Which has the most meaning in life, considering the absurdity of it all?

Lets take a close look at this before your mind gets boggled!

We know religion promises eternal life but lets leave that aside, especially if you’re a non-believer.

But, we mere mortals, who have a finite life, and who try to create meaning for ourselves, and who don’t believe in religion, we ask the question, “What’s the meaning of life?’, over and over again!!!

Us mortals endeavour to be part of something that transcends our biological existence, such as having children or creating works that last past our demise.

This makes us feel MORE than mortal!

There is another question floating around:

“Would you be BORED if you were immortal?”

Some future-minded scientists predict that in a 100 years or so medical science will be able to STOP the aging process!

Would humans be bored with a radical life extension, or indeed, living forever?

Would there be meaning in immortality?

Note that life extension does not imply COMPLETE immortality.

There still would be some traumatic deaths and accidents.

So there would always be some uncertainty about death!

With future technology advancing at break neck speed we probably would never get bored. Our engagement with life would go to new heights!

I am in the midst of analysing the philosophy found in the novel:

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

In the novel the character called, “Wowbagger” has immortality given to him.

To begin with it was wonderful, taking risks and having non-stop fun.

Then things got a little boring for him. He got tired of going to other people’s funerals and smiling!

So, he conceived the purpose of insulting everyone in the universe and that would keep him busy and never be bored.

So, Wowbagger found meaning in immortality.

What about the finite human life? Can we find meaning or is there always the threat of meaninglessness?

We all have things we want to do, projects to finish. The problem is death. The fact is we have many things we want to do and only a finite amount of time to do them before we die.

If we were immortal we would be free from time pressure.

We would have all kinds of time for many, many projects.

But, being mortal, all our good works tend to be wiped out after our death.

Hence, what’s the point?

We struggle with the question of a meaningful life but is this struggle absurd because of our insignificance in the whole scheme of things?

The human condition is absurd because we seek inherent value and meaning in life but we fail to find any in a chaotic, meaningless world.

We can only embrace our existence and meet absurdity with defiance.

Example of absurdity in everyday life:

Get up in the morning, take train to work, four hours work then lunch then four more hours work, take train home, have dinner and go to bed. Monday through Friday- all at the same rhythm. One day, the “WHY” of it all overcomes us and we see the absurdity of life.

Do our lives serve some real purpose?

Or are we just inconsequential specks in the world?

But we still seek some sort of meaning because we cannot stop wanting CLARITY AND COMPASSION AND MEANING from the world, it’s built into our nature.

Why let the question of meaning torture us? Maybe we should ignore the question.

Maybe life itself can restore the balance that has been made chaotic by our continuing questioning.

I will sum up my 81 year old thoughts now:

“I’m old and tired and I’ll probably never find out what is really going on. So the only thing to do is to say the “hell with it” and just keep writing blogs.”

We are lucky to be living in a time when science is finding out so much about the world and universe around us.

It boggles the mind!

We are flying through space at 65,000 miles per hour around the Sun.

Faster than jet planes.

We are so small in comparison to the universe.

In our galaxy, The Milky Way”, there are billions of stars.

Time is very interesting to think about also.

We know about the “Big Bang” that created our universe is 13.7 billion years old.

The Earth is around 4.5 billion years old

Humans are about 130,000 years old–mere babies!

I don’t know about you, but I get very excited just thinking how lucky we are to belong to a species that is very intelligent to figure this stuff out BUT also to appreciate the fact that we are part of it all albeit a very small part.

Human history and prehistory is also very interesting.

Archaeology tells us about the tools and art of everyday people long ago.

History is the greatest story of all!

With all this science going on who needs silly conspiracy theories.

The rate of scientific progress is accelerating.

Technology is close to many breakthroughs that could change our lives overnight.

DOES THIS MEAN A FANTASTIC FUTURE OR AN END TO CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT?

Either way, it’s going to be interesting.

Coming up is a golden age of discovery, a leap forward.

This might not feel like such a wonderful time because of wars, poverty, crime, and political nonsense.

But that’s not the whole story.

I hope we can raise humankind to a higher plane–someday.

In conclusion:

Be thankful for the magnificent brain you have.

Question everything and think like a scientist.

Don’t throw your life away on dead-end beliefs.

THINK BEFORE YOU BELIEVE.

“The end of the World is Near,” said the man that just had a near-death experience.

I remember as a kid seeing men with sandwich boards marching up and down with the message on the board, ” The end of the World is Near.”

People always had an interest in the final day of judgement.

The end of the World is an interesting subject because the World really could end.

It’s NOT a crazy topic at all!

Space rocks called asteroids are floating around and could someday devastate us.

Nuclear war is scary.

Also the Sun, our star, will die and ruin the planet.

The Sun’s dying act would fry the earth in 4 billion years, but that’s a long time away.

Maybe we will inhabit another galaxy by then.

For generations, millions of people have believed in doomsday claims.

We know it is sensible to assume there will be a tomorrow.

Skeptical thinking defies doomsday scenarios.

Now, this man who was babbling about the day of judgement said he saw the end of the World in his near-death experience.

He was in the hospital on the operating table and saw the earth explode.

This must have been his light at the end of the tunnel!

I told him it was probably a dream induced by a lack of oxygen in the brain during the operation. His brain was highly stressed at that time.

The brain can conjure up some very weird things.

We can all be fooled by our brains as far as what we see, hear, and feel.

We remember things that aren’t real.

So, shouldn’t we be skeptical?

I think the human brain, under stress, is very unreliable.

But some people are comforted by weird stories and near-death experiences make great stories!

DON’T BE FRIGHTENED, THINK SKEPTICALLY!

Are you a SKEPTIC? If not, maybe you should be.

Some people say:

“Skepticism kills innovation and creativity. It creates static beings.

We are made to grow, learn, and seek TRUTH. Not to tear it down.”

But some “TRUTH” isn’t true!

How can we know what is and what isn’t TRUE?

Scientists are skeptics, they question everything until it is proved with EVIDENCE, the available body of facts or info indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.

Thinking like a scientist leads to MORE intuition and creativity.

So, what does being a skeptic entail?

It means withholding your opinion until SOLID EVIDENCE has been presented.

Skepticism stimulates creative thinking by encouraging questions rather than settling for absolute answers.

What do you know?

We think we know all sorts of things, but how and on what grounds can we defend those claims?

Our supposed knowledge of the world is based on perceptions gained through our senses, but aren’t perceptions prone to error?

5th century BC Greeks originated skepticism to fight dogmatism, which is inflexible principles laid down by “authorities”.

Skepticism got going in the 15th and 16th centuries when the first stirrings of the scientific revolution led people to question the basis of existing knowledge and the validity of theological truth.

So, lets get down to the nitty gritty.

You say you don’t want to be a skeptic!

So, that means, you want to trust everything people tell you.

Who needs facts when your gut speaks the truth!

You are ready to live the dream!

Now, who wants to Think Like A Scientist?

“I do,” you scream!

Okay you are ready to THINK!

What does it mean to think like a scientist?

It means that you want to maintain a healthy level of curiosity and doubt.

You ask questions and strive for evidence.

You don’t draw conclusions until you have good reason to do so.

You must also be ready to change your mind if your conclusions turn out to be incorrect.

Why should we question everything?

Well, the human brain does a poor job of separating truth from fiction!

What is conformation bias?

Our brain does this well, this bias prevents us from thinking clearly about our beliefs.

We remember info that supports our beliefs.

But tend to discount info that challenges our beliefs.

You need to resist this bias and keep an open mind and really consider other ideas.

Why our memories are unreliable:

The brain constructs our memories from bits of info, things are left out and things are added.

Don’t trust your memory!

Your brain constructs and interprets what you see.

What you see is something the brain has interpreted for us, based on what comes through our eyes.

It can be deceiving.

To be a skeptic you might have to give up some of your beliefs and that scares a lot of people.

They claim that their treasured beliefs are necessary to find joy, comfort and meaning in life.

But if you are a skeptic you will always ask:

“Where’s the evidence?”

In conclusion:

Always try to think like a scientist, so that you can distinguish truth from fiction.

Question Everything.

Don’t pretend to know things you don’t know.

THINK BEFORE YOU BELIEVE!