So I'm positive I'm not unique in ever considering this thought, but I feel as though it can hopefully inspire a healthy, philosophical discussion, as it is probably a thought that has crossed your mind at least once, or if not, it is an interesting observation of life.
When we speak of "the butterfly effect" we are usually speaking on going to the past, changing an random event, and upon return to the present, it is completely different from before you traveled back in time. Instead, think of this in reverse.
The present is the sum of every little thing, every experience had, every movement you've made, every reaction you've had in your life.
As if life were an equation, a function of time, and after adding everything up, you get to the point in the present that you meet someone. The most amazing part is, and the reason why I'm highlighting "meeting" someone specifically, is that means that their completely different equation of life, has led them to the same point. Two completely different lives, equating to the same outcome for a short time. And then after this, like a virus, that new person becomes a part of your equation, thus leading you to meet another person, and so on and so forth.
[b]So, in short, when you meet someone for the first time, not only has you're entire life has lead to this point, but so has theirs. [/b]
How do you feel about this phenomenon? Does this support the deterministic philosophy, or the chaos philosophy?
[spoiler]Also, I'm thinking about doing a continuous series of these threads, "random thoughts from the cellar." Let me know if you think they're stupid and I should get a better k/d, or if I should keep doing them. [/spoiler]
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Ive thought about this many times... Freakin nutz
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I don't necessarily buy into the whole butterfly effect thing. Sure there are decisions and events in your life that matter, but the vast majority are inconsequential. If I meet someone at the mall, the only decision that will have lead to that is my desire to go to the mall. Maybe it's a lot deeper than that, I don't know, but I'm not a very deep person, so that's just my take on it.
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I see where you're coming from with this one, no doubt, but I feel like you're trying to make a deeper meaning for something that might not necessarily exist most of the time.
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Edited by Lance: 10/2/2015 4:32:04 AMI see what you're saying. At the same time it's cool to consider that by deciding never to have kids you'll be breaking a bloodline that goes all the way back to the beginning of time or life or whatever. And [i]then[/i] you realize that each and every person you pass on the street, in traffic, see as an extra on TV, is living out a life equally as complex and stressful as yours, developing an entire narrative that runs chronologically and geographically adjacent to yours but don't relate in any immediate fashion. There's a word for that: Sonder, I think.
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Interesting thoughts. Too bad not a lot of people here have the mental capacity to even partially comprehend this.
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Like attracts like...
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So if I have a similar lifestyle to someone else (let's say, shoving a gun in my mouth) I'll probably meet them? Does that mean all the zombies with holes in their head have a secret hang out spot in the Netherworld?
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Your K/D is too high for me.
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I really want to think deeply about this but at school
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Tl dr
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In the movie 127 hours. He kinda mentions this. That Boulder that fell on his arm has sitting there waiting for him to come along for that precise moment in time to occur since the beginning of time.
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>not spookifying your name
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Every person's life is like a line through the fourth dimension. Inevitably, each line has intersections with other lines, both (or all) hitting the same point. Here, there are a few possible lens through which to view the situation. 1. All lines that lead to this point culminate in this point, sealing off possibilities of the past, perhaps with purpose. Somehow this point was arrived at by all of these line out of the possibly infinitely many other points that each line could have gone to. 2. The point is a collision of a sort, resulting in an explosion of possibilities for the future, sending lines every which way to who knows where, changing the future in ultimately grand and unknowable ways. 3. The lines intersect, but in a very physical way. Laws of motion apply and net force on each line sends them in a particular direction, but to what end? It is impossible to actually know, but could combining this knowledge with the knowledge that the progression of history is a specification of outcomes unveil truth? All three seem to me to be capable of being evidence of determinism while simultaneously throwing it into doubt. Is it possible that the opposite is not true, but determinism isn't either?
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Tl;dr
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Your entire life has lead you to write this thread, mine to reading it. Cool.
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Edited by Plasma Eagle: 10/2/2015 5:06:42 PMAwesome ass album.
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Hmm seems interesting
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Go get a better k/d, scr00b
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Mind = Blown Shit I gotta re-meet a lotta ppl now
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That's pretty cool
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...my brain hurts
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Time doesn't exist. The past is a phenomenon called Memory The future is a phenomenon called imagination. The past and future exist exclusively within your head and are gauges for how the universe changes.
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This brings up the question of fate and destiny. If everything in life is an equation, which I think it is, control is an illusion, we only react to events based on the previous equations. Therefore there is no such thing as free will, there are just so many inputs that cause us to make a decision its very difficult to predict, thus it seems random. But of course decisions can be predicted, that's how advertising works.
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My entire life has lead up to me reading this thread
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If you travel back in time nothing changes. You always have and will continue to. You can't have a butterfly effect.
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Edited by The Unknown: 10/2/2015 7:55:37 AMI've been saying this for a long time. My girl and I stand by it. EDIT: Keep it up. I'm curious to see what's in your cellar. Lol