The Thread for philosophy and ideas.

First off. I need to watch that show, i hear really good things about it.

For me, life is all about perception. That has so many layers to it that i would really have to spend time detailing them all to myself before i attempted to explain what it means to me to someone else. I think that there is a high possibility that there is a great intelligence (maybe even a supreme intelligence) behind the organisation of this universe. By that i mean that an awareness exists that has an intelligence capable of creating a universe and setting in motion the laws of that universe to unfold in strict adherence to themselves and will not deviate. I think that consciousness is everything and that we are project reality as a quantum, holographic existence through our conscious selves.

 

I do not understand the "holographic" existance part. Please explain.

 

This might not make sense. I've never had to explain it before so i might not be clear. If not let me know.

The basic precept is that all the universe is the same one thing and that all reality is only decoded and experienced by consciousness interpreting a holographic universe around it (or in which it both resides and creates).

A hologram is an image or piece of information stored by means of light that can be divided into infinite pieces and each piece will still contain the entire image or code put into the original whole. The holographic universe is the same. Meaning that at any place in the universe you can view/experience or be part of the rest of the universe simply through consciousness and that all intelligent life (or maybe all life) is consciousness experiencing the universe through this physical body. Some speculate that we are all part of the same, one consciousness, some think this might be the monad.

At the cutting edge of theoretical physics the holographic principle is gaining momentum and recently there is some evidence that points towards all reality being a hologram that comes from all edges of the known universe.

 

Holographic reality as you have mentioned is the same as my actual reality. I f I think all is bad, it will be, if I think all is basically good, it is that too. My frame of mind day by day is what keeps my alive. If I was to decide to simply extinguish alternate views, than I would be successful as I am most resourceful. Yet would be not better than religious morons who choose to be dumb.

OK so we can agree that Sam Harris is a christian sympathizer, that much is obvious. He is not really worth listening to IMO. Islam is just as crazy as christianity, looks at these if you have doubts.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f....141834872551156.30672.100001739321589&ref=nf

These guys are *proud* to burn people alive, think about that.

All religion is crazy.. believing in invisible people who have powers no one else has, is nuts, please accept that.

Case closed on religion IMO

Now that we know that the afterlife is a sham, and that the "eternal guardian" is also a sham, shall we take some fucking responsibility for our lives? I say yes, we shall, because the alternative is not a formless void of eternal damnation, it is the wasting of what little time you have on this magnificent world.

Cherish every moment, or you WILL lose it.

 

I think he is worth listening to and that while christianity might be as crazy as (or crazier than) islam, it is nowhere near as dangerous to human life right now.

And i don't know that there isn't some form of afterlife. In fact i think, an am almost sure that there is.

 

I disagree with your assessment of the danger of islam and christianity, they are both nuts, and both use the destruction of innocent people as a means to enforce their beliefs. In that way, I can never agree to either as worse or better than the other, they are both sickeningly corrupt.

It's a pleasant thing to think that there is an afterlife, all the anxiety of when, where and how you are going to die, don't matter as much, do they? I prefer the reality of death, to a lie any day.

I implore you all to consider whether you are religious/believe in god or afterlife because magic really makes sense to you, or because you are just as concerned as the rest of us about dying.

PS - I realize that my comments look condescending, I simply cannot agree in any fashion that magic exists - all magic is a deception. There are many amazing things, positive people, nature, love, the cosmos... but none of them exist because of magic.

I appreciate and thank everyone’s comments, they sharpen my perception, and my reality. Although I think that some of your ideas are inherently flawed about such religions/beliefs etc., some (most?) of you must be intelligent nonetheless to discuss this issue

 

Nice avatar btw!

I don't understand why you brought magic into this. Are you saying that I think that magic is real because of my thinking that there might be another way to live after this life?

I think that consciousness exists outside of the body and there are more and more experts who are leaning towards this idea so if it is real then after this body dies the mind will most likely move on. I don't know if it is to another dimension, universe of depth of this reality or if it would simply be transmigration of the soul but i doubt very much that after this biological vehicle stops working and starts to rot on me that my mind will cease to exist too.

And you would have to explain what you mean by magic too. You'll know doubt have heard Clarke's third law "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." To me magic is simply a manipulation of the physical universe. A mobile phone, ipad or microwave is magic to a guy from the eighteenth century. Imagine what technology in two hundred years would appear like to us. You can mystify certain things by using the label magic but who knows what is possible. A lack of empirical evidence doesn't impossible, it might mean so, but it also might mean that we just don't know how to test for it yet. Observable evidence can be as powerful if true that any lab test.

And i still disagree with the islam/christianity thing. Both are nuts and dangerous but right now men, women and children aren't being publicly murdered for their religions laws under christianity.

 

Jessica Biel has been a favorite of mine for a long time The girl can move too, at 0:41 she really starts movin. I would love to hit a few clubs with this girl, afterwards... nightcap at Solok's She's a pisces like me, which is probably bad. Born year of the dog, which is good... if you believe in those things. I have found them useful only as a rough measure at the best of times.


You are correct in your assessment that I think that an afterlife, religion or any other kind of mysticism or voodoo is "magic" and is thus, not reality. It exists only as a deception, which is a misdirected perception. Technology can be seen as magic to the uneducated/ignorant, but the afterlife is not technology, is it? Even if someone found a way to clone himself and transfer his consciousness into that "new" body, it would not be the same "him". I admit I would be thrilled to become alive again after my death, yet even that will not convince me to hope that an afterlife is possible. Do you think that the cow that became the burger I ate last week is being reborn somehow? To another cow, or a chicken this time? Afterlife and reincarnation doesn't make any kind of sense to me, except as a way for man to quiet his fears of death. Holographic, Multi-dimensional cows and such have no place in my world.

Christian minds are being murdered, mostly children, in believing mindless bullshit in our schools and at home. Christian's want creationism to be taught alongside evolution to be "fair"? That is a horrendously evil prospect, to tell a child that their are at least 2 realities. It's complete madness to think that this is acceptable.

I have this moment, this one precious moment to do as I choose. I choose not to waste it thinking I will have a "second chance" at life. I choose to share my opinion online in the hopes that it will cause the reader to think, to really think about what makes sense to them.

A former friend of mine said that he believes (as in to believe, to think such is so without proof) that he will respawn in the afterlife after he dies, and that it will in fact be better than this life. I suggested that he kills himself immediately if that was truly what he believed, why endure all this pain and struggle when heaven is so close? Then, for the next hour or so, he gave me many, many reasons why he just could not kill himself. I told him he was either a liar or a coward and I left.

When I was a child, I was very afraid of going to sleep and not waking up, because if I died in my sleep that's it, game over. (I was an atheist at a young age) Then I realized that staying awake for the rest of my life was not an option, because I would go crazy and die within, at most, 2 weeks. So I made a choice. I fall asleep, knowing that I did my best that day, and that if I did die, that's ok, because I gave it my all. There is no shame in doing your best.

 

I do not agree with everything Bill Maher comments on, but he was "dead" right on his comments on religuous. I love watching shows when I hear myself say "That's what *I* said" LOL!

The idea of ownership has become a topic of conversation in some of my circles... some of my more socialist associates have showed some strong tendencies towards communal ownership and dispensing with currency altogether. I have a strong indication they know little about economics, but to be fair, tribes existed for millennia without currency, were, (as my memory serves) generally good to the environment, and generally watched each other’s backs, and shared food etc. My theory is to make as little negative impact on the earth and each other as possible, trade and currency are the only legal exchanges, and raiders are to be *disciplined* immediately.

Truth, respect and justice are the only real constraints in the system I propose. Each owrks for his own (and his families) food and shelter and protection (in general) Cooperation and trade is encouraged. Religion is not necessay.

 

A new one from Pat.

 

Just watched that about five times in a row.

 

Great vids!

The Pat vid shows how Christianity is really the projection of irrational discrimination - hating others because they believe in another fake reality, and set of repressive rules that go nowhere

I actually like his version of Jesus, that's closer to the version I had when I was little... but I cannot lead myself to believe in the eternal life silliness, or for suffering for something I did not do (original sin).

Speaking of ka-ching ka-ching (from the Pat vid) the priest near my place drives a 2011 cadillac escalade esv platinum, worth over $120,000 (CDN) and he earned this how? By preaching extra hard I suppose! Almost every priest I have ever seen drives a fancy expensive car. Don't get me wrong, a successful man deserves the trappings of hard work, BUT this action goes against the tenant of humbleness and charity. The $120,000 to buy the truck could be used for a modest $20,000 vehicle and the other $100,000 or so could feed the poor, for example. The intense and blatant hypocrisy is what pisses me off the most about these douchbags.

Yeah, I have watched that Jessica Biel clip more times than I will admit, that girl is such a cutie, and she can move! (Plays vid again) Hmm, I just learned she is an ISFP (Myers Briggs) Which means she's one letter off from a complete opposite from me (most preferable)

 

Very good speech, rewatched it to refresh my perception of this thread.

Moderators may bullshit and close threads because they become "challenging...lol" I challenge myself EVERYDAY. I want to make myself BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER! Closing threads will not stop evolution, remember that.

 

Some fun!
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2296#comic
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2292#comic
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2289#comic

 

I caught this on RT yesterday.


I like living in a multicultural society, and I respect the right of others to believe whatever they want, as long as they don't try to push their laws, ideas, or beliefs on to me. It worries me that the UK has become so impotent and politically correct, that whack jobs like these guys are tolerated - to do otherwise would infringe their human rights. What about the human rights of the majority, who choose to live under English law?
One could argue, I suppose, that Islamists pushing their laws and beliefs onto us is no different to the Christian missionairies pushing their beliefs onto every culture they came across in centuries past.
I'm reminded of a quote I read somewhere (probably on this forum!) that said something along the lines of "Where would we be now without religion? Probably explorong the stars". Amen to that!

 

If they don't like it, they can move somewhere else.

 

Make your rationalist voice heard!
[video=youtube;blbxC0yvDUA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blbxC0yvDUA[/video]