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[Hubris Incalculable]

So, I just had an idea for a game; we ask each other deep questions, and answer the question above, much like the corrupt-a-wish game.

I'll lead in with this question: If you were told, without a shadow of a doubt that you were going to die in exactly 24 hours, without pain or suffering, would you be ready? And if not, would you be able to get ready in those twenty-four hours?

[WillowLuman]

I would destroy the short stories of which I am most embarrassed. But other than that, sure.

How do you define "Good"? Is there an objective meaning to it, in your opinion?

[GreatWyrmGold]

Spoiler: Hubris Incalculable (click to show/hide)

I would start by asking how he knows.
And as to if I'd be ready...heck, how can someone be ready for something like that? I suppose you could inform everyone you know, but with that little time to prepare you couldn't even prepare a nice I'm-dying-soon-anyways party/world-trip/etc.

And ninja'd.

What is good? It is better than bad. I assume you mean good as in opposite-of-evil? I would say "good" is whatever promotes the greatest good of the most people. Utilitarianism-like. That is a bit of a circular cop-out, but the concept of "good" is too wide-ranging to classify under one blanket term.

Would it be better to be a slave in heaven, or a freeman in hell?

[MeimieFan88]

It's hard to imagine what heaven and hell are. I'd say the answer is subjective to each person's definition of the words. A part of me definitely prefers to be a slave in heaven, but it seems that such a choice is and forever will be absolute. I'd cease to be me, and instead become a cog in a machine with no will, no desires, nothing. It'd be like being dead, I guess. On the other hand, I have an immediate repulsion for 'hell' but at least such a place can change, with me perhaps being the agent of that change. This question almost seems to ask "would you rather exist or not exist?" To be honest, there are times when I'd rather not exist, but right now I'm leaning towards being a freeman in hell.

What do you think the world will be like in 200 years?

[GreatWyrmGold]

Plus ca change, c'est la meme chose. The world will be different, but it will be the same.
If you want a "real" answer: I don't know. We might drive ourselves to extinction or near to it in the next few generations. We might fix out problems and advance into a crystal-spires-and-togas-style utopia. The likeliest is in the middle. Really, who can claim to know?

[Playergamer]

No one can claim to know.

Why are you here? Not like a meaning of life thing, just why are you here, and not someone else?

[GreatWyrmGold]

Because of the way the genes of my parents' gametes that united that one fateful (for me, at least) night, or possibly late afternoon (I never asked for details, strangely enough) interacted with each other and the world, and the way these interactions interacted with each other, the base traits, and the world I continued to grow up in. The world is nothing but a mass of butterflies, flapping their wings, making and destroying hurricanes.

...Um...what kind of God would make a creation in His image that started to lost cognitive capacity if it did not stop all activity for several hours each day?

[ICBM pilot]

toadyone or armok.
do humans have free will?

[WillowLuman]

Ninjas

No one can claim to know.

Why are you here? Not like a meaning of life thing, just why are you here, and not someone else?

(people can always claim to know)

Because I am.
There is no purpose to existence besides that which we create. Meaning does not come to us from the Universe, but rather we invent meaning and purpose, then apply it to the universe. Therefore, I am here because I am here. Were someone else occupying my place in the universe, I would be them and their answer to this question would be mine. I formed as a natural consequence of the Universe.

Because of the way the genes of my parents' gametes that united that one fateful (for me, at least) night, or possibly late afternoon (I never asked for details, strangely enough) interacted with each other and the world, and the way these interactions interacted with each other, the base traits, and the world I continued to grow up in. The world is nothing but a mass of butterflies, flapping their wings, making and destroying hurricanes.

...Um...what kind of God would make a creation in His image that started to lost cognitive capacity if it did not stop all activity for several hours each day?

A God that also needs to sleep, a God who wanted people to enjoy restfulness, a God who wanted to make mortals aware of their limits, etc. People will always find ways to rationalize their beliefs. Instead of questioning the specifics of the supernatural, it is better to question if its existence is absolutely required to explain things.

toadyone or armok.
do humans have free will?

Even assuming that all of Time is predetermined by the initial conditions of the Universe, yes. Even if all of your decisions are determined by the structure of your brain, body, and environment, the consequences of your decisions would not occur if you were not there to decide them.


Are base desires a distraction, a hindrance upon the pursuit of a meaningful life, or are they an essential part of the human condition? Would one be dehumanizing themselves in some way to remove them?

[Harry Baldman]

Are base desires a distraction, a hindrance upon the pursuit of a meaningful life, or are they an essential part of the human condition? Would one be dehumanizing themselves in some way to remove them?

Your base desires are what your non-base desires are derived from. Without them, you would not have any other desires, and thus would not be human at all, having no basis for a human psychology.


What can you consider to be a meaningful life?

[LeoLeonardoIII]

What can you consider to be a meaningful life?

There's what you do for yourself and what you do for the rest of the world.

What you do for others:
First, you should at least leave things as good as they were before you came. That's probably a good minimum to shoot for, but it's a bit like "don't be a criminal" in the sense that, yeah of course you shouldn't ruin stuff.

Second, if you can improve something, even if nobody knows it, the aggregate benefits of everyone doing that will be pretty cool. This scales down to your everyday life, picking up some crap in your house as you pass by instead of leaving it, making your house cleaner and nicer without any real extra effort. You might never be a hero, and that's fine.

What you do for yourself:
You need to have goals, and work toward them.

You can do more if you improve yourself; the strong, the experienced, the knowledgeable, and powerful are able to impact their lives and everyone else's more than the weak newbie can. This means being inquisitive. Curious. Develop a taste for adventure.

Strike a middle ground. If you really think extremism is necessary, ponder carefully when to shift back to moderation and make that shift effectively.

Examine your life. I don't mean to include a whole lot of Platonic weight to that statement; just think about things. Think about government and law, about society, about technology, about religion and spirituality and religious organization. Think about history and the future. Think about right now.

--

TL;DR: Basically, don't just float through life. Life can be meaningful even if you don't work hard and examine it. But it's like a sprinter who might be able to run quickly even if he doesn't train hard and doesn't watch himself run. You don't know if you're just deluding yourself and you don't know how much better you can be.


//
//

Question:
What is the worst thing you would do to someone who killed the one you loved most?

[Fniff]

Kill their most loved one. It's both a terrible thing to do and is the worst in terms of practicality because it keeps the cycle of revenge going.

If you were in a war and had an order that would endanger you but give a massive boost to your side in the war (Whether or not it's a just cause is up for you), but the people who gave you the order are dead and no-one is present to judge you, would you fulfill the order?

[GreatWyrmGold]

With just that, I can't tell. If the cause was just enough and the danger small enough, or if I was doomed to be killed or captured, certainly.

Why do people keep trying to ask specific but vague scenarios as deep questions? What makes us think that such things are really "deep"? Or are we just out of questions?

[Fniff]

Mainly because I like asking hypothetical questions and see how people respond to them. Really, the qualifier of "deep" questions is rather vague at best. For example this is technically a deep question.

How deep is the Marianas Trench?

Though technically, it's a depth question, but ultimately that's semantics.

[WillowLuman]

As deep as it gets.

In your opinion, can war ever become obsolete, or is it impossible for humans to find a way to stop conflict?