Quote:One theory is the big crunch the other is the big fizzle. Matter crunches, and presumably another big bang and we get to debate this again until we are blue in the face. Or all matter, and energy disperse to the point of inertia. The matter may "exist" but in such a state that it may as well be nothing.How it works is still very much unknown. We've got a few ideas here and there. It could all come in and set off another big bang or something else. Who knows?
Quote:But, that trillion or five or ten will be up at some point and most likely the human race will be done long long before this.Very true, I agree.
Quote:If we develop the science to defend against every threat imaginable we can't possibly stop the degradation of the entire universe.True. I agree. Though we might as well live it up and exist while we can. Adapt while we can. Focus not at our far off doom but the here and now. That is what matters.
Quote:. When consciousness ceases weather we have religious myth or the highest science, all belief/knowledge ceases too.Pretty much.
Quote:However I am afraid I cannot see how we can be as gods. Clinical immortality, control of our environment, populating the edges of the universe, all of these yes. But this too shall pass.What I meant by us being as gods is that we can easily be seen as a god to people say like those in the stone age. With all the things we are capable of, we can be seen as gods. What if we wean't as far as giant starships? Or being able to Terra form old dead planets to planets loaded with life? What if we could advance so far to the point where death would no longer be a worry and that we could create planets, alter gravity, influence just about everything in our galaxy? To me, that's like being a god. I believe we do have the potential. Just not enough intellect at the moment to pull it off.
Sure it would still all pass, but is that a good reason to not do it? I would love to fly a hang glider for days on end, but I know I can't. Doesn't mean I won't still go ahead with it.
Quote:To me, to say definitively, there is no "other side" is saying we know all things already.I never said definitively. However I am 99.99% sure. It's extremely improbable.
Quote: And I have no reason to think my grandmother would lie.I have no reason to believe it due to lack of evidence and credibility. The brain is actually very active during moments of death. Memory, imagination and senses can go nuts at points of death. We still don't fully understand how the brain works.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.