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Displaying 26-33 of 33 messages in this thread. |
| Posted By | Discussion Topic: Our Utter Insignificance | ||||
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| Norton's Victim | posted on 01-28-2002 @ 8:49 AM |    | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jan. 02  | Well, I sort of agree with you. Most of the time I feel useless and don't see a point to us being here. However, Einstein was a firm believer in God, which makes it kind of hard to completely rule out. The man was a genius and even the things that we thought he was wrong about are being proven. Maybe we are useless (i know most people are), but it never hurts to at least attempt to do something that seems important. "This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality. Embrace this moment, remember, we are eternal, all this pain is an illusion" - Tool | ||||
| dirtydingusmagee | posted on 01-28-2002 @ 2:27 PM | | |||
| Hanger-On Registered: Jan. 01 | You have to get over the fear of "not being remembered".Virtually no-one is remembered.You have 2 parents,4 grandparents,8 great-grandparents,and 16 great-great grandparents.If people are remembered,name your 16 great-great grandparents,their hopes,their dreams...get over it. Whether you believe it or not,your (soul or call it what you want)might survive your physical death.Many philosopher/religious thinkers over the millenia have thought so.You don't have to believe the latest scientific/atheist type because he doesn't. If you want to wallow in the "it doesn't matter" realm,it even gets worse.Carl Jung said that the hardest concept he ever tried to wrestle with was the "Why does a person struggle to understand difficult concepts?"question.His best answer was so that he could say"Look at me,mommy,I'm so smart". So,only a few people are remembered,and the ones that are,are because they were trying to impress their mothers!! | ||||
| Kramden's Delicious Marshall I think Yoda is sexy. | posted on 01-28-2002 @ 10:52 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Sep. 01 | To use the cliched phrase, "The world is what you make of it." It all depends upon one's perception of himself and the world in which he lives. If you believe in God, heaven, and/or an afterlife, than altruistic actions are the ONLY things that make the world a better place. Life as we know it, can be looked at from the viewpoint that this plane of existence is just a realm of learning for our souls to evolve from one life to the next. Life is only worthwhile and meaningful for the good we can do while we're down here. If you look at it like that, than you can say there is a universal divine plan, and that no one and nothing on earth is insignificant. | ||||
| KampoM249 | posted on 01-28-2002 @ 11:11 PM | | |||
| Hanger-On Registered: Dec. 01 | Well most poeple are comformed just being another face in the crowd and they can not grasp o the consept other poeple an make their mark weather it is local or world wide. You all can mope around how useless you are in the grand and if you all really think your that useless take a long walk off a short peir hehe Kampo and don't get mad in the grand schemes of things this post is meanless | ||||
| OAAWITE | posted on 01-29-2002 @ 12:40 PM | | |||
| Hanger-On Registered: Jan. 70 | quote: The most beneficial things to society are not done out of altruism. They're done out of individualism and the pursuit of excellence (AKA selfishness and greed). Society benefit most when the goal isn't to benefit society, but it's merely an effect. You think Edison, Salk, Franklin, Ford, etc were doing that in order to help people? No, they were doing it to make money or solve a problem or both. The benefit to society vastly outweighed what people could possibly achieve when they try and help people a handful at a time by feeding them soup, or starting some government money to sustain their life.  | ||||
| Kramden's Delicious Marshall I think Yoda is sexy. | posted on 01-29-2002 @ 5:23 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Sep. 01 | quote: quote:I agree, but only in respect to society's evolvement. But is society ALL that exists? Society is a social construct, "a necessary evil" if you will, needed for the purposes of maintaining social order, solidarity, and cohesion, much like our system of measurement for time and space. All that truly exists is man, nature, and God (if you believe in that). From a societal standpoint, selfish and greedy advancements made in the realms of medicine, technology, etc., only serve to enhance society on a superficial level. But what we have in these realms, we're lacking in spirituality. Sociologists call this 'Cultural Lag' - when one or more aspect(s) of society evolve past others leaving them behind. From an ontological viewpoint, the only reason the earth plane exists, is for the evolvement not of society, but for evolvement of the soul. A dimension of learning and experience specifically divinely designed for the purposes of creating a better world through repetition and discourse. In that sense, altruism would be the only thing that matters. :) | ||||
| IkeaBoy P.L.F. Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal I will die a traitor's death | posted on 01-30-2002 @ 2:58 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Sep. 00 | But the point is though life on earth is changed from these people, we're just a small marble in the grand scheme of life and finally something OAA and I can get behind is that the greatest accomplishments in the world are not done to first and foremost to make the world a better place, it's done out of personal reasons. OAA mention Gates, do you think that Gates does what he does out of Altruism? Surely you're not that naive. and I can't believe I forgot this until now but... Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour, That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned, A sun that is the source of all our power. The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see Are moving at a million miles a day In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour, Of the galaxy we call the 'Milky Way'. Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars. It's a hundred thousand light years side to side. It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick, But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide. We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point. We go 'round every two hundred million years, And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions In this amazing and expanding universe. The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding In all of the directions it can whizz As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know, Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is. So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure, How amazingly unlikely is your birth, And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.  "It appears my wee wee has been strucken with rigor mortis." | ||||
| theinsectsgotme | posted on 02-02-2002 @ 10:48 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Sep. 00 | Wow, I can’t believe my generation has created a bunch of egotists, where did we go wrong. While there is a place for ego, and doing for oneself, this world needs compassion. Do you think our species’ evolvement didn’t rely on this? Look at nature – the weak die and strong survive. We have evolved to where we are because we are one of the few species that have this trait. We don’t leave our young as they are about to be killed; we fight to the death to save them. While I agree a lot of progress comes from personal gain, a lot does not. Look at AIDS research. I know people who have been HIV positive for 15 years and are alive and well. The people trying to eradicate this aren’t doing it for personal gain, are they? I have kids. What I do for them is not what is best for me but is what’s best for them. That in itself goes against the egotist philosophy. Are we insignificant? Probably, but we can have a significant impact daily. | ||||
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Displaying 26-33 of 33 messages in this thread. |