h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It still does not explain where everything else came from though. This is a thing that has been driving me mad for years.
I think evolution is the only viable way we can have come to the stage we are at now.

Like you, my purpose is to make myself and my friends and family happy.

Amanda out.

PS. I do not mind at all you using the 'out' thing. May it catch on and become the new religion.

So, what's driving you to insanity is trying to make sense of where the universe came from? like what went BANG?
i can give you my take, but i'm almost certain you'll consider it to be a feeble cop-out. oh well, here goes:

As far as we can tell [i assume severely limited by our human minds], it SEEMS AS IF the universe [i.e., everything] was REALLY small and REALLY dense a long time ago, like 10 to 15 billion years ago, i think. Now, nobody can even imagine what things were like AT the time of the big bang [b/c the laws of physics break down as we go back to time = zero] and to wonder what things were like BEFORE the big bang is a meaningless question, because there WAS no before, during, or after. time ITSELF began at the big bang. so, all we understand is how things were starting from just after the big bang.

now, our human minds [the ways our minds work] lead us to wonder where the hell the stuff of the universe came from and why it went bang. i contend that this is a human mind limitation. we are constrained by how we see things in our everyday world. we believe that everything must have an antecedent cause. cause and effect.
we extend this to the universe, which is not necessarily valid.
to say that the universe came out of nothing seems to be preposterous, but i say that, sure it SEEMS to be absurd to our minds based on our limited "reality", but just because it SEEMS to be absurd does NOT in any way, MAKE it absurd.
i'm perfectly fine with believing that the universe just came out of nothing.

hey, are my posts too long? i'm wondering if folks out there have ADHD, they might not read the whole thing.

PETER OUT!

ok, maybe this one's more palatable.

you know how positive and negative cancel each other out? like matter and antimatter? well, some folks believe that the universe taken as a whole equals NOTHING. now, i'd have to re read this theory to understand it better b/c i'm wondering why there seems to be a bit more matter than anti-matter [otherwise, wouldn't the universe be a big fat nothing?]. i think it might have something to do with negative energy, but i could be pulling this out of my ass...
anywho, i think that the general idea is that there was nothing before and now there is something, the universe, but this something cancels out if you "weigh" the positives and negatives...

petey out!

As an ever increasing complaint, ADHD may well hinder some people's understanding of your entries. BUT it's fine by me.
Your theory is understandable but as our minds are limited we/I can not comprehend something coming out of nothing.
If something did just appear, where did it appear?
You see where I am coming from? It had to appear into something. Space can not be infinite as it (according to my puny mind) has to be somewhere or in something.
What's reality anyway?
This may not be it.

Amanda Out.

it could b, but its so far away that its not really important. and as to the suffering of man kind as a purpose i feel that like just u know, whatever. but there we go, i love life and the only meaning i can find in it is to make myself and everyone around me happy... mass orgy seems the best way at the moment, please provide me with an alternative tho because i'm really tired!
oh yeah and please answer the marmite and old western thesis that is also in this forum as unlike my answer here it needs some proper imput to get some real scientific results out. i hope you can understand me, because i have no idea whats going on.
Lord Preston OMFC (also bringer of the tag to H2G2, aint u proud of me!)

I is confused.

first of all, do i sound smart, psychotic, or both? most people consider me some of both.
i have the same problem visualizing the universe thing. the best i can come up with is this cartoonish representation.

SPACE IS ALL AROUND
time [passage of time is from top to bottom]
|| [] SPACE
|| [] SPACE
|| [] SPACE
|| BANG!
|| /\ SPACE
|| / \ SPACE
|| the universe
||
\/

well, this diagram sucks ass...totally but i hope you get the picture.
now, this is absurd as it likens the origin of the universe so a bomb sitting on Earth that's detonated.
the clear problems are the lack of "time" until after the universe is created and the lack of "space" around the universe. after all, the "universe" is supposed to be ALL of space and time.
so, we are left with something utterly inconceivable.
and, i, for one, cannot imagine the expansion of the universe now, either. as you noted, what the hell is it expanding INTO? there's not supposed to be any "space" around the universe...
anyhow, i just say that my mind is feeble, so i just can't understand it and neither can almost everybody else. maybe stephen hawking can understand it a little bit.

about your "what's reality" question. that's very intereesting. i spend a lot of my deep pondering time wondering about "reality".
i'll have to share that with you later.

for now, i must go home to spend time with mommy. haven't seen her in a few months and i can't spend all my time in my dad's office on the internet talking to a 25 yo girl who has "nice" legs and seems to hold the same deep beliefs about life that i do [which is totally F*cking awesome ], so i'll write more later.

petey out!

Life has no meaning simple as that, so just keep ya eyes open an get on with it......

Maverick likewise, all this stuff based on a number is to me as meaningless as the meaningful question that is asked. I suppose from a humans point of view it is a conscious act to procreate and improve the species. An animal does it I suppose because it's natural survival instinct. To ask this question is to ask yourself Why am I here and what am I for? No more no less. And this for every individual has a different answer. Anyway right now go to My mums 90th birthday and wish her the best!! Thanks.

My head hurts.

Try another number say 69

Arrrrrrrrrrgh.



I am out of here.

i noticed that nobody commented on my beautiful diagram
it's been said a gazillion times, but
LIFE for humans is simply about
1. surviving [both us and our gene copies] and
2. the ongoing pursuit of that ever-elusive positive psychological state.

peter out!

There is no meaning to life. There is just what life means to you. A better question would be: "What gives your life meaning?" It could be a person, a job, a pet, anything. But its completly personal, as no two people have the same outlook on life.

The meaning of life is to keep asking the question until you get an answer.

You will never get an answer. Not a correct one anyway. At least not while you are alive.

Amanda

That's not proven

What I should have said was a confirmed answer.

I'm certain it can only ever be confirmed to the individual.
since I believe in a multiple life scenerio, it might even take more than a couple to get the answer

How do you mean multiple life?
Multiple lives running concurently?
Or reincarnation?
Or something I have not mentioned?

Amanda. x