I guess that's why I used to believe in religious relativism; everybody's religions are real to themselves.
When I decided that was unlikely I just went Agnostic and figured it'd be better if their afterlives were how they imagined them.
I forgot one more thing; some sort of process that would record our collective history.
See ALL the stars!
And do what with it? (genuine question)
edited 6th Apr '11 1:33:12 PM by Yej
Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.
Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard
Not be corrupted and edited by the winners? That's what always happens in history.
The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.
Oh My
Yes plenty of the Buddhist ideals could be easily applied. Like the idea of not being so attached to things. Especially yourself and life. Even if this wasn't taken to the level of which the Sangha take it it would be a nice lesson to pass on.
On agnosticism: I myself am agnostic and do not know if things like kamma and the cycle of Samsara are truth. This is part of why I'm going with the honorable layman path. I don't know enough to be willing to throw myself into it whole hog which is understandable in Buddhism. Learning slowly and through experience is a big thing for us.
If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah
Cold.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
How are you going to edit out the fact that on such and such date, we came in and destroyed x nation everyone knows it happened.
Perhaps we can't have a perfect society, but we'll try and get as close as possible.
How do we do that? By finding, studying, and overcoming our cognitive biases so as to improve our understanding of reality. Turning self-understanding and improvement into a kind of (for lack of a better word) religion, seems to be best. No dogma.
Once we commit to understanding and improving ourselves as a species, Utopia will come.
edited 6th Apr '11 2:33:03 PM by ViralLamb
Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.
There is no perfect society. Perfection is a world where society has been rendered unnecessary. For example, The Metamorphosis Of Prime Intellect. Everyone lives in cyberspace, which is run by benevolent Deus est Machina. Humans are no longer physically interdependent, as the AI can provide for anything. There is no scarcity and no physical dependence on food, air, etc. for survival. The AI can cater to nearly every whim. The AI prevents nonconsensual harm, so genuine crime or war is impossible. The only constraints one person can impose upon another are those that are consented to beforehand via temporary contract.
Dracula
Don't we have anot her thread just like this?
We must survive, all of us. The blood of a human for me, a cooked bird for you. Where is the difference?
Still not perfect. Perfection doesn't exist, but that existence would be pretty nice, in my opinion.
The one on the world sucking less.
edited 6th Apr '11 7:51:18 PM by Ekuran
Dracula
No the "what is your ideal society" thread.
We must survive, all of us. The blood of a human for me, a cooked bird for you. Where is the difference?
The Joke-Master
I think so. There was also one about mind-uploading to a computer program where anything and everything could be perfectly simulated, leading to the same illusory "utopia" as Tongpu suggested.
edited 6th Apr '11 8:14:49 PM by Wanderhome
Yeah, that's the one.
OMG NO NOSECONES
Utopia? Huh. Crystal Spires and Togas, I guess.
(Plus the should-be-obvious Christian answer about heaven and all that stuff.)
Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.
Heh, sorry, I managed to miss that part. Still, Nirvana/Nibbana just strikes me as a whole lot of work for, literally, nothing. I would much rather prefer suffering over being in a constant state of nothing, though overall happiness for me and others is the actual target. That being said, I do think many of the Buddhist ideals could be easily applied to just about any society and result in a positive gain as far as overall effectiveness of the society goes. However, if Buddhists are right, then I don't really see myself getting to that point until the universe has long since ended and I've gotten bored of exploring it.
The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.