The meaning of life.
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Warrior
Member # 656
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written Sunday, April 13 2003 15:22
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The goal of life--at least instinctively--is to ensure the survival of the species, hence we reproduce. -------------------- *I am not a guest. Posts: 127 | Registered: Wednesday, February 20 2002 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Monday, April 14 2003 04:06
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The examples above about the rice farmer and the capitalists probbly well-illustrate the distinction I was trying to make between what people percieve as their goal in life and life's more general meaning. Melaw (above) also suggests--in a rather reductive, Dawkinsesque way, IMHO--that life has a purpose other than that we ascribe to it in daily life. I don't buy the existential thing about 'meaning is just what we say it is'. I can't say I have much time for religion, but at least it beats existentialist absurdity (big 'A'). Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
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(TGM)
Veteran* Member # 2286
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written Monday, April 14 2003 09:14
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quote:It was me, Davy! :P -------------------- Meet the savior. KYMCO Super Fever will force you to do so. Haw. Posts: 911 | Registered: Sunday, November 24 2002 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 2669
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written Monday, April 14 2003 14:04
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A goal and a meaning are two very different things. Self-preservation and reproduction might the biological meanings of life, but that's not what your brain is telling you on a conscious level. -------------------- ... Posts: 647 | Registered: Wednesday, February 19 2003 08:00 |
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Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
Member # 919
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written Monday, April 14 2003 14:20
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Good job, TGM! :P -------------------- And though the musicians would die, the music would live on in the imaginations of all who heard it. -The Last Pendragon TEH CONSPIRACY IZ ALL Les forum de la chance. In case of emergency, break glass. Posts: 3351 | Registered: Saturday, April 6 2002 08:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Monday, April 14 2003 14:28
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On the other hand, it seems unlikely that a search for some "deeper meaning" to life is inherent in human nature. There are plenty of other cultures that got along and continue to get along just fine without constant soul-searching, and anyway, it's a little hard to ponder philosophy when you're busy worrying about where your next meal's going to come from. Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 2669
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written Monday, April 14 2003 15:27
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That's exactly what i meant with the Cambodian rice farmer. Philosophy is a privilege of the idle. -------------------- ... Posts: 647 | Registered: Wednesday, February 19 2003 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2476
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written Monday, April 14 2003 15:42
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Have the old tribes led idle lives? I don't think so. Yet their beliefs and myths and tales were richly embroidered, colourful tapestries that grounded their lives and gave them meaning. -------------------- Polaris Posts: 1828 | Registered: Saturday, January 11 2003 08:00 |
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SCORPIUS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!!
Member # 314
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written Monday, April 14 2003 16:09
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quote:Unfortunately their "tapestries" were all style and no substance. I like my meaning to have truth. Not just mythological mumbo-jumbo. -------------------- CLICK HERE IF YOU LOVE JESUS ADoS is like a magical punching bag that swings into your fist even when you're not trying to hit it. -Djur Posts: 554 | Registered: Sunday, November 25 2001 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2476
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written Monday, April 14 2003 16:27
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No substance, Scorp? Tell me more about that. -------------------- Polaris Posts: 1828 | Registered: Saturday, January 11 2003 08:00 |
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SCORPIUS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!!
Member # 314
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written Monday, April 14 2003 16:33
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Well, darling...a group of gods on Mount Olympus makes for some great stories, as do all the other primitive belief systems, but they lack a little thing called "veracity". -------------------- CLICK HERE IF YOU LOVE JESUS ADoS is like a magical punching bag that swings into your fist even when you're not trying to hit it. -Djur Posts: 554 | Registered: Sunday, November 25 2001 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2476
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written Monday, April 14 2003 17:22
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It were the red indians, I had in mind, dearie. I'm probably not that good at retranslating, but I'll try. Thoughts like: let your heart beat in unison with the earth's heart. Feel that you are part of everything that surrounds you. If man can not love all creation, he will love nothing at all. Earth is like a dotted fawn. The dots are the various regions with their differing energy sources and purposes. We are all created with differing vibrations and frequencies - but we are all meant to reunite with the One Spirit beyond. -------------------- Polaris Posts: 1828 | Registered: Saturday, January 11 2003 08:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 2607
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written Monday, April 14 2003 19:39
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quote:It doesn't in Base 10, I agree. Base 10 is the numerical base most used, 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9, 10 numbers. Base 2 would be binary, 0 and 1, 2 numbers. It works in Base 13 though, I think. I'm not exactly sure how, but someone has to have more mathematical skill than I do. What is 6 times 9 in Base 13? I think the answer is 42. -------------------- 1. Forge my Genes, will you!? (attack!) 2. That's all for now. Thanks. Posts: 82 | Registered: Saturday, February 8 2003 08:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Monday, April 14 2003 22:56
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6 * 9 = 54 in base ten therefore 6 * 9 = 4 * 13 + 2 * 1 therefore 6 * 9 = 42 in base thirteen (On a slightly related note, I just figured out what the phrase "All bases are base 10" really means.) [ Monday, April 14, 2003 22:58: Message edited by: Thuryl ] Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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(TGM)
Veteran* Member # 2286
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written Tuesday, April 15 2003 08:00
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AAAAAAAAAGHHH!!!!!!!!!!111 Maths! No no no must close topic! I suck in math.. :P -------------------- Meet the savior. KYMCO Super Fever will force you to do so. Haw. Posts: 911 | Registered: Sunday, November 24 2002 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 496
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written Tuesday, April 15 2003 08:12
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Dawkins' sociobiological universe is "verifiable", Skorp, but hardly worth structuring the meaning of anyone's life about. At least archaic mythologes had colour and ethical content, unobjective though such worthwhile features of our daily lives are. Posts: 2333 | Registered: Monday, January 7 2002 08:00 |
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Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
Member # 919
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written Tuesday, April 15 2003 15:15
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I got an 87 in advanced 9th grade math for my third quarter average... you're not alone. -------------------- And though the musicians would die, the music would live on in the imaginations of all who heard it. -The Last Pendragon TEH CONSPIRACY IZ ALL Les forum de la chance. In case of emergency, break glass. Posts: 3351 | Registered: Saturday, April 6 2002 08:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 87
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written Saturday, April 19 2003 11:41
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actually I meant more than just the DA quote, that was just a starter. People try to get immortality in many different ways, such as through religion. Other people have kids, and that is their mark on the earth. Others advance science or humanity. Other people make an ungodly amount of money. Even the Cambodian (or a couple of centuries ago, Japanese) rice farmer can have kids. Chinese emperors have drunk mercury to gain immortality (maybe in a subjuctive afterlife they have). Rich guys have thier heads cryogenically frozen. Some people diet and exercise and try to extend thier life span. Others just try to have fun. Incidentally, not all bases are bases 10. To a Mayan mathemetician they would be base 20. The babylonians used a base 60 at times. -------------------- Tip of the Day: #13 Stand clear the closing door. That's treason. (THNIK)(Peculiar James, FP productions co, inc) Posts: 816 | Registered: Friday, October 5 2001 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Saturday, April 19 2003 12:07
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Actually, I think Thuryl's comment means something else. All number systems, stated in themselves, are base-10. In binary, 2 is 10. In hexadecimal, 16 is 10. In the Babylonian base-60 number system, 60 is 10. —Alorael, who believes a base-14 system was used somewhere as well. There's really no reason to use ten above any other number, aside from the fact that a small base means that even low numbers take a while to write down and very large bases require excessive numbers of different digits. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 2300
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written Saturday, April 19 2003 12:35
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quote:Hmm....but we use base 60 constantly as well. We don't actually use 60 individual figures....we just use figures from the base 10 system to 'emulate' each figure. EDIT: On a number note, take a quick look at this site and, er, see if you can work out how the trick works....(it's not hard) .... how stupid do these people think we are? [ Saturday, April 19, 2003 12:49: Message edited by: ^^ilos ] -------------------- Beware of pretty girls in dance halls and parks who may be spies, as well as bicycles, revolvers, uniforms, arms, dead horses, and men lying on roads -- they are not there accidentally." - Soviet infantry manual, 1930's Posts: 267 | Registered: Wednesday, November 27 2002 08:00 |
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Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
Member # 919
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written Saturday, April 19 2003 12:37
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I disagree, PR. Not everyone tries to make themself immortal; for example, an atheist man get tired of his neighbors, and mankind in general, and goes out to live in the woods. Maybe he tries to learn, he of course does his best to live (hunting, fishing, etc.), but he doesn't give reproduction, teaching, etc. a single thought. How is he trying to make himself live longer than usual, or forever? -------------------- And though the musicians would die, the music would live on in the imaginations of all who heard it. -The Last Pendragon TEH CONSPIRACY IZ ALL Les forum de la chance. In case of emergency, break glass. Posts: 3351 | Registered: Saturday, April 6 2002 08:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 2300
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written Saturday, April 19 2003 12:59
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David's right - and we don't actually strive for immortality in its literal meaning, but instead we strive to make a mark on humanity in some way that will endure forever...or for as long as possible. Immortality is a paradox, anyway - assuming that time will end, so will the person's life, cutting short their 'immortality'. If time is infinite, then they will die of unnatural causes eventually, since the moments at which this could happen are infinite, and this infinity means that the probability of an event with a 'static' probability (the chance of it occuring in a given moment of time) greater than 0 will become 1. In theory at least..... :D EDIT: I just realised how mathematically geared I'm becoming.....mabye I should think about something else for a while. [ Saturday, April 19, 2003 13:01: Message edited by: ^^ilos ] -------------------- Beware of pretty girls in dance halls and parks who may be spies, as well as bicycles, revolvers, uniforms, arms, dead horses, and men lying on roads -- they are not there accidentally." - Soviet infantry manual, 1930's Posts: 267 | Registered: Wednesday, November 27 2002 08:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 87
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written Wednesday, April 23 2003 13:25
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^^ilos: for such an unpopulated universe there is an awful lot of sex. Author try to write a great and enduring book, scientists try to leave an impression on their feild, architects try to build the biggest and best. That being said, not everyone does that, but everyone tries do make something that will last beyond tommorow. iDavid: I think that that situation is rare(esp not thinking about reproduction), but in that case I would say the point of life is to find enjoyment. Even then, the guy would pursue some kind of craft, like woodcarving or something. Alorael: I thought he was saying that when we write a base we write it in base 10. -------------------- Tip of the Day: #13 Stand clear the closing door. That's treason. (THNIK)(Peculiar James, FP productions co, inc) Posts: 816 | Registered: Friday, October 5 2001 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, April 23 2003 13:40
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That's part of it. We have to write it in base ten (or at least always in the same base) because all systems are "base 10" when written in their own number system. —Alorael, who suspects there is a deep philosophical meaning to it. Perhaps base 10 is the meaning of life? Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Apprentice
Member # 2709
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written Wednesday, April 23 2003 13:47
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I've Always thought the meaning of life was enjoyment and satisfaction. Thus, if the Philosopher enjoys trying to find the meaning of life, he has found it if he is has satisfaction. If the rice farmer enjoys spreading his rice throughout the lands to starving people, and he is satisfied, he has found it. If someone is satisfied with being the modern day equivelant of Hugh Hefner, as I would be, then they have found the meaning of their life. Then again, look where that's gotten me... -------------------- Looks like someone needs to stick their head in some Ice Water... Posts: 29 | Registered: Wednesday, February 26 2003 08:00 |