Semi serious question. Ultimately as an atheist I see everything as temporary, contingent and transient. Nothing is permanent, concrete and even the thing you think of as yourself is a shadow of very little substance.
Does/can anything matter in this scenario?
If nothing matters, does anything matter?
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Thinking Aloud
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
Bacon can and does.
And that's a semi-serious answer.
And that's a semi-serious answer.
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Audley Strange
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
Here's a serious answer.
No. Therefore YES! You can choose arbitrarily what matters to you, believe it so and it will. If you choose to believe in nothing, you can choose to believe in anything you desire rather than what you have been told to.
Nihilism is merely the gates of the cage of beliefs enforced upon you opening it, is the key to freedom, a starting point, not a final one.
Maybe.
No. Therefore YES! You can choose arbitrarily what matters to you, believe it so and it will. If you choose to believe in nothing, you can choose to believe in anything you desire rather than what you have been told to.
Nihilism is merely the gates of the cage of beliefs enforced upon you opening it, is the key to freedom, a starting point, not a final one.
Maybe.
"What started as a legitimate effort by the townspeople of Salem to identify, capture and kill those who did Satan's bidding quickly deteriorated into a witch hunt" Army Man
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Horwood Beer-Master
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Rum
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
Mamma mia!Horwood Beer-Master wrote:Nothing really matters. Anyone can see...
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FBM
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
If there's no such thing as free will, which is the position taken by most researchers these days, then you're not even free to choose what matters to you and what doesn't... 
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
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rachelbean
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
What Audley said. So no, but yes...to me. Like...you guys matter...cause I think you do 
lordpasternack wrote:Yeah - I fuckin' love oppressin' ma wimmin, like I love chowin' on ma bacon and tuggin' on ma ol' cock…
Pappa wrote:God is a cunt! I wank over pictures of Jesus! I love Darwin so much I'd have sex with his bones!!!!
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Xamonas Chegwé
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
Everything matters! And so does nothing. It simply depends upon your timeframe.
However, there is no timeframe short enough for Justin Bieber or Battlefield Earth to matter, EVAH!
However, there is no timeframe short enough for Justin Bieber or Battlefield Earth to matter, EVAH!
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing
Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing
Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur
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pErvinalia
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
Nope. Welcome to nihilism. There is no meaning beside what meaning we make for ourselves. That's the hard part. And while it is incredibly rewarding to create and achieve meaning for yourself, when you temporarily (or permanently) fail in that, it is incredibly debilitating.Rum wrote:Semi serious question. Ultimately as an atheist I see everything as temporary, contingent and transient. Nothing is permanent, concrete and even the thing you think of as yourself is a shadow of very little substance.
Does/can anything matter in this scenario?
Sent from my penis using wankertalk.
"The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007.
"Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that..
"Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt.
"I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
"The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007.
"Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that..
"Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt.
"I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
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pErvinalia
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
This can be one of the most depressing aspects. Biological determinism can at once both set you free from superstitious enslavement but leave you wondering why bother thinking and trying to create anything at all.FBM wrote:If there's no such thing as free will, which is the position taken by most researchers these days, then you're not even free to choose what matters to you and what doesn't...
Sent from my penis using wankertalk.
"The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007.
"Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that..
"Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt.
"I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
"The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007.
"Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that..
"Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt.
"I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
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amok
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
In this scenario, not only does/can anything matter, everything matters. Every second. Every experience. Everything.Rum wrote:Semi serious question. Ultimately as an atheist I see everything as temporary, contingent and transient. Nothing is permanent, concrete and even the thing you think of as yourself is a shadow of very little substance.
Does/can anything matter in this scenario?
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
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pErvinalia
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
How does it "matter"?
Sent from my penis using wankertalk.
"The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007.
"Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that..
"Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt.
"I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
"The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007.
"Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that..
"Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt.
"I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
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PsychoSerenity
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
I think the thought "why bother" is actually missing the point of determinism, and instead, falling into the trap of fatalism. It's assuming you have a choice of whether you bother or not and kind of implying that whatever you do, the same thing will happen in the end. The deterministic way of looking at it is more like, either you will or you won't bother depending on all of the things determining your behaviour, - but if you do bother, it will have drastically different consequences to if you hadn't. And understanding this is one of the things that will determine whether you bother or not.rEvolutionist wrote:This can be one of the most depressing aspects. Biological determinism can at once both set you free from superstitious enslavement but leave you wondering why bother thinking and trying to create anything at all.FBM wrote:If there's no such thing as free will, which is the position taken by most researchers these days, then you're not even free to choose what matters to you and what doesn't...
[Disclaimer - if this is comes across like I think I know what I'm talking about, I want to make it clear that I don't. I'm just trying to get my thoughts down]
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FBM
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It is therefore beyond reproach" - Contact:
Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
This may not be the thread to mention this, but I'm not totally in line with hard determinism. As far as I've been able to determine (ha) so far, subsequent events are conditioned by prior events, but there's enough uncertainty in the physics that a probabilistic or conditional determinism is a more defensible stance. I think. But I could be wrong. Again.PsychoSerenity wrote:I think the thought "why bother" is actually missing the point of determinism, and instead, falling into the trap of fatalism. It's assuming you have a choice of whether you bother or not and kind of implying that whatever you do, the same thing will happen in the end. The deterministic way of looking at it is more like, either you will or you won't bother depending on all of the things determining your behaviour, - but if you do bother, it will have drastically different consequences to if you hadn't. And understanding this is one of the things that will determine whether you bother or not.rEvolutionist wrote:This can be one of the most depressing aspects. Biological determinism can at once both set you free from superstitious enslavement but leave you wondering why bother thinking and trying to create anything at all.FBM wrote:If there's no such thing as free will, which is the position taken by most researchers these days, then you're not even free to choose what matters to you and what doesn't...
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
-
Rum
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Re: If nothing matters, does anything matter?
Well I have just decided to turn off this machine an go shower. I am determined to do that! Just try and stop me world!
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