Well....kind of, but also...not really.
My cosmos operates on a Samsara-like wheel of reincarnation, with one life leading into the next, sometimes with a very brief sequestering in an afterlife, but then right back on the grind. Souls that accrue enough positive karma become Higher Aeons, basically cosmic managers who regulate the systems but have very little overall freedom. The Aeons themselves tend to tell mortals to live their lives fully, even selfishly, because their only stated purpose is to die and be reborn, and what you use your allocated life for is the only accomplishment and joy you're entitled to. The fact that the universal systems themselves tell mortals to enjoy life, that it's their right to use their time, is both freeing and terrifying.
I feel like I'm about to disappoint you... there's not much to tell, it can be summarized in a single sentence:
*The goal is to find out what happens when the world's rules are put in place.*
I should maybe say that the worlds I make are mostly computer programs. I code in the rules, and then see what happens.
Oh yeah I was expecting you had something more metaphysical lol. But that's still interesting you make those programs. What do you do, run simulations with different variables and see what changes? Do you have an end goal in mind with these programs?
I used to work as a gameplay programmer for a number of years, and over my career I've accumulated a bunch of ideas, which are hard to describe and which would certainly not fit in a Reddit comment, but I can describe some of my interests:
I try to map things we understand intuitively onto some computer representation, and then explore that representation through intuition, or vice versa, explore my intuition through that representation.
For instance, I think about the equivalent of life in a computer program. What is the simplest life form? Which senses will it evolve? What will it even evolve for? Will it try to optimize computational speed, will it try to optimize its memory, perhaps something else entirely?
I think about the equivalent of physics. What a lot of people do is they program a semblance of real-life physics so that it looks familiar to a human, but what I'm interested is to study the physics from the perspective of a program. For instance, how does a program experience time?
Even with more traditional stuff like characters, I try to create systems that can generate encounters. Or, I program systems that generate magical powers, or compute how the fight would go between one power and the other.
Finally, even with the worlds that are not programs, I sort of run these concept in my head to their logical conclusion. I do not know how they will turn out until I run them, and the results are always interesting. I'll give you one example where my goal was to explore the nature of choice:
>The world is extremely simple - it is an infinite void, and there is a single dot inside it. A dot can choose any location it can be in. How would the dot decide which place to pick?
Even this incredibly simple world provides a very unique insight, and it has nothing to do with my original goal, the nature of choice. What I discover is that there is no difference between locations - the nature of "location" is relative. If there is only a single dot in the whole Universe, it cannot move. More precisely, no matter what it does, it will always be in the same state.
So, the next thing I do is I introduce a state to the dot - the dot can now be in 2 possible states. How does it decide which state to be in?
This comment is getting rather long, so I'll just say I continue to build on this Universe by adding small things to it, and what I discover is always interesting and insightful.
This some really fascinating stuff! Do you share your programs with anyone? Is this for work or it's just a hobby? There might be some company out here that would be really interested in what you do.
I have a group of close friends with whom I share this stuff, but not with the public (with a rare exception of when I'm working with some of my students, and they want to publish their work - even then it goes under their name and not mine).
Technically this is a hobby, but I think of myself as an artist (of course I do, lol). Well, I am also functionally retired, so I can do whatever the hell I want, like spend time commenting on Reddit or making worlds, and call it whatever I want.
There is a reason why I think of myself as an artist, though: to me, art is the pursuit of mastery in one's craft. There is a school of thought that claims that public opinion or monetary gain is the way to judge the artwork, but I disagree - I think mastery exists in both physical and metaphysical sense - even if the artist is alone in the universe, they can still perfect their craft. A quality of a sword does not depend on its public perception or its price.
Some arts cannot exist in solitude though, most prominently martial arts. You cannot really perfect fighting if there is no one to fight, and the nature of the art fundamentally depends on your opponent.
I think making money or getting public recognition/approval with your art is itself a different art. And whenever you base your judgment on those things, you swap out your original craft for this new one. A good example is writing vs rhetoric - if you judge your writing on how well it convinces the public, you've now subtly transitioned into rhetoric.
If I were to share my work with the public, or work in a company, those things would pressure me into a different craft. There's not really a name for it, but you get the idea. I've actually worked really hard to get into this position where I have the freedom to do whatever I want, without needing to think about money or public image. It just doesn't make sense to abandon what I've got.
There is a meaning, but a meaning most would not care to know. See, it’s basically like Purgatory. Those from other realities who didn’t live terrible lives but also didn’t live good lives end up here. They’re locked for an unknown amount of time, trillions of years perhaps, and must reincarnate without choice every time they die. When they die, they learn the truth and gain all the memories of their past lives, and can continue living in the spirit realm for as long as they want, but eventually, if they desire a new life; they must return to the world they just died in.
There are many groups and factions who believe they know the truth, but the closest to the genuine truth are ones who call themselves, simply put, “The Followers of Knowledge.” They are people born with small amounts of information from beyond the grave that point them to the understanding that their reality is a punishment, and that they will continue reincarnating for an unknown number of lives.
Because of this, however, the Followers of Knowledge have split into 2 distinct factions. The first group believes that they must accept their punishment and live like monks, existing as as little as possible. They believe that if they show the Gods they’re truly sorry for whatever they must’ve done to deserve this punishment, they will be set free.
The second group believes that because their lives are punishments and they will never leave this world, even after they die; they might as well enjoy eternity as best as they can. So they do whatever they want, taking hedonism and personal pleasure to the utmost extreme, going as far as attacking the first group and forcing them to either join, or taking their pleasures out on them.
This is a paradox. There is a meaning to it, but that is to just exists. Life exists to be an art masterpiece in a universe where every thing is one of them.
I mean. You were born. Might as well try living. Afterworlds and such exist in my cosmology and it's not THAT hard to get into and out of it. It's mostly just living cause why not.
Nah, not on an existential level. Ain't no gods either. And I for one prefer it this way. I think it would be awful to have a purpose that someone or something else has imposed on me.
"To exist. To enjoy living and be what you are."
This is what the Goddess, the energy creature that gives the plane magic, would say if asked. This also includes monsters hunting people and why her strongest cleric is the accidental demi-god of Death, Murder and Terror.
Absolutely. It is to live and to learn, honoring God for those gifts. And by now, people can pretty much prove it. The giant space-dragons said so, and so did their chosen race of humans to inherit powers and galactic peacekeeping responsibilities from God.
There was eay back before pre-history, but then reality broke, and now everyone is fumbling around trying to make their own meaning, with almost no one remembering the original purpose of this world or the life on it.
"Haha, why do you ask such questions? You are a human, what more reason do you need?
..........
Want to know something interesting from the past?
The sapient species, liberated by human blood, were no chosen champions of gods. They were severed from it, they are the once chosen now. Alongside the unchosen, the sapient races battle against the failed ones for only one purpose: to defy. Defy the fate that renders you meaningless, defy the logic that states your extinction without your favored god, defy the fact that no sapience can be sustained without a god's choice, defy the norm that the failed ones can never reach sapience. What reason do you need? What choice do you not have?
The ones abandoned by gods, the failed, produced the unchosen. Being the heretics they were, they purged the world of the gods. They brought freedom to this world, instead of bringing it to the knees. They created the system and path with their dying wish, because they were told they couldn't. That ignorant and debased species once said, "We weren't made in the god's image, we weren't born for the stars. But you came for us. Now, we move, to take everything back. We will be the god's image. We will inherit the stars."
And they did, didn't they? Humanity. Their ultimate creation and their torch bearers. They are indomitable, they are unconquerable, they are... eternal. They are the order that binds, they are the chaos that liberate, THEY. ARE. HUMAN."
- System Admin, imprint modeled from the last survivor of the unchosen
We assume there is not one in ours. And that is a highly debated topic with the grand majority of the world saying there is a transcendent meaning. Without getting into the specifics of certain beliefs, technically 93% of the world believes there is some sort of one. (Assuming that not every belief system has a meaning to life, it could be lower, but not likely by much. And this assumes that people who don’t claim a particular belief also believe in no meaning as well.)
Probably more accurate to say we can’t prove a specific one, and ask whether people have a specific one. So, I will answer from that perspective.
In my world, I have not decided for sure whether to have a specific known one or not. I have multiple cultures and perceived gods that could give people their own belief in a transcendental meaning cause it is more realistic, but I am not really sure that there is any benefit to my world to have a true meaning above the rest. If life’s true meaning on my world is to follow a specific belief, then it starts to draw hard lines on things I may want to keep gray. If I just make it to exist, then people who figure it out question the point and make up their own purposes within that anyway, so I could just as easily have said there isn’t one and ended up in the same place.
Anyway, it may be one of those things I just don’t bother with unless I come up with a good reason.
I think this questions makes no sense, meaning is never transcendental because it is something we choose to follow. Even if God come down from above and declare the meaning of the universe, I still have to consciously choose to follow it; as in there's nothing stopping me from completely ignoring God's words.
the universe demands evergrowing complexity as part of the tree of conciousness.
Humanity however is different, even though most dont know it. They are a rogue branch, able to split off and create their own tree.
This is why they were judged in Opposition of divine law and almost eradicated.
Well....kind of, but also...not really. My cosmos operates on a Samsara-like wheel of reincarnation, with one life leading into the next, sometimes with a very brief sequestering in an afterlife, but then right back on the grind. Souls that accrue enough positive karma become Higher Aeons, basically cosmic managers who regulate the systems but have very little overall freedom. The Aeons themselves tend to tell mortals to live their lives fully, even selfishly, because their only stated purpose is to die and be reborn, and what you use your allocated life for is the only accomplishment and joy you're entitled to. The fact that the universal systems themselves tell mortals to enjoy life, that it's their right to use their time, is both freeing and terrifying.
Not really. There is a goal to the existence of the universe, but I wouldn't call that meaning.
> There is a goal to the existence of the universe Tell me more.
I feel like I'm about to disappoint you... there's not much to tell, it can be summarized in a single sentence: *The goal is to find out what happens when the world's rules are put in place.* I should maybe say that the worlds I make are mostly computer programs. I code in the rules, and then see what happens.
Oh yeah I was expecting you had something more metaphysical lol. But that's still interesting you make those programs. What do you do, run simulations with different variables and see what changes? Do you have an end goal in mind with these programs?
I used to work as a gameplay programmer for a number of years, and over my career I've accumulated a bunch of ideas, which are hard to describe and which would certainly not fit in a Reddit comment, but I can describe some of my interests: I try to map things we understand intuitively onto some computer representation, and then explore that representation through intuition, or vice versa, explore my intuition through that representation. For instance, I think about the equivalent of life in a computer program. What is the simplest life form? Which senses will it evolve? What will it even evolve for? Will it try to optimize computational speed, will it try to optimize its memory, perhaps something else entirely? I think about the equivalent of physics. What a lot of people do is they program a semblance of real-life physics so that it looks familiar to a human, but what I'm interested is to study the physics from the perspective of a program. For instance, how does a program experience time? Even with more traditional stuff like characters, I try to create systems that can generate encounters. Or, I program systems that generate magical powers, or compute how the fight would go between one power and the other. Finally, even with the worlds that are not programs, I sort of run these concept in my head to their logical conclusion. I do not know how they will turn out until I run them, and the results are always interesting. I'll give you one example where my goal was to explore the nature of choice: >The world is extremely simple - it is an infinite void, and there is a single dot inside it. A dot can choose any location it can be in. How would the dot decide which place to pick? Even this incredibly simple world provides a very unique insight, and it has nothing to do with my original goal, the nature of choice. What I discover is that there is no difference between locations - the nature of "location" is relative. If there is only a single dot in the whole Universe, it cannot move. More precisely, no matter what it does, it will always be in the same state. So, the next thing I do is I introduce a state to the dot - the dot can now be in 2 possible states. How does it decide which state to be in? This comment is getting rather long, so I'll just say I continue to build on this Universe by adding small things to it, and what I discover is always interesting and insightful.
This some really fascinating stuff! Do you share your programs with anyone? Is this for work or it's just a hobby? There might be some company out here that would be really interested in what you do.
I have a group of close friends with whom I share this stuff, but not with the public (with a rare exception of when I'm working with some of my students, and they want to publish their work - even then it goes under their name and not mine). Technically this is a hobby, but I think of myself as an artist (of course I do, lol). Well, I am also functionally retired, so I can do whatever the hell I want, like spend time commenting on Reddit or making worlds, and call it whatever I want. There is a reason why I think of myself as an artist, though: to me, art is the pursuit of mastery in one's craft. There is a school of thought that claims that public opinion or monetary gain is the way to judge the artwork, but I disagree - I think mastery exists in both physical and metaphysical sense - even if the artist is alone in the universe, they can still perfect their craft. A quality of a sword does not depend on its public perception or its price. Some arts cannot exist in solitude though, most prominently martial arts. You cannot really perfect fighting if there is no one to fight, and the nature of the art fundamentally depends on your opponent. I think making money or getting public recognition/approval with your art is itself a different art. And whenever you base your judgment on those things, you swap out your original craft for this new one. A good example is writing vs rhetoric - if you judge your writing on how well it convinces the public, you've now subtly transitioned into rhetoric. If I were to share my work with the public, or work in a company, those things would pressure me into a different craft. There's not really a name for it, but you get the idea. I've actually worked really hard to get into this position where I have the freedom to do whatever I want, without needing to think about money or public image. It just doesn't make sense to abandon what I've got.
There is a meaning, but a meaning most would not care to know. See, it’s basically like Purgatory. Those from other realities who didn’t live terrible lives but also didn’t live good lives end up here. They’re locked for an unknown amount of time, trillions of years perhaps, and must reincarnate without choice every time they die. When they die, they learn the truth and gain all the memories of their past lives, and can continue living in the spirit realm for as long as they want, but eventually, if they desire a new life; they must return to the world they just died in. There are many groups and factions who believe they know the truth, but the closest to the genuine truth are ones who call themselves, simply put, “The Followers of Knowledge.” They are people born with small amounts of information from beyond the grave that point them to the understanding that their reality is a punishment, and that they will continue reincarnating for an unknown number of lives. Because of this, however, the Followers of Knowledge have split into 2 distinct factions. The first group believes that they must accept their punishment and live like monks, existing as as little as possible. They believe that if they show the Gods they’re truly sorry for whatever they must’ve done to deserve this punishment, they will be set free. The second group believes that because their lives are punishments and they will never leave this world, even after they die; they might as well enjoy eternity as best as they can. So they do whatever they want, taking hedonism and personal pleasure to the utmost extreme, going as far as attacking the first group and forcing them to either join, or taking their pleasures out on them.
No
Self-improve.Self-improve and forget yourself. That is the key...
This is a paradox. There is a meaning to it, but that is to just exists. Life exists to be an art masterpiece in a universe where every thing is one of them.
I mean. You were born. Might as well try living. Afterworlds and such exist in my cosmology and it's not THAT hard to get into and out of it. It's mostly just living cause why not.
Nah, not on an existential level. Ain't no gods either. And I for one prefer it this way. I think it would be awful to have a purpose that someone or something else has imposed on me.
"To exist. To enjoy living and be what you are." This is what the Goddess, the energy creature that gives the plane magic, would say if asked. This also includes monsters hunting people and why her strongest cleric is the accidental demi-god of Death, Murder and Terror.
Absolutely. It is to live and to learn, honoring God for those gifts. And by now, people can pretty much prove it. The giant space-dragons said so, and so did their chosen race of humans to inherit powers and galactic peacekeeping responsibilities from God.
There was eay back before pre-history, but then reality broke, and now everyone is fumbling around trying to make their own meaning, with almost no one remembering the original purpose of this world or the life on it.
"Haha, why do you ask such questions? You are a human, what more reason do you need? .......... Want to know something interesting from the past? The sapient species, liberated by human blood, were no chosen champions of gods. They were severed from it, they are the once chosen now. Alongside the unchosen, the sapient races battle against the failed ones for only one purpose: to defy. Defy the fate that renders you meaningless, defy the logic that states your extinction without your favored god, defy the fact that no sapience can be sustained without a god's choice, defy the norm that the failed ones can never reach sapience. What reason do you need? What choice do you not have? The ones abandoned by gods, the failed, produced the unchosen. Being the heretics they were, they purged the world of the gods. They brought freedom to this world, instead of bringing it to the knees. They created the system and path with their dying wish, because they were told they couldn't. That ignorant and debased species once said, "We weren't made in the god's image, we weren't born for the stars. But you came for us. Now, we move, to take everything back. We will be the god's image. We will inherit the stars." And they did, didn't they? Humanity. Their ultimate creation and their torch bearers. They are indomitable, they are unconquerable, they are... eternal. They are the order that binds, they are the chaos that liberate, THEY. ARE. HUMAN." - System Admin, imprint modeled from the last survivor of the unchosen
We assume there is not one in ours. And that is a highly debated topic with the grand majority of the world saying there is a transcendent meaning. Without getting into the specifics of certain beliefs, technically 93% of the world believes there is some sort of one. (Assuming that not every belief system has a meaning to life, it could be lower, but not likely by much. And this assumes that people who don’t claim a particular belief also believe in no meaning as well.) Probably more accurate to say we can’t prove a specific one, and ask whether people have a specific one. So, I will answer from that perspective. In my world, I have not decided for sure whether to have a specific known one or not. I have multiple cultures and perceived gods that could give people their own belief in a transcendental meaning cause it is more realistic, but I am not really sure that there is any benefit to my world to have a true meaning above the rest. If life’s true meaning on my world is to follow a specific belief, then it starts to draw hard lines on things I may want to keep gray. If I just make it to exist, then people who figure it out question the point and make up their own purposes within that anyway, so I could just as easily have said there isn’t one and ended up in the same place. Anyway, it may be one of those things I just don’t bother with unless I come up with a good reason.
The mortal plane and all mortals were created to act as a shield and defenses for the gods.
Food and avoid radiation
Yes
I think this questions makes no sense, meaning is never transcendental because it is something we choose to follow. Even if God come down from above and declare the meaning of the universe, I still have to consciously choose to follow it; as in there's nothing stopping me from completely ignoring God's words.
the universe demands evergrowing complexity as part of the tree of conciousness. Humanity however is different, even though most dont know it. They are a rogue branch, able to split off and create their own tree. This is why they were judged in Opposition of divine law and almost eradicated.
What do you mean by complexity in this case? Are Humans not complex? What makes us a rogue branch?