Bothered by the concept of infinity.

[Raccoon Love]

Am I the only one bothered by the concept of infinity? Wouldn't humans eventually get bored of eternal life if it ever was possible?

As a human, I fear death but I also fear the concept of being able to live eternally..it just does not click into my mind. Has anybody else had this thoughts?

 

[Kavalan]

Humans inherently want a beginning and an end. We always mark things by what has happened in the past and set goals or plan for the future.

 

[kyo]

It's an interesting question. I have also had these thoughts sometimes and personally I find it hard to grasp the concept of eternity.

I believe there is eternal life somewhere after death, but I do not put too much thoughts into whether it will be boring or what it will be like, because I trust in God and he loves everyone. So I can't believe it will be anything bad to live an eternal life with God.
This way I find dont have to bother with the concept too much.

I think it is human to wonder about questions like this one, and find it confusing. We believe what we can see, hear, touch, feel and what we experience. And what we see here on earth is that everything has a beginning and an end to it. Then there is the concept of time, that you can not say when started or when it will end. I think this is why and where the confusion about eternity comes from.

 

[enfp can be shy]

Nobody could force you to live forever. (; I'll compare such discomfort, with being naked in public. However, we only feel so afraid, because we are taught so, and stuffed with re-iterated ideals.

Humans inherently want a beginning and an end.

Yep, that's why fiction is SO misleading. And phrases like: "Who laughs last laughs best". Nobody laughs "last", in time. No happy end, no sad end, no sudden end of the "story". Thinking in terms of tales produces strange focus on events that don't really matter. Every "hero" and every "genius" in history will be forgotten or re-evaluated.

Mathematically, infinity is an abstract concept that can't be proven to exist, but helps to deal with certain representations of reality. For example, to fully cover a disk with tiny squares. When it comes to application of calculations, we always use finite steps with beginning and end again.

That leads to a good idea: maybe the mathematical approach could be improved. I'll give you an example: if we compare liquid in two different glasses, our current method would be to count them in teaspoons etc. Instead, we could pour them in identical glasses and compare directly. We could "pour" a half-disk into a big half-square "corner" and measure it that way.

What I mean is, we can use more intuitive/physical approaches to demonstrate proofs, where the concept of infinity remains hidden within the matter.

 

[Solar Empath]

Am I the only one bothered by the concept of infinity? Wouldn't humans eventually get bored of eternal life if it ever was possible?

As a human, I fear death but I also fear the concept of being able to live eternally..it just does not click into my mind. Has anybody else had this thoughts?

You are assuming that the Christian view of eternal life is the only one.

I prefer the Thelemic view.

 

[Moxie]

What is the Thelemic view? I tried looking it up on dictionary.com and it didn't come up with anything.

 

[dvslil1]

It's a perplexing concept, especially when you considers mans innate struggle with mortality. At a glance eternity may seem appealing, but I too have struggled with the thought of never being able to end it.
We live life in stages, measured by events and time; Would eternity hold this for us?
The questions that the concept of eternity raises seem to void the validity of eternity having any real qaulity. Or maybe that's just me.

 

[Naxx]

It's a perplexing concept, especially when you considers mans innate struggle with mortality. At a glance eternity may seem appealing, but I too have struggled with the thought of never being able to end it.
We live life in stages, measured by events and time; Would eternity hold this for us?
The questions that the concept of eternity raises seem to void the validity of eternity having any real qaulity. Or maybe that's just me.

The universe cannot have a true meaning if it is to offer all things that exists within it the opportunity to have their own meaning.

 

[Solar Empath]

What is the Thelemic view? I tried looking it up on dictionary.com and it didn't come up with anything.

The personality dies at death but the seed of the soul continues on through reincarnation or reunification with the Divine.

Look up the Book of the Law if you are actually interested in seeing a lot about it, though I warn you that the speakers do assume a decent level of esoteric knowledge, so some of it may not make complete sense.

Liber AL vel Legis (The Book of the Law)

 

[Julia]

Humans inherently want a beginning and an end. We always mark things by what has happened in the past and set goals or plan for the future.

I wonder if that is because we have a beginning and an end, and so we project that state outwardly in order to make sense of things.

 

[Entyqua]

I dont fear it ...I understand infinity...I also understand that my life here is finite...No matter who I am right now...my soul will not be me after i die...So I have nothing to fear from infinity...I know I am finite...here for a brief blink of existence...here to love and laugh...

 

[InTheWomblikeCocoon]

I like infinity. If we were meant to "die", seems like God wasted His time, especially since most people on this earth really dont do anything with their lives.

 

[gloomy-optimist]

I don't understand infinity, but I accept it. I doubt anyone really understands it to its full significance. All I know is this: the cycle of constant birth and rebirth, the idea that one day we will end, and the earth will end, and the sun, the galaxy, possibly even the universe will end, only means that something else will begin.

 

[randomsomeone]

I agree...all our attempts to grasp the dynamics of infinity are destined to fall short. The descriptions we have are meant only to engage in the most simple terms...and I think this holds true for any religious tradition.

The thing I would encourage is to move forward in your own personal faith journey and to do it with abandonment and generosity....and do not be afraid.

 

[midnightmelody]

Gimme
closure
now

 

[Montag]

Finite beings like ourselves by definition can't really grasp the meaning of infinity. All we have is an illusion of understanding: a word with a vague definition comprised of more words. A word is a finger that points to the moon. The finger itself is not the moon. My vague, illusory understanding of infinity informs me that if time exists and is infinite, then our universe is no closer to the end of time now than it was 14 billion years ago just after the big bang (the ONE big bang that we know about, never mind the infinite big bangs "before" and "after" it). I like to think that if time exists, maybe it isn't linear. We only perceive it to be linear. That makes it even harder to visualize with my big monkey brain.

 

[bamf]

I have a few thoughts on this that I'd like to share

1. I agree with Socrates in his way of think about death. We have no actual reason to fear death, because in fearing death we assume we know what death brings. All of our ideas on death are just that; ideas. It's like opening a box that's been left on your door step. It could be a bomb, it could be a million dollars, or it could be nothing. The thing is you won't know what's inside the box until you open it. Same with death. We can think and think and think about it as much as we want, but we won't actually know anything about it until we die. We all die and there's nothing we can do about it, so why waste time worrying?

2. My personal belief is that when we die, a part of us continues to exist beyond our physical body. What that is? I don't know, nor do I pretend to know. I also believe that what ever that part of us is that exists after death doesn't see things the same way we do now. We only sense things in four dimensions (the fourth being time) but for all we know is that there are many many more.

3. And going off that thought...for all we know we don't exist the way we think we do. For all we know we're a thought or a dream. Borrowing from Descartes; I think, I am. All that we know is that we exist, what we exist as, we can't be certain. But at the same time, that really shouldn't bother us. We can't affect who we are, we can't affect what happens after we die.

I guess what I'm trying to say is try not to worry about too much. There isn't a whole lot you can do about it, but in the end it's all going to work out the way it's supposed to. You're not alone in thinking that infinity is a scary thought, but don't let it bug you out too much.

 

[midnightmelody]

I have a few thoughts on this that I'd like to share

1. I agree with Socrates in his way of think about death. We have no actual reason to fear death, because in fearing death we assume we know what death brings. All of our ideas on death are just that; ideas. It's like opening a box that's been left on your door step. It could be a bomb, it could be a million dollars, or it could be nothing. The thing is you won't know what's inside the box until you open it. Same with death. We can think and think and think about it as much as we want, but we won't actually know anything about it until we die. We all die and there's nothing we can do about it, so why waste time worrying?

2. My personal belief is that when we die, a part of us continues to exist beyond our physical body. What that is? I don't know, nor do I pretend to know. I also believe that what ever that part of us is that exists after death doesn't see things the same way we do now. We only sense things in four dimensions (the fourth being time) but for all we know is that there are many many more.

3. And going off that thought...for all we know we don't exist the way we think we do. For all we know we're a thought or a dream. Borrowing from Descartes; I think, I am. All that we know is that we exist, what we exist as, we can't be certain. But at the same time, that really shouldn't bother us. We can't affect who we are, we can't affect what happens after we die.

I guess what I'm trying to say is try not to worry about too much. There isn't a whole lot you can do about it, but in the end it's all going to work out the way it's supposed to. You're not alone in thinking that infinity is a scary thought, but don't let it bug you out too much.

I'm having trouble with the bolded statement. I mean recently I've gotten better with the idea of death. I mean it is an end after all.

But I think the very reason that it is unknown is why I fear it. I fear a lot of things that are related to uncertainty.

 

[bamf]

I'm having trouble with the bolded statement. I mean recently I've gotten better with the idea of death. I mean it is an end after all.

But I think the very reason that it is unknown is why I fear it. I fear a lot of things that are related to uncertainty.

But for all you know, it's going to be an amazing experience, or a dreamless sleep, or a million other things. For all you know it's anything.

You're right, it's completely uncertain, but is there anything at all you can do about it? I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't let something you have no control bother you so (I know, I know. Easier said then done)

 

[INTJMom]

Am I the only one bothered by the concept of infinity? Wouldn't humans eventually get bored of eternal life if it ever was possible?

As a human, I fear death but I also fear the concept of being able to live eternally..it just does not click into my mind. Has anybody else had this thoughts?

Actually, I have an ISTP son and an ENFJ son both of whom used to be bothered by the concept of infinity. We haven't talked about it in a long time, so I don't know how they feel about it now, but they would actually cry about it at night! I was totally at a loss for how to help them! ray: