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Whats the meaning of life?

Discussions related to the physiological and psychological effects of peak oil on our members and future generations.

Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Antimatter » Tue 11 Oct 2005, 08:31:43

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', 'T')he answer is 42.


No, actually, 42 is the meaning of life, the universe and everything. So if you assume that the elements are listed in the order of importance and that 'everything' represents everything except life and the universe then, the meaning of life = 2, the universe = 3 and everything = 7. Ergo: 2 x 3 x 7 = 42.

The meaning of life is then 'proved' to be 2.

Alternatively, if you assume 'everything' to be literally everything, then life and the universe are subsets of everything and together comprise the totality of everthing, then life = 6 and the universe = 7 and thus everything, being life x the universe = 42.

Therefore, from this premise the meaning of life = 6.

:)


There are 42 gallons of oil in a barrel. Co-incidence? :razz:
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby deconstructionist » Tue 11 Oct 2005, 09:50:59

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('medicvet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Daculling', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', 'T')he answer is 42.


Yep... 42


I agree.

42

those magratheans did prove to be rather stupid for highly evolved pan-dimensional beings...
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby bobcousins » Tue 11 Oct 2005, 16:03:00

Meaning is an invention of the human mind. A meaning is an association of X with Y. For that meaning to be useful (in the evolutionary sense) it should correspond to a real relationship, usually causal in nature. Or at least, a harmless association, that is of no consequence.

So there you have it. Meaning is merely a tool used by an entity to aid with problem solving, there is nothing mystical or any deep philosophy to it. Does the universe have meaning without an intelligence to apply it? No, but the question is irrelevant.

Humans have got where they are by trying to apply meaning to everything. In cases where this produces a useful result, it is successful. In many cases, there simply is no useful relationship to be derived, but often people continue to seek one.

It's pretty simple really.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby seldom_seen » Tue 11 Oct 2005, 16:17:37

"The secret of life is to die before you die, and realize there is no death."
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby ashurbanipal » Tue 11 Oct 2005, 16:40:50

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')eaning is an invention of the human mind. A meaning is an association of X with Y. For that meaning to be useful (in the evolutionary sense) it should correspond to a real relationship, usually causal in nature. Or at least, a harmless association, that is of no consequence.

So there you have it. Meaning is merely a tool used by an entity to aid with problem solving, there is nothing mystical or any deep philosophy to it. Does the universe have meaning without an intelligence to apply it? No, but the question is irrelevant.


1) If we're waxing Zins und Bedeutung-ish here, I suppose this is correct enough, but it's a species of equivocation. Frege, Tarski, Russell, etc. used meaning (as in, the "meaning" of a proposition or sentence or sentence-token) in a way that is distinct and different from that of the OP.

2) Even defining "meaning" in this very strict way hardly means that either the definition does not entail deep philosophy, or that actual examples of meanings (i.e. the meaning of life) do not themselves entail mysticism or depth.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Wallygator » Tue 11 Oct 2005, 20:21:21

auctionmonster's first post on this thread really caught my attention. I too feel this way many times. Perhaps the times when I'm really depressed are the times when I'm really aware of myself, others and our situation. Many of auctionmonster's observations resonate with me. I've tried telling my family about how I feel but they think that I'm just 'crazy'. Ah what do they know? They're hell bent on getting more money and possessions. :cry:
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby evilmonkeyspanker » Tue 11 Oct 2005, 21:29:24

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', '"')The secret of life is to die before you die, and realize there is no death."


As there is also no spoon?


Wallygator, I am happy to let you now realize you are not the only crazy person out there.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby aldente » Wed 12 Oct 2005, 01:06:16

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Last edited by aldente on Sat 05 Nov 2005, 06:06:28, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Wallygator » Wed 12 Oct 2005, 07:03:06

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('auctionmonster', 'W')allygator, I am happy to let you now realize you are not the only crazy person out there.


Ummm.....hmmm.....(scratches head).....okay auctionmonster Thanks! (I guess) [smilie=new_Eyecrazy.gif]
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Guest » Wed 12 Oct 2005, 08:14:50

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', '"')The secret of life is to die before you die, and realize there is no death."


Ego death in this way is claimed to be a very transformative
experience. Essentially, "nothing can ever be the same" but
in the most positive terms possible.

Stan Grof's book "the Cosmic Game" is an interesting synthesis
of over 4,000 LSD trips under medical supervision and the
experience of ego death for many troubled, addicted, "crazy",
violent, insitutionalised and terminally ill people, were very
positive indeed.

Not all psychedelic trips however produce such benefits. It
seems to depend a lot on set, setting and what you're looking for.
If it's a party experience that's probably what u will get.

That might explain Leary and McKenna. I could never reconcile
their arrogance and egocentricity with ego death experiences.
I can only conclude they never really had them in all those
thousands of trips.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Guest » Tue 18 Oct 2005, 22:46:42

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Antimatter', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lowem', 'T')he answer is 42.


No, actually, 42 is the meaning of life, the universe and everything. So if you assume that the elements are listed in the order of importance and that 'everything' represents everything except life and the universe then, the meaning of life = 2, the universe = 3 and everything = 7. Ergo: 2 x 3 x 7 = 42.

The meaning of life is then 'proved' to be 2.

Alternatively, if you assume 'everything' to be literally everything, then life and the universe are subsets of everything and together comprise the totality of everthing, then life = 6 and the universe = 7 and thus everything, being life x the universe = 42.

Therefore, from this premise the meaning of life = 6.

:)


There are 42 gallons of oil in a barrel. Co-incidence? :razz:


EXCEPT! the QUESTION was 'what is 7 times 8 ? Proving once and for all that there is no logic in the universe, and if there is intelligent design, then the creator is one cosmic shakespearean 'puck', moving players at his will, and laughing at the results. ;)
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby rogerhb » Tue 18 Oct 2005, 22:51:13

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Anonymous', 'E')XCEPT! the QUESTION was 'what is 7 times 8 ?


EXCEPT EXCEPT, I thought the derived question was what is six times nine!

Especially when the answer was pulled out onto a scrabble board, - no numbers!
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers." - Henry Louis Mencken
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Liamj » Wed 19 Oct 2005, 02:21:16

Can't say 'whats the meaning of life' (no concious knowledge of outside this life box) but think i have a handle on 'what to do with life' - live it, walk the path, with as much grace, wonder and humility as can muster at any given moment.

We're all inevitably stupid, base, selfish or humourless at times (even jesus/buddah/etc, imho), but they're 'the shadows that prove light beautiful'. Since the former are maladaptive, making us and our cohabitants sick and miserable, reducing the total sum and resilience of life, the general direction is i think actually fairly obvious, tho fear or ignorance can do very good jobs hiding it, and habit is a damn tenacious master. But my own experience is that there quite clearly IS a 'path', that dogma and being ego-dominated obscure it, and that the rewards (in here and now)of faithfully trying to walk that path are substantial, nearly always surprising.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby aldente » Sat 22 Oct 2005, 06:38:48

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Anonymous', '
')Stan Grof's book "the Cosmic Game" is an interesting synthesis
of over 4,000 LSD trips under medical supervision and the
experience of ego death for many troubled, addicted, "crazy",
violent, insitutionalised and terminally ill people, were very
positive indeed.


Thanks guest, I immediately ordered the book. Of course the name Sanislav Grof is not a new one to me however, I never read any of his literature.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Omnitir » Mon 24 Oct 2005, 05:28:18

//Deep Austrian accent

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!
"Mother Nature is a psychopathic bitch, and she is out to get you. You have to adapt, change or die." - Tihamer Toth-Fejel, nanotech researcher/engineer.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Dukat_Reloaded » Mon 24 Oct 2005, 05:52:55

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ow for the idea of God, the idea of God seems to be the idea of something that can explain everything else, without having to be explained itself.


That is very good, people who *believe* should ponder that.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby aldente » Mon 24 Oct 2005, 05:56:28

By the way I just happend to see the start of the last Titan 4 out of Vandenberg AFB a few days ago in a distance of probably 50 miles or so. It was totally random while walking in the tourist village of Sollvang.
It first looked like a plane somehow due to the condensation mark but immediately it became clear that this was something else. It took only about a minute roughly before the projectile became invisible (this is what it looked like, simply like a bullet) and only then a deep thunder came on.

One of the last things visible was the drop of one of the stages.

So there we are, kissing the good old 60's good bye and all the belief in an endlessly evolving techno future.

Techno fix

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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby Dukat_Reloaded » Mon 24 Oct 2005, 07:02:31

It's nice and all to see millionaires going into space (puke). Anyway, I'm going to write something big, see it in the forums soon.
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Re: Whats the meaning of life?

Unread postby PenultimateManStanding » Mon 24 Oct 2005, 19:52:40

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('albente', 'B')y the way I just happend to see the start of the last Titan 4 out of Vandenberg AFB a few days ago in a distance of probably 50 miles or so. It was totally random while walking in the tourist village of Sollvang.
Damn, I love the central coast. I miss it already, albente. As you know, I spent four years up there going to college.
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