Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

maskedpaki t1_jcghnzt wrote

Reply to comment by fieryflamingfire in Discussion: the goal of human existence should be avoiding the heat death of the universe by Mickeymousse1

How would it motivate anything ?

It just distracts from real issues that we are facing now. Like we REALLY could die before 2050 by AI

Stop wasting time on issues 10^100 years away

1

fieryflamingfire t1_jch6csw wrote

Idk, let's speculate on some reasons:

  1. It makes our current conflicts seem small or unimportant. A sense of "smallness" against the backdrop of the entire species or the entire universe. This seems similar in spirit to comments made by people like Carl Sagan or Neil DeGrasse Tyson when discussing the "largeness" of the universe and Earth's place in it.
  2. It gives us a common goal, which might drive social cohesion, which is a role religion and myth currently fulfill
  3. It makes us reflect on why we care about our own survival in the first place, and what the whole point of our existence is beyond our own survival as individuals

This is all speculation, but it's just as speculative as: this is going to distract us from facing real issues and bring us closer to our demise.

1