Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

Is the world going to end - No intelligent life forms on it?

If so, you and everyone else are going to die. What is the point of bettering yourself if this is going to be the case? i.e. working long hours, overtime, worrying about financial problems, marriage, kids.

Why worry if everything is just going to end anyway? And if some of you say you don't worry, how can you choose not worry about those things, is that possible?

Simple and stupid questions I know, serious though.

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

Because the finite amount of time that our worry does affect is subjectively meaningful. This is why we aren't all displaying nihilistic behavior.

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

why would you worry about anything here on earth when you think there's an eternity waiting for you after you're dead? why worry about piddly stuff here on earth (and isn't it all piddly considering this doesn't even represent 0.000000001% of your existence)? who cares if the planet just blows up. why not just kill yourself and all your loved ones today so you guys can get to your final destination which is a far better place?

stupid questions i know but serious though

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

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why would you worry about anything here on earth when you think there's an eternity waiting for you after you're dead? why worry about piddly stuff here on earth (and isn't it all piddly considering this doesn't even represent 0.000000001% of your existence)? who cares if the planet just blows up. why not just kill yourself and all your loved ones today so you guys can get to your final destination which is a far better place?

stupid questions i know but serious though

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Im not religious. I was trying to get your opinions so I could try to incorporate them into my way of thinking. I see myself worrying about everything when I don't think it should really matter?

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

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Is the world going to end - No intelligent life forms on it?

If so, you and everyone else are going to die. What is the point of bettering yourself if this is going to be the case? i.e. working long hours, overtime, worrying about financial problems, marriage, kids.

Why worry if everything is just going to end anyway? And if some of you say you don't worry, how can you choose not worry about those things, is that possible?

Simple and stupid questions I know, serious though.

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Worry about what makes you happy. For me, the voracious accumulation and consumption of material goods is the only thing that really brightens my day, so thats how I spend my time. If for you its something else, pursue that. Atheist or theist, I think you are probably wasting your time going after things which don't make you happy.

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

I find it disturbing that anyone in the world thinks that they only act like normal human beings for fear of supernatural punishment.

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

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Is the world going to end - No intelligent life forms on it?

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I'd imagine probably so. Intelligent life forms tend to be more fragile than worlds.

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If so, you and everyone else are going to die. What is the point of bettering yourself if this is going to be the case?

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To enjoy what time I have.

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i.e. working long hours, overtime, worrying about financial problems, marriage, kids.

Why worry if everything is just going to end anyway? And if some of you say you don't worry, how can you choose not worry about those things, is that possible?

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It's not a question of not worrying. It's accepting. Like accepting that I'm going to get old. Like accepting that it is impossible to avoid the risk of horrible things happening. I have a finite, short life, and then all my experiences and memories will be no more. Just like the painless 13 odd billion years that have already passed without me.

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

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Is the world going to end - No intelligent life forms on it?
I don't know, and neither does anybody else

If so, you and everyone else are going to die. What is the point of bettering yourself if this is going to be the case? i.e. working long hours, overtime, worrying about financial problems, marriage, kids.
I like to.

Why worry if everything is just going to end anyway? And if some of you say you don't worry, how can you choose not worry about those things, is that possible?

"I don't worry 'bout nothin', no, 'cause worryin's a waste of my time." There is very, very little that I actively worry about.

Simple and stupid questions I know, serious though.

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Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

In reality, nothing has any value or meaning.

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

Is the world going to end? i.e. no intelligent life forms on it?

Well yes, it will supposedly end in around 4 billion years time when our sun goes red giant and the oceans boil off into space. But it really doesn't affect my life.

Or did you mean the world would end withing my lifetime? i.e. we destroy ourselves? If so, well there is not much I can do about that anyway, but I admit to worrying about it a little more than when the sun goes bang! But it doesn't seem so likely that it affects the way I live my life.

But if I actually knew for sure that the world would end at a certain point in my life, then it might be foolish to pay out for life insurance or save money for my kids college education!

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

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Why worry if everything is just going to end anyway? And if some of you say you don't worry, how can you choose not worry about those things, is that possible?


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Hopefully, worrying is one of the first things that begins to fade when exploring these kind of ideas. Most people choose to live their lives searching for happiness. Who knows what our chances might be in the future - that's actually where a lot of the fun ideas come from.

One of the only things we know for sure, being humans, is that both our knowledge and our ability to understand are limited. Who knows what kinds of crazy things we'll be able to understand in the future?! i.e. where, if ever, will that limit end as these faculties are enhanced?

When we look back at our past, knowledge and consciousness seem to be expanding at an explosive pace just very recently.

As Nietzsche would phrase it: man is simply a bridge. To where - well, that's the exciting part!

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

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Is the world going to end - No intelligent life forms on it?

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The sun's not going to last forever, and there's the heat death of the universe. Maybe we'll eventually develop technologies that allow us to defy the laws of thermodynamics. It doesn't seem likely, but it could make us infinitely sustainable. Then again, given infinite time we'd probably end up destroying the universe eventually if we had that kind of power. So yes, at some point there will be no intelligent life forms in the universe. Although perhaps we'll create pocket universes before then, and they'll provide a mechanism for infinite existence. Who knows? I don't think it'll happen in the next 10,000 years, at any rate.

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If so, you and everyone else are going to die.

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Yeah, I'm probably not going to live forever.

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What is the point of bettering yourself if this is going to be the case? i.e. working long hours, overtime, worrying about financial problems, marriage, kids.

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What is the point of bettering yourself in general? Why, specifically, does the issue of death seem relevant to you? There's plenty of logical basis for hedonism, if that's what you're talking about. If bettering yourself is an unpleasant experience for you, then you have to consider whether any rewards are worthwhile. I better myself because I'm neurotic, basically. I can't be satisfied without bettering myself.

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Why worry if everything is just going to end anyway? And if some of you say you don't worry, how can you choose not worry about those things, is that possible?

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It's my nature to worry. It's human nature. We've evolved to be concerned about our survival and our status. Frankly, if I could choose to worry about nothing I'd do so. Meditation and relaxation can help. Learning acceptance, to let go of what you can't change, can also help. But worry is just a fact of life to be dealt with - it doesn't need an existential justification. There may be such a justification - worrying about my future is going to make my life much better in the future, and therefore it has value for me - but if you can find no specific justification, then you might try to minimize worry. Or, just go with it - after all, you wouldn't want to risk improving yourself.

Re: Atheists: Quick, stupid questions
 

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Why worry if everything is just going to end anyway? And if some of you say you don't worry, how can you choose not worry about those things, is that possible?

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Worry's kind of a useless emotion - it's basically using up your present moments thinking about future moments. Someone who does this all the time is never living in the present.

But people do it because they want themselves and their loved ones to be happy and free from suffering, or as much as possible anyway. Since we can't control everything we tend to worry. I think control freaks tend to be worriers more than most.

But the fact that we will eventually not exist (regardless of whether the world ends or not) leads us to want to make the most of the short time we have.