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From: Immortalist on 23 May 2010 18:11
On May 20, 5:58 am, Sir Frederick Martin <mmcne...(a)fuzzysys.com>
wrote:
> Is any subject outside of what science should research?
> No. 'We' are not that important.
> Though hubris may tell stories, otherwise.

Then we might apply the scientific method to how unimportant we are
and also develop a science of storytelling?

we have no particular place to go. The species lacks any goal external
to its own biological nature. It could be that in the next hundred
years humankind will thread the needles of technology and politics,
solve the energy and materials crises, avert nuclear war, and control
reproduction. The world can at least hope for a stable ecosystem and a
well-nourished population. But what then? Educated people everywhere
like to believe that beyond material needs lie fulfillment and the
realization of individual potential. But what is fulfillment, and to
what ends may potential be realized? Traditional religious beliefs
have been eroded, not so much by humiliating disproofs of their
mythologies as by the growing awareness that beliefs are really
enabling mechanisms for survival. Religions, like other human
institutions, evolve so as to enhance the persistence and influence of
their practitioners. Marxism and other secular religions offer little
more than promises of material welfare and a legislated escape from
the consequences of human nature. They, too, are energized by the goal
of collective self-aggrandizement. The French political observer Alain
Peyrefitte once said admiringly of Mao Tse-tung that "the Chinese knew
the narcissistic joy of loving themselves in him. It is only natural
that he should have loved himself through them." Thus does ideology
bow to its hidden masters the genes, and the highest impulses seem
upon closer examination to be metamorphosed into biological activity.

On Human Nature - Edward O. Wilson 1978
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/067463442X/qid=1036537594/
From: Jack on 23 May 2010 18:14
> An area that might be ignored is the mystery of the fact of existence
> 'itself', though that is more likely just a 'built in' constraint of the
> human condition.

lol Whatever that means.
From: Immortalist on 23 May 2010 18:34
On May 23, 3:14 pm, Jack <furgfurgf...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> > An area that might be ignored is the mystery of the fact of existence
> > 'itself', though that is more likely just a 'built in' constraint of the
> > human condition.
>
> lol Whatever that means.

The question “Why is there something rather than nothing?

If there was nothing, you’d still be complaining!

....the question is ill-formed because there could not have been
nothing.

Who says there is not nothing?
From: Monsieur Turtoni on 23 May 2010 18:47
On May 23, 6:34 pm, Immortalist <reanimater_2...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> On May 23, 3:14 pm, Jack <furgfurgf...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > An area that might be ignored is the mystery of the fact of existence
> > > 'itself', though that is more likely just a 'built in' constraint of the
> > > human condition.
>
> > lol  Whatever that means.
>
> The question “Why is there something rather than nothing?
>
> If there was nothing, you’d still be complaining!
>
> ...the question is ill-formed because there could not have been
> nothing.
>
> Who says there is not nothing?

"Questions about the meaning of life have been expressed in a broad
variety of ways, including the following:

What is the meaning of life? What's it all about? Who are we?
Why are we here? What are we here for?
What is the origin of life?
What is the nature of life? What is the nature of reality?
What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of one's life?
What is the significance of life?
What is meaningful and valuable in life?
What is the value of life?
What is the reason to live? What are we living for?

These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and
arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological,
and spiritual explanations."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life
From: Jack on 23 May 2010 19:02
On May 23, 6:34 pm, Immortalist <reanimater_2...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> On May 23, 3:14 pm, Jack <furgfurgf...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > An area that might be ignored is the mystery of the fact of existence
> > > 'itself', though that is more likely just a 'built in' constraint of the
> > > human condition.
>
> > lol  Whatever that means.
>
> The question “Why is there something rather than nothing?

It's a good question--nothing would have been much tidier.

>
> If there was nothing, you’d still be complaining!
>
> ...the question is ill-formed because there could not have been
> nothing.

Do tell, do tell.
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