Bai Lan
Let It Rot
not buzzwords. other equally spiritual things.
This reveals your bias.
you realize it reveals your bias and refuse to answer and go to personal attacks.
you're an intellectual fraud, a liar, an idiot, and a poo poo pants.
Great atheists on the meaning & purpose of life
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This reveals your bias.
you realize it reveals your bias and refuse to answer and go to personal attacks.
you're an intellectual fraud, a liar, an idiot, and a poo poo pants.
Bai Lan
Let It Rot
atheists are a mixed bag.A Rabbi is teaching his student the Talmud and explains god created everything in this world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.
The clever student asks “What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did god create them?”
The Rabbi responds “God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all – the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone who is in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that god commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.”
“This means” the Rabbi continued “that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that god will help you.’ instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no god who can help, and say ‘I will help you.'”
Danger ahead - there are good reasons why God created atheists | The Rabbi Sacks Legacy
Read Danger ahead - there are good reasons why God created atheists from The Rabbi Sacks Legacy.rabbisacks.org
usually they're also the ones telling us to murder off the useless eaters..
Richard Dawkins: Humans have always wondered about the meaning of life... life has no higher purpose than to perpetuate the survival of DNA. Life has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference. The universe does not owe us meaning, but you can make your own meaning which could be through an ideal, such as a political ideal, through music, poetry, nature, science.
Into the Night
Verified User
Karl Marx was not an atheist.
Frederich Nietzche was not an atheist.
Arthur Schopenhauer was not an atheist.
All three were religious fundamentalists in the Church of No God.
Bai Lan
Let It Rot
all those are fine and dandy. but kind of superficial, honestly.
these are not the conclusions arrived at by Ann Frank, Aleksander solzenitysn, viktor Frankl, Jesus, Buddha, or many other great "meaning"ists.
although Alan watts gets close with something along the lines of "life is about distraction" which does have certain truth about it.
da dada . da da...dad adadadadadad. da .da da da dada dada adadad ada.
I'm giving equal time to atheists. If somebody has a better atheist framework for the meaningful life they can post it.
Dutch Uncle
* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
Cray-cray people along with dumbasses won't ever get it. Partly because they don't want to but mostly because they can't. Sad.
Dutch Uncle
* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
I partly agree with Dawkins in that the Universe doesn't owe us meaning. As human beings, we create our own meaning. This is where I disagree with your assertion that there is an objective beauty to the Universe. Beauty is very subjective. A bunch of rocks forming the Sierra Nevada mountains are just inanimate matter. A lake in those mountains is simply a pool of H2O gathered at a gravitational low spot. Animals don't appreciate the beauty of the scene. It takes a human being, or other similarly intelligent and aware mind, to appreciate beauty.
The Universe is logical. Appreciating beauty is an emotional response. There's little to no logic to it.
I get your point.I partly agree with Dawkins in that the Universe doesn't owe us meaning. As human beings, we create our own meaning. This is where I disagree with your assertion that there is an objective beauty to the Universe. Beauty is very subjective. A bunch of rocks forming the Sierra Nevada mountains are just inanimate matter. A lake in those mountains is simply a pool of H2O gathered at a gravitational low spot. Animals don't appreciate the beauty of the scene. It takes a human being, or other similarly intelligent and aware mind, to appreciate beauty.
The Universe is logical. Appreciating beauty is an emotional response. There's little to no logic to it.
I'm saying that I think even 20 million years before humans existed, form and order has a certain intrinsic value superior to that of empty void and chaos.
Even before humans existed the rings of Saturn, and the innate form and order of galaxies constitutes a superior universe compared to a universe composed of empty black void. That's my two cents
Dutch Uncle
* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
Agreed about form and order. The laws of the Universe were put into motion after the Big Bang.
My point is that the Universe is not beautiful, it just is. It takes a human being, or similar mind, to appreciate the beauty....and not all of them do.
Recently I saw an article about how Australian salt marshes are being destroyed by four-wheelers digging ruts into it and destroying the ecosystem. They appreciate the beauty of their machines and loved the adventure, but they were oblivious to the damage they were doing to both the ecosystem and the beauty of the salt marsh flora and fauna. Ergo, beauty is subjective, not objective.
Drivers tear up saltmarshes at popular Queensland tourism spot, damaging sensitive and vital ecosystem
These saltmarshes entice many people in for a 4WD adventure, but motorists are destroying the "underrated heroes" of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.
www.abc.net.au
Deep wheel ruts and displaced "mud" have scarred the vital coastal Queensland saltmarshes, which protect the reef.
"Saltmarshes are the underrated heroes of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems," ecologist Jock Mackenzie said.
"They do so much for our coastal communities and coastal habitats."
4WD enthusiasts have carved up the saltmarshes at Agnes Water, a popular holiday destination nearly 500 kilometres north of Brisbane and the closest access point to the southern reef.
You're right, the human's grasp of aesthetic beauty is obviously unique to the minds of our species. I agreeAgreed about form and order. The laws of the Universe were put into motion after the Big Bang.
My point is that the Universe is not beautiful, it just is. It takes a human being, or similar mind, to appreciate the beauty....and not all of them do.
Recently I saw an article about how Australian salt marshes are being destroyed by four-wheelers digging ruts into it and destroying the ecosystem. They appreciate the beauty of their machines and loved the adventure, but they were oblivious to the damage they were doing to both the ecosystem and the beauty of the salt marsh flora and fauna. Ergo, beauty is subjective, not objective.
It may look like a mudflat perfect for a four-wheel-drive adventure, but ecologists say motorists are destroying "underrated" ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef.
Drivers tear up saltmarshes at popular Queensland tourism spot, damaging sensitive and vital ecosystem
These saltmarshes entice many people in for a 4WD adventure, but motorists are destroying the "underrated heroes" of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.
Deep wheel ruts and displaced "mud" have scarred the vital coastal Queensland saltmarshes, which protect the reef.
"Saltmarshes are the underrated heroes of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems," ecologist Jock Mackenzie said.
"They do so much for our coastal communities and coastal habitats."
4WD enthusiasts have carved up the saltmarshes at Agnes Water, a popular holiday destination nearly 500 kilometres north of Brisbane and the closest access point to the southern reef.
But if you extend beauty to include form, order, and mathematical elegance, even without humans this universe has an intrinsic and intangible superiority compared to a universe composed of black, empty, formless void. At least in my opinion
Bummer about the salt Marsh
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Dutch Uncle
* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
While you and I can agree that math and the physics of the universe can be beautiful, that's a subjective and human trait. Can a dog appreciate it? An AI robot? No.
The Aussies even had signs up banning vehicles, but little to no enforcement.
A perfectly reasonable inference.
I just think even in the absence of humans, a universe with form, order, mathematical rationality, animal life, and plant life, is intrinsically superior to a universe consisting of nothing but black empty formless void. I don't think the human mind has to be present for one type of universe to be intrinsically superior to another. But that's just my opinion
Daylight63
Verified User
There is no "meaning" to life whatsoever. You have to make the meaning yourself.
There. Done.
That doesn't provide any insight or guidance at all, especially compared to carefully written literary works like the Dhammapada or the Zhuangzi.
People who want to be religious can be religious. There is no problem.