so....i have a question about all of this.....
Offline as an atheist i am not inclined to believe in anything supernatural. well, as the years have gone on, my understanding has grown of science and the cosmos. this has led to a lot more questions about life and love, human intelligence and understanding.
long story short.....i still have not found a viable answer to the question of why. or a purpose if you will.
passing on genetic information is kind of a cop out to me, gaining knowledge seems futile if there is no after the end. so that's out. betterment of mankind is out due to a selfish nature in me. (if i don't get to play with the new toy then why invent the tool that is going to make it?)
if i were a member of the faithful i would call this a crisis of faith, but i am not one. so if you are at all able to help and guide me to some sort of reasoning or purpose that would be great.
i have no want of a higher thingy in the sky™
can an atheist have a crisis of non belief?
can i not really care......or worry about the gaps? maybe that's the purpose......
all these questions...agggghhhhhh. good night.....
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
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Lots of people have crises of purpose. It's not unusual, and it's certainly not a crisis of belief.
See, mine is "to fulfill my evil plans". I suggest you start with the idea that you're a supervillain when you're in a crisis of purpose. What kind of master criminal would you be? The reason I don't start with "superhero" is because they're just bascially police officers with interesting talents. It's the criminal masterminds who have vision and purpose. Evil purpose, I'll grant you that, but purpose nonetheless.
So, master criminal, what's the plan?
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
well if you put it that way.......complete domination of the globe then zombies.......yessss zombies....(insert evil grin and the finger thing)
i will have to think on this long and hard. its a bigun......but i am not a villan type. i am to lazy. sociopath....thats another story
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
To quote the famous philosopher Sarah Connor in Terminator 2, "there is no fate, but what you make." Life's meaning is what you give to it. You create your own purpose. That is for each of us to decide. I know I am still working on my ultimate plan, but doubting your knowledge doesn't mean you have to revert to things you know not to be true to feel comforted. I wish you luck, as I do myself, with finding our purposes. Life can be difficult, perhaps thats why only the strong usually survive.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
ohhhhhh brain spasm!!!!!!!
i got it, eureka, ahhhahahaha yes thats it, bueatiful. i am so going to do it. muhahhhahaha..
Runs to underground lab and starts working on making a zombie virus......
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
my suggestion is to look for the virus known as Solanum, it works by traveling through the bloodstream to the brain. It ceases all bodily funtions, except for the brain which remains alive but dormant, while the virus mutates ints cells into a completely new organ.
who are you and how do you know so much...........you are not coming for me are you?
but in reality....thank you all so far this is very helpful. thank you... really
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
im the man looking at you through your window *starts laughing crazily*
naw I read max browns book World War Z, good book its about a zombie infestation and now I am starting to read his book The Zombie Survival Guide...it teaches you how to survive if there is a zombie infestation kind of a tongue in cheek of other doomsday survival guides.
Huh. I guess I really am going to need that biohazard suit/samurai sword combination. Go figure.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
are you trained to use that sword your willness? because funny occurrence i just broke my hand training that exact weapon. no less then three hours ago. (not a real sword if anyone is thinking that...its called a boken)
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
Well here's a case where religion can be a great example. Why not become an atheist missionary? In my travels, I run into these Mormon missionaries all the time. Say what you will about how wacky their church doctrines and beliefs are, these missionaries sure do seem to have a purpose. I would say deep down they know their beliefs are crazy and untrue.
I think what's actually happening is the opposite of they claim:
Our belief gives a purpose to life.
But actually what's happening is:
The desire for purpose in life gives rise to a (false) religious belief.
Actually because Mormonism has even more wacky beliefs than standard Christianity, it gives them even more purpose. They have to work harder to get new people to believe.
So instead of becoming a depressed nihilist, follow their example. Spread the gospel of truth and reason. Learn more science and philosophy. Become a teacher to the great unwashed masses susceptible to irrational religion.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
Don't stress about it too much.
My wife used to be worried about "making her mark" on the world, thinking that if you didn't do something notable then life was wasted.
Now she has come around to my way of thinking.
The affect you have on others is more important. Try to be a positive influence, lead by example, be good to people. If you can help someone who is struggling with life in some small way, then I think you have made your mark.
Zen-atheist wielding Occam's katana.
Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51
Oh shit - who busted your hand? Were you sparring without gloves or something? Wait, with bokken? I've only ever sparred with shinai. To be honest, though, "trained" would be an exaggeration. I'm not good or anything, it's just something I do for fun. Zombies would be about as threatening as straw mats, though. Even the screaming running kind can't form much of an attack without arms (or legs).
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
That's similar to my philosophy: try to die with a net positive influence. Do more good than harm. I'm not sure if that makes up for all the food I eat, carbon footprint I stomp, beer I drink, or thousands of other things it takes to keep me going, but I really am just trying to do more good than harm.
I don't even know how to use a samurai sword. Just a foil and épée. Those wouldn't do a damned thing against zombies, except piss 'em off, so I'll be useless in a zombie attack.
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
Oh c'mon. Zombies are the stupidest creatures ever. Their main strength is their persistence. After that, they're slow, dull-witted, and single-minded. If you've taken any kind of fencing, you're way ahead of the pack. Plus, apparently you know where to get a bastard sword with lasers shooting out of it. So right there, your advantage is obvious.
Zombies don't even learn! You could use the same moves on all of them, and they wouldn't even figure it out! You'd probably end up adding flourish just to keep yourself amused.
So to sum up, my advice is that when you're called upon to massacre the waves of undead, find joy in the simple things in life. Add flourish to your decapitations, and wear colourful underwear. The zombies won't know you're wearing that special underwear, but it'll give you that extra feeling of confidence as you separate their limbs and heads from their torsos. You'll know you look great doing it.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
Feelin' sexy on tha inside!
I wonder how many threads we can insert zombies and swords into?
All you really have to do is mention zombies, since the obvious answer to zombies is a samurai sword. I mean, that's just science. You can't argue with science.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
I have a Chinese machete, a bunch of knives, and a nunchaku.
Thanks for the pep talk. You make it sound so simple.
I didn't mention the power supply needed for the laser-enhanced bastard sword. It makes the whole thing pretty immobile, so it really isn't as good as a samurai sword. It's really just a bastard sword duct-taped to an industrial laser. But I'm working on a smaller, portable model. The military is interested.
I do have a pair of Spiderman Underroos Underwear. They're fun to wear.
I'm feeling pretty good now. Thanks!
Bring on the virus-animated undead!
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
So all I have to do is add to any thread:
But seriously folks, if I encountered zombie Jesus, I'd take his head right off with my katana and say, "rise from that, biatch!"
Zen-atheist wielding Occam's katana.
Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51
Why not just make it your tagline?
Because we all know that to kill a zombie you must remove its head, or destroy its brain... i repeat, remove its head or destroy its brain. Which leads to another question... How do you kill a headless zombie? How deep in the shit would we be if Jesus was resurrected after he was beheaded instead of crucified?!?
This is a glittering generalization of all Zombiekind, and is clearly furthering a negative stereotype of zombies. I thought most people had moved past these prejudices, but you apparently have not. We do not know that all zombies will be mindless and slow, in 28 weeks later, they were not slow, and not completely mindless(although most were).
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
Ok... ill ask, how da fuck?!? did you break your hand... honestly... wtf?
(it takes some serious skill to break object with blunt force trauma while using a sharp weapon... )
What Would Kharn Do?
Ummm...
I could be wrong but I believe that was actually John that said it. He told his father that as the message to his mother when he was sent back.
And what's up with the terminator time thing...
John sends back his father, so John only exists because he sent back his father...but how was he ever sent back if the first time through time he didn't exist to send his father back? And if someone else sent him back, why were they sending him back after Sarah so that htey would still meet and have John if she wasn't a threat the first time around because she did'nt have john? Fuck terminators timeline.
Ew Will, do you read Cosmo?
I'm actually serious; even though I don't subscribe to the magazine, every time I pick one up off the rack, the "wear sexy lingerie under your street clothes to boost your confidence" gem is in there.
I think we were both wrong..."The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."
- Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn)
In T2 I think it is John quoting Sarah who says "no fate but what you make" and Sarah was echoing Reese from the first Terminator.
As for the timeline, yes, it is illogical, but pretty much everything involving timetravel in scifi movies is. It is one of the few circumstances I will suspend my disbelief willingly.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
Yeah, Kyle says it but he is relaying the message that John gave him in the future.
In T2 he is echoing the same message.
As for timeline...Futurama still had the best timetravel with Fry finding out that he's his own great grandfather.
My favorite paradoxical time travel timeline is All you Zombies. The title ties in to the recent theme, but the story is all about tangled timelines.
a bokken is a wood version of the actual sword, the same heft and shape only thicker for obvious reasons. i was practicing a belly cut, and raised my hand a little too far and the instructor came into it to teach me the gaps in that strike. next thing i know bam.....hand starts really hurting and can no longer close.......its a boxers fracture in the middle finger and a hairline on the ring. so now i have this really cool cast on and have to type with only one hand.......but yes we do spar with it...only at half speed for this same reason.
but in case of zombies you don't need to know how to use a true sword, just be comfortable hacking branches off of a tree with a machete
in the zombie invasion i have made progress....my dog now sleeps all day i think she is the living dead......
i have to say that every one here has been great in giving me some things to think about, and i might pull myself out of this funk as soon as i can get back to training....all i can do know is teach the lower students in his class.....oh well at least its something
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
well if the zombies i create are not slow and stupid then i will have to destroy them with the self destruct in my evil underground lab....i shall name the first one jesus just for you too... so no worries. just keep sharpening those blades...
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
Your purpose....to create Zombies, it all makes sense now. Make sure Jesus can't fly, otherwise someone could start a religion based on some flying undead guy....I can see it now.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
Well, your options for an evil army are limited. You have your basic goons, but they can turn on you if they think they aren't being paid enough, and all that is expensive. You have your basic robot army, but they require upkeep, and working with programmers, and believe me, you don't want to work with programmers. Ugh. Worse than goons. Then you have your basic army of genetically-engineered mutants, but they leave slime all over the place. Couple that with their tendency to eat housekeepers, and you are just asking for fortnightly carpet shampooing.
In the end, zombies are your best bet. You can muster an army quickly. They don't ask questions. All they want are brains, and as long as they aren't too particular, they can feast on each others' grey matter until it oozes too much, and by then you're ready to execute your master plan (whatever that may be). They are fearsome to non-samurai-sword wielding masses. And, they don't ask questions.
I just broke my vow again.
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
Haha! You got the reference! I love it. I learned how to speed read using my grandmother's stack of women's magazines. I could probably write one out on demand - they're all the same. Women are obsessed with some weird shit.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
Oh, I know what it is - that's why I was wondering why you'd be sparring with one.
Jeez. That's a pretty hard-core instructor. Does he often tell you to sweep the leg?
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
He flies anywhere near me, he's going to be a flying headless undead guy. Kudos to anyone who can raise an army of the undead that can defeat me, since I am currently undefeated by undead armies. Something else to put on my already impressive resume.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
I wonder what the human obsession with finding a purpose or "higher meaning" in life is all about. What if there is none? What if there is absolutely no point to life whatsoever? Life just happened for no reason and it just is what it is. So what? Would that really make you live any differently? You still want to do things because:
1) You hope you can make someone else's "pointless" life a little better or easier.
2) You are probably going to be here 70-80 years and have a lot of time to kill.
My dog doesn't ponder the meaning of life. But that doesn't stop her from experiencing the joy of chasing a frizbee.
Sometimes I think human intelligence is more of a curse than a benefit because it can drive us nuts.
"The Bible looks like it started out as a game of Mad Libs" - Bill Maher
Sorry to say, but if the zombies can fly, I don't think you will be able to stave off a ground and air attack simultaneously, regardless of your sword skills. Flying zombies can use their legs as bait for sword slicing, only to cover you in zombie blood and blind you while the ground zombies overwhelm you. That is why you need to learn how to time travel back to just before the zombies come for you to create a new plan. When dealing with flying zombies, time travel is a necessity...everyone knows that. Must I explain everything!
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
Ah ha!!! But I am also non-defeated by zombie hordes.
If we unite and watch each other's back we will be undefeateble!!!!! wah ha ha ha....
(and I agree about why are we so worried about higher purpose, maybe it is because of religion)
Zen-atheist wielding Occam's katana.
Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51
If we didn't know about religion and Gods, I think we would search for happiness regardless, but questions that don't have answers always have bugged me. There is a place in my mind where I put those thoughts that are mysteries, kind of like the idea of a GOD spot(which VS Ramachandran says doesn't actually exist, I'm just using it as an example of a collection reservoir of mysterious unexplained phenomena). I think it is those questions that ultimately lead us to posit notions like a God or higher purpose etc. Directing anything to a God or supernatural fantasy sounds great, because mystery fuels human intellect eternally. It is a positive feedback loop.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
Your grandmother reads cosmo? Well that's disturbing...
But yeah, I feel like everything in women's magazines is a repeat from several months ago. "How to lose 20 pounds FAST! It's all about diet and exercise!" (no, really?)... "spice up your sex life with these crazy poses we made up that you can do on the beach, except you really can't do them on the beach without getting arrested" ... "jeans that flatter your body" ... "wake up 15 minutes early for an early-morning quickie with your partner" (psh, like that's EVER going to happen. i like sleep, thanks) ...
On the cover they make it sound like this issue contains the secret to life, and then when you actually open it up, you're like "Thank you Captain Obvious."
Ponders the thought of a zombie Lu Bu.... ya.... any takers? Ronin? ^_^
What Would Kharn Do?
I guess I didn't explain Plan B. Naturally, if ronin-dog and I get bored of being invincible, and need a Gatorade break, we'd have to resort to flaming oil. But that's just to rest our weary invincibility.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
My grandmother is no longer alive, but the magazines were from the 60s and 70s. That's right, I recognized everything you wrote in the following paragraph ...
... from the 60s and 70s. Hasn't changed in about 45 years. Monthly magazine. I'll do the math for you, since it's scary. That's 540 issues, all virtually identical, all most likely purchased by the same women.
I see we have not deviated from the "zombie" theme at all.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
of course not......zombies are more pervasive then religion.....and a whole lot more sensible too
"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." - Dr. Richard Dawkins
You can't expect to always have the answers to the questions put in front of you. Part of being a skeptic is admitting that you simply do not know some things because you can't personally experience them or as a human being understand them. Having a crisis of purpose (as HisWillNess put it) is simply a way for you to work through your understanding of life. Keep plugging away, satisfactory answers will begin to crop up.
I read zombie survival guides for 2 hours last night because of this thread. It's good to know the Ka-Bar my brother gave me will be useful. the survival guide did mention swords but not of the katana variety (high carbon swords given a 7.6/10, Ka-Bar's given 10/10). I wouldn't go for katana's if there were some available high quality 75"+ long N/Odachi like this Kashiwa Tachi or this if you want to go for some insane length at 94". They're just like Katanas but give you a longer reach at the expense of being twice as heavy and somewhat unwieldy (like the Kashiwa, being 6'5", 2" taller than I am). Living in new zealand, I'm buggered for guns though, seeing as how they are outlawed unless you have a license and even then there aren't many semi auto's around and it would be damn near impossible to find hand guns without having to raid a black power or mongrel mob hideout.
As for purpose to life; I don't believe there is one. I am however writing some kind of novel and continue to draw crap, which if someone likes the look of I'll usually give it to them ( except for my opium reaper ). I've found that trying to make your own story can give a little extra meaning to your life (for me at least) and can be fun to write (I'm surprised by some of the stuff I have written then forgot about, thinking I couldn't come up with).
When god gives you lemons you FIND A NEW GOD 1 Thessalonians 5:21
<My art> <not my art><MS>
You seem to understand it. Your dog doesn't have this curse, called a human brain, I mean, that big thing, which somehow quickly grew upon the good old animal and reptile brain. All the trick in being really human, being happy, having a purpose in life, or even being wise, spiritual, holy, or whatever, is to shut that damn thing off, when you don't need it. Shut down the past and the future, things that were and might be, leaving only things, that are. This is why we can see animals really happy, while humans are caught in their personal madhouse of their minds.
Yeah, there's Super Lots Added Stuff Hypotheses - Extended Meditation (sorry for the paraphrase, couldn't help it
Someone wrote, that mere 48 minutes without a single thought causes an immediate enlightenment. Some people think, that a continual stream of thoughts and pondering over their memories is the only thing between them and their non-existence, but that's a delusion.
Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.
And a lifetime without a single thought makes you a fundamentalist.
Almost nobody really knows, how a non-thinking person would be like, there was always just a few of them, but there are crowds of morons.
Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.
I'm sure I will definately help you out with this... But what is a Lu Bu?
Don't go for insanely big and heavy swords people. One of the reasons that katanas are so cool is that they are light and fast. If you look at the medieval arms races in europe and japan: in europe it went in the direction of heavier armour and weapons, in Japan they had to stay fast or be dead. Once you add martial arts into the mix (jujutsu type styles) if you are slow you are dead. You don't need big heavy swords to kill unarmoured zombies, you will just be slow and tired.
The points made about cracking skulls with bokuto are also correct. Light and fast people, light and fast.
Zen-atheist wielding Occam's katana.
Jesus said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." - Luke 12:51