Does it pay to be a good person

[nimbus]

pratītyasamutpāda refers to the dependent co-arising of conditions and happiness. the state of happiness depends on certain conditions. this premise leads one to discover that happiness is empty.

nirvana is escape from suffering caused by the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

the topic is simple and complex at the same time, thats why i said "whats wrong with a world of nothing?" i just thought id be pragmatic and rephrase it.

so whats wrong with a world of nothingness?

nothing is inherently wrong with it, but i prefer the world as it is because i want to enjoy positive mental states and cannot have those in a world of nothingness

 

[cryptosporidium]

nothing is inherently wrong with it, but i prefer the world as it is because i crave positive mental states and cannot have those in a world of nothingness

by that rationale, in a world of nothingness you cant have negative mental states either.

however, in reality a world of nothingness doesnt actually prevent anything.

if you can make sense of that, i will give you k

 

[nimbus]

by that rationale, in a world of nothingness you cant have negative mental states either.

however, in reality a world of nothingness doesnt actually prevent anything.

if you can make sense of that, i will give you k

well since we probably haven't yet reached an agreement regarding the definition of nothingness, i think it's a little premature to start being intentionally vague or cryptic.

i was using world of nothingness to refer to the condition of being devoid of any mental state and thus losing the ability to enjoy life

 

[cryptosporidium]

im not being intentionally vague or cryptic.

i was going by your original statement..

if life didn't bring us happiness, we'd kill ourselves because otherwise all we are left with is a world of either pain or nothing.

i would think that pain could lead to suicide, but not nothingness.

nothing is inherently wrong with it, but i prefer the world as it is because i want to enjoy positive mental states and cannot have those in a world of nothingness

maybe you should explore that further

cessation of all mental function isnt a life that either of us can relate to.. so thats not the definition i was using.

 

[puddlemonkey]

settle down you two

 

[nimbus]

i would think that pain could lead to suicide, but not nothingness.

perpetual nothingness would not lead to suicide, but it would result in premature death because without positive/negative states one would not be compelled strongly enough to persistently seek food/shelter and avoid injury

 

[nimbus]

which ties into the main premise of my initial argument, which is that the survival of our species is currently impossible without the pursuit the happiness, barring intervention from a greater being.

as far as i can tell nobody has yet to argue convincingly otherwise

 

[cryptosporidium]

yeah i disagreed with that.

biological function and instinct are independent from subjective happiness. unless youre defining happiness as something other than the traditional term.

i can fuck, find food and be a miserable son of a bitch just fine.

 

[puddlemonkey]

i can fuck, find food and be a miserable son of a bitch just fine.

your ex-girlfriend disagrees with the fuck part

 

[nimbus]

yeah i disagreed with that.

biological function and instinct are independent from subjective happiness. unless youre defining happiness as something other than the traditional term.

i can fuck, find food and be a miserable son of a bitch just fine.

biological function (i'm assuming you mean like metabolism and gametogensis?) and instinct are, but not biological drives or higher reasoning.

finding food requires more than just instinct and simple biological functioning. to find food, you must choose to obtain it because you don't want to be hungry anymore and desire the satisfaction of eating. some sort of higher reasoning is also often involved for humans because we can't just go hunting every time we're hungry; we need to incorporate some sort planning for either accumulating food or resources with which to obtain food. if you did not care to improve your mental state, you wouldn't bother dealing with all this