I had a pretty long discussion the other day with a good friend and former roommate of mine, and as per usual we discussed morality. We discussed one of the old questions that I haven't put much thought into in quite some time "Is there an absolute truth". By this I mean, is there a right and a wrong that transcends all cultural boundaries?
Just yesterday I decided "no". Morality is an idea that is entirely foreign to all life forms except humans. I will concede that, although it is completely invented within the minds of humans' greatest thinkers, it is also completely necessary to our survival as a species.
I could spend the rest of my life trying to justify this and elaborate further, but sadly I lack the vocabulary/educational fortitude to withstand a truly serious discussion or debate. Instead I will just run with what I have given you thus far, and you can do with it what you please.
Here is a bit of rhyme and reason: We as humans believe that we are a gift (be it from a god, deity, or something I know not of) and that our life has a purpose, but even some of the most profound theories regarding our existence rarely take into mind scaling. That we live in and perceive a VERY small amount of what is actually real. For instance, the size of the earth in comparison to the size of the universe: observable universe is 1.9298727 x 10^19 times (roughly 1900,000,000,000,000,000) bigger than the Earth (Data was stolen, sorry I didn't reference it. You want a reference, go read wikipedia. But good luck finding any stories about a potential 3some there). By that I mean bigger than your mind can grasp. So let's use a comparison. If the Earth were the size of a marble (1.25 cm in diameter) then the observable universe would be 25.5 light years in diameter. That is about as far away as the bright star Vega (25.3 light years away). On the flip side of that coin, the size of a human in comparison to the size to a hydrogen atom (which isn't even close the smallest measurable object) is 10^-10 times smaller. (.0000000001 times) Again a relationship that is far to small in magnitude for our silly sets of brain synapses (read: thoughts) to comprehend.
I'd like to take a quick second to say that humans are not the mathematical mean between the largest and smallest measurement. This is a silly lie that "scientific christians" love to tell people, because how many church goers are going to debate what they can't comprehend. The universe is constantly expanding. The smallest measurable thing is not getting smaller. I'm only a math minor, but I'm pretty sure that the mathematical mean is increasing. Not hovering around 2 meters.
Continuing: All of these measurements are estimations at a speed much, much, much smaller than the speed of light. We can safely call it zero for this mental exercise. But as you approach the speed of light, time and distances are no longer constants. Lengths decrease and time increases.
We don't really need to understand any of that to understand my point though. All I'm saying is that we are the result of an energy differential. A flow from a higher energy source to a lower energy source. The 2nd law of thermal dynamics. Entropy in a word.
Stick with me for just a bit longer.
What I'm really pushing for is the acceptance that "this is it". Everything that you do/experience/perceive is all that you get. Nothing afterwards and nothing before.
There is only one real problem with that theory. You can't sell it. Nobody wants to be told that there isn't something better waiting for them. No eternal reward. That would mean that we have nothing to gain or lose by our actions on this mortal coil (I've really got to quit quoting that or learn another Shakespeare line or two). I say that isn't true. We truly have nothing left to lose, and as Janis Joplin told us, that is freedom. Freedom to make whatever we would like out of our lives. To toss it in the trash or enrich it to the best of our abilities. There is no father figure morality waiting for us to screw up. We are the father (or mother) and the holder of our life's paint brush. Now go out and learn to master that stroke.
...yep, just ended that with a masturbation joke.
I really need some pot out here.
Monday, April 14, 2008
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3 comments:
Yes you do... i would mail you some but.. . you know... you pretty much are asking to go to jail.
No, I still think David Cross was right: it was a talking snake in a tree.
Who the hell do u think u are?
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