Reflections..!

Hi Anthony,

I've been meaning to post for some time now having read your book recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For me it was interesting that an odd series of events had lead me to reading your book when ordinarily I might so easily have passed it by. In fact I had come to the opinion independently a matter of weeks before reading your book that coincidences may well not be meaningless and needless to say this is a central theme of ITLAD. It is interesting the number of people both on this blog and in day-to-day life who remark on such moments.

I note also your mention of Second Life - this is a game I am familiar with but have not yet played and was a reflection of existence that I was keen to mention when I did get round to posting. So you've pipped me!

I suppose, for me, the beauty of life is the not knowing. Nothing can ever be definate. I tend to describe extisence as a hall of mirrors. Each persaon is the product of their DNA + their experiences. DNA is unique to each individual as is each individual's set of experiences. DNA, therefore, is like a unique distorted mirror that reflects a unique set of experiences. Each person, therefore, can be seen as a unique and subjective reflection of what it is to exist. And suddenly Bill Hicks springs to mind..! "...all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration … that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves..."

Religion, for me, is nothing more than a manifestation of faith so I tend to deal only with the 'simple faith' in discussion. It is generally projected that atheism can never be fully proved. Likewise, a proof of a 'life after death' may also be impossible to attain even if there is truth in it. If fact if there were any truth in a life after death then one of the main points of life might well be the certainty of these two uncertainties! In essence, we are forced to live our lives without the benefit of 100% certainty and therefore base our decisions and actions on something other than a deity, i.e. ourselves.

I was chatting last night to a good friend of mine - a staunch atheist - who was hung up on the absurdity of a idea of a third-party 'God' whom one might have to live upto. This, for him, was a crux of his atheistic views - views which instill quite a fear into him, "and rightly so," he said.

For my part I countered that firstly I agreed with his views on a third party 'God'. It is difficult to live up to something/someone you have never met. I proposed, however, that any God need not be a third party - given that everything on the quantum level is essentially the same, he would likely be a part of a God. As a part of everything, one can never be a part of nothing.

I went on say that, although I felt his fear of oblivion was understandable, it was essentially irrational. One could not experience oblivion nor could it judge. A God of which one is a part, however, raises the possibility of having to live up to yourself after you die. One can always argue that living upto an unfamiliar third-party God is flawed from the outset. Living upto yourself, however, can not only be very difficult in life, but could prove a very tough experience during death! "Here's what know you could have done, this is what you chose to do.."

We are are harshest critics and our strongest champions because we have values created in our minds through our DNA and our experiences of what is right and wrong. Sometimes we dissapoint ourselves in our actions; sometimes we surpass ourselves - but again, this must be subjective.

If there is a God, I project that we are likely part of it, it will essentially be ourselves and if anyone is wondering whether they are doing the right or wrong things in life I suggest that they already know! Fortunately, however, if Anthony's theory holds weight in its basis, we may well all get the chance to rectify our wrongs!

Stuart