What is the point?

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13 Nov 2010, 4:33 pm

So, I am born into this world. I soon get the impression
that everyone in my species has time to live on this
planet for about 60 to 100 years at the most. I gradually
begin to understand that even though life is short, quite many
members of my species are telling me not to question the current
paradigm, not to question authorities, and that they are ridiculing
different people, things and thoughts. I begin to wonder,
why would an intelligent species, that is aware of its’ short lifespan,
be interested in ridiculing members of the species who have
new ideas or deviant experiences. Why not use the short time
that we have by collecting every evidence in order to find
the truth? There doesn’t seem to be anyone who knows
everything, that we could just ask how things are or why are we here
or is there God or what is the universe like or is there consciousness after
death, no one. A person like this could easily pass as authority. But as far as
I know, there isn’t such a source of information available at the moment.
What is there to lose or fear? People seem to suffer anyway. So isn’t it
at least a possible alternative to keep an open mind and to investigate even
the weirdest human experiences and new ideas, no matter
how different they are from the current paradigm? Some may
be discarded as illusions or simply as false. Others may be accepted
as truth or at least new knowledge if they turn out to make sense.

Eggman
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13 Nov 2010, 4:42 pm

some pepole live beyond 100 years

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MrGraphite
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13 Nov 2010, 5:02 pm

That's a good point but I said about 60 to 100 years
at the most and not that 100 years is an abslolute limit.
I don't know if the average life span will ever be much
longer or if anyone has ever lived say, longer than
150 years.

ruveyn
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13 Nov 2010, 7:12 pm

Eggman wrote:

some pepole live beyond 100 years

Very rarely.

ruveyn

techstepgenr8tion
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13 Nov 2010, 8:02 pm

Most people simply don't care? It makes their brains hurt? Pettiness and cruelty go right into the will of the gene pool, evolutionary psychology, and natures eugenics - its an axiom that we're built on and its something that, as your noticing, makes people who search for meaning 'freaks', makes 'freaks' search for meaning - perhaps a bit of both.

The current paridigm I don't know that I'd consider all that current either, it may seem realtime or modified but its simply a four or five billion year old construct - its only the stresses that change.

Do I agree that people should chase knowledge? Yes, but, I'm also a freak/genetic misfit so that doesn't say much .

auntblabby
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14 Nov 2010, 1:08 am

things in general, have a marked tendency to take the path of least resistance. it is easier to attend to the mundane than to entertain greater thoughts when one is living the life of heavenly riley on earth, or especially when one is in the thick of difficult life circumstances.

SuperApsie
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14 Nov 2010, 2:37 am

That's a very deep thought, I totally agree with and I think this is a milestone in every Aspie life because of the specific nature of Apserger's in the society.

Quote:

things in general, have a marked tendency to take the path of least resistance

That is the rule, but I will complete it with disruption.

Fire, the wheel, the mill, the printing press, the steam engine, the internet and soon, ladies and gentlemen: artificial intelligence

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ruveyn
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14 Nov 2010, 2:56 am

SuperApsie wrote:

Fire, the wheel, the mill, the printing press, the steam engine, the internet and soon, ladies and gentlemen: artificial intelligence

Soon? How soon? Should I hold my breath?

ruveyn

Sand
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14 Nov 2010, 3:09 am

ruveyn wrote:

SuperApsie wrote:

Fire, the wheel, the mill, the printing press, the steam engine, the internet and soon, ladies and gentlemen: artificial intelligence

Soon? How soon? Should I hold my breath?

ruveyn

That would be lovely.

ruveyn
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14 Nov 2010, 3:10 am

Sand wrote:

ruveyn wrote:

SuperApsie wrote:

Fire, the wheel, the mill, the printing press, the steam engine, the internet and soon, ladies and gentlemen: artificial intelligence

Soon? How soon? Should I hold my breath?

ruveyn

That would be lovely.

Don't become too hopeful. It is pretty close to impossible to asphyxiate by holding one's breath.

ruveyn

Sand
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14 Nov 2010, 3:14 am

ruveyn wrote:

Sand wrote:

ruveyn wrote:

SuperApsie wrote:

Fire, the wheel, the mill, the printing press, the steam engine, the internet and soon, ladies and gentlemen: artificial intelligence

Soon? How soon? Should I hold my breath?

ruveyn

That would be lovely.

Don't become too hopeful. It is pretty close to impossible to asphyxiate by holding one's breath.

ruveyn

Whatever I think of your morality I concede you can be very clever. Give it a try. Artificial intelligence may come sooner than you think.

SuperApsie
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14 Nov 2010, 5:59 am

ruveyn wrote:

SuperApsie wrote:

Fire, the wheel, the mill, the printing press, the steam engine, the internet and soon, ladies and gentlemen: artificial intelligence

Soon? How soon? Should I hold my breath?

ruveyn

The singulitarians statistically predicted it for 2029. But I doubt it, we don't have a definition of intelligence yet, so how can we make it artificial in the first place? And even if the solution is simpler than "bigger brain", I am not sure I would like to witness it... Despite the obvious risks Hollywood insists on, I'm rather more worried of the human of it:
- Seeing my true self? thanks I already have my bathroom mirror and even if it does not talk, it's quite unforgivable enough
- Changing people? Yeah I already hear the masses screaming in the street asking for their freedom of ignorance
- Better society? Hum what would prevent the inventor not to baptize himself Great Leader and Eternal President of the earth (eternal, stricto sensu)

Breath!

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14 Nov 2010, 6:48 am

I am reminded of what I believe is the most perfectly eloquent routine Bill Hicks ever performed:

Quote:

The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, and they say: "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride."

... And we kill those people.

"Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account, and my family. This just has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as ONE.

Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year, and instead spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.

Cristiano
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14 Nov 2010, 9:52 am

MrGraphite wrote:

I begin to wonder,
why would an intelligent species, that is aware of its’ short lifespan,
be interested in ridiculing members of the species who have
new ideas or deviant experiences.

Yes, why would an intelligent species do that???

The point is that we aren't intelligent. We aren't able to logically define plans and even less to follow them if we conclude they are the best option.

We are too much still guided by instincts, though we try to deny it saying we're "rational". Who's rational? Never met him.

ruveyn
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14 Nov 2010, 12:12 pm

Cristiano wrote:

We are too much still guided by instincts, though we try to deny it saying we're "rational". Who's rational? Never met him.

We are all primates and we have not done all that badly for talkative primates with three pound brains.

Your problem, if I may say so, is that you expect too much from the primates.

ruveyn

Cristiano
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14 Nov 2010, 12:35 pm

Nah, I'm pointing exactly as you that we are pretty much limited.

The thing that I find strange is all the self-confidence, pride, superiority that most humans have. That instead of accepting that we're only monkeys, accepting all our flaws and our biological nature and trying to become better monkeys.

Particularly, the thought that this huge universe was created by a creator for us, points to the madness of our arrogance and the denial to see that we are flawed in what concerns our grand spirituality-rationality.

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