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Pastimes : The Meaning of Life - Discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John S. who wrote (182)	8/18/1998 12:16:00 PM
From: Solon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 242

Hi John, How shall I respond to you? Your words tell me you are a decent person (unless I am much mistaken); you struggle for the answers to large questions; I do, too. We have, however, arrived at different places. I respect the autonomy of your opinion (although I disagree with it). I hope you will permit me to share my opinion with you... Firstly, as I have stated in a previous post, I believe death is necessary, and I would not want to live eternally...not if it meant being ONE individualized entity. I think it is the ultimate in human arrogance to believe that I have significance, over eternity, as a unique entity or ego. I believe that our significance obtains only during our lifetime. There is nothing in logic or recognized fact to suggest that one's identity can be reconstructed after dissolution. Alexander the Great is dead, Plato is dead, Hitler is dead, Peter is dead. If an entity had the power to reconstruct or resurrect their ego after absolute dissolution, my question is: why would they want to? What significance could their puny lives possibly have in terms of eternity? Hitler was one of infinite creatures in infinite time and space: why would anyone want to reconstruct or resurrect him, or anyone else for that matter? On the other hand: is life significant in some eternal sense? Perhaps. Are there higher order powers? Perhaps. If space and time are infinite then a lot of things are possible. Marcus Aurelius made the point that we all part with the same amount of life. The past has already been parted with-- we cannot part with that; the future does not exist-- we cannot part with that. So the life that we part with, when we part with it...is a single solitary moment! We need to practice letting go! Lucretious foreshadowed unified field theory in his grasp of the unifying nature of all things: "Life goes on. It is the lives, the lives, the lives...that die". He speaks about the transmutation of all things into all things...over the long term, life is far more important than lives. But while we live...we have ultimate significance... As far as loved ones go: well, I really would not want to live with the same person for more than 16 trillion years--TOPS. What could possibly be the point? When John Smith is born in 100 years, will he be me? you? I am just as much egoism, just as much selfishness, just as much consciousness as him, as I am ,as me! (To understand what I have just said you must dissolve your ego)! When John Smith dances on the world stage, he will be just as much me as Ian Flaggherty, or anybody else. Meet Euripides--AGAIN, as a peasant bootlegger getting stabbed in the guts by a teen aged whore! NEXT! Well, I think I am getting the devil in me, (or perhaps it is the sherry). Has anyone seen my good friend, Mr. Webster?! Doubtless, you will think me a major sinner; and doubtless, I will have your pity as well as your prayers. Thank you in advance, John! Let me say in closing: You are in the company of a lot of very great people who fervently believed: one example, Sir Isaac Newton! Although I am being playful, this is not sarcasm...Go sir, and sin no more! Barry