Understanding Everything • Hacker News Board

Re: Understanding Everything

#31

Post by PaulDavisThe1st » Wed, Apr 19, 2023, 3:45 PM UTC

Scarblac wrote: post #6

> Well, one of the core measures of a well-designed game (for a given player) is the felt experience of immersion, or flow. Specifically, an immersive game should hold the player in the flow channel at all times. In life, that's not the case. We sometimes choose to do things that are frustrating or boring, because they must be done. Because they're worth doing. Not everything needs to be entertainment. > Instead, I w…

> Life on its own can seem pretty meaningless -- you can try to learn all you want, achieve your wildest dreams, and then we all die and in a few centuries will be utterly forgotten.

Does something only have meaning when it will be remembered for ?

I don't consider this to describe a meaningless life:

> “To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

(btw, although generally ascribed to Emerson, it was not in fact written by him)

Re: Understanding Everything

#32

Post by mistermann » Wed, Apr 19, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

Ferret7446 wrote: post #4

Understanding is a purely artificial/subjective concept. "Understanding" only exists if there is a conscious observer, and "understanding" means whatever that observer wants it to mean. A lot of people have found full understanding in religion. It takes off a lot of the stress from not understanding. You may call this understanding of understanding meta-understanding.

> "Understanding" only exists if there is a conscious observer, and "understanding" means whatever that observer wants it to mean. A lot of people have found full understanding in religion. It takes off a lot of the stress from not understanding.

The same is very (but certainly not identically) true of science or most any ideology/framework, from the perspective of the average civilian.

Re: Understanding Everything

#33

Post by OccamsMirror » Wed, Apr 19, 2023, 11:08 PM UTC

Scarblac wrote: post #6

> Well, one of the core measures of a well-designed game (for a given player) is the felt experience of immersion, or flow. Specifically, an immersive game should hold the player in the flow channel at all times. In life, that's not the case. We sometimes choose to do things that are frustrating or boring, because they must be done. Because they're worth doing. Not everything needs to be entertainment. > Instead, I w…

That sounds nice, but you’re really just engaging in the life long human tradition of death denialism. Avoiding the finitude of your life may seem like a nice philosophy, but it may ultimately be giving you reasons to not make the most of this life.

In existentialism, we embrace the knowledge that our lives have no extrinsic meaning, and acknowledge that the only meaning that can be found is by living a worthwhile life. Meaning is subjective. The universe does not give a shit about your craving for meaning or purpose.