Is the universe meaningless?
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Is the universe meaningless?
Influential scientists, like Lawrence M. Krauss, insist that the universe is meaningless, or as Nobel physicist Steven Weinberg put it, “the more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.”
Does science really lead us to this conclusion?
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Reissued Files very much appreciated. Absolutely wonderful to hear from Steve again on such an important topic!
Thank-you so much for the encouragement!
Great stuff, Steve. Incredibly thoughtful and challenging to both sides of the religious divide.
Thanks Paul!
If you ask me,
The human race as a whole is meaningless until they give men and boys the exact same scope of entitlements as their female counterparts. This includes holding each woman accountable to her behavior and to the same moral standard as each of her male counterparts.
Please keep it up, Steve. All the best to you, and also to Janice.
Great video.. really thought-provoking.. I’m going to try my best to be more joyful - it’s not always easy in this messed up world but it’s certainly better than the alternative, being miserable. Thanks for this inspiring and encouraging message 👍
This message is timely... again!
I still have my Patriarchy card, and that satirical arguement alone represents all that is meaningful about our human condition.
Thank you!
The meaning of life is context.
I feel like I'm at this point myself. I don't take God literally, but metaphorically. Personally, I don't need a deity to outsource my own self-judgement, and I don't think there's proof of there being an actual "God". But that's just me, and the way I think. To hold yourself to such high standards: being wary of temptations, complacency and nihilism, looking for your own values, to see what works (and what's true!) for you and your interactions with others, is hard to do, but rewarding.
But it's a tough sell. Because in general, people are not motivated by facts, but by stories. So although I might not be religious in the common sense, the Bible does provide a lot of guidance by providing relatable stories, on how to hold yourself, how to be a partner and raise a family, how to keep your community functioning, and to guard against all the pitfalls it brings. Every community needs such a moral center, in the form a transcendent deity, like God.
Which makes it very interesting for me that for the last 10yrs I've found myself in MRA circles. Because the parallels are significant.
What's the most basic idea of "God"?
...
Having a father! Someone who protects you, teaching and enforcing the boundaries, to take responsibility, by pushing you to be better.
And both interpretations I've described, above, are lacking nowadays. Every civilization needs its religious moral center, like a child needs its father!
You use the word "metaphor" as if the thing represented is not real. But a metaphor is used to refer to a real thing that cannot be seen in the conventional sense but is every bit as real as the nose on your face.
@@StudioBrule I agree it's real. And that it has a very important function. But I can point at my nose, say it's there, and people can easily see it's there. But to point at some incorporeal deity, and say it's there, they'll probably just raise an eye-brow, and go on with their day. Meaning, something like this people will only see if they're actually looking for it. I guess it's similar to how psychologists would say: you can only help a person if they want to be helped. Like you can teach someone the ropes, but you can't teach them to care. That, they can only do themselves.
But then again, for me what this boils down to, is a set of values, principles, methods, practices, etc, that have been proven to work, for the individual, for the family, for society. So while for most it has to be described and taught in the form of a deity, with the accompanying stories, for me you only have to prove: does it work? Long term, preferably.
And this is the position I find myself in: between theists and anti-theists. Both groups will tell me I'm not a "real Christian", unless I take God literally. Although practically speaking, I'm not that different. Hence I use the word metaphor to refer to God. The values, etc, I agree with. Just not with the interpretation.
Or...if there's another descriptor I should be using, in stead of metaphor, then point me at it. English is not my first language, btw.
Still in the Dominican Republic, Steve?
Yes, and still enjoying it!
Cheers
It makes a lot of black holes.
Reminds me of this quote from one of Lewis' Narnia books - “In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas."
"Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.”
YES
If intelligence is smarter than no intelligence, and humans have intelligence while the universe has none, then humans should be smarter than this meaningless universe, and be able to do whatever they want with it immediately - and yet nothing could be further from the truth.
Of course, none of this tells us which God is the real one - and it can only be - but that's enough logic from me for today
Inherent or objective meaning (or value) is necessarily impossible. To have meaning (or value) is necessarily to have meaning (or value) to someone, typically for some purpose or in pursuit of some end. Free--floating meaning, meaning detached from a person (which is a prerequisite for inherent of objective meaning) would require that a thing have the same meaning to all beings at all times, in all places and under all circumstances. A human life has meaning, has value to a person because we are people. It has a different value to a bear. Just as it has a different value to a sand flea, a mouse or a trout. Some beings place absolutely no value or meaning on human life. These is no reason why they should. Nor does their failure to value human life alter my determination of the value of human life TO ME.
Those who claim that a thing has objective value or meaning often ground that claim by appealing to a deity. They assert that life, the universe and everything has value, has meaning because it has value and meaning to God. But this is just goalpost shifting. These things still only have value or meaning because they have value of meaning TO SOMEONE. Who that someone is does not matter. That meaning or value remains subjective to that someone. It is not binding on me to share that evaluation.
"You are the universe experiencing itself."
No, I am not. I am not "the universe". That statement is facile (and exposes the hubris of the author). What is true of one member of a set is not necessarily true of the entire set. I am a conscious, self-aware mortal entity composed of matter and energy. It does not therefor follow that the universe (of which I am a part) is a conscious self-aware mortal entity composed of matter and energy. It is just composed of matter and energy. Being composed of matter and energy is the sole criterion for membership in the set of all things that we call the universe.
How is anyone impressed by this sophistry?
I don't think you understood the essay.
Read the article on consciousness, I'll put the links in the description. Check out Roger Penrose's theory of consciousness.
You say everything is just "matter and energy" as if that settles the question when matter and energy are themselves poorly understood and at best modelled in part by scientific theory. They are mystical terms. Read a physicists view of what is matter, I've posted links in previous videos, and you'll find that top physicist will answer "we don't really know."
And yes you are the universe, not the entire universe obviously.
If there's sophistry at play, it's in your comment.
The fact there is no universe means the question is pointless.
You should be asking why it needs meaning. Or more specifically: why you need it to have meaning. The answer is: your subconscious is always running an analysis of your life, attempting to optimize meeting your primitive needs. You're looking for a final and complete answer for that. Whether there is an answer or not is irrelevant, given that we're not likely to find it in our lifetimes. Attempting to find it is a waste, at the moment.
Develop your emotional control, so you're not ruled by such savage and thoughtless impulses. Coincidentally, you'll also become far more capable of comprehending reality, and thus capable of fulfilling this unexamined goal.
Anything that ends is pointless. The world and the so-called "human" race will both end someday IF you believe in god.
That's the nihilist perspective: "nothing lasts forever so everything is pointless."
Sex lasts 15 minutes, is that pointless too?
Bread only lasts a few days, why bother with it?
Why do you assume that something needs to last forever in order to be meaningful? What does "forever" mean when time itself is not understood?
@@StudioBrule Hey Steve, you understand what I meant by it's all pointless at the end if it's all going to end. I dont look at the little things in our lives but at the whole picture and the grand scheme of things. Life IS pointless and meaningless even from a religious perspective. Where are all the great empires of the past ? And like it's been said, if you ever have doubts about the meaninglessness of life, take a walk among the ruins of past empires, or I would say graves. Sure, we like the little joys of life as we are designed to but again I look past that and focus on where it all ends.