Moloth - The M-Forums

chicken and egg, methinks.

the ability to think deeply about one's life and the ability to be aware of the implications found therein are not things the dull generally have to worry about.

Life seems easier when you have have a little life, in a little area, in a little world. you seem bigger, more important... more effective. a big fish in a small pond. Your existence seems to have more of an intrinsic meaning.
wise people see that they are a small fish in a large pond full of other small fish, who are all having similar experiences as themselves.

the insane realize that they not even as big as the constituent atoms of the molecules of water that make up all oceans on all the worlds in the entire cosmos... not counting those universes who's physical properties preclude the existence of matter in the from of water.

some smart people have gotten depressed/gone crazy trying to solve life and reality's deepest mysteries (see Kurt Godel ). I've often wondered how some scientists like physicists, psychologists and mathematicians retain a positive, fulfilling outlook on life in the face of their own personal limitations and scope of reality (See Richard Feynman).

the only thing that i can think of is that they have a safety net... a strong life of family, friends, hobbies and/or distractions that keep their human-ness intact. They must have other ways of feeling meaningful, in the face of the yawning, infinite void that is human understanding of reality. (Hell, Carl Sagan had a wonderful wife and smoked weed.) They didnt let the void devour them... they had a support system to keep them grounded and intact.

its like... the farther you go out, the stronger the tether needed to pull you back in.

What if you dont have a tether? or, you have one, but its not strong enough? how long can one tread void?

Moloth wrote:

the only thing that i can think of is that they have a safety net... a strong life of family, friends, hobbies and/or distractions that keep their human-ness intact. They must have other ways of feeling meaningful, in the face of the yawning, infinite void that is human understanding of reality. (Hell, Carl Sagan had a wonderful wife and smoked weed.) They didnt let the void devour them... they had a support system to keep them grounded and intact.

Or, the things the find while exploring these scientific and philosophical issue reinforce their feeling of meaning rather than undermine it. Perhaps by looking into the void, these individuals saw new reasons as to why their lives had meaning.

its like... the farther you go out, the stronger the tether needed to pull you back in.

Or maybe the farther you go out, the more willing you have to be to accept what you find. The more you deconstruct anything - physical or metaphysical - the less it is going to mean. Sort of a not seeing the forest for the trees kind of thing.

Say perhaps that a scientist proves that without a doubt, life is meaningless. He cannot reject it, it is incontrovertible. However, life does exist. He IS alive along with all that implies. He can either go mad from the contradiction of the two concepts, or he can accept that nothing matters except that which does. Which is nothing. And everything.

Really, if you're going to look deep into the meaning of life, you need to be have a Taoist outlook on life. Otherwise you'll be fighting back the ocean instead of accepting the truth and enriching your experience of being alive.

What if you dont have a tether? or, you have one, but its not strong enough? how long can one tread void?

If one is afraid of the tether not being able to bring them back to shore, then one should not go swimming. One should stay on the beach and appreciate the view of the void while sipping a nice pina colada.

Moloth wrote:

I'm totally okay with things only having meaning that which we apply it. thats kinda cool, actually. my issue is, not with the concept as a whole, but how it relates to me, personally, on a very self-centered level.

Not quite sure I'm following you here. Elaboration?

It's amazing what having something to look forward to can do for your outlook.  Even if it is only riding the lawnmower and having the immediate gratification of cut grass...and a beer and a good cigar.