Obviously, I cannot answer many of the questions you ask, but that doesn't mean I have to resort to [deluding myself by] inventing irrational answers.
Ï€is an irrational number... yet you (we) have no problem accepting that in order to compute its full value, one must go towards infinity for eternity? Is that rational?
Originally Posted By: alternaut
I can wait and am perfectly happy in the expectation that the scientific method used so far to elucidate reality is quite capable of continuing to do so, whether this happens in my lifetime or not.
Seems you share that faith with tacit. That must be a source of comfort [as opposed to "irrational" self-delusion] i suppose?
[Your second paragraph blew me away... so (despite my not understanding it fully) i think i'll agree with you there.]
Originally Posted By: alternaut
I must also disagree with your notion that "a brain lacking in understanding or means to deal with issues is a trait all humans share, so that [it] cancels out". I'm sure you can see more than one flaw in that interpretation, and this even applies to (and despite) those missing answers or questions you're referring to,
But... you (we) can't just take out those questions (or any others of that nature), because therein lies the very reason we all share that trait: none of us *knows* the answers to these [before and after type] questions. We may speculate in different ways... or choose to ignore the matter entirely. But basically, we're all just babes in the woods here. [edit: and i guess one other big question is "why?" -- isn't there some famous quote concerning the 'unexamined life'?]
Originally Posted By: alternaut
Likewise, I don't need to believe anything beyond what I can already encompass about my life: my 'self' reached critical mass and emerged during my physical development, just as it will cease to exist upon my death or perhaps even before that. It doesn't bother me one bit if you'd call that 'coming from nowhere and returning to nowhere', because that's how it appears to me; I have no problem whatsoever with that view and don't require a comforting illusion purporting something else. Besides, my personal fate is separate from that of humanity as a whole, and speculation about the details is as 'real' to all of us as it is immaterial to the actual course of events of such things.
All good, no problem whatsoever. So... we're right back to my "believe what you want" then -- aren't we? [you keep using words like "view" and "expectation", but that's pretty much the same as a belief system... whether you approve of that term or not.]
As i hope i made clear... i don't claim to be right (about anything here), or say that you're wrong. Just exchanging ideas.
[and i enjoy it when folks like Jon and Artie make jokes... this topic needs comic relief. ]
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