Like the subject of our personal mortality, an examination of civilization mortality opens so many interesting boxes to explore. For example...
Where is the proof that life is better than death? There is none! There are all kinds of theories on the subject of death, and not a shred of proof to validate any of them.
Like the subject of our personal mortality, an examination of civilization mortality opens so many interesting boxes to explore. For example...
Where is the proof that life is better than death? There is none! There are all kinds of theories on the subject of death, and not a shred of proof to validate any of them.
Would a global nuclear war be the worst of all possible outcomes? An answer to that question would seem to depend entirely on what we're comparing life to. If the worst happens will we all become rotting slabs of meat eaten by the roaches who survive? Or will we go up the tunnel and in to the light? Or something else we can't even begin to imagine? Nobody has a clue.
As many have commented, there's really no credible reason to believe we can keep nuclear weapons around forever and they will never be used. Nor is there any credible reason to believe we know how to get rid of these weapons.
If the above is true, then science has brought us back to the field of religion, because the only thing any of us can really control is what we choose to believe about the largest of questions. If civilization is destroyed and we all die, then what? What do we believe happens next?
If there was credible proof of any answer to the largest of questions then reason would require us to surrender our perspective to that proof. But there is no proof, nor any reason to think will ever find such proof. And so we are freed from the requirements of reason in this particular case, and are liberated to choose whatever story about death works best for us personally.
For myself, I've chosen the story offered by those who have had near death experiences. No, I don't consider these reports to be proof of anything. On such enormous subjects, to demand proof is to live in fantasy. I consider near death experience reports only to be stories that enhance my life, and willingly choose to believe them for that reason. Given the seeming impossibility of avoiding nuclear war, this may be the job before each of us. Find a story about death that enhances our life.
If you think about it, the widely held yet totally unproven notion that this life is all we get may be one of the causes of nuclear war. Such a perspective on the human condition tends to create a quite desperate situation where everyone is scrambling to grab on to everything they can get before their time runs out, and that is a recipe for conflict.
Like the subject of our personal mortality, an examination of civilization mortality opens so many interesting boxes to explore. For example...
Where is the proof that life is better than death? There is none! There are all kinds of theories on the subject of death, and not a shred of proof to validate any of them.
Would a global nuclear war be the worst of all possible outcomes? An answer to that question would seem to depend entirely on what we're comparing life to. If the worst happens will we all become rotting slabs of meat eaten by the roaches who survive? Or will we go up the tunnel and in to the light? Or something else we can't even begin to imagine? Nobody has a clue.
As many have commented, there's really no credible reason to believe we can keep nuclear weapons around forever and they will never be used. Nor is there any credible reason to believe we know how to get rid of these weapons.
If the above is true, then science has brought us back to the field of religion, because the only thing any of us can really control is what we choose to believe about the largest of questions. If civilization is destroyed and we all die, then what? What do we believe happens next?
If there was credible proof of any answer to the largest of questions then reason would require us to surrender our perspective to that proof. But there is no proof, nor any reason to think will ever find such proof. And so we are freed from the requirements of reason in this particular case, and are liberated to choose whatever story about death works best for us personally.
For myself, I've chosen the story offered by those who have had near death experiences. No, I don't consider these reports to be proof of anything. On such enormous subjects, to demand proof is to live in fantasy. I consider near death experience reports only to be stories that enhance my life, and willingly choose to believe them for that reason. Given the seeming impossibility of avoiding nuclear war, this may be the job before each of us. Find a story about death that enhances our life.
If you think about it, the widely held yet totally unproven notion that this life is all we get may be one of the causes of nuclear war. Such a perspective on the human condition tends to create a quite desperate situation where everyone is scrambling to grab on to everything they can get before their time runs out, and that is a recipe for conflict.