(May 31, 2012 at 3:45 pm)StatCrux Wrote:(May 31, 2012 at 3:39 pm)Panglossian Wrote: "Make it count" basically means to leave a positive impression of yourself after you're gone i.e. create/do something memorable, fight for a cause you passionately believe in, affect and treasure the lives of those you love, and your life will have meaning, purpose, however you wish to label it. Constructing a deity to do all that for you is a cop-out. Your sense of worth should come from who you are as a person, not what you believe in.
But how do you define "positive impression" in a meaningless universe, any action you take is neither positive or negative, its just a meaningless neutral action.
Ok, you're absolutely correct. On the grand scheme of things i.e. the Universe in general, we, as a species, have almost no effect at all. However, one cannot simply construct a cosmic pillar upon which we may stand and shout "hey, Universe! Look at me! My life has meaning now!" That is asinine, and holds not a shred of truth (in accordance with reality as we perceive it). What you must concentrate on is that which you CAN affect, not that which you cannot. Otherwise, you've pretty much just given up. Oh, and I would define "positive impression" as the prevailing memories that others will have of you after you're gone ("Did you find joy in your life? Did your life bring joy to others?"). For instance, there was a guy recently who saved two childeren who were being swept out to sea by the tide, but then he ended up drowning. He will be remembered as kind and brave, you see?
