First off, there are two forms of value. The first type would be the type of value that materialistic things have such as looking at a fancy television or having a fancy shaver. This type of value, although it is something that can be cherished and appreciated, is virtually nothing in comparison to the higher value that a loved one would have in your life such as your mother. Your mother is something so much more than just some fancy shaver or television. But if we as human beings are nothing more than biological machines who have only this one life to live, then that reduces us to nothing more than materialistic things. Since we are truly insignificant and nothing special in this universe which is something that is often said by skeptics such as the likes of Lawrence Krauss, then this means that the type of value we as human beings have would be reduced to nothing more than the type of value that materialistic things have. We would be nothing more than insignificant biological machines and that is the lesser value we would have. There is nothing warranting a higher value attributed to us as human beings if we are just biological machines living this one and only life. The way I see it, the only thing that can bestow us this higher value would be the very notion of us being special in this universe. That is, us being eternal souls who get to live on in the afterlife where we greet deceased loved ones, live happy forever after, etc. If we are just biological machines living this one and only life, then we instead have every reason to treat our family and other people in this world as insignificant, materialistic things such as a shaver, book, bike, computer, etc.
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Current time: December 22, 2024, 4:52 pm
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Human beings have virtually no value if they are just machines
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I don't see why we have to exist forever to be special. In any event special just....happens. Although we may or may not be the only intelligent life in the universe.
My friends here are special to me, and it certainly has nothing to do with whether they or I will exist in some form forever. 
I'm getting a hint of "special" in the non-flattering sense.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
In what way does living forever make things meaningful when they otherwise wouldn't be? People have limited attention spans. If you haven't shared time with someone in 1,000 years or 1,000,000 years, of what special significance is that time spent. At each moment, our pasts are finite. This is the case whether you live an eternity, or merely 100 years. How does an infinite life span add meaning in a way that is categorically different than what 100 years does?
![[Image: extraordinarywoo-sig.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/zf86M5L7/extraordinarywoo-sig.jpg) 
Is there a horseshit generator on the web?
Hey we have something machines dont have emotions
well... technically they can have emotions if you program them to have them.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization join today.
Code: <iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/255506953&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true"></iframe> RE: Human beings have virtually no value if they are just machines
December 11, 2017 at 7:23 pm
(This post was last modified: December 11, 2017 at 7:25 pm by Simon Moon.)
(December 11, 2017 at 6:41 pm)Transcended Dimensions Wrote: But if we as human beings are nothing more than biological machines who have only this one life to live, then that reduces us to nothing more than materialistic things. Since we are truly insignificant and nothing special in this universe which is something that is often said by skeptics such as the likes of Lawrence Krauss, then this means that the type of value we as human beings have would be reduced to nothing more than the type of value that materialistic things have. We would be nothing more than insignificant biological machines and that is the lesser value we would have. There is nothing warranting a higher value attributed to us as human beings if we are just biological machines living this one and only life. The way I see it, the only thing that can bestow us this higher value would be the very notion of us being special in this universe. That is, us being eternal souls who get to live on in the afterlife where we greet deceased loved ones, live happy forever after, etc. If we are just biological machines living this one and only life, then we instead have every reason to treat our family and other people in this world as insignificant, materialistic things such as a shaver, book, bike, computer, etc. Just because there is no ultimate 'value giver' or afterlife, does not mean we don't have value. We have value to ourselves, our family, and friends. We have value for the positive influences we have on other people. And we have value to the rest of humanity as a human. And my family, friends and the rest of humanity have value to me. Not sure what else is needed, or even wanted? You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.  (December 11, 2017 at 6:41 pm)Transcended Dimensions Wrote: If we are just biological machines living this one and only life, then we instead have every reason to treat our family and other people in this world as insignificant, materialistic things such as a shaver, book, bike, computer, etc. Though I disagree with their conclusions, some fairly intelligent people have asked this question (Tolstoy and Kierkegaard to name two). But the way you've framed the question makes it easy to answer. IFF something's inherent value can be boiled down to it's utility (ie. the mother of an infant is a milk machine and cuddler) then one ought to treat one's friends and family as material things. It's pretty subjective, but one case that immediately springs to mind is my deceased grandmother. She did many things for me through the course of my life, but near the end she lost all capability to do anything for anybody. But I still cherished every moment I had with her knowing that (while she was to weak to reply to anything I said) she could still understand my words and feel my embrace. No afterlife or anything needed. My grandmother possessed a value that extended beyond her utility.  (December 11, 2017 at 7:11 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: In what way does living forever make things meaningful when they otherwise wouldn't be? People have limited attention spans. If you haven't shared time with someone in 1,000 years or 1,000,000 years, of what special significance is that time spent. At each moment, our pasts are finite. This is the case whether you live an eternity, or merely 100 years. How does an infinite life span add meaning in a way that is categorically different than what 100 years does? Sounds like a recipe for endlessly meaningless to me. 
@ OP: Paragraphs. Please.
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