more and more every day, scientific achievements crush the faith of people who would otherwise have meaning in their lives (e.g. me). It's sickening; it's to the point where I'm starting to wonder whether or not I should keep pursuing computers, what with AI and all that "good" stuff proverbially bitch-slapping any concept of a "higher self" or "spirituality".
Do you know what's the most sickening thing about all of that? Most people would just call that "evolution at work", because the spiritual "nuts" would be being selected against.
Maybe I'm just making scientists out to be cold, heartless monsters, but to me, that's what they are anymore. It seems like it's practically their job to make you feel insignificant and worthless (particularly the psychologists and neuroscientists), even if they don't realize it themselves, because "you're a deterministic machine, nothing more. Free will is an illusion of the mind; it is just another part of the logistics of it. Emotions are meaningless, "spirit" doesn't exist, and all of your daily decisions are the simple result of sparks in your brain." To me, that's the basic concept. How can that not make people feel insignificant???
I really don't understand how atheists/materialists/determinists/members of whatever anti-spiritual/anti-religious group can go on with their daily lives. Something tells me that they really don't understand the implications of all of these discoveries...why bother trying to change if all is predetermined? Why bother trying to do anything? Why hope for the future if it's already been laid out for you, and you can't do anything about it, even if you tried?
Basically the message people here keep proverbially screaming into my ear is this: my choices are not my own, they are determined by cold hard equations and physical laws...the "me" is an illusion. There is no "me", there is only matter. What a cold, meaningless viewpoint of existence...
It is for this reason that I've been "trolling" /General, I guess you could say. That is, it's the reason I keep getting on the whole topic of AI.
Do they simply live life in ignorance of their pain, only letting it silently build up in the background?
Do they end their life, hoping that there is some higher, more meaningful existence "beyond the grave"?
Do they bitterly accept it, and live their lives as they feel they should, i.e. that they really aren't special, and that they really aren't "them", they're just another grouping of particles behaving in a perfectly predetermined manner? Do they attempt to force this viewpoint upon others, claiming that it is the one and only truth?
Do they spend their whole lives searching for some kind of higher meaning, only to be crushed at every attempt to find it?
...
To be perfectly honest, I would tend to think that I fit mostly in the last category. I keep searching for something, ANYTHING to make my life mean something, and yet everywhere I go, determinism, determinism, determinism! "You're not "special" at all! You are an information state, nothing more. You have no free will. There is no such thing as a "soul" or "spirit". The only reason you are "conscious" is because your mind creates that illusion of self-awareness." Et cetera, and so on and so forth. It seems like more and more every day, scientific achievements crush the faith of people who would otherwise have meaning in their lives (e.g. me). It's sickening; it's to the point where I'm starting to wonder whether or not I should keep pursuing computers, what with AI and all that "good" stuff proverbially bitch-slapping any concept of a "higher self" or "spirituality".
Do you know what's the most sickening thing about all of that? Most people would just call that "evolution at work", because the spiritual "nuts" would be being selected against.
Maybe I'm just making scientists out to be cold, heartless monsters, but to me, that's what they are anymore. It seems like it's practically their job to make you feel insignificant and worthless (particularly the psychologists and neuroscientists), even if they don't realize it themselves, because "you're a deterministic machine, nothing more. Free will is an illusion of the mind; it is just another part of the logistics of it. Emotions are meaningless, "spirit" doesn't exist, and all of your daily decisions are the simple result of sparks in your brain." To me, that's the basic concept. How can that not make people feel insignificant???
I really don't understand how atheists/materialists/determinists/members of whatever anti-spiritual/anti-religious group can go on with their daily lives. Something tells me that they really don't understand the implications of all of these discoveries...why bother trying to change if all is predetermined? Why bother trying to do anything? Why hope for the future if it's already been laid out for you, and you can't do anything about it, even if you tried?
Basically the message people here keep proverbially screaming into my ear is this: my choices are not my own, they are determined by cold hard equations and physical laws...the "me" is an illusion. There is no "me", there is only matter. What a cold, meaningless viewpoint of existence...
It is for this reason that I've been "trolling" /General, I guess you could say. That is, it's the reason I keep getting on the whole topic of AI.
Total Comments 6
Comments
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You're suffering from two things:
1: The delusion that science can, or ever will, explain everything. Reductionism is for narrow, tiny, dull minds. How can it ever explain creativity and imagination, or emotion?
2: Extremely low self esteem. I can't tell you how to get over that, since I've never been troubled by it.Posted 07-15-2010 at 08:36 AM by brianL 
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They go on because the journey is much better than the destination. And, they do it without the additional overhead of the pointless superstitions that most others subject themselves to.Quote:I really don't understand how atheists/materialists/determinists/members of whatever anti-spiritual/anti-religious group can go on with their daily lives.
They are not trying to change anything. They just believe ( or not ) in something, and pretty much want to be left alone by overzealous enthusiasts.Quote:why bother trying to change if all is predetermined?
???Quote:That is, it's the reason I keep getting on the whole topic of AI
Are you talking about religion, technology, or neither?
I agree with you there.Quote:I've been "trolling"Posted 07-15-2010 at 04:17 PM by DJ Shaji
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And you're asking the same question twice. I've already answered your question about freedom.
I don't know you but from here I your life appears to me as a dark box of space where you suffer from your own thoughts about what happened and what will happen. Am I right? Partially? It is no life. Don't try to find out what will be: this knowledge will come exactly when you will need it. Life is about NOW.Posted 07-17-2010 at 03:13 AM by Web31337
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You're feeling depressed. Try looking at what's positive in your life. Harder said than done; but, you have things in your life you enjoy.
Posted 07-17-2010 at 09:08 PM by Mr-Bisquit
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If one can conceve an inharent good in the univirse, it is not too hard to also believe there is an inharent evil. I read one time that one of the greatest deceptions inharent evil can obtain is the illution there is no God.
If there is no God, an author of good in the univirse... then there is no evil either. If neather really exist, then it doesn't matter what I do or say. It is all mans conception of such, which I might add is fairly meaningless.
I have this to add... While science continually tries to disprove there is a higher power of some kind, each new discovery just adds to the law of averages that it is more likely that some devine force has created and ordered things.Posted 07-23-2010 at 02:33 AM by Absent Minded
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How about instead of reasoning like this
you think about it the other wayCode:Premise: living things are made of particles Premise: particles have no significance Conclusion: living things have no significance
Code:Premise: living things are made of particles Premise: living things have significance Conclusion: particles have significance
Posted 08-14-2010 at 02:52 PM by ntubski
