On Sep 28, 4:32 pm, gabbydott <[email protected]> wrote: > Are you still in fiction mode, Pat?
I was discussing 'religios truths', which are, of course, extremely debatable. >Of course, we'll stop before the earth > and before the world. And I'll hopefully have stopped before my son has. > That's how the real story goes. But I agree that the limited time span of > personal experience on the one hand, and the limited time span of being able > to be attentive to a story line on the other hand, has been a challenge for > story telling. Seen in this light, the collective passing is a summary of > what did/does/will happen to each of us. Simple, really. As for Hollywood, > they are taking financial advantage of our enjoyment in being entertained. > And because this joy came to an end if the American Hero fighting for > freedom and justice would not win in the end, he wins in the end. The > feeling of schadenfreude can occur in the process of identification and > projection, but it's never a constant attribute to the hero figure the way I > understand you think it is being used. Schadenfreude always contains this "I > knew it before"/"I told you before, but you weren't listening to me" and now > see how I was right, you have got the damage now. That's not how you sell > tickets - but with the promise that you will be saved and rewarded in > Paradise (for giving me your ticket money). :) > OK, fair enough. I was viewing schadenfreude as simply taking pleasure in the failings of others. Granted, it's a simple view of it, but there is that element to it. Incidently, there is evidence--scientific evidence--that this universe will end in a rather catastrophic way. The main clue is the increasing value of the Hubble Constant. This implies that something is drawing our universe towards it at an ever-increasing rate. What happens when we collide? I offer a solution to this in my book, and that's the only reason why I won't cover it here. Now that the book is in the hands of the publisher, I want to give reasons for buying it, not spill the guts of it for free. I'm afraid those days are over. Of course, Once the book is out, then it and my views re-enter the public domain, so, with any luck, by 21-Dec-2011, I'll be able to further discuss this. I can, however, reveal that the secret lies in viewing our 4-D universe as one monopole and that which we are headed for is the opposite monopole. Nevertheless, time will tell. Ultimately, there will be some end; however, that end is, more than likely, only the necessary means that preceeds a new beginning. > > > On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 3:23 PM, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Sep 27, 6:58 pm, Jo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Armageddon, Doomsday, Rapture, Y2K, or the Mayan Calendar predicts... > > > > Just when we think another "end times" day has passed, they come up > > > with a new one. We're going to blow ourselves up or the computers are > > > going to nuke us all, the Sun will spit out a solar flair or an > > > asteroid's going to hit the Earth (yeah right). The human population > > > gets wiped out with the exception of a select few who are left to > > > survive on a lifeless planet. Seriously? How many more "World > > > Annihilation" movies must we endure? > > > > Why is mankind so fascinated with the end of the world? Will we ever > > > stop? > > > The answer to your question is, of course, exactly what you don't want > > to hear. Of course we'll stop...when the real end of the world > > comes. ;-) > > > I think the fascination is because we know our time here is limited > > but we don't know all the factors that limit it. We know that each of > > us will die, but, perhaps, some people--rather more than you might > > imagine--would take comfort in the fact that, when it's THEIR time to > > go, it's also time for everyone else. I think, to some, a collective > > passing is more palatable than the "it's just you" scenario. As far > > as the films go, this is purely down to Hollywood taking advantage of > > schadenfreude, the chance to sit back and safely watch others fight > > for their lives and lose while the viewer always wins because they > > walk away. It's a very subtle type of schadenfreude; but, I believe > > that's what it is, nonetheless. I think Gabby would agree. > > > Also, there are the religious eschatological factors. In particular, > > Christianity and Islam both predict the world will end in a > > cataclysmic way; so, the concept is a built-in part of millions of > > people's faith. How these two faiths differ in their end-time result > > is, of course, obvious. In The Apocalypse of St. John (Revelation), > > the Christians are saved. In the Qur'an, there is a resurrection of > > all the dead followed by the complete annihilation of the universe > > (not just Earth!) and all people's souls are judged fairly by God. > > The Qur'an does NOT take the view that Muslim's will fare better than > > others simply because they're Muslim; rather, each individual will be > > judged on their own thoughts, deeds and piety, which, to be fair, is a > > more egalitarian of a view than the Christian eschatological view that > > Christians, just by virtue of being Christians, will be saved and > > rewarded in Paradise.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text -
