Nihilism has entered the thread.
Spoilers Does mortality give life meaning?
- Thread starter Felderburg
- Start date
I completely agree. This angle toward immortality has become a sort of cliche in science fiction - especially sci-fi that is trying to be perceived as deep or philosophical. To the OPs original question I don't think Mortality gives life meaning at all - for that matter what do we even mean by the phrase 'to give something meaning" in the first place?
Though a candle burns in my house, there is nobody home.
Death can feel meaningless. I see no problem with finding meaning before death.
I say this with genuine concern and respect: If this is an earnest description of your thought process, then I don't think this is a coherent philosophical argument so much as a sign of an impending mental health issue. I would urge you to contact a mental health provider if this is how you truly feel.
What we do matters to us while we're here. What we do matters to those who know us. What we do matters to those who'll remember us.
I hit a particularly low point in 2017. I'm not going to discuss the details. They don't matter. What matters is this: I knew there would be people who would be worried if something happened to me. And I knew those who would love nothing more than to see something happen to me. So I persevere not just for myself, but for the people who care about me, and to spite the people who don't.
I don't know. I'm not at a point where I can answer this. I think on two levels: I want to live to be 100 (and beyond) but I also wonder, "What if today was my last day?" I want to live as long as I can, but be satisfied with what I've done if I don't.
I think we're in uncharted territory. The world as people have known it for the last century is going to have to radically change. What's "worked" since the 1930s isn't working anymore. It'll be defunct by the time I'm old. What type of world that means we'll be in, or at least I'll be in, who's to really say? Financially, ecologically, socially, things have to change.
Indeed. No matter personal belief there is only one like each of us, unique despite similarities.
My wife and I recently rewatched the Fellowship of the Rings and Gandalf's speech resonated even more now.
"So do all who live to see such times but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time given. "
I'm botching it a bit but the sentiment applies.
What was going on before is changing more rapidly now, we've seen social change advancing so rapidly it butted up against the right and they are making a last-ditch effort to stop it all over the world. I think it will fail, but not without obvious cost.
Everyone has to make up their own mind about such things. Mortality up until now has been met with deference and inevitability. We make up stories to comfort ourselves and simply say that's how things are.
I can see someone 50 years from now with an option to extend life. The finality is gone, what sort of accomplishments might happen? Will people have more perspective?
I also see downsides, two shows explore some: Altered Carbon, and Upload. Both very different, but one where uploading leads to a casual attitude towards death and the rise of the (even more) entitled rich, and one where extended digital life is not exactly what they'd expected, in a curated afterworld.
In the meantime, we can only make the best of things. Try to have some ideals and live like we want to be treated in return.
RAMA
Everyone has to make up their own mind about such things. Mortality up until now has been met with deference and inevitability. We make up stories to comfort ourselves and simply say that's how things are.
I can see someone 50 years from now with an option to extend life. The finality is gone, what sort of accomplishments might happen? Will people have more perspective?
I also see downsides, two shows explore some: Altered Carbon, and Upload. Both very different, but one where uploading leads to a casual attitude towards death and the rise of the (even more) entitled rich, and one where extended digital life is not exactly what they'd expected, in a curated afterworld.
In the meantime, we can only make the best of things. Try to have some ideals and live like we want to be treated in return.
RAMA
Why?
Someone with a very limited view might say that. Or a deathist.
Lack of foresight? Lack of imagination? Ingrained reinforcement? Religion?
Life got along fine before we were born and will get along fine after we're gone. Oblivion isn't a problem. Trying to avoid the inevitable is.
The cry of someone dying just like everyone else.
Trying to survive as long as possible strikes me as a rather natural biological imperative. Not narcissism, per se.
Insisting it is meaningless also strikes me as narcissistic in a way.
I'll live as long as I can, however long that is, and when it's over, it's over. It's that simple.
If there's something after it's over, then we're going into territory where we're talking about something none of us knows anything about. And if I do find out, I sure won't be able to tell anyone in this particular astral plane.
If there's something after it's over, then we're going into territory where we're talking about something none of us knows anything about. And if I do find out, I sure won't be able to tell anyone in this particular astral plane.
