Hacker News Reader

Comment by antidesitter | Hacker News Reader

Countered the downvote because I’m interested in this line of reasoning. Could you expand on that? Why do you think having no memory of “waking up” to existence makes it less meaningful?

I'm reminded of the following quote by Alan Watts from The Way of Zen:

To the Taoist mentality, the aimless, empty life does not suggest anything depressing. On the contrary, it suggests the freedom of clouds and mountain streams; wandering nowhere; of flowers in impenetrable canyons, beautiful for no one to see, and of the ocean surf forever washing the sand, to no end.

View on HN

I like that idea. I think the world is a beautiful place, and I think also that humans can be a beautiful species at the times they come together. What is that one quote? "All that wander are not lost." I believe we can find peace with our existence and mortality and its something we have to remind ourselves of that individually it is not forever, and how it will end in general is not yet perceived.

All of the worst things in human history have happened as a result of mob mentality or 'humans coming together'.

On the contrary, the only times humanity doesn't sap me of the will to live is when I'm dealing with people on an individual basis.

> All that wander are not lost.

I feel like you're misunderstanding that quote as well.

It's supposed to be "Not all who wander are lost" and it refers to loners, wanderers, vagrants and explorers that never settle down and 'plant roots'.

The idea being that there are plenty of people that exist like that and enjoy that way of life. Other people with families and steady jobs tend to look at them as if they are 'lost', without truly understanding what it is to walk the earth.

Not the parent, but it kind of makes sense: if a network cable has no beginning it definitely has no purpose.

That's actually a great analogy there. I will say I wasn't really vouching for that line of reasoning more than exploring my own thoughts about it and that was one route my mind went. I like to do that with deeper questions from time to time. I guess that with no..."sense of time" or understanding of our beginning we have a less accurate ideal of what our ending may be. However, there is one thing we know for certain is that we do die. At least our bodies do. What happens after that though is to be disclosed. So maybe only what we do between those two points is what matters anyways? And some may view that as if we are going to die anyways, what does it matter?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com