Deep Thoughts (shower thoughts ok too but no Pit stuff)

[OK_Cat]

why would ghosts fall under the "can happen" category?

Why wouldn't they?

there is no evidence to suggest there can be existence after death.

unlike aliens for example (life on earth is evidence that there can be existence on a planet)

counterpoint: there are times/areas in New Orleans where you CANNOT get a taxi. Not because its dangerous, but because there have been such a high incidence of the passengers ending up being ghosts who dont pay the fare. The same thing happened in Japan after the nuclear plant accident in 2011 and i guess the Japanese cab drivers consider it more of an honor whereas the NOLA taxi drivers are like "hey that guy didn't pay!"

counter counterpoint:  i don't believe that (not you, i believe you.  i just don't believe the stories)

[BIG APPLE CAT]

why would ghosts fall under the "can happen" category?

Why wouldn't they?

there is no evidence to suggest there can be existence after death.

unlike aliens for example (life on earth is evidence that there can be existence on a planet)

counterpoint: there are times/areas in New Orleans where you CANNOT get a taxi. Not because its dangerous, but because there have been such a high incidence of the passengers ending up being ghosts who dont pay the fare. The same thing happened in Japan after the nuclear plant accident in 2011 and i guess the Japanese cab drivers consider it more of an honor whereas the NOLA taxi drivers are like "hey that guy didn't pay!"

counter counterpoint:  i don't believe that (not you, i believe you.  i just don't believe the stories)

fair enough. If i'm being honest i think its a neat story and i just want it to be true. Just in case ghosts are real, sometimes like at night if i'm by myself and watching TV i will turn my head 90 degrees and look across the room and calmly but sternly say "get out of here!" It costs me nothing and if there is a ghost in the general direction i'm looking it probably freaks them out big time, hopefully enough to not haunt my house anymore.

[DaBigTrain]

There are def aliens out there

[Pete]

There are def aliens out there

Totes

[Spracne]

Although I guess if you subscribe to the "anything that can happen will happen" philosophy of infinite universes maybe ghosts can be real

If you want to take it the other direction…rather than infinite outcomes, what do you think about fate? When considering it I think about it in a couple of ways:
1. Free will is an illusion. No matter how spontaneous you think you’re being, every move, every thought, every possible outcome was already pre-ordained
2. Thinking of fate as more of a “lane” or a “channel”. And that lane is going to lead you to several eventualities along the way. And there’s some wiggle room for the hundreds of millions of inconsequential things…if I scratch my nose now, if I shave tomorrow…all meaningless stuff bc it doesn’t take you out of your lane

I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I dunno maybe

Regarding Point No. 2, this exemplifies the oft-misunderstood meaning of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (which itself is oft-misidentified as "The Road Less Traveled"). That is, people like to imagine that insignificant choices in their past alter their "fate" in meaningful ways. If only I'd made a different choice! Alas!

to go with my earlier post, i think people throughout time have created the idea of gods, ghosts, aliens, etc as a way of trying to make sense of our existance.

The truth is probably that a puddle of ooze happened to have all of the exact requirements to build us and when we die, that's it.  game over.  no purpose of life, no higher power or greater meaning.  just born, live, die, the end.

it really makes us so much more insignificant when you think about it that way.

Your last sentence is the crux (no pun intended) of the issue. It feels overwhelming to think we simply cease to exist, and that the billions and billions of years that lead to our self-consciousness could have just been randomness. Enter religion, a facile explanation to assuage the fears that our consciousness may suddenly cease to exist. But I find it extraordinary that we were fortunate enough to happen to be born with the ability to think about our own thinking. It's a pretty amazing existence, if you can keep it.

[Stupid Fitz]

Although I guess if you subscribe to the "anything that can happen will happen" philosophy of infinite universes maybe ghosts can be real

If you want to take it the other direction…rather than infinite outcomes, what do you think about fate? When considering it I think about it in a couple of ways:
1. Free will is an illusion. No matter how spontaneous you think you’re being, every move, every thought, every possible outcome was already pre-ordained
2. Thinking of fate as more of a “lane” or a “channel”. And that lane is going to lead you to several eventualities along the way. And there’s some wiggle room for the hundreds of millions of inconsequential things…if I scratch my nose now, if I shave tomorrow…all meaningless stuff bc it doesn’t take you out of your lane

I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I dunno maybe

Regarding Point No. 2, this exemplifies the oft-misunderstood meaning of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (which itself is oft-misidentified as "The Road Less Traveled"). That is, people like to imagine that insignificant choices in their past alter their "fate" in meaningful ways. If only I'd made a different choice! Alas!

to go with my earlier post, i think people throughout time have created the idea of gods, ghosts, aliens, etc as a way of trying to make sense of our existance.

The truth is probably that a puddle of ooze happened to have all of the exact requirements to build us and when we die, that's it.  game over.  no purpose of life, no higher power or greater meaning.  just born, live, die, the end.

it really makes us so much more insignificant when you think about it that way.

Your last sentence is the crux (no pun intended) of the issue. It feels overwhelming to think we simply cease to exist, and that the billions and billions of years that lead to our self-consciousness could have just been randomness. Enter religion, a facile explanation to assuage the fears that our consciousness may suddenly cease to exist. But I find it extraordinary that we were fortunate enough to happen to be born with the ability to think about our own thinking. It's a pretty amazing existence, if you can keep it.

Yeah, people take for granted and don't realize that we are on earth only because it is like the perfect time for us to be here. Sure that "time" is a big period to our small stupid brains, but it really isn't.

[Spracne]

Although I guess if you subscribe to the "anything that can happen will happen" philosophy of infinite universes maybe ghosts can be real

If you want to take it the other direction…rather than infinite outcomes, what do you think about fate? When considering it I think about it in a couple of ways:
1. Free will is an illusion. No matter how spontaneous you think you’re being, every move, every thought, every possible outcome was already pre-ordained
2. Thinking of fate as more of a “lane” or a “channel”. And that lane is going to lead you to several eventualities along the way. And there’s some wiggle room for the hundreds of millions of inconsequential things…if I scratch my nose now, if I shave tomorrow…all meaningless stuff bc it doesn’t take you out of your lane

I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I dunno maybe

Regarding Point No. 2, this exemplifies the oft-misunderstood meaning of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (which itself is oft-misidentified as "The Road Less Traveled"). That is, people like to imagine that insignificant choices in their past alter their "fate" in meaningful ways. If only I'd made a different choice! Alas!

to go with my earlier post, i think people throughout time have created the idea of gods, ghosts, aliens, etc as a way of trying to make sense of our existance.

The truth is probably that a puddle of ooze happened to have all of the exact requirements to build us and when we die, that's it.  game over.  no purpose of life, no higher power or greater meaning.  just born, live, die, the end.

it really makes us so much more insignificant when you think about it that way.

Your last sentence is the crux (no pun intended) of the issue. It feels overwhelming to think we simply cease to exist, and that the billions and billions of years that lead to our self-consciousness could have just been randomness. Enter religion, a facile explanation to assuage the fears that our consciousness may suddenly cease to exist. But I find it extraordinary that we were fortunate enough to happen to be born with the ability to think about our own thinking. It's a pretty amazing existence, if you can keep it.

Yeah, people take for granted and don't realize that we are on earth only because it is like the perfect time for us to be here. Sure that "time" is a big period to our small stupid brains, but it really isn't.

And to add on top of that, we were born in America in the late 20th Century. Talk about a Power Combo--wow!

[BIG APPLE CAT]

Although I guess if you subscribe to the "anything that can happen will happen" philosophy of infinite universes maybe ghosts can be real

If you want to take it the other direction…rather than infinite outcomes, what do you think about fate? When considering it I think about it in a couple of ways:
1. Free will is an illusion. No matter how spontaneous you think you’re being, every move, every thought, every possible outcome was already pre-ordained
2. Thinking of fate as more of a “lane” or a “channel”. And that lane is going to lead you to several eventualities along the way. And there’s some wiggle room for the hundreds of millions of inconsequential things…if I scratch my nose now, if I shave tomorrow…all meaningless stuff bc it doesn’t take you out of your lane

I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I dunno maybe

Regarding Point No. 2, this exemplifies the oft-misunderstood meaning of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (which itself is oft-misidentified as "The Road Less Traveled"). That is, people like to imagine that insignificant choices in their past alter their "fate" in meaningful ways. If only I'd made a different choice! Alas!

to go with my earlier post, i think people throughout time have created the idea of gods, ghosts, aliens, etc as a way of trying to make sense of our existance.

The truth is probably that a puddle of ooze happened to have all of the exact requirements to build us and when we die, that's it.  game over.  no purpose of life, no higher power or greater meaning.  just born, live, die, the end.

it really makes us so much more insignificant when you think about it that way.

Your last sentence is the crux (no pun intended) of the issue. It feels overwhelming to think we simply cease to exist, and that the billions and billions of years that lead to our self-consciousness could have just been randomness. Enter religion, a facile explanation to assuage the fears that our consciousness may suddenly cease to exist. But I find it extraordinary that we were fortunate enough to happen to be born with the ability to think about our own thinking. It's a pretty amazing existence, if you can keep it.

Yeah, people take for granted and don't realize that we are on earth only because it is like the perfect time for us to be here. Sure that "time" is a big period to our small stupid brains, but it really isn't.

And to add on top of that, we were born in America in the late 20th Century. Talk about a Power Combo--wow!

And despite this happy accident that is humanity - its a pity so many of us choose to spend this time arguing over whether or not human being should be allowed to exist simply because they are different than what fits comfortably in our world view. (AS THE CREATOR OF THIS THREAD I AM THE ARBITER OF WHAT IS PIT STUFF AND THIS POST RIGHT HERE CAME RIGHT UP TO THE LINE BUT DID NOT CROSS IT AND LET US NOT CROSS THAT LINE IN THIS THREAD B/C THERE'S ALREADY A THREAD IN THE PIT FOR THAT)

but i guess my point is when you think about all the things that had to happen just so in order for sentient life to exist its too bad we squabble over the absolute dumbest of all crap

[Spracne]

Agreed that we are all very lucky. Like, wow.

But at the same time, I think about all the former proto-humans and former versions of sentient life that weren't so lucky, and then I think, like, eff 'em, because they're already gone forever. And I say that with perfect clarity, because we just happened to win the lottery. Not our fault we won***, even though we didn't deserve it. Dems the berries.

edit: ***FOR NOW

[Stupid Fitz]

Although I guess if you subscribe to the "anything that can happen will happen" philosophy of infinite universes maybe ghosts can be real

If you want to take it the other direction…rather than infinite outcomes, what do you think about fate? When considering it I think about it in a couple of ways:
1. Free will is an illusion. No matter how spontaneous you think you’re being, every move, every thought, every possible outcome was already pre-ordained
2. Thinking of fate as more of a “lane” or a “channel”. And that lane is going to lead you to several eventualities along the way. And there’s some wiggle room for the hundreds of millions of inconsequential things…if I scratch my nose now, if I shave tomorrow…all meaningless stuff bc it doesn’t take you out of your lane

I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I dunno maybe

Regarding Point No. 2, this exemplifies the oft-misunderstood meaning of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (which itself is oft-misidentified as "The Road Less Traveled"). That is, people like to imagine that insignificant choices in their past alter their "fate" in meaningful ways. If only I'd made a different choice! Alas!

to go with my earlier post, i think people throughout time have created the idea of gods, ghosts, aliens, etc as a way of trying to make sense of our existance.

The truth is probably that a puddle of ooze happened to have all of the exact requirements to build us and when we die, that's it.  game over.  no purpose of life, no higher power or greater meaning.  just born, live, die, the end.

it really makes us so much more insignificant when you think about it that way.

Your last sentence is the crux (no pun intended) of the issue. It feels overwhelming to think we simply cease to exist, and that the billions and billions of years that lead to our self-consciousness could have just been randomness. Enter religion, a facile explanation to assuage the fears that our consciousness may suddenly cease to exist. But I find it extraordinary that we were fortunate enough to happen to be born with the ability to think about our own thinking. It's a pretty amazing existence, if you can keep it.

Yeah, people take for granted and don't realize that we are on earth only because it is like the perfect time for us to be here. Sure that "time" is a big period to our small stupid brains, but it really isn't.

And to add on top of that, we were born in America in the late 20th Century. Talk about a Power Combo--wow!

And despite this happy accident that is humanity - its a pity so many of us choose to spend this time arguing over whether or not human being should be allowed to exist simply because they are different than what fits comfortably in our world view. (AS THE CREATOR OF THIS THREAD I AM THE ARBITER OF WHAT IS PIT STUFF AND THIS POST RIGHT HERE CAME RIGHT UP TO THE LINE BUT DID NOT CROSS IT AND LET US NOT CROSS THAT LINE IN THIS THREAD B/C THERE'S ALREADY A THREAD IN THE PIT FOR THAT)

but i guess my point is when you think about all the things that had to happen just so in order for sentient life to exist its too bad we squabble over the absolute dumbest of all crap

totally agree. it took me a long freaking time to realize this. my ultimate goal is to somehow make my kids figure this out way before I did.

[BIG APPLE CAT]

I hear you, man. I think I can say pretty confidently that the beliefs/values I held from like age 14-26, that I would want to kick that version of me’s ass. I too hope that my daughter will be not-as-much of a dumbass a little sooner in life.

When I think back about why it took me so long…I’m realizing that it wasn’t that I was close minded, it’s in part because the people who I would get into debates with were just really bad at arguing their point of view, or the things they thought were important (and thus the crux of their argument) were just really paltry.

[BIG APPLE CAT]

If you feel like you hate everyone: eat something
If you feel like everyone hates you: get some sleep
If you feel like you hate yourself: take a shower

[mocat]

If you feel like you hate everyone: eat something
If you feel like everyone hates you: get some sleep
If you feel like you hate yourself: take a shower

interesting

[bucket]

Do you ever wonder if the universe is like a cell of some greater being?

[Pete]

Do you ever wonder if the universe is like a cell of some greater being?

This was debated in Animal House with no resolution.

[Katpappy]

Do you ever wonder if the universe is like a cell of some greater being?

I remember debating this with my Physics professor(actually mainly just listening to his view) about how we/ our planet/ solar system/ universe could be massive or micro in size to everything that exists.  He talked about how the earth could be like a cell in our body in an infinitely huge system.  bucket, you are the first person to ever bring this idea up since then.

[bucket]

I was under the influence and watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, when I posted that.

[BIG APPLE CAT]

I was under the influence and watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, when I posted that.

Any time I watch a Stanley Kubrick film I find myself thinking my deepest thoughts

[BIG APPLE CAT]

if you were given the opportunity...you can have the brain function to understand literally anything...quantum mechanics, time travel, music theory, etc. but you have to surrender the ability to express/demonstrate/convey that knowledge, would you take that deal? And when i say you are unable to convey or demonstrate i mean, for example, you know how a time machine works but you don't have the ability to build it yourself nor do you have the ability to explain to someone else how to build it or to draw up schematics on how to build it. And i'd say like okay yeah you can have some journal with all your equations and stuff but they are so high level that not even the most brilliant scientists or mathematicians can decipher it at all. Oh and for the sake of this hypothetical, possessing this knowledge will not in and of itself kill you, its not like that the 1996 John Travolta movie Phenomenon (SPOILER ALERT SORT OF EVEN THOUGH THAT MOVIE IS OVER A QUARTER CENTURY YEAR OLD SO EFF YOU)where like he suddenly is wicked smaht but its because he's got some kind of tumor that drastically shortens his life. No no, in this scenario you will continue to live out your life just as you would have before you knew exactly how everything in the universe works. I suppose maybe it could drive you mad with frustration that you like, understand how to do nuclear fusion and could provide free electricity for the entire world forever but you don't have the ability to build that machine or show someone else how to build it. That might drive me crazy.

[catastrophe]

That hypothetical makes no sense. In that scenario knowing how to build a time machine is no different than not knowing.

What you’re describing (knowing how to do incredibly complicated things but unable to do them or explain to others) is an overconfident moron.

[Spracne]

Are you able to tell people that you have the knowledge and show them the schematics, even though no one will be able to decipher them? If so, I'd take the trade off. I'd write everything down and publish it, knowing that at some distant point in the future, I would be vindicated in the fullness of time, and my legacy would live on forever.

[steve dave]

metaphysical solipsism seems like it could be irl. sorry to all the rest of you.

[Stupid Fitz]

I do this like once a month when my in-laws ask me for help with their computer.

[Pete]

I would take the the non-conveyable smart info deal.  I would use it to guide me in placing bets and making investments.

[Pete]

metaphysical solipsism seems like it could be irl. sorry to all the rest of you.

Elon says that if we can EVER invent the matrix, then it’s a near statistical certainty that we are in one now (or at least I am).