Thanks for the edit to the original comment; I was unsure
whether you were arguing for a view or just describing it
(though I assumed the latter based on your other comments).
Without God there’s no end game, just fleeting existence.
Like the statement in the original comment (and like most
arguments for religion), this one is in great need of
unpacking. People invoke things like “ultimate purpose”
without saying what they mean. But I think a lot of people
who agreed with the above would say that life is worthless
if it simply ends when the body dies. To which I say:
If a life that begins and eventually ends has no “meaning”
or “purpose” (whatever those words mean), then an infinitely
long one doesn’t either. Zero times infinity is still
zero.
(Of course I know what the everyday meanings of “meaning”
and “purpose” are, but those obviously aren’t the meanings
religionists use them with.)
I am a math amateur; I understand limit notation and “f(x)”
notation, but I failed to follow the reasoning at the
MathWorld link. Does nerzhin or anyone else know someplace
that spells it out more? (Right now I’m studying the
Wikipedia “Limit of a function”
page.)
Edit: this comment happens to reply to an out-of-context sentence that is not endorsed by Zachary_Kurtz. Thanks to grouchymusicologist for noticing my mistake.
Without God there’s no end game, just fleeting existence.
Without God there’s no end game, just fleeting existence.
I am reminded of The Parable of the Pawnbroker.
Edit: Original link.
Thanks for the edit to the original comment; I was unsure whether you were arguing for a view or just describing it (though I assumed the latter based on your other comments).
Like the statement in the original comment (and like most arguments for religion), this one is in great need of unpacking. People invoke things like “ultimate purpose” without saying what they mean. But I think a lot of people who agreed with the above would say that life is worthless if it simply ends when the body dies. To which I say:
If a life that begins and eventually ends has no “meaning” or “purpose” (whatever those words mean), then an infinitely long one doesn’t either. Zero times infinity is still zero.
(Of course I know what the everyday meanings of “meaning” and “purpose” are, but those obviously aren’t the meanings religionists use them with.)
Edit: nerzhin points out that Zero times infinity is not well defined. (Cold comfort, I think, to the admittedly imaginary theist making the “finite life is worthless” argument.)
I am a math amateur; I understand limit notation and “f(x)” notation, but I failed to follow the reasoning at the MathWorld link. Does nerzhin or anyone else know someplace that spells it out more? (Right now I’m studying the Wikipedia “Limit of a function” page.)
Strictly speaking, no.
Edit: this comment happens to reply to an out-of-context sentence that is not endorsed by Zachary_Kurtz. Thanks to grouchymusicologist for noticing my mistake.
You happen to be wrong on this one. Please read the sequences, in particular the Metaethics sequence and Joy in the Merely Real.
Pretty sure ZK is not endorsing this view but instead responding to the query “Was any argument given for this claim?”
Upvoted ZK’s comment for this reason.
Thanks, my mistake.
no problem.. it happens