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Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 13, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Belief in god is orthogonal to the question of the meaningfulness of life. It is possible that it turns out that there is some absolute discoverable meaning to life that has nothing to do with any god. I don't know what that would be like, but I have had some, for lack of a better word, "mystic" experiences pointing in that direction. And I do not think that all mysticism is theistic. Likewise, it is possible that belief in god actually makes one's life seem less meaningful. Some personalities find the notion of being under the rule of some all-powerful entity to be an unpleasant thought.

Living vibrantly is its own reward, it feels good and, assuming that it does not hurt others, does not need to be justified either by morality or by appeal to some higher goal. The problem with drugs is that they have unpleasant consequences. Also, to the extent that some of them sometimes distance one from reality, they hurt one's ability to enjoy truth.