Author Topic: Stuck in an Infinite Void  (Read 1030 times)

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HeavyAndExpensive

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Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
« Reply #30 on: December 14, 2023, 06:24:54 AM »
Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.

Yes and it can be absolutely terrifying. I remember when I was a child I used to try to fathom the concept of "non-existence" and it made my brain reset. A return to a state of nothingness can be a terrifying or comforting thought.

matt_2993

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Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
« Reply #31 on: December 14, 2023, 06:30:41 AM »
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Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.
[close]

Yes and it can be absolutely terrifying. I remember when I was a child I used to try to fathom the concept of "non-existence" and it made my brain reset. A return to a state of nothingness can be a terrifying or comforting thought.

Shit I still do that pretty regular. If I get high my brain goes into panic mode pondering this shit and need to shut the thoughts down immediately lol

ToySanta

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Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
« Reply #32 on: December 15, 2023, 01:51:54 PM »
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But wouldn’t you think that in a place like Heaven, you’d be, hopefully, on a little bit of an elevated plane of existence where everyone’s (for lack of a better term) superego has been diminished due to an inexhaustible supply of material resources and time…to the point that souls can freely congregate as they see fit, and an introvert staring into a pond by him or herself would be just as valid a use of time as anything else.

But you’ve caused me to think a new thought: If Heaven is populated by our human souls (and hopefully those of our earthly pets), wouldn’t it be subject to the same forces of human nature that apply here on earth? 

With nothing to do, an ever-increasing population (good people keep dying after all), and an infinite amount of time and resources, we’d for sure fuck it up.  It’s so incompatible with human nature that the best and most noble of us, with enough time and lack of selection pressure could produce seemingly anything.

[close]

In all seriousness, you're actually touching here on a central point in 'This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom' by Martin Hägglund: without finite time and resources no conception of value (useful to humanity) can ever exist. The religious notion of eternal life and capitalism's notion of transcendental value are two sides of the same coin, for example, that do precisely that. Instead, the key to human freedom lies in a (collective) recognition of, and engagement with, our finite existence in a finite world (enter: democratic socialism).

The title maybe makes it sound like cheap self-help trash from an airport bookstore, and my summary maybe makes it sound like inaccessible and ultimately vacuous academic posturing, but it's a really extraordinary piece of work, and a good read at that.

(I think there's a version of this book with an even shittier title as well; something like 'Why Mortality Sets Us Free'.)

Anyway, I'd take the risk with my disembodied consciousness floating in space, hoping that the lack of stimulation of my brain gives me a warm, colourful, happy psychosis, before eventually shrinking to the size of a peanut and remaining conscious only in the broadest definition possible. Plus, I really really don't want anyone touching my pee hole, not even if Hell uses clean, slightly moist, warm q-tips.

Well, damn, this is some good pondering stuff.

Before I slowly ghosted mostly-conservative-white-american-christianity, I came to believe that heaven was just new Earth. Like, everything restarted and humans lost the option to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Good & Evil.
I kinda figure heaven is life now but without the crimes & sadness & bad stuff. There is still work - food to be grown and prepared, halfpipes to be skated, dogs to be walked, etc.
Like potted plants or fish kept in aquariums, you can move them and their size & reach will increase. Maybe the utopia is kinda like that? The bounty of the planet expands to meet the needs of its inhabitants, instead of what we are experiencing now?

I disagree about the value aspect; I think that’s just how humans attempt to encourage ourselves about the worthiness of life. I love the sun! I don’t need the rain to remind me how much I love the sun!
But I also accept these thoughts are outside of my realm of comprehension. My body & soul work to keep me alive even when I don’t treat them well.

Is the offer to float in space as we know it or just a nothingness? Could be pretty cool either way. Like feet without shoes, they keep growing. The floating could lead to an expansion of consciousness heretofore unknown!

My library has this book. Ima thumb through it. If I read it, I will report back.

SneakySecrets

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Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
« Reply #33 on: December 15, 2023, 07:23:28 PM »
Expand Quote
Expand Quote

But wouldn’t you think that in a place like Heaven, you’d be, hopefully, on a little bit of an elevated plane of existence where everyone’s (for lack of a better term) superego has been diminished due to an inexhaustible supply of material resources and time…to the point that souls can freely congregate as they see fit, and an introvert staring into a pond by him or herself would be just as valid a use of time as anything else.

But you’ve caused me to think a new thought: If Heaven is populated by our human souls (and hopefully those of our earthly pets), wouldn’t it be subject to the same forces of human nature that apply here on earth? 

With nothing to do, an ever-increasing population (good people keep dying after all), and an infinite amount of time and resources, we’d for sure fuck it up.  It’s so incompatible with human nature that the best and most noble of us, with enough time and lack of selection pressure could produce seemingly anything.

[close]

In all seriousness, you're actually touching here on a central point in 'This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom' by Martin Hägglund: without finite time and resources no conception of value (useful to humanity) can ever exist. The religious notion of eternal life and capitalism's notion of transcendental value are two sides of the same coin, for example, that do precisely that. Instead, the key to human freedom lies in a (collective) recognition of, and engagement with, our finite existence in a finite world (enter: democratic socialism).

The title maybe makes it sound like cheap self-help trash from an airport bookstore, and my summary maybe makes it sound like inaccessible and ultimately vacuous academic posturing, but it's a really extraordinary piece of work, and a good read at that.

(I think there's a version of this book with an even shittier title as well; something like 'Why Mortality Sets Us Free'.)

Anyway, I'd take the risk with my disembodied consciousness floating in space, hoping that the lack of stimulation of my brain gives me a warm, colourful, happy psychosis, before eventually shrinking to the size of a peanut and remaining conscious only in the broadest definition possible. Plus, I really really don't want anyone touching my pee hole, not even if Hell uses clean, slightly moist, warm q-tips.
[close]

Well, damn, this is some good pondering stuff.

Before I slowly ghosted mostly-conservative-white-american-christianity, I came to believe that heaven was just new Earth. Like, everything restarted and humans lost the option to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Good & Evil.
I kinda figure heaven is life now but without the crimes & sadness & bad stuff. There is still work - food to be grown and prepared, halfpipes to be skated, dogs to be walked, etc.
Like potted plants or fish kept in aquariums, you can move them and their size & reach will increase. Maybe the utopia is kinda like that? The bounty of the planet expands to meet the needs of its inhabitants, instead of what we are experiencing now?

I disagree about the value aspect; I think that’s just how humans attempt to encourage ourselves about the worthiness of life. I love the sun! I don’t need the rain to remind me how much I love the sun!
But I also accept these thoughts are outside of my realm of comprehension. My body & soul work to keep me alive even when I don’t treat them well.

Is the offer to float in space as we know it or just a nothingness? Could be pretty cool either way. Like feet without shoes, they keep growing. The floating could lead to an expansion of consciousness heretofore unknown!

My library has this book. Ima thumb through it. If I read it, I will report back.

It’s not really an “offer”, I just had the specific fear of existing in an endless, featureless void without any hope of contacting another living soul for the rest of eternity.  It’s just so scary.

Getting to float as a ghost through actual space would be sick as  fuck though.  Maybe if you were a really good person they give you a big map of all the coolest stuff to check out.  Trillions of habitable planets to explore.  Think of all the crazy alien life forms, gargantuan space worms swallowing up whole star systems, worlds populated by only adorable coo-ing little tennis-ball looking things rolling around bouncing into each other, fucking demon zombie dragons made of pure diamonds having an intergalactic space war with a race of super technologically advanced sea slugs… it’s all out there man.  Maybe some planets are particularly tuned-in to the spirit realm and you can communicate with them.  That would be great, sign me up.  But only if I can have the option to ultimately die so I wouldn’t have to witness the heat death of the universe.

In your view of heaven, you said there will still be work to do.  That’s probably a good thing because I think we need something to give us some purpose whether we actively acknowledge it or not.  But like, would all work exist?  But like, are there going to be people scrubbing toilets in heaven?  How’d it feel like heaven if you’re doing that all day?  Maybe part of the whole heaven-package is that we are our fully-manifested selves, capable of finding deep and profound joy in even the most unpleasant jobs.

without finite time and resources no conception of value (useful to humanity) can ever exist.

I don’t think that’s too radical of a take.  It would be fascinating to somehow test that out even though we never could.

When nothing in society deserves respect, we should fashion for ourselves in solitude new silent loyalties.

addie pray

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Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
« Reply #34 on: December 15, 2023, 08:18:29 PM »
im more afraid of living forever