I know perfectly well how insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things
not to those who know and love me, but on a universal scale it would be massively conceited to think that any of us has any effect on anything.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:08, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Well put.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:11, Reply)

Really
Like Einstein (to name one) didn't have any effect on anything? Do you think his life would have been the same withouht the other insingnificant lifes around his? A little change and he might have not have done all what he did. A little change and he might have done more.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:11, Reply)

Einstein's utterly insignificant to:
The vast majority of everyone who came before him.
Pretty much every other type of lifeform other than humans.
Intergalactic Space Dogs.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:14, Reply)

Einstien won't stop a star going supernova in another galaxy.

(PsychoChomp, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:15, Reply)

Intergalactic Space Dogs will though.

(TheColonel, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:16, Reply)

Maybe something he found out
will help someone in the future to do it.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:22, Reply)

^this
dinosaurs existed for a shitload longer than humanity has (and probably will) and we don't feel the affect of them, other than in museums and in the cinema.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:16, Reply)

They didn't develop their brains as we did, I think
and you don't know for how much longer humanity is going to be here (or somewhere else)
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:23, Reply)

I strongly suspect it won't be as long as the dinosaurs were around
unless something unpredictable happens. Unfortunately the unpredictable is weighted heavily in favour of something happening that will fuck us over.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:25, Reply)

Well, the way I see it
Dinosaurs were here a lot longer than us, however, they didn't achieve a tiny fraction of what we have. The reason we move forwards is a collective achievment. There are some bright heads and brave hearts that we remember more, but the environment were they grow up, the other insignificant people around them, made them what they were.

I don't think we're as fucked as some people want us to believe. I think we have time to change and improve things.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:33, Reply)

Raaaar.

( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:36, Reply)

the universe is something like 13 billion years old
and contains an absurd number of galaxies and planets and whatnot. On that scale, the achievements of one man, or any of the people connected to him have no bearing on anything.

I'm not denying the importance of the actions of an individual on us as a species, but we are such a small part of the whole of everything.

Even if the entire history of mankind had been radically different it would still only have affected things basically on the surface (and slightly above) of one tiny planet in one solar system in one galaxy.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:15, Reply)

this sums it up nicely using the media of comedy and song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWVshkVF0SY
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:19, Reply)

You cannot know that
As you don't know how we're changing the future of the universe.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:24, Reply)

the universe is so unimaginably large
that our actions simply can't be affecting it in any significant way.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:25, Reply)

Again
You cannot know that. You can guess and assume that. But you'll never know (unless there's life after dead and we get to see the future, coming back to the thread)
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:34, Reply)

we can never know
but it's a far more likely assumption. If there is life after death and we see that that has happened, then I'll find you and buy (or equivalent) you a drink (or equivalent)!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:40, Reply)

Aren't we just like cats or dogs?
They don't grasp the idea of the internet or the universe but it's around them and in their lives.
What's around us that we don't have the brain capacity to understand or even see?
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:42, Reply)

I think so
And I trully hope we get to understand everything after dead, even if it's only for a millisecond, I want everything to make sense.
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:48, Reply)

I want to know who killed JFK.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:54, Reply)

OK!
I really hope that is what comes after death. I don't want another life, I want to be able to see and understand everything.

Have you read The Light of Other Days, by C. Clarke? That is so much my desired future!
(Aberracion Life's getting very complicated, but a lot of fun., Tue 3 Aug 2010, 11:48, Reply)