Think Outside The Box - Topic

Duress_x

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#41

Apr 22 2009 10:39pm

Quote (BovineDesi @ Thu, Apr 23 2009, 02:30am)

I can't say the determinist stance isn't some what true, but there are so many instances where for example kids in the ghettos have come up to lead a very successful life, or people without so much as high school diplomas becoming CEO's of huge corporations. I can agree to the fact that they've been given a set of options, the most probable being staying in the ghetto, 2nd most probable might be to graduate from a decent college and get a good job and least probable would be becoming truly wealthy and successful (just examples)... but in the end, it is based on their choice, their will power to come up on their own against the odds. Unless you consider will power and persistence as things we have no control over (which I don't believe is true at all).

the deterministic argument for that would be they were able to rise up amongst all odds because of previous experiences that taught them or given them the ability, mixed with some strand of genetics, mixed with something in their surroundings that triggered such an act

the deterministic view would agree that if you take a person that say is 30 years old, then (this is hypothetical of course) you take his exact experiences, surroundings, and genetics and you put them into a newborn baby, that baby will grow up with the exact same outcomes and make every exact same decisions

but I think we're getting a little off topic

This post was edited by Duress_x on Apr 22 2009 10:39pm

PTRH

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#42

Apr 23 2009 08:31pm

Quote (Duress_x @ Mon, 20 Apr 2009, 02:52)

the thought always crosses my mind, what if this whole thing we call universe that we live in is actually one cell or one atom of a much larger world/organism?

the structure of the universe and its galaxies and solar systems have some resemblance to the structure of atoms

That thought is actually always racing through my mind

sk8n

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#43

Apr 24 2009 01:37am

maybe instead of trying to look larger we should look smaller and find a whole universe in every atom

general_patton

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#44

Apr 25 2009 08:00am

Quote (chiefwiggum654 @ Tue, Apr 21 2009, 06:26pm)

That is, until the dolphins start forming civilizations.
btw how awesome would that be if we found a dolphin city?

I'm racist against dolphins.

Quote (Duress_x @ Wed, Apr 22 2009, 07:46pm)

I somewhat agree with you to find your own purpose in life, but we can't exactly find our purpose in relation with the rest of existence, we can only find our purpose in relation to what we know (society, family, etc), so pondering these kinds of questions can at least open some doors to a new room altogether

however I can't say I believe much in free will, I'm more of a determinist

we make decisions based on genetics, previous experiences, and surroundings, none of which we have control over

those are the variables of who we are, and when we are born into this world, we are unwillingly attached to these variables which directs where life takes us

I find it pretty impossible to argue against the deterministic view

It boils down to personal preference. I would rather be under the illusion of free will than suddenly "awoken" under the prospects of determinism. It's a depressing theory.

This post was edited by general_patton on Apr 25 2009 08:04am

Crematoria

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#45

Apr 27 2009 08:02am

How do you know we aren't living like in Men In Black?

eFaele

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#46

Apr 27 2009 06:22pm

If it is true, I feel bad for the organism. We are in one messed up universe :lol:

Mitchymo

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#47

Apr 27 2009 06:31pm

Quote (BovineDesi @ Mon, Apr 20 2009, 10:08pm)

wrong, we are not at that stage where we can even thoroughly explore our own solar system much less anything further out than mars. And you're talking about speculation of what our entire universe could be a part of? Please, as humans we should morally be obliged not to waste time, money and energy on pointless ideas that do not progress our civilization.

The simple act of speculation is what our race's accomplishment's are derived from. Without pointless thoughts of what could or couldn't be, we'd probably still be stuck in the dark ages(IF we're lucky..).
Another thing to think about, is that our conscience is in no way fully developed, and over time, we'll begin to perceive more and more based on the things we speculate upon and discover.

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