The Human Species Hasn't Existed For Long And It Likely Won't Exist Much Longer, At Least Not In Its Current Form.
"To conceive of one's life in this way -- a fragile chain of tasks and projects, abruptly snuffed out by death, all grounded upon nothing and ultimately leading nowhere -- is liable to make one squirm."
WHAT DO ALL OF YOU HAVE IN COMMON? THE FACT THAT YOU'VE SEEN ME AROUND AND ARE READING MY BLOG AND CAN'T RECONCILE WHAT I'M WRITING WITH THE WAY I LOOK. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU READ THE ACADEMIC PASSAGES THAT I COPY TO MY BLOGS AND THE RAP LYRICS I QUOTE AND COMBINE THAT WITH THE WAY I LOOK AND HOW I LIVE AND HAVE A HARD TIME CATEGORIZING ME AND MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL. YOUR UNCONSCIOUS BIASES* PREVENT YOU FROM LOOKING AT ME AS THE CIVIL, CULTURED, WHITE SCHOLAR THAT I AM http://methalashun.blogspot.com/2019/10/ridin-witta-scholar-act-like-u-know.html!
*THEY DON'T TAKE ANY OF THE SCIENCE ON THESE BLOGS SERIOUSLY BECAUSE THEY DON'T TAKE MY INTELLECT SERIOUSLY. PLUS, THEY READ THE SCIENCE HERE AND DON'T WANT TO ACCEPT IT AS FACT BECAUSE IT'S CONTRARY TO WHAT THEY WERE TAUGHT TO BELIEVE AND HITS TOO CLOSE TO HOME (FORCES THEM TO THINK ABOUT THESE MATTERS AND ADMIT TO SOME DARK REALITIES http://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2013/05/for-those-of-you-females-who-think-you.html http://vengeanceizmine.blogspot.com/2014/02/httpwww.html).
THE LOW IQ, LOWER CLASSES BREED INDISCRIMINATELY AND ASTRONOMICALLY. WHY? BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER. THEY OPERATE ON INSTINCT. THEY'RE UNCONSCIOUSLY DICTATED BY EVOLUTIONARY IMPERATIVES AND CAN'T OVERRIDE THEM (e.g. EAT WHEN HUNGRY, HAVE SEX WHEN FEELING LUST, HAVE CHILDREN REGARDLESS IF YOU CAN AFFORD THEM AND IRRESPECTIVE OF THE PERSONALITY TRAITS THOSE CHILDREN WILL POSSESS). THIS IS HOW HUMANS HAVE BEEN THINKING AND BEHAVING SINCE THE DAWN OF HUMANITY AND LOW IQ PEOPLE FROM THE LOWER CLASSES ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN OUR STONE AGE ANCESTORS. I DON'T HAVE A LOW IQ AND I'M NOT FROM THE LOWER CLASSES, SO I DON'T HAVE A CHILD AND I MAY NEVER HAVE A CHILD. FURTHERMORE, I MAY PURPOSELY AVOID HAVING A CHILD BECAUSE LIFE IS FILLED WITH MORE PAIN THAN PLEASURE, MORE TRAGEDY THAN TRIUMPH, MORE SUFFERING THAN SUCCESS, AND I WOULDN'T WANT TO BRING A LIFE INTO THE WORLD KNOWING THAT IT WOULD LIKELY ENDURE MANY OF THESE HARDSHIPS AND ADVERSITIES! (PLUS, MY GENES HAVE LED ME TO EXPERIENCE ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES AND SITUATIONS AND I WOULDN'T WANT TO PASS THESE GENES ONTO ANY OFFSPRING BECAUSE THEY'D INCREASE THE CHANCES OF THOSE OFFSPRING EXPERIENCING SIMILARLY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES AND SITUATIONS!)
*THEY DON'T TAKE ANY OF THE SCIENCE ON THESE BLOGS SERIOUSLY BECAUSE THEY DON'T TAKE MY INTELLECT SERIOUSLY. PLUS, THEY READ THE SCIENCE HERE AND DON'T WANT TO ACCEPT IT AS FACT BECAUSE IT'S CONTRARY TO WHAT THEY WERE TAUGHT TO BELIEVE AND HITS TOO CLOSE TO HOME (FORCES THEM TO THINK ABOUT THESE MATTERS AND ADMIT TO SOME DARK REALITIES http://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2013/05/for-those-of-you-females-who-think-you.html http://vengeanceizmine.blogspot.com/2014/02/httpwww.html).
THE LOW IQ, LOWER CLASSES BREED INDISCRIMINATELY AND ASTRONOMICALLY. WHY? BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER. THEY OPERATE ON INSTINCT. THEY'RE UNCONSCIOUSLY DICTATED BY EVOLUTIONARY IMPERATIVES AND CAN'T OVERRIDE THEM (e.g. EAT WHEN HUNGRY, HAVE SEX WHEN FEELING LUST, HAVE CHILDREN REGARDLESS IF YOU CAN AFFORD THEM AND IRRESPECTIVE OF THE PERSONALITY TRAITS THOSE CHILDREN WILL POSSESS). THIS IS HOW HUMANS HAVE BEEN THINKING AND BEHAVING SINCE THE DAWN OF HUMANITY AND LOW IQ PEOPLE FROM THE LOWER CLASSES ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN OUR STONE AGE ANCESTORS. I DON'T HAVE A LOW IQ AND I'M NOT FROM THE LOWER CLASSES, SO I DON'T HAVE A CHILD AND I MAY NEVER HAVE A CHILD. FURTHERMORE, I MAY PURPOSELY AVOID HAVING A CHILD BECAUSE LIFE IS FILLED WITH MORE PAIN THAN PLEASURE, MORE TRAGEDY THAN TRIUMPH, MORE SUFFERING THAN SUCCESS, AND I WOULDN'T WANT TO BRING A LIFE INTO THE WORLD KNOWING THAT IT WOULD LIKELY ENDURE MANY OF THESE HARDSHIPS AND ADVERSITIES! (PLUS, MY GENES HAVE LED ME TO EXPERIENCE ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES AND SITUATIONS AND I WOULDN'T WANT TO PASS THESE GENES ONTO ANY OFFSPRING BECAUSE THEY'D INCREASE THE CHANCES OF THOSE OFFSPRING EXPERIENCING SIMILARLY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES AND SITUATIONS!)
I don't think that the terrible thing about dying is the expiration of the self. The terrible thing is that WE must leave - and the party goes on without us. Social comparison until the end.
for many, the party isn't much fun.
- If you feel it ending, it suddenly appears incredibly sweet. I know what I am talking about.
- yes, understood
This fundamental asymmetry—suffering is an intrinsic harm, but the absence of pleasure is not—allows Benatar to draw his nihilistic conclusions. In other words, the amount by which the absence of pain is better than its presence is itself greater than the amount by which the presence of pleasure is better than its absence. This means that not existing is either a lot better than existing, in the case of pain, or a little worse, in the case of pleasure. Or to think of it another way, the absence of pain and the presence of pleasure are both good, but the presence of pain is much worse than the absence of pleasure. (Here is my own thought experiment that might help. Suppose that before you were born the gods were trying to decide whether to create you. If they decide to create you, you will suffer much if you have a bad life or a gain greatly if you have a good life. If they decide not to create you, you will gain greatly by avoiding a bad life, but suffer only slightly if at all by not existing—as you wouldn’t know what you had been deprived of.)
To further his argument, Benatar notes that most persons underestimate how much suffering they will endure. If their lives are going better than most, they count themselves lucky. Consider death. It is a tragedy at any age, and only seems acceptable at ninety years of age because of our expectations about life-spans. But is lamenting death inconsistent with his anitnatalism? Benatar thinks not. While non-existence does not harm a possible person, death is another harm that will come to those in existence. In response you could say that you can’t be mistaken about whether you prefer existence to non-existence. Benatar grants that you may not be mistaken, if you claim that you are currently glad to have been born, but you could still be mistaken that it was better to have been born at all. You might now be glad you were born, and then suffer so badly later that you change your mind. (I might wish I hadn’t been born, after I find out what’s in store for me.)
What follows from all this? That we shouldn’t have children? That no one should have children? Benatar claims that to answer yes to these questions goes against a basic drive to reproduce, so we must be careful not to let such drives bias our analysis. Having children satisfies many needs of those who bring children into existence, but this does not mean it serves the interests of the children—in fact it causes them great harm. One could reply that the harm is not that great to the children, since the benefits of existing may outweigh the harm, and, at any rate, we cannot ask future persons if they want to be born. Since we enjoy our lives we assume they will too, thus providing the justification for satisfying our procreational needs. Most people do not regret their existence, and if some do we could not have foreseen it.
Life Lacks Meaning Without Social Acceptance
"relative to social inclusion, ostracism makes people more prone to suicidal thoughts...Ostracism reduces perceived meaning in life, and loss of meaning strongly predicts depression and suicidal thoughts." psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi
There are books that one should never give to depressed friends. David Benatar’s “The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions” is one. Although Mr. Benatar doesn’t want to be one of those malicious people who yell “jump” to the man on the ledge, he is merciless in spelling out his message: Ultimately, our lives are meaningless. Evolution is blind and serves no intrinsic purpose; in a cosmic sense, we each live for an insignificant amount of time. Furthermore, the lives we do lead are often suffused with suffering. Roughly 40% of us will develop cancer during our lifetimes. The misery of people currently living in war zones or in regions suffering from famine is painful to contemplate. There is no such thing as “chronic pleasure,” but “chronic pain” is all too common. Life is terrible, and some people are unluckier than others.
Evolution by natural selection serves no purpose! It does not foresee the “future”, nor does it have any “divine” plan to initiate the best adaptation of organisms. She works with and from what exists. It's a self-weaving process that operates by trial and error.
That's all.
Professor Barash is a good writer and covers a lot of interesting ideas. One I have a problem with is he stresses that humans are just another animal living no where special in the universe, and existing for no reason and, in the end, will become extinct like so many other species have. He writes, "since Darwin, it is no longer useful to ask 'why has a particular species been created.'" In contrast to the creationist beliefs, we just evolved as has every other species "by that particular improbability generator called natural selection after which each of us has no more inherent purpose, no more reason for being, no more central significance to the cosmos" than any other life form. He adds "The natural world evolved as a result of mindless, purposeless material events, and human beings ---not just us as a species but each of us, as individuals--are equally without intrinsic meaning or purpose." At least he is honest as to the clear implications of Darwinism inspire of the theistic evolutionists who attempt to blend two opposite worldviews ! Otherwise, he is fun to read and helps one think about a lot of issues.
https://twitter.com/richarddawkins/status/1092070084489621507
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/22201-the-total-amount-of-suffering-per-year-in-the-natural
Natural selection is indifferent to pain and suffering. But pain and suffering are inevitable consequences of natural selection. Discuss.
https://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2012_08_21_archive.html
G0D Doesn't Exist. It's A Product Of The Brain's Evolution. Well, He Exists But Only In Your Brain (Imagination)!
https://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2013/08/e14.html
The Human Brain Evolved Over Millions Of Years To Believe In G0D. G0D Is All In Your Head!
https://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2012/09/im-going-to-make-this-quick.html
The Precursors To Morality, Religion, And Belief In G0D Are Found In Our Primate Cousins And Hominin Ancestors. Their Brains Almost Allow Them To Believe In G0D! Almost!
https://twitter.com/SteveStuWill/status/1250537128548683776
When Things Don't Go The Way I Plan I Think To Myself, 'Well, We're Just A Species Of Animal* Who Will Likely Go Extinct Or Evolve Into Something Entirely Different Than Our Present Form Within A Thousand Years Just Like Many Other Species That Have Preceded Us. So, Life And What Happens In Life Is Meaningless. Whether We Win Or Lose, Succeed Or Fail, Live Long Or Die Young Is Inconsequential Because A Thousand Years From Now Or 500 Years From Now Or Even 200 Years From Now Our Individual Lives Will Have Made No Difference.' (Profound, Aren't I?!)
"hardly anyone who is an intellectual celebrity today will merit a sidelong glance a century from now...If, a century after you are dead, you have a single scientific finding still being cited, you will have put yourself in tiny company." amzn.to/3msHlfC
*I Look At All Of You As The Primates That You Are. You're All Just Primates (Another Form Of Chimpanzee) On An Insignificant Planet In An Inconceivably Immense Universe.
“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” ― Stephen Hawking
"THE MORE THE UNIVERSE SEEMS COMPREHENSIBLE, THE MORE IT ALSO SEEMS POINTLESS" - STEVEN WEINBERG
Listen To The 1st 1:30 Of This Video.
https://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2014/08/are-any-of-your-reading-this-shit-how.html
http://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2012/11/pride-ideology-or-belief-restrains-many.html
https://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2013/05/everybody-wants-to-rule-world.html
http://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2012/11/pride-ideology-or-belief-restrains-many.html
https://veryayshun.blogspot.com/2013/05/everybody-wants-to-rule-world.html
We're Just Rival Troops Of Chimpanzees. Your Troop Might Be Defined By Ethnicity Or Social Class Or Occupation Or Religion Or Politics Or Any Number Of Other Affiliations That Define You And Differentiate You From Other Troops, But The Bottom Line Is That We're All Members Of A Chimpanzee Troop At Odds With One Another And Trying To Out-Compete One Another For Mates And Survival.
"You’re going to die soon enough anyway; even if it’s a hundred years from now, that’s still the blink of a cosmic eye. In the meantime, live like a scientist—even a controversial one with only an ally or two in all the world—and treat life as a grand experiment, blood, sweat, tears and all. Bear in mind that there's no such thing as a failed experiment—only data." - Jesse Bering
