Something For Nothing

[Immanuel Can]

If you believe in God, life has no purpose? Who knew?

Anbody who thought about it for ten seconds, actually.

If there's no objective pupose, that is, if life doesn't exist for any "why," then when we use the word "purpose" we don't mean anything real. We mean something we make up, but which has no correspondence in reality at all.

We say, "Well, I want to feel as if I'm here for something, but I'm really not, and will shortly not exist at all; so to avoid that, I focus on fooling myself by pleasing myself as best I can, and call that "my purpose."

And sometimes, we even try to dignify it by saying, "Well, who are you to tell me I can't have any 'purpose' I wish?" And, of course, that's irrelevant. Because shooting the messenger won't make a subjective "purposing" into anything more than self-delusion...if there is no objective purpose.

[Skepdick]

If there's no objective pupose, that is, if life doesn't exist for any "why," then when we use the word "purpose" we don't mean anything real. We mean something we make up, but which has no correspondence in reality at all.

A dualist pretending to subscribe to a monotheistic faith!

Heh. The level of stupid on this forum...

[Immanuel Can]

If one hasn't, by pure choice, closed the door on God, that doesn't follow at all.

I flipped a coin on God and then closed the door on him because the coin said so.

Your coins talk to you?

[Immanuel Can]

A dualist pretending to subscribe to a monotheistic faith!

You need to buy yourself a dictionary, chum.

"Monotheism" does not mean that "everything is one thing: that would be something like Pantheism or Panentheism, or Physicalism or Idealism, or maybe even Hinduism or Buddhism. All of them posit that "all is one," but Theism doesn't.

And yes, sometimes people on this forum are waaaaay less intelligent than they imagine they are. And they get themselves embarassed by being smug.

It happens.

[RCSaunders]

This fact, combined with the fatal tendency that exists in the heart of man to satisfy his wants with the least possible effort, ...

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=32456

There are certainly many folks out there who would fit nicely into the above category, but there are also many others who seem to understand that you get out of life EXACTLY what you put into it.

... others who seem to understand that you get out of life EXACTLY what you put into it.

As ruthless and intractable as reality is and as tough as life is, that is not only true, but for anyone willing to do the work, the rewards of a life earned and achieved by one's own effort are many times more than any cost.

[Skepdick]

Your coins talk to you?

No, but entropy does.

close-door-on-god.png (29.81 KiB) Viewed 1082 times

[Immanuel Can]

...the rewards of a life earned and achieved by one's own effort are many times more than any cost.

Yes...reality is easy. Work hard, mind your own affairs, and it will inevitably shower you with delights many times more than whatever it costs you. It always works out. And the only people who suffer are those who didn't do that.

Really? You believe that?

[Skepdick]

A dualist pretending to subscribe to a monotheistic faith!

You need to buy yourself a dictionary, chum.

"Monotheism" does not mean that "everything is one thing: that would be something like Pantheism or Panentheism, or Physicalism or Idealism, or maybe even Hinduism or Buddhism. All of them posit that "all is one," but Theism doesn't.

And yes, sometimes people on this forum are waaaaay less intelligent than they imagine they are. And they get themselves embarassed by being smug.

It happens.

I have something better than a dictionary, chum. I have a democratically-compiled encyclopedia. Which lists the Abrahamic faiths as examples of Monism.

[RCSaunders]

...the rewards of a life earned and achieved by one's own effort are many times more than any cost.

Yes...reality is easy. Work hard, mind your own affairs, and it will inevitably shower you with delights many times more than whatever it costs you. It always works out. And the only people who suffer are those who didn't do that.

Really? You believe that?

I don't believe what you said. I believe what I said. What you said is not what I said. What I said was:

As ruthless and intractable as reality is and as tough as life is, that is not only true, but for anyone willing to do the work, the rewards of a life earned and achieved by one's own effort are many times more than any cost.

There are no guarantees in life, except, if you don't earn your way you won't succeed and the best you'll ever have is second-hand provided by whomever you've subordinated yourself to.

[Immanuel Can]

I have something better than a dictionary, chum. I have a democratically-compiled encyclopedia. Which lists the Abrahamic faiths as examples of Monism.

A "democratically-compiled dictionary," which nontheless has absurdly wrong information in it? If it tells you that "monotheism" means "monism," then somebody's really hooked you in.

Ah. Wiki. That explains everything.

Here's Britannica:

"The religious term monotheism is not synonymous with the philosophical term monism. The latter refers to the view that the universe has its origin in one basic principle (e.g., mind, matter) and that its structure is one unitary whole in accordance with this principle—that is, that there is only a single kind of reality. For monotheism there are two basically different realities: God and the universe."

It's really quite stunning that you didn't know that. But I suppose we learn something new every day...

[Skepdick]

Here's Britannica:

When did Britain/Britannica become an authority on the use of terms whose meaning transcends the English language?

It's really quite stunning that you didn't know that. But I suppose we learn something new every day...

Indeed! I just learned that you still think most of the world is a colony of Britain.

[Immanuel Can]

As ruthless and intractable as reality is and as tough as life is, that is not only true, but for anyone willing to do the work, the rewards of a life earned and achieved by one's own effort are many times more than any cost.

Yeah, you said that. But if you think that works out for most people, you need to get out of the house more.

I've been in the middle of the then-second-biggest slum in the world, a group of four million desperately poor people, all in one area. I've met some of them, of course. They're very ordinary people with very hard circumstances. Some are downright noble, actually...hard-working, fiercely loyal, devoted to family, uncomplaining in the midst of horrendous circumstances. And none of them have anything near the privileges you have, if you have a dry house, new clothes when you need them, reliable electricity, running water, sewage disposal, medical care...

So tell them about how "unwilling" they were to "do the work." Tell them about the "rewards" that are coming to them, because "by one's own effort" they can be abundantly rewarded...

[Immanuel Can]

...terms whose meaning transcends the English language?

No, just your vocabulary, apparently.

[Skepdick]

...terms whose meaning transcends the English language?

No, just your vocabulary, apparently.

Q.E.D

It's really quite stunning that you didn't know that. But I suppose we learn something new every day...

Indeed! I just learned that you still think most of the world is a colony of Britain.

[Immanuel Can]

I just learned that you still think most of the world is a colony of Britain.

Yes. Because "Britannica" means, "Only for the British."

Keep going. This just keeps getting funnier.