Kempic Notions

Does being disdained hurt your towering ego? I would hope not.

I argue your every point Darwin, but I do not deny your rare intellect. Emotions should not come to play in debates. It is a weakness.

Stoic? Is that what you refer to yourself as? Let me define stoic for you:

A member of an ancient Greek school of philosophy that asserted that happiness can only be achieved by accepting life’s ups and downs as the products of unalterable destiny.

Key point: Happiness through acceptance of life's ups and downs.

Happiness, Darwin? You contradict yourself.

abby, I concur. Being disdained is better than being ignored, and Darwin, you are far from ignored. Feel better now? Smile sweetheart.

See, now I'm confused. Do you, in actuality, find current affairs sufficing? I certainly do not, and from your previous statements, I would assume you do not either.

I suppose I am far from stoic, in its modern meaning.

Though not much affects my emotion unless I allow it to, I am not indifferent. I genuinely care and enjoy understanding things. There is reason for everything, and reasons intrigue me.

A question: Does the disdained, disdain? Yes, this refers to you.

^ Another good question.

Come on, Darwin, give us some answers. I'm shaking in my boots!

Darwin, I simply meant that you are being hypocritical. You question why you are disdained, then seem to wander aimlessly around the boards, responding to threads only when you may insult the creator. In what sense is this productive? Treat others how you wish to be treated, or else accept being excluded and despised.

You speak of self-worth as if it means nothing; does nothing. Why live without a sense of self-worth? I won't waste my time essentially repeating abby.

You seem to believe, in life, or in death, you will be a great leader. How could you possibly believe such a thing without placing worth upon yourself and your works? I'm dumbfounded. You DO have faith in yourself, this is undeniable by anyone. Such a contradictory statement is ridiculous!

Well that was interesting...Darwin, you lack the indifference of which you speak. I suggest attempting to detach emotion when in disagreement.

I have never proclaimed myself as a believer in any religion or superstition. I still value life. I value MY life!

The ignorant do not deserve honor, no, but perhaps pity. Are you merciless, Darwin? If you are, so be it. I am not.

I question the solidity of this statement:

"We can never know what happens after we die, until we die"

Really now? I beg to differ. I don't believe I'll know anything after I die. Knowing depends on a functioning brain, and I believe my brain will be dead.

Why is it that I possess self-worth, in congruency with all you disbelieve? I am atheist, and yet, I love being alive. According to you, that is wrong?

:)

That's nice.

I like you, Darwin, and you are worth something to me. Too bad my contrary beliefs are disappointing.

Darwin, I have read this conversation and while there is much I could comment on and contradictions I could point out but I do believe the others have done a sufficient job. I have only one question. Why do you persist in this quest against the ignorant, your journey to greater intellectual abilities, why do you believe so strongly and, more importantly, why do you care if it is all for naught. If your life is for all practical purposes meaningless, if you value nothing you do past the moment in which you do it. Why, if you do not enjoy it, if it is not pleasing to you, if you think it pointless...why then do you do it?

I read the Stoic Guidelines you attached. They seem to fit my character more than your own.

No!

"You find it so impossible for one person to denounce life because you fear he is right and you truly are alone and without worth."

You see, I am all too aware of my worthlessness, that is why I place worth in myself. You cannot take that from me, period. You seem unable to even take that from yourself, thus, why suffocate other's with your hypocritical thoughts? I am just an eye blink in history, if not less. A worthless entity, affecting a pathetic circle of people around me, who will die in the same century as myself. What now all-knowing one? What has come of accepting this? Nothing, just as accepting anything comes of nothing. We are essentially hollow, insignificant creatures, but this is meaningless, as are all things. What is the point of living a life absolutely empty? Purpose is that which we create. What is your point, Darwin? What are you trying to prove? What do you wish to better? To change? I ask these questions because I am NOT indifferent. I care. I learn.

Clarification, for those weak of heart: I am not attacking anyone, just searching for answers. Truly sorry if your ego is wounded.

How do you rationalize hate ever being great? You are a very interesting person.

You are disdained because you have a huge ego that you need to out grow no body like a cocky guy

^ That was a curious attempt at a sentence. Try again.

If for the momentary sake of this conversation we say you are a great man Darwin, what do you plan to do with that greatness. You are unwilling to help others it would seem, and too indifferent it would also seem to try and lead anyone...where do you plan to go with all of this?

abby, is hate ever powerful for a good cause?

I am asking, as defined by you. Or Darwin, for that matter. I can answer my question just as well, but I am interested in your opinions.

Good and bad, right and wrong are defined yes. But hate, isn't hate more of an emotion, and reguardless of what caused that emotion, is it ever good as defined by whomever?

Darwin, sorry to ramble extensively, leaving you in the dust once more. Please do try to keep up.

Stoic Guidelines:

10. Help others in need. Treat all persons equally. Give them food and shelter if they need it. Stay with them when they are grieving; grieve outwardly with them, if need be. But do not grieve on the inside. Do not let their disturbance make you disturbed. Do not feel their feelings.

13. To blame others for one's own misfortunes shows a lack training; to blame oneself shows that one's training has begun; to blame neither oneself nor others shows that one's training has been completed (after Epictetus). When you are disturbed, you have only yourself to blame. When you are undisturbed, you have no one to blame.

You seem to fit the "lack of training." How does naming yourself stoic, and hating predominantly everyone and everything, match up? Your patronizing attitude is opposite of the stoic guidelines. Perhaps you are right to hate the feeble-minded, the ignorant and stupid, but that whom you claim to be, is not who you are. You may be an intellectual fascist, but you are not stoic.

You virtually say the ignorant man is a man living a pointless, worthless life and in part I would agree with you, however, you are not asking what is a mans life devoid of all purpose...a man who does not want anything, who cares about nothing?

Perhaps not. On a broader scale, as to how the world is, all that you hate...do you not blame that on others?

You are defending your beliefs becuase you choose to state them and to argue against ours.

Darwin, that is the problem! I want answers, I want to understand you and your beliefs. You don't need to defend yourself, simply support your claims, explain things thoroughly, answer questions, etc. I like you, is it so wrong to be interested in what you say?

No one is hurt! Stop putting yourself on the defensive! I like you, and I'm pretty damn sure these other two like you as well. Don't stop discussing your beliefs, they are fascinating.

An asshole? Far from such. I dont think anyone involved would call you such. We are just curious as to your views about life as a whole, and how you justify such thoughts. No hurt was inteneded, just curiosity from a few searching for answers.

They are not twisted intentionally. Perhaps misunderstood, but that is when you must explain yourself, not run away.

There is no end of the road. The mind and its thoughts are infinite.

The only true crime that humanity can ever truly kill its self with is to stop thinking. We wish to know, to understand. We twist words at times due to contradictions that occur when an idea is viewed from a different perspective. One must consider all sides not just the initial and obvious ones.

No, that is where you are experiencing misunderstanding. We all care to understand. Share your views? Not yet at least. Understand why you think life is pointless? To an extent.

Ugh. You are not crazy. Stop being insecure.

We want answers becuase we care, we want to learn, we dont always agree with you becuase we see gaps. In those times we try to explain ourselves, can you truly say that you have considered what we have said?

I live for myself, my life is my own. That is what I say to you.

No. Agh. This is inexplicably frustrating. Darwin, if you leave for now, please do come back. You are insightful, more than you know.

Aimless? I would say you created a very interesting thread, well worth the time and effort. As jane said, you are very insightful, you get us all to think about some things. For that I personally thank you. I wish to grow and that is something you help me with.

Darwin, you have so little respect for each one of us, it is staggering.

I speak for myself, which would be obvious were you to take the time to truly figure me out. I live life because, why not? The main reason I am severely depressed is I do not find purpose in life, but it is all I have. Death appears to be the one thing more meaningless than life.

god...no, Im an atheist

fare thee well...

I'm done for now. I'll be emailing you later.

You're right, and in that sense, I still have some growing to do. I find myself struggling against life's emptiness at times.

You ask us to give up our lives, to waste away to no ends. We all know we will die, and perhaps we will not be remembered, but i think we all agree that we intend to give some meaning to our life while we are still living.

^ No one can answer that for you, but I'll pick the wild card!

Answer: Ignorance.

Man puts purpose to his own life, it can be whatever he wishes. If Darwin chooses to put no purpose to his life then so be it, that is his choice. I choose to be happy, I choose to set goals, to strive for things in life...to truly live.

Abby, if you live to 'quell ignorance' is that not some purpose in your life?

Alright, goodbye everyone. This was fun! (For me, at least).

Jason, did Abby ever speak of NO purpose in her life? If she did, I must have overlooked the statement.