Does anything matter?

[-JiZ53-]

Does anything matter? Does anything truly have inherent value?


If so, what and why?

[Ohaider]

For real, I don't think we can know. I think Earth in the scheme of the whole universe amounts to nothing at all, but we also have no idea what the whole universe amounts to or why it's even wherever or whatever it is, or if it has any inherent value. For all we know the universe could just be some non self aware cell type body among a trillion others in a vast other universe or entity... Kinda depressing when you consider how little humans know and will ever know in our lifetime atleast
Basically, no idea

[awein999]

[rushyrulz]

because god
oh wait this is CT...

Things only matter in the sense of making our race last as long as possible, apart from that no, nothing matters.

[Candor]

first find a way to live much longer than 100, then think of other things

[rushyrulz]

I swear awein if that's Bohemian Rhapsody... I haven't clicked it yet but I swear to beelzebub..
edit: ok ur safe

[Mourningfall]

On a cosmological scale, nothing we say or do, own or belong to really matters. We're as important as the speck of dust on the bottom of your shoe. But we don't live on a cosmological scale. For the most part we're a collective bacteria confined to an insignificant little ball in one of the least eventful reaches of space. So-

On a global scale and humanist standpoint, humanity matters considering humans are the dominant species. As a collective we're arbiters to the earths future. We've the power to heal it as well as destroy it. This is probably important to anyone concerned with the longevity of the human species.

On that note, clean water and food matters.

Science matters as a means to help us understand our past and determine our future.

Material possessions don't, neither do dolphins.

You matter.

Seriously, fuck dolphins.

Cheers, Synthlight.

[ShadowDueler97]

AAA post awein

[dashoe93]

no

[ilikexd]

Not sure if serious question but nothing has "inherent value" since the value of something exists in the subject who perceives it and not the object being perceived.

[V-Ormix]

Originally Posted by MrPopadopalis25

Yes, things matter, even if there isn't a universal scale of worth inherent in nature. Things matter because of people. You can argue that nothing ultimately matters because everybody dies someday, or because the earth is such a small and unimportant component in the universe, or because the universe will one day implode, but what about those eighty some odd years you have in between? The time you spend alive and what you leave behind for those that will be alive after you are what matter. There is inherent value in the things that contribute to the positive well-being of humanity on the micro (personal), meso (community, family, friends, etc), and macro (societal, human race as a whole) levels.

Well said. Honestly if nothing matters why not we all commit suicide, to imply that we small life forms relative to the complexity of our existence and vast scope of things we can be arrogant to yet claim to understand would have to bend the fabric of space in time with our own will (basically become a god or your life is worthless) sounds really impractical to me.

[ilikexd]

Originally Posted by V-Ormix

Honestly if nothing matters why not we all commit suicide

Explain why nothing mattering would mean the absence of a reason to not commit suicide.

[Dynam0]

If you kil yourself then you can't smoke weed anymore :{

[V-Ormix]

Originally Posted by ilikexd

Explain why nothing mattering would mean the absence of a reason to not commit suicide.

Reasoning is a matter you take in your own hands, hell, we are made of matter. What I'm saying is there's no way to be alive were matter doesn't concern you. A statement to commit suicide is equally impractical as thinking there is some unequivocal "meaningless" denominator to everything.

[Spenner]

It depends at which scale you are judging things. Too vast of a view of your actions or the collective actions that take place on earth, and no, they don't matter. But we're a system, a self perpetuating system that relies on everything within it to cooperate. Your actions matter in the sense that you can change things big or small with them. The end result of those actions could very well be a global change for the better, for example!!!

Things matter to me. I that it matters that we optimise things so that suffering can be avoided in areas big or small. Especially on the small. Little things like thoughts with a sour taste lead to massive amounts of suffering. It matters that we are helping each other enjoy the ride and to keep momentum somehow. Whether it's through posting and reflecting on things, or if you're actually out there doing things. THAT sort of thing might not matter-- how you do it-- but reciprocal altruism is a part of us at many scales.

Really to even begin to digest this question you need to break it up into something less broad and impossible to answer.

But I respect the existential impossibility of things mattering in scales the size of one universe or many. Although who's to say there's not a very important ripple effect we're amounting to, some many billions of years down the road. Don't think in terms of "when the universe ends, everything wouldn't have mattered"-- untrue. Things happened here, people lived, suffered, and went through many changes. These were things happening at the time, not at THAT time, when the universe has ended (if it does in many of the ways it could).

Also question your requirements for something to matter. In the present there are far more opportunities to realize that things can matter, unless you IMMEDIATELY toss it in the same boat with grandiose existentialism. Which is not a fair thing.

Maybe it's best not to worry so much if it matters in the grandest scheme of things. It's just not our territory. Don't let those anxieties intoxicate you.

[Hakulyte]

The physiological needs like breathing, eating food, sleeping and staying healthy enough to be alive matters. If it truly didn't matter to you, you wouldn't be alive right now.

Also, what you need and what you think you need are the only things that could potentially confuse you about this topic. Once you're past preferences, this is pretty obvious stuff.

Refer to Maslow's pyramid if you want to google something related it.

High school tier question in Critical Thinking yay.

[IamMe90]

Originally Posted by V-Ormix

Reasoning is a matter you take in your own hands, hell, we are made of matter. What I'm saying is there's no way to be alive were matter doesn't concern you. A statement to commit suicide is equally impractical as thinking there is some unequivocal "meaningless" denominator to everything.

what the hell

you know that there are two definitions of the word "matter" and that they aren't interchangeable right

[Arch0wl]

Originally Posted by ilikexd

Not sure if serious question but nothing has "inherent value" since the value of something exists in the subject who perceives it and not the object being perceived.

this is the correct answer

alternatively, in case anyone has trouble understanding why it's right:

define "mattering". you won't be able to come up with anything consistent that applies outside of human biases.

[llyair]

A lot of interesting points! But I think the concept that resonated with me was perception... I don't think we'd even be able to perceive something as "not mattering" unless we knew of something that mattered more.

Just like we couldn't perceive an enclosure as "dark" unless we were aware of the existence of light, and could perceive the darkness as an absence of light. It's relative, but implies that things do, in fact, matter.

As for the matter of inherent value, how can we possibly be an expert resource on assigning absolute value to things that, for all we know, exist according to the unexplored and unexplained phenomena of the entire universe, when we can't even perceive anything beyond 4 dimensions?

Ahaha bad pun / already used but couldn't help it! XD

[V-Ormix]

Originally Posted by IamMe90

what the hell

you know that there are two definitions of the word "matter" and that they aren't interchangeable right

Matter:

Noun: A physical substance in general, as distinct from mind and spirit; (in physics) that which occupies space and possesses rest mass, especially as distinct from energy.

Verb: Be of importance; have significance.

Some thing that occupies physical space i.e. "matter" has significant value in that it isn't "nothing". Are you implying that because they are not "interchangeable" definitions I can't use both of them in the same sentence to describe each other?

edit: I'll just let you use common sense to digest weather or not I used both meanings in the same context.