Zone1 Why does anything matter?

[Meriweather]

There is always more to discover

Still....I have made up my mind there are no unicorns (outside of fiction). Therefore, you won't find me on a forum of those who believe there are unicorns.

 

[Hafar1014]

Still....I have made up my mind there are no unicorns (outside of fiction). Therefore, you won't find me on a forum of those who believe there are unicorns.

Its not that unicorns are fiction they are metaphor for greater meaning. What they mean isnt fiction its persons reality

 

[midcan5]

Each of us create our own life given the complex questions of family, education, historic time, values, location, and luck. Nothing matters ultimately for the individual but it matters a lot for their life/family/existence. At this time and place it matters as it is my wife's birthday and we are going to enjoy a good time out....

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." Henry David Thoreau

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." Epictetus

"I'm having fun. I'm being myself. I'm doing what I love. That's all that matters." James Charles

 

[DennisPTate]

Aside from God, what does anything matter?

Go!!

Good question!

Unless there is some sort of "Being of Light of near death experience fame" who can meet us during a brush with death, [or presumably when we fully die and pass on into another dimension of space and time], then it is true that life could have very little meaning and Bill Gates would be perhaps ethical to link the value of human life to our "Carbon Footprint" as he did in his lecture from back in 2010?





Will Dr. Tony Fauci learn empathy for Beagles when eventually has one of those experiences?

Animals and the Near-Death Experience - Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife

Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife profiles Animals and the Near-Death Experience . Did you enjoy reading this post, we have more!

near-death.com

 

[alang1216]

Could it be (since you are here) that you are still searching, believing there is something you have yet to discover?

I love hearing from people who have different values, views, politics, etc. And I'm always finding new info.

 

[ding]

Wisdom is the product of knowledge and intelligence, so yes, our own wisdom increased since those times.

Wisdom is a function of experience and learning from experience. Intelligence affects the degree. With the most wise being able to extrapolate beyond their experiences.

Ancient man had much more time on his hand to contemplate their surroundings, others and themselves. Dismissing them is a textbook example of the dunning effect and would be the opposite of wise.

It has come to my attention that the more one focuses on the material the less he is able to discern the immaterial.

 

[ding]

Look at how all the different 'awareness' of God manifested itself in every culture. It was naturalism, paganism, monotheism, and henotheism.

Or you can recognize man's innate drive to seek God. Where you might see differences, I see similarities.

You seem to be arguing that you have more wisdom than ancient men and that you value searching for evidence to discover new things. If that were true you would be looking for similarities and not differences because looking for similarities is how you discover the patterns which identifies something new. If you are only looking for differences then you aren't looking for something new, you are looking for what something isn't. Looking for something that isn't, isn't looking for something new.

 

[ding]

It's hard for me to accept that people who didn't know why it rained or what stars were could know more about the universe than I do. Color me unconvinced.

They knew 6,000 years before science knew that the universe was created and evolved sequentially over time. They even got it right that light appeared after the universe was created.

 

[alang1216]

Or you can recognize man's innate drive to seek God. Where you might see differences, I see similarities.

I think men have always looked for a farther figure to replace their own one. We love strong leaders and God is the strongest.

You seem to be arguing that you have more wisdom than ancient men

I am wise enough to wash my hands so I don't spread germs.

and that you value searching for evidence to discover new things. If that were true you would be looking for similarities and not differences because looking for similarities is how you discover the patterns which identifies something new. If you are only looking for differences then you aren't looking for something new, you are looking for what something isn't. Looking for something that isn't, isn't looking for something new.

Both similarities and differences give us information. Focusing on one and ignoring the other is unwise.

 

[alang1216]

It has come to my attention that the more one focuses on the material the less he is able to discern the immaterial.

I feel it is better to focus on the real and not so much on the unreal.

 

[alang1216]

They knew 6,000 years before science knew that the universe was created and evolved sequentially over time. They even got it right that light appeared after the universe was created.

I know that too. I never implied they knew nothing, only that I know more astronomy than they did.

 

[ding]

I think men have always looked for a farther figure to replace their own one. We love strong leaders and God is the strongest.

It's hard not to believe man is hardwired to worship something given man's history of worshiping things and I'm not even talking about God here or fathers.

I am wise enough to wash my hands so I don't spread germs.

Don't confuse wisdom for knowledge. You were correct earlier when you said we have more knowledge than ancient man.

Both similarities and differences give us information. Focusing on one and ignoring the other is unwise.

That all depends on how one applies it. Criticizing what one does not believe to arrive at what he does believe is foolish. Criticizing what one believes to challenge what he believes is wise.

 

[ding]

I know that too. I never implied they knew nothing, only that I know more astronomy than they did.

I'm not so sure about that. Maybe you do and maybe you don't. I suspect they knew a great deal about constellations. Certainly more than I do.

ancient humans possessed a sophisticated understanding of star constellations, tracking them for tens of thousands of years for agricultural planning, navigation, and mythology. Evidence suggests Paleolithic cave art, dating back 30,000 to 40,000 years, may record star positions. Ancient civilizations like the Sumerians (c. 2000 BC) and Egyptians systematically named, mapped, and tracked these stellar patterns.
Key Aspects of Ancient Knowledge of Constellations:

• Navigation & Agriculture: Early civilizations relied on the night sky for planting, harvesting, and traversing, with monuments like henges built to mark solstices.
• Cultural & Mythological Importance: Stars were often associated with gods, such as the Sumerian association of the Pleiades with divine judges or the Greek mythology of Orion.
• Early Records: Babylonian and Sumerian, and later Greek astronomers, identified many constellations still recognized today, such as the Zodiac.
• Prehistoric Observations: Recent analysis suggests cave paintings, such as those at Lascaux, may depict the sky, indicating that prehistoric humans tracked constellations to mark time.

These observations were facilitated by the lack of light pollution, allowing early people to see patterns, including the Zodiac, which they used to understand the movement of the Sun and Moon.

 

[ding]

I feel it is better to focus on the real and not so much on the unreal.

According to quantum mechanics we don't know what is real and unreal.

 

[ShahdagMountains]

I feel it is better to focus on the real and not so much on the unreal.

Maybe they’re one and the same thing.

 

[ding]

Both similarities and differences give us information. Focusing on one and ignoring the other is unwise.

Then why are you doing it?

 

[punchdubya]

Aside from God, what does anything matter?

Go!!

I hate this argument against Nihilism, that "since nothing even matters why do you even do anything" is an absolutely stupid argument. Nothing can matter and it is completely natural to want to do something you enjoy or that could be meaningful in your lifetime. Nihilism is simply a belief that life is meaningless, but it doesn't mean that you have to hate life.

Nihilism is breaking free from all of the harsh religious constraints placed upon people. No longer you have to worry about attending church every day, praying every day and sticking to a strict ethics code.

On the other hand, religion can provide joy and meaning to other people. Religion can help you get out of a depression and give you a reason to keep on living. I personally believe that it is ok to believe in whatever you want to believe in, whether it's in a god or not. Non-religious and religious people aren't harming society, so I see no problem with them.

 

[alang1216]

I'm not so sure about that. Maybe you do and maybe you don't. I suspect they knew a great deal about constellations. Certainly more than I do.

ancient humans possessed a sophisticated understanding of star constellations, tracking them for tens of thousands of years for agricultural planning, navigation, and mythology. Evidence suggests Paleolithic cave art, dating back 30,000 to 40,000 years, may record star positions. Ancient civilizations like the Sumerians (c. 2000 BC) and Egyptians systematically named, mapped, and tracked these stellar patterns.
Key Aspects of Ancient Knowledge of Constellations:

• Navigation & Agriculture: Early civilizations relied on the night sky for planting, harvesting, and traversing, with monuments like henges built to mark solstices.
• Cultural & Mythological Importance: Stars were often associated with gods, such as the Sumerian association of the Pleiades with divine judges or the Greek mythology of Orion.
• Early Records: Babylonian and Sumerian, and later Greek astronomers, identified many constellations still recognized today, such as the Zodiac.
• Prehistoric Observations: Recent analysis suggests cave paintings, such as those at Lascaux, may depict the sky, indicating that prehistoric humans tracked constellations to mark time.

These observations were facilitated by the lack of light pollution, allowing early people to see patterns, including the Zodiac, which they used to understand the movement of the Sun and Moon.

They also believed the constellations guided life on Earth, a belief based on what?

 

[alang1216]

According to quantum mechanics we don't know what is real and unreal.

There is no 'unreal' in qm, it just describes a reality we don't yet fully comprehend. I'm confident we will at some point.

 

[alang1216]

Then why are you doing it?

It is my reaction to your focusing only on the similarities.