Atheists: Quick, stupid questions

[Praxis101]

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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!

[madnak]

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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.

[revots33]

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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.