For one thing, I'm definitely not telling you what to do or how to live your life. I'm just talking about the conclusions I've come to personally. Besides, if I've learned anything from being here, it's that I can't presume to know your circumstances, or even your limits. I've chatted with immortals whose ability to understand things, and their very perceptions of things like time and mortality, are completely beyond what a mortal can hope to have, because they're shaped by experiences a mortal never can have. So it'd be kind of crazy for me to act like what I do would be a good fit for you, especially when we've only just started talking. I don't know the first thing about you, beyond that you're obviously intelligent.
But more than that...I wasn't suggesting giving up seeking understanding, even of things considered to be beyond human comprehension. A blind man groping in the dark may not be able to map the whole world, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to get a feel for any of it. I more meant that there are questions here that may downright lack any kind of logical answer at all, so trying to find an explanation for them is pointless. I mean, as I said, if the answer to "how is this thing possible?" is basically a godly voice booming "BECAUSE I WILLED IT", well...what good does that answer do you? What practical use can a person put an answer like that to? There really isn't any. A much more instructive question, for instance, might be "why did you will this?", because that answer might illuminate something.
There's a whole lot of things in this world where the 'how' of them seems to be so inexplicable and arbitrary, with the explanation of their being at the whims of a god being so likely, that those questions and their answers just seem like a waste of time I could spend asking better ones. After all, I wouldn't call shifting the focus of a guy's inquiries to be 'giving up'. A lifetime's only so long, and as you acknowledge, there's too much to know! You have to triage what's worth your time and what isn't. And that's a pretty subjective decision, isn't it? If you've going to tell me my efforts are wasted because you don't personally agree with where I'm directing them, because you think you should get to dictate what's important to me to learn, well...that seems simultaneously short-sighted and high-handed.
I do appreciate the advice, and the spirit in which it was given, but trust me, I don't need it. My curiosity's kind of a watchword with the people who know me. I'm never going to not ask questions. So believe me, we're on the same page as far as that goes.
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For one thing, I'm definitely not telling you what to do or how to live your life. I'm just talking about the conclusions I've come to personally. Besides, if I've learned anything from being here, it's that I can't presume to know your circumstances, or even your limits. I've chatted with immortals whose ability to understand things, and their very perceptions of things like time and mortality, are completely beyond what a mortal can hope to have, because they're shaped by experiences a mortal never can have. So it'd be kind of crazy for me to act like what I do would be a good fit for you, especially when we've only just started talking. I don't know the first thing about you, beyond that you're obviously intelligent.
But more than that...I wasn't suggesting giving up seeking understanding, even of things considered to be beyond human comprehension. A blind man groping in the dark may not be able to map the whole world, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to get a feel for any of it. I more meant that there are questions here that may downright lack any kind of logical answer at all, so trying to find an explanation for them is pointless. I mean, as I said, if the answer to "how is this thing possible?" is basically a godly voice booming "BECAUSE I WILLED IT", well...what good does that answer do you? What practical use can a person put an answer like that to? There really isn't any. A much more instructive question, for instance, might be "why did you will this?", because that answer might illuminate something.
There's a whole lot of things in this world where the 'how' of them seems to be so inexplicable and arbitrary, with the explanation of their being at the whims of a god being so likely, that those questions and their answers just seem like a waste of time I could spend asking better ones. After all, I wouldn't call shifting the focus of a guy's inquiries to be 'giving up'. A lifetime's only so long, and as you acknowledge, there's too much to know! You have to triage what's worth your time and what isn't. And that's a pretty subjective decision, isn't it? If you've going to tell me my efforts are wasted because you don't personally agree with where I'm directing them, because you think you should get to dictate what's important to me to learn, well...that seems simultaneously short-sighted and high-handed.
I do appreciate the advice, and the spirit in which it was given, but trust me, I don't need it. My curiosity's kind of a watchword with the people who know me. I'm never going to not ask questions. So believe me, we're on the same page as far as that goes.