Does anyone else wonder if this is all a dream?

[DarkRange55]

I don't know actually. If there's no reason, then life just seems like a lot of struggle for nothing. All this suffering, and for what?

Watch Futurama S8 E13

 

[DarkRange55]

 

[Tears in Rain]

It is far worse than the worst thing ever. The entire sense of self collapses. Everything is gone.

Let's step back a minute. What needs to be sacrificed in order to exit a dream? Answer: Everything; every inch of the dream world and even the dream 'self' at the centre of it. Not even a single grain of sand can be kept.

Yet after awakening, it is seen that the dream world and even the 'self' (the first-person-perspective central character) were never real anyway. Spiritual awakening is the same process but more dramatic, yet ultimately liberating in a way that makes even death of the body no big deal.

Yeah, most people who claim to be seeking enlightenment or whatever don't really want what awakening really is. They want to live a beautiful dream, not wake up.

It would probably seem like the worst thing ever initially. But at the end of the pocess would that be the case?

Why does the universe need to experience itself so much?

Probably the same reason people watch TV, movies, listen to music, are glued to the internet all day: to alleviate boredom.

The Universe was probably bored, so it probably created the Universe to alleviate it. Then humans were probably created to create a lot of drama.
That's billions of individual daily soap operas experienced everyday by the Universe, through humans.

That song is more about life potentially becoming a beautiful dream. There's only one song I know about life being an actual dream:

 

[DarkRange55]

Yeah, most people who claim to be seeking enlightenment or whatever don't really want what awakening really is. They want to live a beautiful dream, not wake up.

It would probably seem like the worst thing ever initially. But at the end of the pocess would that be the case?


Probably the same reason people watch TV, movies, listen to music, are glued to the internet all day: to alleviate boredom.

The Universe was probably bored, so it probably created the Universe to alleviate it. Then humans were probably created to create a lot of drama.
That's billions of individual daily soap operas experienced everyday by the Universe, through humans.


That song is more about life potentially becoming a beautiful dream. There's only one song I know about life being an actual dream:

Sure, I just love that song haha

 

[Professor K]

Somedays I feel immense drowsiness and things around me appear as too blurry and too clear, too slow and too fast, like a dream.
I hate when these episodes happen to me, when I get this sort of lightheadedness and life doesn't seem real for hours...

 

[_Broken_alice]

Every day... Doesn't help we go in and out of mild psychosis regularly. Aside from lately, our nightmare always feel more real than any of this. We only think this is the real version because it is more consistent.

 

[Silent_cries]

.

Like that this world is a dream that we're hallucinating (like Alice in Borderland), and that when we wake up, we'll go back to the real world?

Yes, it does feel like that nowadays. Probably because of my depression.

 

[DarkRange55]

I don't know actually. If there's no reason, then life just seems like a lot of struggle for nothing. All this suffering, and for what?

We forge our meaning instead of having one thrust upon us. This is circular but maybe the meaning is to find the meaning.

For what: Joy, pleasure, fulfillment

Then again, I'm usually the contrarian on this forum so take what I say with a grain of salt… maybe a block

 

[sserafim]

We forge our meaning instead of having one thrust upon us. This is circular but maybe the meaning is to find the meaning.

For what: Joy, pleasure, fulfillment

I see you're an absurdist then

 

[DarkRange55]

I see you're an absurdist then

I suppose I am a nihilist in the sense that, I think as far as we currently know, meaning, purpose, and value are subjective human constructs. If there is a grand meaning or higher meaning, I do not know.

I see you're an absurdist then

You certainly seem to be.

I know I will get a shit tsunami for this but…

I think we give our lives meaning by our choices and actions. And like Carl Sagan said,

"Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people… we make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers."

I see you're an absurdist then

 

[DarkRange55]

I see you're an absurdist then

Do you think that machine intelligence has any significance/importance on a cosmic scale?

 

[sserafim]

Do you think that machine intelligence has any significance/importance on a cosmic scale?

AI?

 

[DarkRange55]

AI?

AGI as an example

 

[sserafim]

AGI as an example

I don't think so. I don't think that humans and their inventions have importance on a cosmic scale. The universe existed without us, and will continue to do so. We are but mere specks of dust in the vast universe. However, AGI could potentially result in the destruction of humanity and civilization, so I think that it has significance/importance on a local level (Earth and the Milky Way). What do you think?

 

[DarkRange55]

I don't think so. I don't think that humans and their inventions have importance on a cosmic scale. The universe existed without us, and will continue to do so. We are but mere specks of dust in the vast universe. However, AGI could potentially result in the destruction of humanity and civilization, so I think that it has significance/importance on a local level (Earth and the Milky Way). What do you think?

We are but mere specks of dust in the vast universe.

I don't think so. I don't think that humans and their inventions have importance on a cosmic scale. The universe existed without us, and will continue to do so. We are but mere specks of dust in the vast universe. However, AGI could potentially result in the destruction of humanity and civilization, so I think that it has significance/importance on a local level (Earth and the Milky Way). What do you think?

Cosmic scale the means at least the scale of a galaxy in this context, and typically means a scale close to the size of the observable universe. Whether life has meaning is somewhat independent of whether it is important on a cosmic scale, and if machine intelligence only arises from biological intelligence, then biological intelligence will of that meeting even if it does not persist in the age of machine intelligence.

>> ...Only machine intelligence is truly important on a cosmic scale."
This is probably true but we do not know. For example, it may be that no intelligence is truly important on a cosmic scale, or that genetic intelligence is, brain intelligence is, AND machineintelligence is. Or it may be that machine intelligence and life merge.

Since machine intelligence depends upon biological intelligence to kickstart it, biological intelligence is also significant.

As for impactful events in the history of this universe, the Big Bang would certainly be top of the list (if that's the way it started), and life would be on the list as well. But yes, I think that development of electronic intelligence will be of equal impact in the history of the earth, and that its development on some planets will be among the most impactful in the history of this universe.

importance is an evaluator-specific term