My question to y'all today is:
Would there be more 'meaning' if everything were' set in stone' and determined?
Or if everything is random chance?
When meaning arises, is it because we are seeing it?
Or creating it?
What do u think?
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6 comments:
This post was totally a 'Josh' hook. I really can't help my self.
Would there be more 'meaning' if everything were' set in stone' and determined?
If everything were set in stone, I have a funny feeling that it would all be trite. It would lose it's meaning by being overused. The meaning would be conveyed, but ignored out of contempt for it's regularity.
Or if everything is random chance?
If everything was random chance it would make everything exciting for a while, but there's lots of room for frusteration here. The Buddha said something about 'The Pain of Change' which is part of our samsaric makeup. Perhaps this question points to that.
When meaning arises, is it because we are seeing it? Or creating it?
I think this is a skanda question. Geez that feels like I'm identifying a math problem by the way it should be solved :\
I think meaning is resolved in the skanda stack at about the formation level. We formulate a meaning after we have experienced form, got a feeling with a sense, conceptualized the form, and intgrated it into our mandala of being/thinking/world-view. The meaning would be imparted during formation and made apparent to mind during consciousness.
Thanks for your comments, Kalsang. Your responses are very Buddhist. I especially like how you brought the skandhas up.
I agree with all you've said. But there's still something else I need to make it all fit together....and I'm not sure what that is.
I appreciate what you've said. You have indeed helped!
You are welcome! My existential thought patterns map really well to buddhist philosopy. I hope you find that last key.
The first question seems like the is there a God up there with a plan and if so, and he actually is omnipotent, and omniscient, then do we truly have free will? This then takes the question to more of a religious angle, but it's still in the realm of what you're asking.
The second part where you ask if meaning is created, ala existentialism, is a little harder to answer. What is meaning exactly? Is what I take as meaning, the same thing you ascribe to meaning? Can I actually know any of that sort of thing? Is meaning just another word for the limits of our perception? At the end of the day I am a pretty firm believer in making my own reality and being responsible for my own meaning and relevance.
Good question!
Joe
"Would there be more 'meaning' if everything were 'set in stone' and determined?"
>> Ahhh. The eternal paradox: Determinism against freewill.. Well, you know I don't beleive in freewill because such a thing doesn't exist. It is a known fact that simple structures which related with each other by simple rules can create complex systems. These systems can create patterns under certain circumstances and these patterns can create a character. Only necessary thing is that this sytem has a connection with outside world and has a self-reference and a simple feedback mechanism. Within this view it means that "consciousness" is nothing more than a certain level "organization" of atoms, i.e the level of complexity of neurons. How complex this system (neural network), i.e. how complex your cortex is, how higher or original your consciousness. And these "atoms" work under physical laws and in this sense we don't have a complete "freewill". Even if the outside factors plays a role, just a small percentage(let's say 0.1 %), you can't talk about a freewill, at least it is not an absolute "free" will. It looks like the quantum mechanics and uncertainty principle destroy the idea of classisc determinism but I don't think it changes the idea of freewill.. So, are all the things 'set in stone'?...
Well according to "big bang" theory, universe has started in one singularity where all material was "packed", i.e. 15 billions years ago was universe so tiny to examine with quantum mechanics. A 'wave function' could be written to describe that universe (and I guess there are scientists who do that). And these "wave functions" are quite deterministic. A wave equation of a particle at 'that' moment gives a knowledge about the future of that particle. So if there is a "wave function" to explain all universe, then the universe exist as an alteration of a function. And because all these particles were packed in singularity, it looks like they all know each others -future- behaviour. What was Buddha talking about, everything has "Buddha Nature"!...
So where is the "meaning" between all of this?.. Or are you seeing it or creating the meaning?..
I guess you have to find first what the meaning is and I think there isn't any!. It is just what is (and for me it is enough).
The only meaningful thing for me now is to sleep because it is quite late here :)
Joe...
I personally don't believe in god....at least not the way Western society and Christian mythology have conceptualized god. Arguing from that standpoint, it could be said that I believe that there is nothing that 'determines', unless it is some part of myself, or something at least which I am essentially a part of.
As to the second part...yes what IS meaning exactly? What either of us take as 'meaning certainly can't exactly be the same as the others. But I think that meaning is more than just words for the limits of our perception...it seems to me that meaning is something that transcends our perceptions.
Nothing...
Very nice comment, and very well said.
You said "I guess you have to find first what the meaning is and I think there isn't any!. It is just what is (and for me it is enough)."
So, you don't think there's any meaning in this world? If everything is meaningless...how do you get up everyday and do the mundane tasks? How can you accept this so easily? Am I crazy because it's just NOT enough for me?? lol
Thanks for incorporating physics into this comment. I was actually writing a similar post.
I certainly believe in free will. I question whether or not there can be just as much meaning to be found in free will as compared to fate and determinism.
I hope your sleep was meaningful.
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