Random non sequitur posts catch-all thread

Baron Of Hell wrote:

The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.

Indeed. Lots of people are terrified of the possibility that our existence has no intrinsic meaning (spoilers: it has no intrinsic meaning) but never really contemplate how absolutely liberating that realization is. I am not meant to do or be or serve anything. If I want meaning in my life, I will have to make it. And that meaning is not transcendental, universal, necessary, or profound. You are a meat popsicle that will one day stop experiencing things, and any meaning you ascribed to yourself will be gone. Anything you added to the world has meaning to the people who remember you, from memories, to lessons, to experiences, to emotions, to a quilt or a custom-made piece of furniture, but that meaning was never yours - it was always theirs.

Your meaning can be as complex as building hospitals in impoverished nations, or as simple as spending many of your days on the couch, watching Netflix and getting nearly nothing done. You are a amalgam of chemicals and electrical impulses that will one day cease to exist, and there is nothing built in to the universe that demands you be anything but that.

Yes and.

The problem is that that amalgam of chemicals and electricity exists in a configuration that produces an emergent need for meaning.

The issue isn't whether or not there is objective meaning, it's that being human necessitates the perception of meaning in order to flourish.

there is nothing built in to the universe that demands you be anything but that.

There is. Your own mind.

Yes and a way of dealing with that need for meaning for those for whom the general meaninglessness of it all is insistingly apparent is to realize we need and are free to create it for ourselves.

Easier said than done, though Xbox achievements help.

stupidhaiku wrote:

Yes and a way of dealing with that need for meaning for those for whom the general meaninglessness of it all is insistingly apparent is to realize we need and are free to create it for ourselves.

Absolutely.

Problem is, that can be far from an easy solution to implement.

Conversely, a fabulous argument for therapy.

Ham.

Prederick wrote:

Ham.

My son’s favorite Among Us streamer is Ham.

Jonman wrote:

Yes and.

The problem is that that amalgam of chemicals and electricity exists in a configuration that produces an emergent need for meaning.

The issue isn't whether or not there is objective meaning, it's that being human necessitates the perception of meaning in order to flourish.

there is nothing built in to the universe that demands you be anything but that.

There is. Your own mind.

I... Don't know that I agree. Even before I was an atheist, I don't ever recall having any great drive or desire to find or have some kind of meaning. I think it's cultural, not biological. The only biological imperative I can ever recall experiencing in a fundamental way is survival.

I would also say we don't have an innate need to find meaning, though I would say we have an innate curiosity. Finding an answer to both the "how" and "why" of something is more satisfying than an answer that only deals with one or the other, which leads to us making up things that answered both when the actual answers are beyond our abilities to figure out. The tendency for our made up answers to have meaning is more due to our tendency to anthropomorphize everything (which is considered an innate tendency of human psychology, not a cultural one) than it is a need for meaning to actually exist in the answers. An uncaring universe satisfies the curiosity just as well as a benevolent creator (more so for me, because the benevolent creator answer is full of holes and contradictions). All of which is a roundabout way of saying I don't think we have an innate need to find meaning in things, but I do think we have an innate tendency to give meaning to things.

I'm trying to define "meaning" in this context, but failing. What does it reference? "Meaning of life"? What is that, exactly? Is it something experienced by those who love them, or depend on them, or friends, neighbors, coworkers? Or is it something that one finds in oneself? In all of these cases, though, it seems extremely subjective. What would a life's meaning be, objectively? Your job? Your military rank or job level? The things you do in the roles of parent/worker/carer?

We're born, we live, we die. To me, it's what we do for others as well as ourselves that defines us. But I'm not sure any of that is ...meaning?

Maybe "purpose" is a better word? Goals?

NSMike wrote:

I... Don't know that I agree. Even before I was an atheist, I don't ever recall having any great drive or desire to find or have some kind of meaning. I think it's cultural, not biological. The only biological imperative I can ever recall experiencing in a fundamental way is survival.

Just cos you haven't subjectively noticed it yet, doesn't mean it's not there. And it's usually buried pretty deep, and can be entirely met by going about your normal life. It's one of those things that's a lot more conspicuous in it's absence.

Robear wrote:

I'm trying to define "meaning" in this context, but failing. What does it reference?

What specifically it references is entirely subjective. I think about it as the thing(s) that pulls you forward through life (or fails to in its absence), that buoys you up, holds misery and depression at bay, and yeah, adds purpose.

It doesn't have to be grandiose and it's probably not a single discrete thing - most likely it's a complex constellation of things. Family, personal goals, your career, faith, your community (hi Goodjers!) could all factor in (or not). TBH, videogames are one of the things that give meaning to my life, they add a constant drumbeat of learning, novelty and mastery, which is catnip to my psyche.

Jonman wrote:

Just cos you haven't subjectively noticed it yet, doesn't mean it's not there. And it's usually buried pretty deep, and can be entirely met by going about your normal life. It's one of those things that's a lot more conspicuous in it's absence.

You could not have written a response that I would have more thoroughly and wholly rejected if you tried. You might as well have told me that I just have to ask the invisible, incorporeal, flying pink elephant that lives in my basement to discover my "meaning."

As far as what "meaning" is, I am not referring to motivations, or hobbies, or people, or entertainment, or anything like that. I don't consider the constellation of relationships, goals, work, and entertainment to be anything that provides me with a definitional meaning (not to say that they don't mean something to me, of course).

I am referring to the somewhat more undefined claim that there is some cosmic, universal "reason" we are all here, and that it carries some important meaning, even if we can't know what that is (because we aren't connected to that meaning, or can't understand it because we're not god, etc.). The kind of sh*t that's wielded like a blunt instrument when you suffer something tragic, like losing a loved one or a particularly difficult illness, etc.

NSMike wrote:

I am referring to the somewhat more undefined claim that there is some cosmic, universal "reason" we are all here, and that it carries some important meaning, even if we can't know what that is (because we aren't connected to that meaning, or can't understand it because we're not god, etc.). The kind of sh*t that's wielded like a blunt instrument when you suffer something tragic, like losing a loved one or a particularly difficult illness, etc.

Yup, I totally grabbed the wrong end of that stick.

I was stung by a bee for the first time in 20+ years this evening. It hurt like hell - I don't recall bee stings being even half as painful as this. But I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor thing. It was likely only trying to drink the water I was hosing on the garden, but it was caught in my thong (flip-flop for the 99% of you outside of Australia).

halfwaywrong wrote:

it was caught in my thong (flip-flop for the 99% of you outside of Australia).

I heard that use of the word "thong" for the first time while I was in Vanuatu a long time ago, and I will admit I was quite puzzled by it.

It's one of those things that makes perfect sense when you think about it-- the thong in this case goes between the first and second toe instead of in the butt crack-- but it tends to take one by surprise the first time one encounters it.

My pipes burst today. I also got my first paycheck that has my surprise raise in it. There isn't a Love and Loathe thread, so here it goes.

bobbywatson wrote:
halfwaywrong wrote:

it was caught in my thong (flip-flop for the 99% of you outside of Australia).

I heard that use of the word "thong" for the first time while I was in Vanuatu a long time ago, and I will admit I was quite puzzled by it.

It was a bit weird discovering the reverse too. Thankfully Sisqo made it very clear!

halfwaywrong wrote:

I was stung by a bee for the first time in 20+ years this evening. It hurt like hell - I don't recall bee stings being even half as painful as this. But I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor thing. It was likely only trying to drink the water I was hosing on the garden, but it was caught in my thong (flip-flop for the 99% of you outside of Australia).

I was trying to shoe a yellow jacket away with my sandaled foot one summer a few years back. Got stuck between my toes somehow and stung the heck out of me. My very young niece was there, and I'm sure she'll remember that moment.

Yellow jackets don't just sting, they also bite!

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Yellow jackets don't just sting, they also bite!

As if I didn't hate them enough already...

"Oh, nothing sordid I assure you. Simply vomit on me, ever so gently, while I humiliate a pheasant."

Happy hump day indeed

Someone please remind me what the name of the song at 3:24 is, I cannot remember for the life of me.

Funk #49. by Joe Walsh

It sounded like Footloose to me.

Somehow Tik Tok discovered what the most annoying text-to-speech voice is.

NSMike wrote:

Somehow Tik Tok discovered what the most annoying text-to-speech voice is.

The most annoying text-to-speech voice so far!

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

You are WAY more likely to spill your drink if you use a coaster that has any height or thickness to it.

This is a scam that is being perpetuated by the thick coaster industry. Don’t fall for it. Better to not use a coaster at all.