The central idea - ROT13 ... gung rirel uhzna guebhtu gvzr vf gur fnzr fbhy orvat er-vapneangrq ... /ROT13 is also explored in parts of Transcendent, by Stephen Baxter, in which immortal far future beings ROT13 zhfg cercner sbe gurve vzzbegnyvgl ol rkcrevrapvat rirel yvsrgvzr bs rirel uhzna gung unf rire yvirq orsber gurz. /ROT13. It is also mentioned in The Thought Gang by Tibor Fisher as a possible metaphysics.
The Egg (2009)
121–130 of 159 posts
Re: The Egg (2009)
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
This gets back to the popular notion of Karma, which says that when bad shit happens to someone, they somehow "deserved" it. First off, I don't think Buddhism even has a notion of "bad". It recognizes that there is suffering , but it doesn't say suffering is bad ; it merely says, matter-of-factly and without judgement, that suffering is a consequence of desire. In order not to suffer, the Buddha teaches, one must (am…
Thanks for explaining the Buddhist view. I don't know if you endorse it or not, but that sentiment really irks me. It reminds me of theodicy: Play with words enough, and you can claim the world is a beautiful place. Except, it isn't. It's worse than you can possibly imagine. Over 6 million children under the age of 5 died last year, mostly from disease. That's a Hiroshima bombing every week , killing only children un…
And yet, many of the people who are undoubtedly suffering horribly still manage to find moments of happiness in short, brutal lives. We as privileged people should absolutely be doing all we can to help improve quality of life for all humans, but I think you're projecting bleakness you feel on situations that do in fact have moments of joy, and even peace.
And I think joy is a better word than beauty. Beauty kind of implies to me objective truth, but joy can be found even in unimaginable trying situations where no objective person would see beauty.
I guess at the end of the day, all you can really choose is to believe in something or to believe in nothing.
Re: The Egg (2009)
#123This would have been a significantly more enjoyable experience if the title of the submission didn't give away the ending.
How is the story spoiled by the title, I don't get that?
Re: The Egg (2009)
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
This gets back to the popular notion of Karma, which says that when bad shit happens to someone, they somehow "deserved" it. First off, I don't think Buddhism even has a notion of "bad". It recognizes that there is suffering , but it doesn't say suffering is bad ; it merely says, matter-of-factly and without judgement, that suffering is a consequence of desire. In order not to suffer, the Buddha teaches, one must (am…
Thanks for explaining the Buddhist view. I don't know if you endorse it or not, but that sentiment really irks me. It reminds me of theodicy: Play with words enough, and you can claim the world is a beautiful place. Except, it isn't. It's worse than you can possibly imagine. Over 6 million children under the age of 5 died last year, mostly from disease. That's a Hiroshima bombing every week , killing only children un…
That's a bleak outlook. In the end all we get are the "pretty flowers on the hillside". Look at the sadness and say "nothing can make up for that" and you've died already.
I say "look at the flowers on the hillside, nothing can cancel that out"
Re: The Egg (2009)
#125This would have been a significantly more enjoyable experience if the title of the submission didn't give away the ending.
Who thinks of the title when reading the storey? Its a kind of double-meaning thing - when I'm done reading, and think of the title again, I see the irony or secret or whatever. Its a good title because it adds to the storey when you're done.
Re: The Egg (2009)
#126Another good short story similar to this is Asimov's "The Last Question." http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm
And "The Last Answer", which ironically ends with a question while "The Last Question" ends with an answer. And a bunch of others that aren't quite similar except that they're short, provocative scifi. Here's my list of favorites: * Ted Chiang - Understand - http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm * Ted Chiang - Exhalation - http://www.nightshadebooks.com/Downloads/Exhalation%20-%20Te... * Ted Chiang - Hell I…
* Robert Heinlein - All you Zombies - http://faculty.uca.edu/rnovy/Heinlein--All%20you%20zombies.h...
Re: The Egg (2009)
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Years ago, there was a PBS documentary about the Buddha. [1] In it, one of the guests was addressing a question about the Buddhist belief in reincarnation. He dismissed the popular notion of reincarnation, where one was Napoleon or Cleopatra or the like in a previous life, instead likening it to repeating puberty over and over and over again . It's not a question of being forced to make the mistakes. I think you're m…
What about the natural disasters? You're not choosing that pain and suffering. (Well, maybe a little bit nowadays through global warming, but at least before this century you weren't)
You choose the pain and suffering (mixed in with the good stuff too) because otherwise you'd be as bored as it gets and can't even kill yourself. If you choose to believe that.
Re: The Egg (2009)
#128I guess I'm in the minority that doesn't find this story uplifting. The memory reset is the biggest problem, since it doesn't allow the main character to learn from his mistakes. At the end of time, the main character will have his memories and personalities merged. Then he'll look back on countless lifetimes of the same mistakes and regrets. It would be like if someone slipped you some Ambien (to prevent memory form…
> No other kind of god would set up a system where you're forced to repeat the same mistakes for billions of years.
If the alternative were ultimate boredom, you might. Consider the possibility that you're not repeating mistakes so much as continuously immersing yourself in an environment that relieves boredom, an environment that also allows for personal/god growth.
Re: The Egg (2009)
#129This would be horrifying if it was true. Think of how many billions of painful, terrible lives you would have to experience. Edit: I suppose it's just as horrible regardless of whether or not you experience them...
If you're choosing the reincarnation yourself (if only to relieve boredom), then it's no longer horrifying.
Re: The Egg (2009)
#130Another good short story similar to this is Asimov's "The Last Question." http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm
And "The Last Answer", which ironically ends with a question while "The Last Question" ends with an answer. And a bunch of others that aren't quite similar except that they're short, provocative scifi. Here's my list of favorites: * Ted Chiang - Understand - http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm * Ted Chiang - Exhalation - http://www.nightshadebooks.com/Downloads/Exhalation%20-%20Te... * Ted Chiang - Hell I…
* Tim Maly - Time, Again - http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TimeAgai.sh...
* Ray Bradbury - The Veldt - http://www.veddma.com/veddma/Veldt.htm