Is the universe friendly?

The universe isn't friendly, it's not unfriendly, it just is.

The notion: we are part of the universe, so we determine it's demeanor, ignores what infinitesimal small part we play in the universe.

I do disagree with Al on "If we decide that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly and that God is essentially ‘playing dice with the universe’, then we are simply victims to the random toss of the dice and our lives have no real purpose or meaning."
Because sure, our lives have no real purpose or meaning in the grand (universal) scheme of things, but we have an ability to create purpose and meaning in our own little insignificant pocket of the universe. Our lives have meaning and purpose towards those we share our lives with.
 
Zardnaar said:
Covid at work place?
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Not in the new place, thankfully. It's under pretty tight lockdown and the patients never get visitors anyway. And almost everybody in the hospital is double vaccinated.

The unfriendly part in my existence is my personal life. I could make an entire (boring) thread on the past two years.
 
Lemon Merchant said:
The unfriendly part in my existence is my personal life. I could make an entire (boring) thread on the past two years.
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Personal stories can make great reading. Just write it well. :)
 
Irish people kvetching is cultural appropriation. :p
 
I'd say the universe is both friendly and unfriendly, life is about cooperation. Even trees and plants communicate with each other to make better use of resources while other life has to kill to survive.
 
AmazonQueen said:
We are part of the universe but that we are aware doesn't make the universe aware. We aren't a group consciousness.
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You are part of the Universe that is aware. Therefore, your part of the Universe is aware. Multiply that by every conscious lifeform on our planet and anywhere else.

It's aware. Maybe not the entirety of it is, but it is aware. "Group consciousness" is not required.

Is the physics part of the Universe aware? No, I wouldn't go that far. Physics is one of those things that simply is, and it works in an entirely uncaring, neutral way, not giving half a damn if how it works helps or hinders anything else.


Fun fact for Trek fans: Lawrence Krauss wrote a book on the physics of Star Trek.

Fun fact for Dr. Who fans: Richard Dawkins used to be married to Lalla Ward (Romana II; she's also an artist and designed his ties that have animal and vegetation designs on them)

Fun fact for Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy fans: Douglas Adams introduced Dawkins and Ward at a gathering.
 
Lemon Merchant said:
Not in the new place, thankfully. It's under pretty tight lockdown and the patients never get visitors anyway. And almost everybody in the hospital is double vaccinated.

The unfriendly part in my existence is my personal life. I could make an entire (boring) thread on the past two years.
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Ah Le suck. Good luck;)
 
Synsensa said:
The universe doesn't need to be anything, let alone a binary between friendly and unfriendly. Most applications of philosophy are just symptoms of ego.
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Probably true but we can't help ourselves.

It doesn't have to be about us as humans or even earthlings. Why did life come about? Is life evolving towards less collective suffering?

It's hard to base principles on anything but our subjective well being since it's all we know.

Lemon Merchant said:
Nah. I'd get flamed for too much kvetching. :lol:
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.
Haters gon hate, if it helps you to vent do it, you may help someone else who can relate and if it annoys someone they're free not to read it.
 
Narz said:
Is life evolving towards less collective suffering?
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Evolution is basically "survival of those species most successful at adapting."

That's why coelacanths are examples of successful evolution. We thought they were extinct, and then somebody caught one. Now we know they're still around. They may not be beautiful to human eyes, but I find it beautiful to think of how long they've managed to stick around.

Encouraging people to get their friggin' covid vaccinations is a way of ensuring covid is not an evolutionary success story, and that it reaches a point where it can't adapt, so it dies.

I was watching part of a nature documentary about Hawaii, and how some of the older islands have eroded to the point where they're just little patches of sand that will be swallowed up by the ocean. This is expected to happen in a matter of a few decades, and unless something can be done to re-home the native species that still live there, they will become extinct.
 
Birdjaguar said:
Most likely we will never know the answer, so we have to make a judgment call for ourselves. The choice one makes will set one upon a path unlike the paths offered by other choices. Choose wisely and with conviction.
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We will need another universe(s) to compare it with to know
But I believe Hawkens ? said that if anything our universe seems to be is optimized to create black holes
 
Narz said:
I was exercising listening to this song* & trying to remember the Einstein quote about whether the universe is benevolent or not so I found it.

Spoiler :
"I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’ This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves.

"For if we decide that the universe is an unfriendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to achieve safety and power by creating bigger walls to keep out the unfriendliness and bigger weapons to destroy all that which is unfriendly and I believe that we are getting to a place where technology is powerful enough that we may either completely isolate or destroy ourselves as well in this process.

"If we decide that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly and that God is essentially ‘playing dice with the universe’, then we are simply victims to the random toss of the dice and our lives have no real purpose or meaning.

"But if we decide that the universe is a friendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to create tools and models for understanding that universe. Because power and safety will come through understanding its workings and its motives."

"God does not play dice with the universe,"

--Albert Einstein


I don't quite agree w his line of reasoning that believing in some inherent meaning/order will create a more sane society. The statistics show the opposite (the more secular societies are less violent/destructive/warlike).

I do find it exhausting tho contemplating a meaningless universe. It's energizing to think you know something even tho you don't.

For me this question is something I can't really get out of my head, I imagine that's pretty common.

* is it a forest of love or just a forest?
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I'd say neither because I don't believe it is aware due primarily to a lack of evidence to suggest otherwise. Now perhaps it could, which would essentially make it God, yet as of now I don't believe there is sufficient evidence for me to conclude that it does.

Only form of definitive proof would be if it spoke to me directly in English through some form of osmosis. Although such revelation may thereby be explained away as mental illness and therefore unreliable, therefore such revelation would need to have the being shout inside everyone's head all at once in everyone's native tongue all around the World. The mass psychosis and pandemonium of this single event would be enough to, without a doubt, prove the Universe is indeed alive and indeed God.
 
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