Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Machines Are Mean To Us

*(If you want the summed up version, look for the last paragraph)

"If there is one indisputable fact about the human condition it is that no community can survive if it is persuaded--or even suspects--that its members are leading meaningless lives in a meaningless universe."--Irving Kristol

Irving Kristol is trying to say that humans need to feel important. If there was no point to our existence then the world would go to shambles. People would not care if they lived or died so the world would go into chaos with wide-spread violence and horror.

With that point taken care of, Irving is unfortunately completely correct. I wish I had more faith in the human race but sadly the truth is harsh. Ever since humanity could think, we have put our faith into a higher being watching us and having a purpose for us. But without that purpose people have very little to strive for except to further ourselves and conquer space, which is what is happening now. But if it turns out that we are a fluke and there is nothing out there then what will we do with ourselves?

Bertrand Russel's "The Value of Philosophy" talks about what the reason for philosophy is: the study of the unknown. Philosophers take their lives and try to ultimately figure out the final truth. If we ever found out that truth and it was nothing then see above. But anytime we get a step closer to that truth, many more questions pop up to stall us. What this means is that we will never figure out this truth unless it is told to us definitely. Which also means that we will, as a society, never reach the said above state.

Plato's "Apology" has told us that man needs to feel superior to everything, even God sometimes (if you believe in God). When actually if what Irving says becomes reality, people will have to adjust to being just like all other animals, which is impossible due to our thousands of judgemental, arrogant years alive.

* Humans will not be willing to accept a meaningless life and will go to extremes if told so.

5 comments:

  1. I completely agree with you, Tom. People do need that sort of motivation, even if it is just the belief that they're more important than others and have some sort of purpose in this world.

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  2. I don't know if I agree with you when you say "Irving Kristol is trying to say that humans need to feel important." Yes, I agree that humans need to feel meaningful in some sort of way, but I dont know if "the world would go into chaos with wide-spread violence and horror" like you say.

    I mean, I feel like you are taking the complete negative side of Kristol's quote. It's the word "important" that you use in the first sentence. I don't think that Kristol is saying that people need to feel important...but that they need to have some sort of meaning to their lives.

    Like take for instance the John Lennon song Imagine. Now whether you think thats an anthem for communism or not, this song speaks of meaning without the need to feel superior. If you don't know the song, it is essentially about peace and living for the day. He sings about equality and brotherhood, and life without a hierarchy. Even though the people who believe in this song shouldn't feel the need to be "important" or make "important" decisions, their lives still have meaning: to live for love.

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  3. I liked how you pointed out the infinite loop presented by philosophy, that's something I agree on as well, but I do think you may have exaggerated a tad when you suggest that without a meaning our world would dissolve. I feel like humankind might just lay down and and stop caring, but I can't see why we would dissolve into chaos and violence, what would be the point?

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  4. I did exagerate a bit, but it is not uncommon in my opinions. I am a person that does look at the negative side more. I feel that if you expect the worst then you can only be pleasantly surprised.

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  5. This is very nice Tom, I can see what you meant to say with the whole comparison with Bussell's Value of Philosophy. I also agree on the fact that if people didnt feel important then the world as we know it wouldn't be the way it is now.

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