Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Eleven Questions from Cyril

Eleven Questions from Cyril
#myworld

Disclaimer: everything below is personal opinion. 

1) What are we made of? Particles? Waves? Does it matter? 

Rainbows are made of light but when you split light you get a spectrum, not a rainbow. Rainbows are a transient phenomenon that require light, as much as we are natural phenomenons that require matter in the form of our bodies. Rainbows and "us" are just words we assign to how we perceive these phenomenon. 

Our bodies are made of mostly space, littered with what we currently know as quantum particles bound together by at least four basic forces: the strong nuclear, the weak nuclear, Gravity, and electromagnetism. Biology is a phenomenon just like rainbows that work on top of these basic units. 

It matters as much as a rainbow needs to be a rainbow. But then it's "us" to whom whether a rainbow is a rainbow matters. If we are no longer us, we cannot matter to ourselves. But we are alive and life is by definition self-perpetuating; our biology ensures that it matters to most of us. 

2) What is love? 

Love as a feeling is the disposition our brains are in when it's in a balance pf dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. This disposition opens us to associate the concept of survival with group survival (sometimes taking the form of a "identity") as a solution to personal risks. This does not mean one become selfless but rather more "self-full" - one extends what one thinks of as the self and therefore the range of what one uses and protects to survive. 

3) What will you think about if you were to die in the next five minutes? 

Where can I get meth, quick?

4) Is there a separation between mind and body? 

Yes. The body is made of matter. The mind is made of rainbows. See (1) above. 

5) Are systems of belief arbitrary? 

Yes. But some are useful.  See this library of arbitrary writings: https://libraryofbabel.info/bookmark.cgi?eleven_questions_from_cyril

6) If you believe that the universe couldn’t have happened without “God”, then how did “God” happen? Why does your logic only stop at “universe” and not extend to “God”? 
7) Why did your “God” make gays?  

Because everything is rainbow. 

8) What happens when you stop using language to see and judge yourself and others? 

Assuming that language continues to exist and I surgically opt out of it - everything would be less understandable but more accurate. It'd be like having a base-pi number system with which I can write down the exact value of pi, but nobody would understand me. Words are like digital technology - always  inaccurate by a very accurate amount. 

I would not stop judging, because judging is a fight-or-flight response in my biology. 

9) Is there a place before and after words? 

Yes. When we struggle to express ourselves,  we're trying to leave that place. When we struggle after an awkward pause, we trying to run back to that place. There is no forgiveness in that place because there is no sin. There's also no promises and commitments, no laws that raise our probability of survival. That's why we keep on coming back to this world. 

10) Did you design your thoughts? Do you control your thoughts or do they control you? 

Words are an extension of my fight-or-flight response, just like biology is an extension of physics. My words seem to control me because of love. See (2) above. 

11) Is happiness the only thing that is important?

No. air, food, water, and sleep are too. Happiness is not a result of life; it's a mechanism that statistically ensures most people stay alive.

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