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In the shows Alex often repeats the adage supposedly promoted by the science: "we are mechanical robots in the meaningless Universe". Recently another comment of this kind was made in another thread:
First of all, I don't think it is possible to deny that large part of our consciousness is mechanical and we do act like robots a lot of the time (if not most of the time). As an example, whenever I say "NDE is a hallucination" several members of this board will post very predictable replies. Jokes aside though, everyone can see very set patterns in their behaviour. Large part of the psyche is governed by the endless networks of electro-biochemical relays that have developed over millions of years. To make things even more screwed up, many psychologists say that the very idea of a personality is a myth, and that we have no clue how we are going to behave in various situations. I personally have seen it with other and myself.
Coming back to the title of the thread, what is the meaning of life then? This topic has been debated since the beginning of times and is unlikely to ever be solved. But some glimpses have sparked now and then on this forum and in the shows. Jonathan Robinson mentioned during the interview that when asking spiritually acknowledged authorities (in Oprah kind of way, mind you) pretty much all of them said that the meaning is to a)find peace within yourself and b)to help others to find theirs.
In general I think it makes sense. But not one hundred percent. Some people do find meaning in serving in the army, in creating something - which relates to their careers, in building a family and so on. Everything serves a purpose in this world, and the tree - being pretty robotic in its nature - fulfils a meaning in the Universe. Which points to the idea that the meaning itself is a fairly abstract idea and that the word has a different, err..., meaning to everyone.
What do you think?
But ultimately it leads to one thing- convincing the populace that they are empty, meaningless drones whose job it is to serve their country, their corporation or their church. It's mutually beneficial for all of these agents that we not value ourselves too highly, that we see our lives as ultimately meaningless and a cosmic accident. That the only meaning we can derive from our lives is the sacrifice of it "for the future". Whether that be through fighting a war (to protect our children, our nation, our way of life!) or giving our lives over to jobs that pay less and less while demanding more so that you can help pay for those massive student loans (that enrich academia) so that your children, the future, has a chance. But a chance for what? To become a drone like you? To work and sacrifice and give, for their children? For the future? It's always some future promise, isn't it? A peace that never materializes. Economic stability that never comes to pass. Knowledge that doesn't seem to enrich our lives as much as it seems to be enslaving us further.
First of all, I don't think it is possible to deny that large part of our consciousness is mechanical and we do act like robots a lot of the time (if not most of the time). As an example, whenever I say "NDE is a hallucination" several members of this board will post very predictable replies. Jokes aside though, everyone can see very set patterns in their behaviour. Large part of the psyche is governed by the endless networks of electro-biochemical relays that have developed over millions of years. To make things even more screwed up, many psychologists say that the very idea of a personality is a myth, and that we have no clue how we are going to behave in various situations. I personally have seen it with other and myself.
Coming back to the title of the thread, what is the meaning of life then? This topic has been debated since the beginning of times and is unlikely to ever be solved. But some glimpses have sparked now and then on this forum and in the shows. Jonathan Robinson mentioned during the interview that when asking spiritually acknowledged authorities (in Oprah kind of way, mind you) pretty much all of them said that the meaning is to a)find peace within yourself and b)to help others to find theirs.
In general I think it makes sense. But not one hundred percent. Some people do find meaning in serving in the army, in creating something - which relates to their careers, in building a family and so on. Everything serves a purpose in this world, and the tree - being pretty robotic in its nature - fulfils a meaning in the Universe. Which points to the idea that the meaning itself is a fairly abstract idea and that the word has a different, err..., meaning to everyone.
What do you think?