Posted: Jan 12, 2017 7:38 am
Pebble wrote:Cito di Pense wrote:Yes, a third way (one of many) is to stop dichotomizing everything.
i could entertain your question seriously. Either ask a more thoughtful question, or be happy with somebody else's answer, because you won't like mine.
Since it is going to turn out badly for the individual and his genome, lots of folks just have children, perhaps a few too many, just to make sure their nucleotides go somewhere. You can see what that's led to. Other animals have population explosions and outstrip their food supply or because their predators are having problems. Humans invent excuses. What did you fucking think I was gonna say?
Some hints as to the vast array of other options you have in mind might be where I was going with that? The answer doesn't have to be nice.
Avoiding all excuses as you put it is difficult to achieve without avoiding questions with no answers. Unless you have a potential target how do you go about acquiring knowledge.
What personal and particular problem are you trying to solve? I don't mean the 'technical' problem of freedom and responsibility. Do that on your own time. I could tell you about my hobbies, but that would just satisfy your prurient interest in them, and they won't necessarily accord with your tastes.
You seem already willing to forget the way you asked the question, originally:
Pebble wrote:This creates an interesting conundrum. As an individual I know exactly where I am going sooner or later. When I die any 'achievement' etc is of no further value to me. The knowledge I create or help create can 'evolve', but only in the minds of other humans - at present. So as I see it I am in a bind, either I invest in human knowledge, or accept the role of a polynucleotide transmission device. Do you have a third way?
That's completely abstract, Pebble, and heads immediately for the topmost level of generality as if you regard yourself as a deep and great thinker, yet here you are asking for some sort of advice. Spare me the fucking deepity, Pebble, and get specific. Since I'm not your therapist, and you're not paying me for my insights, I don't have to gently flatter your pretensions before asking you the next leading question.
As a physician, you well know the technique when a patient says, "it hurts when I do this." Your response (if it's hypochondria) is to say, "Just stop doing that." Yes, if there's an underlying presence of cardiac disease, you have to intervene. In The Shawshank Redemption (at least the film version) Red says to Andy, "Get busy living, or get busy dying." I'm not trying to tell you that's the ultimate wisdom; just find something that works for you. If you need to pay for help with that, do it.