Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 1185 Location: Richmond, VA, Pale Blue Dot
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
ElijahJones wrote:
Not every objection is a threat to the truth as you percieve it.
Everyone has said some great stuff here but I just want to acknowledge the above.
People need to step back, take a deep breath, and choose our battles more wisely. I love the online forum medium because people have a chance to take time to think about responses and to try to understand where the other people are coming from.
I think the purpose of life is learning to get along with each other, especially the people closest to us.
And as far as occupations go, it's not what you do, it's how you do it. _________________ "If you are a real seeker after truth, it's necessary that at least once in your life you doubt all things as far as possible"-Rene Descartes
"When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth"-Sherlock Holmes
Joined: Aug 11, 2005 Posts: 617 Location: Missouri
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:14 pm Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
Some really great responses to this thread! I am happier tonight Not quite so depressed I guess.
In regards to egoism, are you saying that in order find meaning in life should one find first meaning in themselves and if that is the case and a person can not find a meaning for themselves then they have no purpose because they will never be able to better society and In living to better society which society should I take into this context, the natural society or a more worldly society.
Some of you guys are very insightful and if you are not currently writing books, I think you might take it upon yourselves to explore this option as I feel you have much to offer.
Joined: Jul 21, 2004 Posts: 1282 Location: Suburban tar sands
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 10:58 pm Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
rogerhb wrote:
kevincarter wrote:
and no, I do not understand how a TV works...
Well we can help you out there. The screen is the front of a cathode ray tube, which is a big piece of glass with a vacuum. It has a flat front covered with phosporus dots, red, green and blue. Opposite the flat front is the electron gun, which when a current passes through it emits a stream of electrons. Magnets around the neck of the gun channel these electrons into a focused beam. Coils are used to affect the magnetic field to cause the beam to sweep across the screen horizontally and vertically. A holed mask exists just behind the phosphorus dots to stop electrons scattering on adjacent dots.
The TV signal is a composite signal which comprises a brightness main signal so that it is compatible with black and white sets and a superimposed colour signal. Additionally horizontal and vertical syncs are encoded as blacker-than-black. This signal is then demodulated from the VHF or UHF radio signal that is used for broadcasting. Audio is mixed in and being a much lower frequency filtering is used to separate audio from video.
What about LCD TV's receiving digital HDTV sources. How do those work?
Joined: May 23, 2004 Posts: 201 Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 12:46 am Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
Well, you ask an interesting question. The meaning of life. This has been the fox for Phisophers' hound for a few thousand years. Of course they have utterly failed because the question has no dimension in which it can even be discussed with reasonable hope for a resolution. Today, does anyone even major in Philosophy in college?
One of the problems is the word "meaning" itself.
Let's say that a large chunk of space garbage comes flying along and wipes out our planet. Let's say we were the only living beings in the universe. Does the universe now have no meaning whatsoever?
The word "meaning" does not refer to anything but itself. It's not that the world has no meaning; it's that meaning has no real existence in the same way as let's say energy and matter. Saying that life has whatever meaning you give it is the same as saying that life is fool's dream.
I would recommend reading a few Ted Hughes poems. Here's one:
Crow Sickened
His illness was something could not vomit him up.
Unwinding the world like a ball of wool
Found the last end tied round his own finger.
Decided to get death, but whatever
Walked into his ambush
Was always his own body.
Where is this somebody who has me under?
He dived, he journeyed, challenging, he climbed and with a glare
Of hair on end finally met fear.
His eyes sealed up with shock, refusing to see.
With all his strength he struck. He felt the blow.
Horrified, he fell.
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1226 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:43 am Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
lowem wrote:
The answer is 42.
No, actually, 42 is the meaning of life, the universe and everything. So if you assume that the elements are listed in the order of importance and that 'everything' represents everything except life and the universe then, the meaning of life = 2, the universe = 3 and everything = 7. Ergo: 2 x 3 x 7 = 42.
The meaning of life is then 'proved' to be 2.
Alternatively, if you assume 'everything' to be literally everything, then life and the universe are subsets of everything and together comprise the totality of everthing, then life = 6 and the universe = 7 and thus everything, being life x the universe = 42.
Therefore, from this premise the meaning of life = 6.
_________________ Kind regards, Katkinkate
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops,
but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
Masanobu Fukuoka
Joined: Jan 04, 2005 Posts: 623 Location: Australia
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:31 am Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
katkinkate wrote:
lowem wrote:
The answer is 42.
No, actually, 42 is the meaning of life, the universe and everything. So if you assume that the elements are listed in the order of importance and that 'everything' represents everything except life and the universe then, the meaning of life = 2, the universe = 3 and everything = 7. Ergo: 2 x 3 x 7 = 42.
The meaning of life is then 'proved' to be 2.
Alternatively, if you assume 'everything' to be literally everything, then life and the universe are subsets of everything and together comprise the totality of everthing, then life = 6 and the universe = 7 and thus everything, being life x the universe = 42.
Therefore, from this premise the meaning of life = 6.
There are 42 gallons of oil in a barrel. Co-incidence?
Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 1203 Location: Left the cult
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:03 pm Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
Meaning is an invention of the human mind. A meaning is an association of X with Y. For that meaning to be useful (in the evolutionary sense) it should correspond to a real relationship, usually causal in nature. Or at least, a harmless association, that is of no consequence.
So there you have it. Meaning is merely a tool used by an entity to aid with problem solving, there is nothing mystical or any deep philosophy to it. Does the universe have meaning without an intelligence to apply it? No, but the question is irrelevant.
Humans have got where they are by trying to apply meaning to everything. In cases where this produces a useful result, it is successful. In many cases, there simply is no useful relationship to be derived, but often people continue to seek one.
It's pretty simple really. _________________ It's all downhill from here
Joined: Sep 13, 2005 Posts: 276 Location: A land called Honalee
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:40 pm Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
Quote:
Meaning is an invention of the human mind. A meaning is an association of X with Y. For that meaning to be useful (in the evolutionary sense) it should correspond to a real relationship, usually causal in nature. Or at least, a harmless association, that is of no consequence.
So there you have it. Meaning is merely a tool used by an entity to aid with problem solving, there is nothing mystical or any deep philosophy to it. Does the universe have meaning without an intelligence to apply it? No, but the question is irrelevant.
1) If we're waxing Zins und Bedeutung-ish here, I suppose this is correct enough, but it's a species of equivocation. Frege, Tarski, Russell, etc. used meaning (as in, the "meaning" of a proposition or sentence or sentence-token) in a way that is distinct and different from that of the OP.
2) Even defining "meaning" in this very strict way hardly means that either the definition does not entail deep philosophy, or that actual examples of meanings (i.e. the meaning of life) do not themselves entail mysticism or depth.
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 6:21 pm Post subject: Re: Whats the meaning of life?
auctionmonster's first post on this thread really caught my attention. I too feel this way many times. Perhaps the times when I'm really depressed are the times when I'm really aware of myself, others and our situation. Many of auctionmonster's observations resonate with me. I've tried telling my family about how I feel but they think that I'm just 'crazy'. Ah what do they know? They're hell bent on getting more money and possessions.
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Not quite so depressed I guess.
