Hey guys
haven't been here in ages
convince me i exist for more then an instant
thanks

Oh and i'm not on drugs. Just experiancing reality failure

Well I can't tell you if you exist, but it's nice to see you!

Why are you experiencing reality failure?

Huh? Just sudden realization of the inevitabilty of death. Hits me every day or so. I run screaming and eventually sleep.
I get like 5 hours usually.
This place is familar, but i'm probably not staying

You are very likely to exist for about 90 years or so.
There are ways to shorten it (like not sleeping enough on a regular basis. , not watching where you're going, what you're eating and who you have sex with.) Also, there are unforseen things that can shorten your life. However, as a priveleged white guy with an internet connection, I'd say the chances to those 90 years are pretty good.

If that is more than an instant depends on your perspective. Of course, if you insist on taking a cosmic, godlike perspective like Arthur Dent did at one point, it is no more than an instant.
Personally, I don't see why that would be so scary. In general, life isn't that great that I'd want to stick around for more than one lifetime (it is also not so horrible that I'd object muchly if this were required).

So is there any particular reason why you're having a metaphysical identity crisis thing?

I still maintain though, that you all only exist in my mind.
Therefore TLON: you exist.

quote:

Originally posted by Babylon the Bride:
You are very likely to exist for about 90 years or so.

So is there any particular reason why you're having a metaphysical identity crisis thing?

Nope. Nonexistence just scares the shit out of me. Always has. I'm an athiest/nihilst. Always have been.
'Course, its 1am and i get up for work in 6 hours, so if i'm still alive tommorow i'm going to be a mess. As usual.

quote:

Originally posted by Punkyfins:
I still maintain though, that you all only exist in my mind.
Therefore TLON: you exist.

Hush, you! Rebellious figment.
I'M the resident solipsist here.

But what's so scary about not existing. I mean, it won't, you know, hurt or anything.

Non-existence scares the crap out of me as well. I think the fear of non-existence is a pretty good clue that you exist. I think it was Wittgenstein who said that the impulse to self-preservation is the only true value in life, as opposed to morals and stuff. So even if you are an athiest there is a truth, some say. I don't believe that a person could just Rosencrantz and Guildenstern themselves out of existence.

I also think about mortality every day. I wish I didn't - only because its just too heavy a topic and I don't need my mind blown in that way. You know?

But now I really am curious.
I mean, non-existence is not...well...it's not anything. So what if I don't exist anymore. Hopefully some stuff of mine lives on and people will misremember me for a bit and then completely forget me.

I honestly don't get why it's scary?

Hehe - maybe, according to you, that means I don't exist?

quote:

Hehe - maybe, according to you, that means I don't exist?

Drat! Foiled by logic AGAIN!

I don't know whats so scary. Maybe that its inconceivable, or unimaginable? Personally, whenever I try to imagine what its like I get scared, but then I realize that its impossible to imagine it - that its beyond my ability to really grasp the non-existence of me. Its like ME imagining NO-ME is impossible because its always ME doing the imagining.

Its just too much for my poor shriveled raisin-like brain.

Maybe it's nirvana -- everything and nothing, this non-existence.

I have thought about the possibility of non-existence, it can seem daunting. But once you're there, you're not a "you" (your sense of Self being gone) and therefore cannot feel anything or at least not feel in the same way.

This is of course assuming that non-existence is what happens at this point, but I'm just trying to work in the model. I try not to ponder this ... too much, you understand.

This is perhaps an aside, and you can feel free to ignore it but this thread of existentialism and its crises reminds me of something.

There is an interesting character in a game called Fire Emblem. His name is Bramimond. He is something called a Dark Druid. In the world of Elibe, Shamans and Druids draw on a magic called Dark. Darkness, as they understand it is the true reality behind everything. There are other powers like Light and Elementalism, but those are other asides.

Shamans had to master the darkness in themselves to become Druids. And Druids had to master the darkness in and beyond themselves to become what are called Dark Druids. These are very rare because in order to fully master the darkness, a potential Dark Druid must sacrifice all ties of attachment and self. They must let the power consume them, but yet also become its vessel. Many had failed. Some became comatose and others died. Some even became evil and insane from trying to hold onto their selves and selfishness while attempting to achieve this power.

But a rare few became true Dark Druids. They are the darkness. They still have physical form, and still remember who they are, but they mostly only gain identity through the presence of others around them. Mostly, they are just the darkness. Sometimes, they are not even physical anymore when no one is around. Their lack of self does not seem to bother them. They are the power they sought. They are no self, many selves (depending on the perceptions of people who meet them), and all self.

It is a very frightening concept, yet it does make sense in a way. Of course, you can probably read an H.P. Lovecraft story or two about this idea. Or some Hinduism, and Buddhism too.

It really makes you wonder what the self is. And what existence is as well. That, and these kinds of stories are most intriguing.

Tangent ended.

quote:

Originally posted by The Lord of YARRR!:


Nope. Nonexistence just scares the shit out of me. Always has. I'm an athiest/nihilst. Always have been.

you could try getting religion. many of them have something to say about the immortality of the soul.

Since this is Flame Wars, I'll just say this: if you don't know you exist, than you're too stupid for me to possibly reach with mere words, and if you just think it's neat to consider the possibility that you don't exist, then it would probably be better for us all if you were right.

Now, go to sleep. When you wake up, drink a cup of coffee, which is real, eat a bagel, which is real, and go to work, which is real. Enjoy these things because even if they're all you have, they're still quite pleasant, in their own way. Live, damn it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dweller in Darrkness,

Heh. Thank you, Dweller.

what Dweller said.

I think it's not so much about not existing but existing for a "more than an instant".
i.e. he is contemplating the brevity of human existence.
It was just a bit confusingly worded.

Same thing, then. If it's true that nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.

Is anyone saying nothing we do matters?

Don't jump to conclusions.