Do you believe in the "philosophical abyss"?

[Jaden]

Rather than nihilism, my stance would be fallibilism.

I won't dispute that the abyss exists for us currently as a logical dead end, but it's also clear that there is more to the universe than we can see. Just like a snail is incapable of thinking about philosophy, maybe we're just unable to see the big picture.

[Kafriel]

Instead of pondering what humanity means to the universe, ask yourself...what does the universe mean to you? Don't try to seek a reason for your existence, but a reason for everything else to be in your way. Take advantage of them, life's short.

[willx]

I don't recall whether this quote I'm paraphrasing first originated elsewhere, but if it's an Oatmeal original, he has it down pretty pat. His context was religion but I think it fits the fact pattern we currently know to be true about our existence .. which is:

"Does it help you cope with the fact that you are a bag of meat, sitting on a rock, in outer space and that someday you will die and you are completely powerless, helpless, insignificant in the wake of this beautiful cosmic shitstorm we call existence?" - http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion

That said .. I'm not sure I need anything to justify my existence. Nihilism suggests that life is without objective meaning.. but what then if the "living" of life is in and of itself meaningful? This "fact pattern" that I assert above is also only what we know based on our current body of knowledge.

What if we discover a metaphysical plane of existence? What if we discover parallel universes and parallel lives? What if we can predict the "butterfly effect" of all of our actions and their impact on future events? What if .. a life is valuable because it is fleeting (part of the beauty of cherry blossoms is that they don't last) and we develop anti-aging and immortality serum? Come on folks.. Even based on what we know and what else there is to learn to know..

LIFE IS EPIC!

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Jaden

Rather than nihilism, my stance would be fallibilism.

not fapibilism?

[Kafriel]

What if .. a life is valuable because it is fleeting (part of the beauty of cherry blossoms is that they don't last) and we develop anti-aging and immortality serum?

I believe we already had a topic about that here, fun read.

What if we can predict the "butterfly effect" of all of our actions and their impact on future events?

Living with a (most likely) memory disorder that gives me a sensation of precognition at odd times, I can say that I just do whatever it is I'm supposed to do anyway, oddly enough it evokes a sense of inevitability that cannot be ignored.

[Soverence]

I have never understood what is with people's obsession on trying to find the logical reason for which we exist, because I don't believe that there is one. The fact that humans exist at all is illogical based upon our idea of logic, so I see no reason to try and find the logical base of a illogical entity.

As for our existence being illusory, I would have to disagree with that, even if humans have no meaning, our actions effect other human's and humanities future, just because we don't have a great meaning on reason to be here doesn't mean we should stop living, it just means we should enjoy life for what it is and be happy.

[Nightbat®]

Originally Posted by Soverence

I have never understood what is with people's obsession on trying to find the logical reason for which we exist, because I don't believe that there is one. The fact that humans exist at all is illogical based upon our idea of logic, so I see no reason to try and find the logical base of a illogical entity.

The problem I'm having here is that we should sleep, eat , mate, ad nauseum, yet for some odd reason we don't
Illogical? when apart from antibiotics, fake boobs and hairimplants we -sofar- have done nothing that actually goes against nature

We're the most complicated species on this planet with the most complicated brain,
but everything we do seems to be a logical step, if we weren't designed to question our existence (or anything for that matter) we would never have evolved beyond apes

It's hard to accept life as a zero-sum game when nature is a continuous circle
(although you'd have to set aside the Theorie of heat death of the universe)

I agree that we're not at the level of understanding the bigger picture (if there is one)
but illogical? No, too many questions have been answered to leave this one be
especially if it's in human nature to try to understand and discover the unknown

[Destined_Fate]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

no need to think about anything else. who cares what the secret or purpose of life is.

Hey now. Wars have been fought over that stuff and religions have detailed what they believe all that stuff means. Not saying any of them are right, just that it's important to a lot of people even if they don't know why.

[Soverence]

Originally Posted by Nightbat®

The problem I'm having here is that we should sleep, eat , mate, ad nauseum, yet for some odd reason we don't
Illogical? when apart from antibiotics, fake boobs and hairimplants we -sofar- have done nothing that actually goes against nature

We're the most complicated species on this planet with the most complicated brain,
but everything we do seems to be a logical step, if we weren't designed to question our existence (or anything for that matter) we would never have evolved beyond apes

When I say that human's are illogical, I refer basically back to the grand scheme of things and all the events that needed to take place in order for us to exist at all, and that the chances of any one human actually existing are actually quite unlikely. When I say human's I don't mean individual actions are illogical, I mean the fact that the human species exists at all is illogical.

As for human's actions, I would say its about 50/50, with half of them being logical and the other half being illogical. Emotion is another strong motivation for action other then logic, and well emotion might not always make the right choice, sometimes logic can lead us to the wrong choice as well.

[ZGoten]

As a believer in determinism, I do think that this concept of the philosophical abyss is acutally quite evident. We are all just gear wheels in the grand machine that just does what it set itself up to do at the beginning of time. We all do what we do, because we have no other choice. In fact, we have no choice. Freedom of will is just an illusion. At least that's how I see life and the universe.

Spoiler for Sam Harris on Free Will: