Oh highlight some lines and hit that “quote” icon.
Haha. I won’t engage you in a philosophical discussion because you are a practical man.Working as an EMT, you probably have seen victims of crime and auto accidents dying in your ambulance in transit on the way to ER. Let’s say you have a victim of a horrific traffic accident and are trying to revive the badly hurt person flatlining. In removing his jacket, you find loads of cash stuffed inside its partly ripped lining. The guy does not respond to defibrillation and dies. Eternal oblivion. Your partner up front – an atheist – tells you the ETA is 10 minutes and to hide the cash ($2 million). No one will know, not even God, if you are an atheist.
I suspect that for a lot of people belief in god is absolutely necessary to keep them in line, but for whatever reason, it’s not necessary for everyone.
I suspect that for a lot of people belief in god is absolutely necessary to keep them in line, but for whatever reason, it’s not necessary for everyone.So, you would not hide the cash. Smart. It was a movie I saw, and in it, the two EMTs hid the cash because living like a normal person was a whole lot harder than dying like a normal person. Someone came looking for the EMTs and it wasn't God.
Yes! Thank you! I’ve read that before too. Decoherence means the brain is not a quantum computer and the moon is still there when not observed, etc. All the sensationalist quantum hocus pocus relies on ignoring the fact that quantum states are spoiled by inanimate objects too, not just human observation! In fact the word “observer” in science can and does often denote an inanimate object, like the double slit experiment where a bunch of electrons go from particle to wave to particle and hit and then build up on a screen. The screen is the observer and cause the wave to collapse. The scientist doesn’t have to watch the whole thing. The particles collapse even when the scientist is at home in bed.
Further on the erroneous idea that human consciousness is the only thing that can cause quantum waves to collapse:
"
To many scientists this interpretation fails to compete with other interpretations of quantum mechanics because “consciousness causes collapse” relies upon an interactionist form of dualism that is inconsistent with the materialism presupposed by many physicists.[3]
…
Also, it posits an important role for the conscious mind, and it has been questioned how this could be the case for the earlier universe, before consciousness had evolved or emerged. It has been argued that “[consciousness causes collapse] does not allow sensible discussion of Big Bang cosmology or biological evolution”.[3] For example, Roger Penrose remarked: “[T]he evolution of conscious life on this planet is due to appropriate mutations having taken place at various times. These, presumably, are quantum events, so they would exist only in linearly superposed form until they finally led to the evolution of a conscious being—whose very existence depends on all the right mutations having ‘actually’ taken place!”[7]
-Wikipedia"
Key phrase “other interpretations”. These whacky, out there interpretations are just that; interpretations, not fully agreed upon, and no more valid, and probably less valid than other interpretations, of which there are many.
I see no reason to believe in an afterlife apart from giving some comfort to dying people. Of course once they’re dead there is no fear of dying, but anything that can ease the passing I say go for it.
So, you would not hide the cash. Smart. It was a movie I saw, and in it, the two EMTs hid the cash because living like a normal person was a whole lot harder than dying like a normal person. Someone came looking for the EMTs and it wasn’t God.Sounds interesting. Living on an EMT salary is pretty hard, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.
I see no reason to believe in an afterlife apart from giving some comfort to dying people. Of course once they’re dead there is no fear of dying, but anything that can ease the passing I say go for it.Belief in an afterlife is probably just part of the overall spiritual or mystical sense that humans naturally feel rather than something we come up with to comfort the dying.
Sounds interesting. Living on an EMT salary is pretty hard, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.The guy driving the ambulance was someone like you who wanted to keep in line. He ended up with the money.
Belief in an afterlife is probably just part of the overall spiritual or mystical sense that humans naturally feel rather than something we come up with to comfort the dying.I don't see how any sentient being endowed with this inexplicable sense of self-awareness can discount the magic as a Big Bang thing, fall in line with an insectoid (see below) and roll over into eternal oblivion.
Insectoid:Coined by Timothy Leary to describe the consciousness of the average joe. It cares only about survival, breeding, and dopamine influx (beer, drugs, sports). It has no higher mind, no real philosophy other than a generic, borrowed, and shallow outlook adopted by its immediate culture. It lives essentially to replicate its genome and any use of intellect beyond this is merely a feedback loop for its ssurvival and breeding goal.
CJay,
Your post, # 331768, is worthy, I think, of a second reading by anyone who missed its key points.
I don’t see how any sentient being endowed with this inexplicable sense of self-awareness can discount the magic as a Big Bang thing, fall in line with an insectoid (see below) and roll over into eternal oblivion.Consciousness is extraordinary and mysterious, but it does seem to mostly be about the basic things in life. Spiritual enlightenment, etc. usually deals with the basics as well.
Consciousness is extraordinary and mysterious, but it does seem to mostly be about the basic things in life. Spiritual enlightenment, etc. usually deals with the basics as well.Consciousness is indeed extraordinary and mysterious. We don't have to let priests and scientists explain away the mystery. There is nothing wrong with being extraordinary and mysterious. It's better than being a know-all insectoid.
… know-all insectoid …
There is nothing wrong with being extraordinary and mysterious.Only someone who knows nothing about scientists,
can imagine suggesting that science eliminates the mystery and extraordinary wonder
that exists within Physical Reality.
Consciousness is not all that “extraordinary”. It is rather common.
It is not even, all that mysterious. It is a natural phenomenon.
Not to put a damper on your enjoyment of the wondrous and mysterious. Just cool your jets on being so astounded and enthralled by the “wonderous” things that are basically explicable and common.
On a different note. How can M. Pence contain and process the homoerotic feelings he appears to have for the t rump in the picture above? You can see his desire to lift up his face and get some serious tongue action kissing going with his bull.
Surrender to your lust, Mike! Life in this administration is too short, to miss opportunities for happiness.
You can see his desire to lift up his face and get some serious tongue action kissing going with his bull.This comment is far out from left field. Are you gay?
He’s a leftist so he might as well be. Both are genetic dead ends.
He’s a leftist so he might as well be. Both are genetic dead ends.Damn right. How the hell does anyone end up as a leftist? You said you were leftist in your youth. Was it the influence of a blond-haired activist white girlfriend? Thank God, you escaped from that progressive drift.
Guy, I didn’t realize you were a totalitarian. Or are you simply writing for effect and not thinking about what you are saying, the way sree does?
June 28th I read a letter to the (Durango Herald) editor that continues haunting my thoughts. Jeff begins his letter on a humorous note, “We have a national outbreak of leftism sweeping our country.” Don’t I wish. Then it quickly turns ugly, claiming we “threaten to kill our democracy and way of life.”Funny that, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” is about as Leftist as it gets! America’s founders were children of the intellectual enlightenment, they believed in evidence over personal fancy and dogma.
God was beyond their understanding and they believed in Providence. They trusted the scientific approach to better understanding, based on honestly assessing and debating the facts. All that is tremendously “Leftist” and Liberal, the stuff of American greatness and patriotism!
Jeff then describes liberals in fanciful extremes that were pure hysterical flailing. It left me wondering why such desperation to create extreme delusions and fabricate mortal enemies? We are Americans, we need each other to keep ourselves honest. United we stand, divided we fall.
We are entering a difficult period in human existence. But what does the right-winger have to show for themselves? Adoration of a President who lies incessantly, hates reading and learning, refuses to imagine he’s capable of mistakes, hates experts. Salving his ego and receiving adulation are his mind’s only priorities.
This fabricated fanciful right-wing hatred and fear of the left can only lead to self-destruction for USA. We need each other to get through this.
Damn right. How the hell does anyone end up as a leftist? You said you were leftist in your youth. Was it the influence of a blond-haired activist white girlfriend? Thank God, you escaped from that progressive drift.I think a lot of White people are naturally sort of left-wing in youth, then as they get older they see how life actually works and become more realistic.
Anybody over 30 who is still leftist has some serious personal issues.