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Our Greatest Delusion As Humans - Veritasium

dannym3141 says...

I don't think i've done a very good job of explaining my point, because:
1) I do not believe in the god of the gaps in any sense, i reject the notion.
2) I didn't ask for a "reason"; this is a subtle point that i'll try to make clearer.
3) I don't hold any "supernatural" beliefs in the sense you mean - not a single one.
4) I believe firmly in things that i can prove to myself, and am uncertain about things that i cannot supply any proof or reason for.

Why are we here? When i ask that question, i am not asking for a reason for our existence; a goal that humanity collectively must achieve. I am asking why do we find ourselves and our reality as we find it? We use science to describe it and become nonplussed by these amazing things but fundamentally, what is charge? Why do opposites attract? Why does mass attract mass, etc.? Isn't it all a bit weird and wonderful?

There is no answer to that question in physics. To use the term "supernatural" to describe a discussion of why/how (which lies beyond the jurisdiction of physics) is either naive or derogatory because the term is philosophy.

You reject the notion that you could go from not existing to existing, finding yourself in a world of things you don't understand. Yet you seem to find it unremarkable that at one point you went from not existing to existing, finding yourself in a world of things you didn't understand. If i put you in a fully immersive Skyrim game, unconscious and without memory, you'd play that game and think it was real. You may even believe that, once you died, you'd cease to exist. But one day, you die in Skyrim and everything ceases to be, before you're transported to a world of things you don't understand. Yet there were no mechanisms within the Skyrim universe to allow for that! In other words, what about things that exist or take place outside of our 3 spatial and 1 temporal dimensions, or perhaps beyond even our understanding of dimensions?

"There has to be a mechanism" is idle speculation on your part, and demonstrates your closedness to anything that might exist beyond our perspective of 3 dimensional space (which might be behind the "why?" and god of the gaps misunderstanding) - for which there is evidence and on which there is active and significant research. Besides, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. This is not the god of the gaps, this is acknowledging our limitations and constraining our certainty accordingly.

It's odd that you quote Sagan, because he often spoke about the spiritual and the unknowable/ineffable. I think he would be more aligned with my assessment than yours, as he was an agnostic and rejected the label atheist.

Possibly we continue to exist, perhaps we don't. Perhaps 'exist' and 'not exist' are human concepts that don't mean anything in the bigger picture, and the parts of us that exist outside of 3 dimensions bathe forever in rivers of custard (or something really weird that can't be explained in english). Nobody knows and no guess is less likely or less educated, in my opinion, which is based on my lack of certainty and absolute bewilderment that we did the not-exist->exist cycle in the first place - but i welcome any argument or evidence you can provide counter to this, and my mind is open to them.

ChaosEngine said:

First of all, those are two completely different questions. What happens (presumably you mean after death?) doesn't necessarily have anything to do with why we are here.

It could be that nothing happens after death, but there is still some grand purpose to existence. Or it could be that there's an afterlife, but the universe itself is meaningless.

As to what do I really know? The answer is, of course, nothing. No-one can really know anything about what happens outside of our existence and anyone who tells you they do is either lying or delusional.

However we can make an educated guess (and not even a "so called" one, a real one based on centuries learning about the universe we inhabit) Every time we make a new discovery, it has turned out to have a natural explanation. As we learn more, the "god of the gaps" has grown smaller and smaller, to the point where we know that even if there is some mystical force underlying the universe, it has no measurable effect on it.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Physicist-Sean-Carroll-refutes-supernatural-beliefs

If our consciousness really does continue after our physical bodies die, there has to be a mechanism for it, and there is zero evidence of any such mechanism.

It could be that we simply lack the tools or the understanding to detect this, but there isn't even anything leading us to ask the question (e.g. an unexplained phenomena that would prompt us to investigate a hypothesis that might lead to a theory).

As to why we are here? From a scientific point of view, there's no evidence to suggest there is a reason to anything. The universe just is. From a philosophical point of view, I've always liked Carl Sagan's idea that "we are a way for the cosmos to know itself".

TL;DR We really know nothing, but it's pretty unlikely that anything happens after death or that there is a reason we are here.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Transgender Rights

SDGundamX says...

I would agree polygamous relationships should be legal (technically they already are in most states) but I would argue that we should keep marriage between just two people. Divorce proceedings/child custody battles/tax filing are already messy enough without adding yet another dimension to the mix. For me it's more a matter of practicality and ease of legal proceedings than any sort of moral objection.

Mordhaus said:

Just to stir the pot, would you all agree that polygamous marriages between consenting adults should be legal?

(Btw, my own opinion is that as long as it involves consenting adults, have at it. Whatever it is.)

What if the Universe is a Computer Simulation?

MilkmanDan says...

To me, imagining the universe as a "grid" of Planck-length units gets *really* interesting when you add the fourth dimension of time, also "digitized" into discrete units of Planck-time.

That can kinda mess with your head. Or mine at least.

Is reality real? Call of Duty May Have the Answer

GenjiKilpatrick says...

He seem pretty confident about a bunch of theoretical stuff..

Wouldn't you need an enormously powerful computer to stimulate a universe?

In what reality or universe does that computer exist?

Aren't we right back at the "big bang doesn't work because what happened before it" paradox?

Interesting.. but sorta silly.

I feel like the Tenth Dimension theory explain things better.

Christopher Lloyd is Doc Brown in New LEGO Game Trailer

Louis CK Probably won't be Invited back to SNL after this

JustSaying says...

Guys, this ain't so hard...
You're a racist when you assign more or less value as a human being to people of a certain race (ethnical group) than you assign to yourself because of their ethnicity. There's a difference between saying "Stalin is less worth than M.L. King" (personal opinion) and "white people are worth less than blacks". The latter would be racism.
Prejudice is when you have opinions about people before knowing the facts about them.
Walking up to Mike Tyson and saying "You must have a giant cock because all black men are giants" is a prejudice that may be racist but it assigns positive values. Sure, it's offensive, like telling asian people they must be great at math, but somewhat forgivable. You're an ignorant cunt, yeah, but at least you said something flattering. You racist.
Walking up to Mike and telling him "All black men are criminals" is not only prejudice but also racist. Why? Because calling somebody a criminal is a negative judgement. A generalized negative prejudice towards an ethnic group is a racist way of thinking. Mike was convicted for raping his girlfriend. He is a criminal. Not all black men are Tyson. And if they were, I'd prefer the science variant. You're plain wrong.
Now saying "I bet all black people like listening to R'nB music" is just prejudice. There's no judgement here. Right? Unless you consider "he listens to R'n'B" an insult. How about "all polish people love ice cream"? Did you just imply polish people are all fat?
The difference between prejudice and racist prejudice lies entirely in subtext and context. It's not what you say, it's what you mean.
Prejudice is a tightrope made of blurry lines spanning over a pit of outrage. That's why politicians should not walk that way.
Being aware of differences between race, ethnic groups and talking about is simply being hones and probably not giving a shit about political correctness. We ARE different. That's the interesting part.
What we sadly forget is this: to focus on what we have in common. But somebody already said that way more eloquent than I ever could:
"Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer
as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us,
do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

Where are the aliens? KurzGesagt

shagen454 says...

That assumes that we understand the nature of the Universe to an advanced degree enough to determine through our imagination (that was created in this Universe/Multiverse) - that an advanced species that exists far back in time, for a far longer time would evolve in somehow the same way as we have ("technology") and not have evolved on some entirely other level that we could not even imagine (yet) or even have the senses for.

There is the possibility for many dimensions. Using our monkey brains, with our monkey imaginations that are still evolving & being built upon - I might imagine that an intelligent civilization that has existed for billions of years would try to find the SAFEST place to exist. The safest place to exist (without fear of black holes, planet destroying comets, natural disaster, corruption, etc) would be in the form of energy; existing on a harmonic frequency that other intelligent lifeforms can tap into if they wish. But, once again that would assume that the senses I have been given and tools/experiences I have are valid in the grand scope of the Universe; of which they probably are not.

shinyblurry said:

If there are any advanced civilizations that have been around for millions or even billions of years they would have already mastered the technology to explore the entire Universe. If there are such civilizations out there, our existence certainly is not a secret.

Nazi tries to burn flag in his back garden

Dji. Death Sails

Shockwave from huge explosion hits marine in Hummer turret

robbersdog49 says...

Not sure about the military but we don't use km in normal life in the UK. In theory we're decimalised, and we use decimal currency and weights and volumes, for the most part. We do still measure our body weight in lbs, our height in feet and inches and the speed of our cars in mph. Distance on the road is in miles too, and gas mileage is mpg. Milk is sold in pints, as is beer. Timber is in inch dimensions (2x4 and so on) and usually in 8ft lengths. If it's sold in decimal measures it's a decimalised imperial measure, so instead of buying an 4 board you'll get a 2440mm x 1220mm.

We do use centigrade rather than fahrenheit. And fizzy drinks are sold by the litre. Come to think about it I really don't know why people think we're decimalised!

serosmeg said:

About 1.5 MILES. It does say Marine, not British Marine.

Homeworld : Remastered trailer

ChaosEngine says...

Homeworld isn't a flight game, it's an RTS. think starcraft in 3 dimensions.

BoneRemake said:

I have been playing FALLOUT 3 for a couple days. FREEAKING COOL GAME !

Too bad I JUST figured out how to use the targeting system, also known as the fighting system or whatnot - I have been playing/aiming like I was in a online deathmatch, people die much faster now. YAY for learning.

I do not play any flight games or space because I do not have a control stick, mouse is not my thing for flight.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains the Third Act of Interstellar

ChaosEngine says...

I read a really great explanation of n-dimensional space a while ago... trying to find it but the basics were:

If I have a point, that has 0 dimensions (note: not a point on a plane, just a dot).

if that point position changes, I have 1 dimension (a line)
if the line position changes, I have 2 dimensions (a square)
if the plane position changes, I have 3 dimensions (a cube)

Easy so far right? but if I take a view of time, then that cube (in fact, all of 3 dimensional space) is a dot again.

if the cube exist for 10 seconds, it has moved through time. Now we have a line in four-dimensional space.

Now here's where it gets tricky. Let's go back to the point and the line.
When we have 1 dimension, I can move the point along a line, but I cannot change the line. Think of it like a train on a single track. It can go back and forth, but the track doesn't change. If I want to change where the train goes, I need to move the track.

Same with the line. To move a line I need two dimensions.

And same with time. To change time, we need FIVE dimensions. With 4 you can only go along the time line (hell, we can only go one way). But if you want to change time, then time must be on a plane... a 5th dimension.

The Fine Tuning of the Universe

rancor says...

That's a pretty poor conclusion. I would have thrown in two other points:

1. If we hit the jackpot, we only got one spin so we've never known anything else. Given how vast the universe is with respect to space and time, is it so hard to believe that there are other dimensions so unknown and vast that of course there will be a universe that supports its own continued existence, and life? I would loosely liken it to the Drake Equation, which relies on huge numbers to demonstrate that even extremely improbable things are plausible: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

2. I prefer to think that these constants are actually our own invention. We invented all numbers, units, and sciences to explain how we see things behave, but because of that we have to adjust our equations to fit the way the universe behaves. That implies that these constants are not adjustable, because they are not real in the first place -- they're just more imaginary ideas of our own invention.

enoch (Member Profile)

radx says...

"Adding that to the explicitly military and overseas contingency funding, the real dimensions of the US military-intelligence-police-prison complex begin to come into view: a staggering $830 billion, more than 80 cents out of every dollar in the funding bill, is devoted to killing, spying on, imprisoning or otherwise oppressing the people of the world, including the American people."

Not sure I'd put it that way, but still...

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/13/budg-d13.html

terminator genisys trailer

poolcleaner says...

Comic books have been dealing with these issues for years. (There are entire teams of Avengers comprised of varied times and parallel universes.) Aside from a sentient time-dimensional traveler demigod that interferes -- it happens because there's some interconnectivity between all dimensions, time included.

lucky760 said:

Pshaw.

That's a valid explanation for how your changing the past can skew the future timeline after the manipulation took place.

There's no such valid excuse for the simple act of going backwards in time landing you in a different parallel universe that is totally unrelated to the universe from which the time traveler left.



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