Life, the Universe and Everything*
*Of course I don't really know.UPDATE: Steve Pavlina posted a podcast with the same title as this page...I thought that was too cool not to mention here...now back to my page...
I woke up at about 2:53 this morning and started to do a "heart" meditation that I found in a book "The Seeker's Guide" (before that I had a fun dream..but that is another journal entry).
The heart mediation felt fun and a little scary, but then I started thinking about life, the universe, and everything...the actual and the book by Douglas Adams.
The meaning of Life, the Universe
and Everything: What is Life?
Let's start by getting some definitions out of the way...here is a definition of the word life:
the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death); "the battery had a short life"; "he lived a long and happy life"
I picked this definition from Google because it dispels something that many people think and which is not really based in fact: that death is the opposite of life...let's look at a definition of death for comparison:
the absence of life or state of being dead; "he seemed more content in death than he had ever been in life"
Here again, this definition is a loaded with the presumption that death is a "state of being dead".
I choose to believe that life doesn't really have and opposite...or if it does...it is not death.
For me birth and death are both events contained within life...well, life actually might start before birth. We do know that conception happens...let's break this down a little bit with the facts that we know:
Before conception - unknown (there are no facts before conception)
Conception - Conception happens...that is a fact.
Gestation - Gestation happens...that is a fact.
Birth - Birth happens...that is a fact.
Life - Life happens...that is a fact.
Death - Death happens...that is a fact.
After death - Unknown...(there are no facts after death)
So perhaps we can come up with a new definition of life:
Life: At least 5 facts between 2 states lacking any facts.
Life: From unknown to facts and back again to unknown.
We all journey from some "unknown" place or state...we are here for a while...and then we are gone from here perhaps gone for good...perhaps but to the same "unknown" place or state we were before conception.
So that's life...Let's put a pin in that there and move on to "The universe"
The meaning of Life, the Universe
and Everything: What is The Universe?
Ok, back to some Google definitions:
The Universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and constants that govern them. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe
That is really good definition and it sets up some nice factual boundaries for us to discuss and ponder.
First, I think we can all agree by this definition that the universe is one thing. It is an idea that contains everything that "physically exists" and the ideas (laws and constants...which don't physically exist but I can see why we need to include them to play in this pool).
So, if something physically exists...it is contained in the universe. All matter, space and time, energy and momentum...got those...those are all in the universe...
...the physical laws and constants are at best an idea and as far as we know as a fact...all ideas are thoughts, and thoughts could be thought of as energy...so I think this might be a bit a stretch, but I will go with the laws and constants being in the universe...
...there are observable facts of the affects of physical laws and constants within the universe...I would like to reserve the right to think the laws and constants might be in the universe and outside the universe as well...or something like that.
This definition also tells us that the universe is one thing. If there are non-physical (non) things...those non-things are outside the universe. For fun let's look at some definition of non-existence.
nonexistent - not having existence or being or actuality; "chimeras are nonexistent"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Is the "Unknown" before conception and after death contained in the universe? Not sure, we don't have enough facts...factual speaking we either are in the universe or we don't exist...
The meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything: What is Everything?
Everything - is the concept of all that exists. Every entity, physical body, and abstract object is part of everything. Everything is the opposite of nothing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything
Everything includes more than the physical universe. It also includes abstract ideas...so the "idea of Chimeras" and other fantasies have a measure of reality within the container of everything.
Another way of thinking about this is that everything is contained within the universe, but inside thoughts and concepts that are not physical entities, but thoughts forms that spend time in storage devices, such as books, paintings, computers, and the human brain...if that the human brain does actually store information that is.
Once the idea is put into a physical media (books, painting, billboard) it symbolically represents the idea, without actually being the idea itself...but it creates a bridge between the physical universe into everything so we can come to understand the idea that is being transmitted.
This definition also brought up a curious new idea...everything is the opposite of nothing.
So, we need to expand our idea into a new question...
The meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything: What is Nothing?
Nothing is a concept that describes the lack or absence of anything at all. Colloquially, the concept is often used to indicate the lack of ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing
By this definition, nothing must be outside the universe but perhaps could still be contained by everything, but you could argue either way.
Since there is a lack of physical matter, space/time, and all those other things are the contained by the universe, then perhaps "nothing" is the container for the universe.
The concept of nothing is here in our universe...but it's not physically here...so are there concepts in nothing?
Yes and no. Yes, because the universe is contained by nothing and no because there is nothing...not even concepts or ideas in nothing...you know because its nothing.
We really don't know much about nothing...so we could also consider nothing to be...by definition...unknown and therefore unknowable.
Hey it must be time to finish because we have returned to the unknown...and that is where we started before we were conceived and that is where we go after we die...back to nothing in the unknown...
The meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything: What about consciousness?
Definitions of consciousness on the Web:
- an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation; "he lost consciousness"
- awareness:
having knowledge of; "he had no awareness of his mistakes"; "his sudden
consciousness of the problem he faced"; "their intelligence and general
knowingness was impressive"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Vijñāna
(Sanskrit; Devanagari: विज्ञान) or viññāa (Pāli; Devanagari: विञ्ञान)
is translated as "consciousness" or "life force" or simply "mind".See,
for instance, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness_(Buddhism) - Strong
AI is artificial intelligence that matches or exceeds human
intelligence—the intelligence of a machine that can successfully
perform any intellectual task that a human being can. or see where he
defines strong AI as "machine intelligence with the full range of human
intelligence. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness_(artificial) - Consciousness
defies definition. It may involve thoughts, sensations, perceptions,
moods, emotions, dreams, and an awareness of self, although not
necessarily any particular one or combination of these. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness - The state of being conscious or aware; awareness
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/consciousness
I think Deepak Chopra believes that the unmanifest realm is pure consciousness itself...aware, alive, very conscious...completely without form, or energy.
I believe that the "unknowns" before conception and after death are this state pure being without form...or perhaps some level of abstraction with form that is more closing connected to the this realm.
...but, really, what the hell do I know? :-)
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