A thread on why we're here

[sdifox]

Never saw the movie, although I'd think we'd have to desalinate a shitload of water to even begin having significant effects on the ocean. And even if we do take it too far, well it's not like we can't re-salinate, assuming it doesn't happen naturally.

short summary, global warming melts ice caps at accelerated rate, affecting the salinity, which in term fucks up the currents.

 

[sdifox]

There are natural formations you can go visit that are many times more complicated than a plastic shovel. Some with remarkable symmetry and/or balance. You're telling me some grand creator personally sculpted them as well?

Slartibartfast is God? I thought God was God.

 

[PowerEngineer]

The problem is when people hear "creator" they humanize it or personalize it

creator: one that creates usually by bringing something new or original into being

I submit to you that the term "creator" itself is inescapably humanizing

And some additional Einstein quotes:

“It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.”

Albert Einstein, in a letter March 24, 1954; from Albert Einstein the Human Side, Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, eds., Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1981, p. 43.

“My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.”

Albert Einstein in a letter to M. Berkowitz, October 25, 1950; Einstein Archive 59-215; from Alice Calaprice, ed., The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 216.

 

[chris9641]

creator: one that creates usually by bringing something new or original into being

I submit to you that the term "creator" itself is inescapably humanizing

And some additional Einstein quotes:

I think any word is inescapably humanizing.. language can only go so far. But he was agnostic, as atheism is just as silly as being Christian or Jewish.

 

[Raduque]

I don't know why I'm on this forum or this planet.

I just exist, with no real reason to.

 

[AFurryReptile]

I think any word is inescapably humanizing.. language can only go so far. But he was agnostic, as atheism is just as silly as being Christian or Jewish.

Atheism is the lack of belief in a god, for lack of evidence of a god. An atheist does not claim that a god is impossible, merely improbable.

An agnostic believes that "something is out there," but doesn't claim to know what or how to prove it. This is every bit as irrational as believing in a god, perhaps even more so. People have had personal experiences with Elvis; just because you cannot explain something does not mean you can attribute it to a god.

 

[Aikouka]

Atheism is the lack of belief in a god, for lack of evidence of a god. An atheist does not claim that a god is impossible, merely improbable.

An agnostic believes that "something is out there," but doesn't claim to know what or how to prove it. This is every bit as irrational as believing in a god, perhaps even more so. People have had personal experiences with Elvis; just because you cannot explain something does not mean you can attribute it to a god.

While you're close, you're still off. Just like all those terrible dating sites, you try to list agnosticism as a religious state alongside atheism. Agnostic/gnostic are philosophies that are used along with atheism/theism to describe the overall religious state. I am an atheist, because I don't believe any gods exist, and I am also agnostic, because I don't believe that I can prove it.

To me, the agnostic theists are the people that describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." They're the ones that believe something exists but believe that we cannot prove it either way.

 

[reallyscrued]

Posting in a philosophical thread (you didn't even get that part right).

...it's...not a religion thread?

I grew up essentially as an atheist.

As I grew older, it dawned on me that many (most) people actually need religion.

.As I grew even older, it dawned on me that many religions have many odd senses of truth in them.

However, one thing that has really stuck with me as of late is how incredibly rare our planet is.

Trust me...it's a religion thread.

 

[SSSnail]

...it's...not a religion thread?

Trust me...it's a religion thread.

No, this http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2261301 is a religion thread.

 

[reallyscrued]

No, this http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2261301 is a religion thread.

Great! I'll see you there.

Troll, troll, troll our boats...

 

[Binarycow]

Human race is here all because it is part of an experiment being performed by a greater galactic race. The experiment was designed with various parameters in mind so that the subjects will only last for so many years un-assisted by their own technologies before their physical selves wear out. There are also other constraints put on life in general such as the constant needs for sustenance, oxygen, love, the idea of a greater being (or beings) than themselves, being grounded on the ground due to their physical form, etc. Some of the constraints were designed as limitations to test if life created by the experiment would eventually be able to overcome them. Other parameters such as hope, altruism, and faith were included as tools to help the subject race progress further into latter stages of the experiment.

The Solar System was chosen as the location for the experiment mainly because of its relatively remote location; a dark corner of the galaxy, so other galactic races will not likely stumble upon it by accident.
Early on, other parts of the experiment were carried out in other planets and natural satellites within the Solar system but they all eventually ended up with life died off in the early stages or ended up not progressing in the direction anticipated by the experimenters. Earth so far has been one part that has been able to produce the closest replication of what is deemed to be life that is (projected) advanced enough and is progressing in the proper direction that has a great chance to create technologies at some point in time to allow itself to escape the space it is originally confined to, in addition to the potential of transforming its physical self in the far future to another more advanced form to evade the eventuality of this physical universe coming to an end.

Not all has gone well with the experiment, however. A short while ago, a passer-by of a lesser galactic race had almost ruined part of the experiment when its chariot moved close enough to Earth’s space and was disabled by one of the barriers erected to cloak life on Earth from other space beings. The debris from its chariot had caused unintended spikes in technological progress of the subject race and more importantly provided concrete evidence of other more advanced beings. Another even greater compromise was the violation of the Non-Interference Principle. Far into the experiment, life on Earth evolved into the current subject race. Unlike all previous species life has created within this confined space, this new race has the natural tendency to deviate itself from set parameters. It has very peculiar ways of stretching and manipulating set boundaries to modify and mutate itself especially mentally on a large scale. In short it is the most chaotic version of life thus far on Earth.

About the chaotic nature of the subject race as mentioned above, it tends to magnify itself into some of the most destructive ways the experimenters have seen on this experiment scale. Its potential as a race that could last the whole experiment is constantly threatened by its aggressive and violent nature. Parameters that were introduced to safeguard life are constantly being twisted and combined in perverted ways to fuel its hunger for self-produced calamities.

Since in some sense the human race is the most promising part of this experiment so far, the experimenters are unwilling to allow it to destroy itself. A while back they decided to abandon their original role as the Clock-Maker and started allowing extremely limited interference when it is absolutely necessary in order to keep the subject race safe from itself. Seeds of philosophy, religion, deities, prophecy and life after death were introduced as additional parameters allowing the subject race limited abilities to subjugate itself and its destructive nature. Various deadly diseases and natural disasters are also injected periodically at the right moments to slow down the rate of expansion of humans. Advanced concepts in Mathematics and Science are intermittently revealed to the most promising humans pushing the subject race as a whole down a specific corridor to speed up the experiment progress and preventing the subject race from consuming all natural resources before having a chance to colonize other places in the Solar System.

The question that the experiment was designed to answer has always been HOW? Instead of WHY? Also, the experiment was designed to end abruptly when a certain result is attained by the subject race since beyond a certain point of biological and technological advancement the future outcome from that point on is always predetermined, for all galactic races that the experimenters have encountered so far.

 

[hectorsanchez16]

to learn from the community/seek help and give help etc

 

[z1ggy]

Human race is here all because it is part of an experiment being performed by a greater galactic race.

<Snip>

Is this from a book, did you make this up to troll, or are you clearly mad?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

...it's...not a religion thread?









Trust me...it's a religion thread.

It absolutely is not a religion thread, nor was it meant to be taken that way. This is merely the path I went down to end up at these conclusions.

It's meant to be a debate on why we are here, and to provoke thought on the possibility that it's not just some totally random event.

This is a concept that is much, much great than "religion". Don't be daft.

 

[soulcougher73]

You're assuming that our planet is the only type that can support life. You're also assuming that all life out there is similar to us.

This. Maybe not all living beings need oxygen as we do. So some remote cold planet with some elements in the atmosphere weve never seen before may support life. Who knows. Any the universe is much much much mucm much much larger then we can ever fathom.

 

[GT1999]

To enjoy love and companionship, and family. And to have the joy of children, hoping they don't suffer more than we did.

 

[Tweak155]

There are natural formations you can go visit that are many times more complicated than a plastic shovel. Some with remarkable symmetry and/or balance. You're telling me some grand creator personally sculpted them as well?

Lol, you're seeing the point

 

[Tweak155]

This is absolutely terrible reasoning.

I mean, really bad.

Very descriptive, thank you for such useful input.

 

[sdifox]

Is this from a book, did you make this up to troll, or are you clearly mad?

Sigh. Damn illiterate kids. Get off my lawn!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchhiker's_guide_to_the_galaxy

 

[Tweak155]

Check out abiogenesis. It's a scientific, well-supported, and thoroughly beautiful theory as to how something complex can form from mere molecules. Our universe would have (and is) evolved in much the same way.

Lack of evidence does not equal a creator. Explanations beyond one's own knowledge doesn't equal a higher power. To insert one when there has never been any evidence, and to proclaim it as truth, is profoundly dishonest.

True, but that isn't what I'm trying to support. It is highlighting the fact that at least considering the possibility isn't as crazy as many people will try to say it is.

As to your 2nd point of "inserting a creator", it depends on what you consider evidence. Seeing the plastic shovel would indicate to me someone made it, although I couldn't prove to you it was, or who did it, yet you would likely without fuss agree with me someone created it.

The difference is we can see the process at work with the shovel. We have no conclusive evidence as to how things came to existence on the other hand, rather only how things evolved over time.

 

[z1ggy]

Sigh. Damn illiterate kids. Get off my lawn!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchhiker's_guide_to_the_galaxy

I was -10 years old when that book came out.

To certain degree I can perhaps agree with that... If is not totally random as to why we exsist, that something helped us to where we are, and that thing is not a God in the form of some diety, then maybe something "else" shaped us. But to say we are a science experiment basically for no other purpose than to test out a model is certainly disturbing. But I guess if you think outside the box for a while, maybe it's more real than we could imagine.

 

[sdifox]

I was -10 years old when that book came out.

To certain degree I can perhaps agree with that... If is not totally random as to why we exsist, that something helped us to where we are, and that thing is not a God in the form of some diety, then maybe something "else" shaped us. But to say we are a science experiment basically for no other purpose than to test out a model is certainly disturbing. But I guess if you think outside the box for a while, maybe it's more real than we could imagine.

I don't care how old you are, HHGTTG is basically required reading here.

 

[z1ggy]

I don't care how old you are, HHGG is basically required reading here.

This is 'Merka. Don't you know anything aboot us?

 

[sdifox]

This is 'Merka. Don't you know anything aboot us?

Yeap, illiterate. You think a map of USA is the same as the map of the world.

 

[z1ggy]

Yeap, illiterate.

What? I couldn't understand what you just said.