Metaphysics (teleologic): Does anything have a purpose? If the universe or part of it has a purpose it presumes intentionality. Someone or something, however it was all created, had/has a reason. Or not! Having a reason may be strictly humanistic, as far as we know, and a different species or non-life may well have different or no logic. Creation might well have occurred without intent. "It makes no sense." And, if there is a purpose that we could understand, it may well have nothing whatsoever to do with us or even life. Created? It doesn't take any more stretch of the imagination to consider that the universe was not created, that it just always was than it is to consider that it was created by an Omni God or an eternal limited-power God. The difficulty is "eternal". I do not grasp the concepts of eternality or infinity. I can define the words but I cannot understand or experience the concepts. And how can nothing come of nothing? So not only do I not know if the universe has a purpose, but I do also not know if, how, or why it came about. Purpose implies reason and intent. Our existence is not the reason the universe was created. The cosmos does not revolve around us. Yet our ongoing quest seem to presume that we (intelligent life) are the reason the universe exists; the ultimate hubris.
Do I exist? I believe I do. I am sentient. I am aware that I am aware. Even as a character in a universal computer game, I would exist as the character that I am. Do all that I experience exist? Sort of. Dreams and such might consist of things that exist and things that do not exist experientially. Nonetheless, dreams do exist. So, I know that much. I also know how I came to exist. What I do not know nor have a theory for is that I do not know why I, you, Earth, or the universe exist. Theists might suggest we exist to please a creator and to better mankind. Some scientists suggest that evolution is designed to advance humanity. But that is a whole other question beginning with defining "advance" and the ultimate goal. And how does "value" fit into the picture.
Is there a God? I do not believe that there is a God in the religious Omni- sense. Given the despicable nature of humanity and the relative insignificance of Earth and our galaxy, I find it difficult to that the universe and life were create and are being ruled over by any form of intelligence as we know it.
Consciousness and existence (Ontology?): The experience of anything. AReality. Is consciousness the essence of reality?
The constants (fine-tuning). If any one of about 20 were just even slightly changed, life would not have begun or evolved. This is silly. If whatever created the universe was powerful enough to create it the way it is they would have been powerful enough to create any other way. Change the constants. Scientists calculate that there is a one in a trillion chance that the constants exist that allow life to form. Why not, dear creator, just change life requirements to match the changed constants? Actually, why the whole she-bang rather than just one planet, one life form to achieve whatever purpose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFZFbFD8uk0
Time: What is time? I'm thinking it is a construct designed to measure the progress of observed entropy. Each future moment forms the previous moment so to be as it will be. Consequently, there is no free will.
Just thinking another way (the Block Theory): The universe exists always. All elements exist simultaneously. What we call time always exists. The past, present, and future do not exist as such but simultaneously as what we've termed "time". So yesterday is still occurring only not for our consciousness. Tomorrow is also occurring but we can't experience it. We can see some of what continues to happen in what we call our past and some less of what is happening in our future. So just as we can move from one place in space to another, might we be able to move from one place in time to another? So, theoretically, we all live forever as always existing in each moment of our lives, yet being conscious of only one moment.
Multiple Universes: I find it odd that most of the video documentaries and written material postulating multiple universes or even discussing the reality of this universe sound or read as though we and our little earth are the universes, the all. Why would parallel universes contain copies of us humans?
Epistemology: Knowledge is believing in something true (corresponds to reality) and verifiable (justifiable).
Epiphenomenalism:
Time and Time Travel: Time Travel (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Interesting discovery: attempts to measure time increases universal entropy. Are we hastening the end of time by attempting to measure it.
Free Will (Robert Sapolsky): It makes sense to me that my genetic makeup combined with my life experiences to-date combine to determine each of my next decisions, small and large.
If we lived forever, with everything we need, what would be the purpose of life?
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