Life
- Thread starter Cargando
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In what way does it show this?Cargando said:
An elephant can paint colours if given a brush.
Whales sing to eachother.
Birds chirp.
Why is what they produce not art?
Well, our meaning is very much subjective and humanity, while inching closer every year, has yet to determine just what brought us all about. So, talking about it is merely speculative, I see little point to it beside social amusement.
I openly admit that I am in no position to be asserting my uneducated opinion on the matter.
Plus, you seem like you're trying to nudge everyone with your elbow as you dramatically wink that you would like to discuss a higher power, which is my cue to run so fast out of the thread; a little me shaped hole will be left in the topic index button.
I openly admit that I am in no position to be asserting my uneducated opinion on the matter.
Plus, you seem like you're trying to nudge everyone with your elbow as you dramatically wink that you would like to discuss a higher power, which is my cue to run so fast out of the thread; a little me shaped hole will be left in the topic index button.
You have the answer dude...what about the question? Still way to go for being cool enough to have read those books. Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy rules.curlycrouton said:
As for the subject of life, this is something people have been pondering for hundreds of years without coming up with any conclusive answer. Thought can be said to be more than chemical reactions by some and nothing more than chemical reactions by others but none of them have conclusive answers. It's certainly evolutionarily advantageous. In the absence of claws and fangs and wings and prodigious speed humans evolved higher brain functions. That is the reason we're the top of the food chain, where we were lacking we discovered ways to rid ourselves of our disadvantages. Need claws?...don't have any...get a weapon. Can't open something...build a tool to do it for you. We're one of the few creatures that isn't limited by our short comings because we can work around them. It's our trump card.
When it comes to what life means I think we shouldn't try to look at it on a huge scale but simply to look at what it means to us. I don't think you can come up with a single prescriptive meaning for every single life so take a step back and try to work out what your own life means, what is important to you, what gives it definition. That kind of thing.
Because they cannot think like we can...space_oddity said:
They might be able to, but we don't know. Birdsong is really only them talking - same with whales.
God... I don't know... That issue I have no clue as to it. Maybe some other time.JBarracudaL said:
In order of appearance...
*sexual compatibility (in case of anthropomorphic beauty)
*familiarity of patterns
*relation with past emotional experiences
*needed skill and some other minor factors
Reaction to stimuli in each category releases a different coctail of signal substances. Parts of the brain, most notably the sousaphone gyrus, then gauges the gained emotional response and correlates that with the senses.
Any form of art targets precisely those reactions, consciously or otherwise. Differences in taste arise from different synaptic weights and gland outputs, for which there are a myriad of affectors.
Actually we (in the sense of we - the humans) know quite a lot about how the brain works. Yes, there still are enough uncertainties, mostly in regards to learning, growth and mechanics of memory. But we still know enough to follow a thought process through the brain.Cargando said:
Art works towards beauty. Beauty, a form of emotional response, depends onCargando said:
*sexual compatibility (in case of anthropomorphic beauty)
*familiarity of patterns
*relation with past emotional experiences
*needed skill and some other minor factors
Reaction to stimuli in each category releases a different coctail of signal substances. Parts of the brain, most notably the sousaphone gyrus, then gauges the gained emotional response and correlates that with the senses.
Any form of art targets precisely those reactions, consciously or otherwise. Differences in taste arise from different synaptic weights and gland outputs, for which there are a myriad of affectors.
Neat, I was wrong.Cargando said:
Carry on then good sir.
My two cents on the topic of art, in order to look at art, as with every other modern characteristic of humanity, you must trace it back to our ancestors and their use for art.
Drawing, painting all communicate, ages ago used to record where tribes had been, events that happened, warn others, and so forth. Painting the world was written language BEFORE written language, so it's natural we try to convey things through these mediums still today, it's a trait we've acquired.
Music, similarly, attracted mates, entertained others to brighten spirits during difficult times, the tones speak to the same part of our brain that pays attention to the sound of each others voices. Language was originally primitive as well, yet we still played a crude form of music, it too communicated things and could probably convey feelings occasionally better than the voice. So, our brain has retained a natural ear for music, and as humanity has further developed the language of music, so has our brain adapted to understanding its complexity. Hence the young rarely like complex music, what young person speaks fluently? Perfectly? Intellectually? Music, is everyone's second language, we're just unaware of it.
All other forms of artistic expression can be traced back to things that were vital to our success as a species, that have remained an innate aspect of our brains, developing and evolving as we go.
When I wonder whether there is a god after all, or at least some sort of other omnipotent divine guiding force out there, the existance of life is usually the only thing that keeps me thinking for more then a few seconds. I mean... What are the odd of even the simplest single celled life forms just... Appearing randomly? What are the odds that molecules of stuff met molecules of other stuff and they all organized JUST in this way that is needed for something like life? It just CAN'T happen. It's amazing.
When trying to derive meaning from something such as life, you cant come to the table with any preconceptions or presumptions. You, like most if not all people have crippled yourself before your first step by thinking humans and conciousness are somehow special or different to eveything else in the universe. Its not. We are all made of the same decaying matter. We are all part of the same compost heap(cookie for reference). You are just another organism seeking self replication.
This is okay.
This is okay.
Simply because something conveys emotions and the like does not mean it has broken the boundaries of logic or even approached them. What one man finds beautiful another may find raucous and annoying...or may even feel complete apathy towards it. As for what music is, it IS vibrations in the air. The vibrations in the air cause the sounds that when combined make the music. The fact you find it beautiful doesn't change the fact it was vibrations and doesn't make it any less logical.Cargando said:
So you're saying that simply because something can not think in the same manner as us is it removed from artistic value? If a slug were to by some unlikely circumstance leave a slime trail in the shape of the mona lisa or some new and innovative picture that is widely acclaimed to be artistic despite it's origins it still wouldn't be art? Art is subjective, it means something different to each person but it sounds as if you're trying to prescribe to us what it should mean and where it should come from. To be honest if you take it down to a very basic level it's all just shapes in the same way that music is all just vibrations that are on a basic level set to a mathematical pattern e.g. 4/4 time. Art is not free from logic or reason, in many ways logic is essential to art but that doesn't mean it can't come from anywhere, even places where you wouldn't expect to find logic.Cargando said:
Machines Are Us said:
They are defected, thats the point, it's a mutation. I'm not a homophobe, if you read most of my posts on the subject it's pretty obvious I'm not but Homosexuality is a defective gene.
People who don't want kids are just people who have used their free thought to make a decision.
The only thing you have to do in life is buy video games, survive long enough to procreate and try to make sure that your little terrors ensure humanity suvives more efficiently than your grandparents did.
(This will unlock the achievment "Suck seed at life".)
Everything else is a peripheral, but those peripherals add really cool features that make your life more interesting, without them life would be extremely boring.
Also, screw the concept of the afterlife; that sounds boring as hell. I don't care if it exists, the thought of existing for eternity makes me feel physically sick.
This kind of discussion isn't clever and is actually really bad for your mental health, instead of wasting your time on stuff like this; you should be joining the rest of humanity in trying to ensure the survival of the people we care about.
If you want to make efficient use of your time, I suggest you write what life actually means to you; so that other people can learn something new instead of wasting your time trying to guess the answer to the ultimate question. (*Spoiler there is no evidence, therefore there is no empirical answer; therefore no theory can be proven wrong.)
I'll be IM'ing you all later to make sure you have all taken notes.
(This will unlock the achievment "Suck seed at life".)
Everything else is a peripheral, but those peripherals add really cool features that make your life more interesting, without them life would be extremely boring.
Also, screw the concept of the afterlife; that sounds boring as hell. I don't care if it exists, the thought of existing for eternity makes me feel physically sick.
This kind of discussion isn't clever and is actually really bad for your mental health, instead of wasting your time on stuff like this; you should be joining the rest of humanity in trying to ensure the survival of the people we care about.
If you want to make efficient use of your time, I suggest you write what life actually means to you; so that other people can learn something new instead of wasting your time trying to guess the answer to the ultimate question. (*Spoiler there is no evidence, therefore there is no empirical answer; therefore no theory can be proven wrong.)
I'll be IM'ing you all later to make sure you have all taken notes.
I prefer my theory: They are homosexuals as a way of stopping overpopulation. If there are lot's of humans but not all of them procreate overpopulation won't be an issue.ShredHead said:
I think it makes much more sense to be honest. Especially as humans are not the only species with homosexuality. Assuming we are going with the scientific approach of course.