+130 The sooner we realize that the Universe doesn't care about us, that we are all equally unimportant, and that none of us are privileged in the eyes of any god, the closer we will come to respecting each and every human being, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Why respect anyone in a possible world where everyone is equally unimportant? That would impute importance to someone, violating the logic: The Universe doesn't care about Us ↔ We are all equally unimportant hmm I imagine a fora, say minitrue.net, and some neophyte posts "I respect Trolling4Freedom. And so should YOU, amitrue?" It gets awkward and minutes die. Then ExantDodo replies "You troll, you. Everyone knows we're all equally important," then she posts, "This traitor will get us all charged with thoughcrime, with his senseless kowtows to decaying organic matter, amitrue?"

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"Why respect anyone in a possible world where everyone is equally unimportant? That would impute importance to someone, violating the logic" It doesn't violate logic, but you're partially right. Realizing that we all equally unimportant and insignificant in this vast universe means we will all stop vying for dominance and acting like we're superior to others. Think of all the wars that have been fought, and all the blood shed because one group of humans think they are better than another group of humans and have submitted themselves to the superstition that they have some higher privilege in nature or in the eyes of their god(s). When we realize that our actions will ultimately get us no where in the long run (such as an eternal reward after we die) and aren't worth it, yet still affect others, we will learn to have respect for everyone and stop fighting and destroying the only world we know. By the way, I stole this idea from Carl Sagan. He is much more eloquent than me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wupToqz1e2g

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Everyone knows we're all equally unimportant* >Realizing that we're all equally unimportant and insignificant in this vast universe means we will all stop vying for dominance and acting like we're superior to others. Carl Sagan's an excellent thinker. I respect Carl, and so should you. But I think the quote is partially correct. Realizing that we're all equally unimportant and insignificant in this vast universe means: 1) we will all stop vying for dominance and acting like we're superior to others and 2) we will all stop humiliating ourselves and acting like people are superior to us**. The virtue of respect should diminish, in a possible world found by the logic The Universe doesn't care about Us ↔ We are all equally unimportant *Fixed **FTFY

by Anonymous 12 years ago

By respect, I mean respect for human life and the feelings and needs of others. Respect can have different meanings, and I think we have a misunderstanding here. You may mean a respect for authority or people deemed in a superior position by society. This is a different kind of respect in which we humans grant others certain privileges or higher esteem because of certain things they've done. For example, I have more respect for Albert Einstein than Adolf Hitler. This kind of respect is both good and bad. On one hand we have to accept that there are some people who are wiser, more intelligent or more experienced than us, but at the same time many people have abused their authority or higher positions to disrespect or abuse others. This is where the philosophy of "we are all the same in the eyes of the universe" comes in.

by Anonymous 12 years ago