Team Atheist: A Question

[MrX]

Simple question.

Do you care if/how long/in what way you'll be remembered when you're gone.

 

[Matty]

Why is this addressed to Team Atheist? Still a valid question to ask to zealots.

I guess I do. It's one of the selfish reasons one might want to have kids, I suppose. Kids are a captive audience, they'll absorb your bullshit and carry on your legacy whether they like it or not.

If I'd been dead set on not having kids, I suppose that the concern would've been greater.

I dunno.

The idea of dying is more intriguing/worrisome to me than however long-lasting my "legacy" might be.

 

[Mudcat]

Although I am not an atheist, I find the question interesting.

I care some. I would like to leave some piece of art that is appreciated after I am gone - although intellectually I understand the complete pointlessness of the desire. But the vanity is there.

There are a number of human feelings I realize intellectually are pointless but I would be lying to say I am 100% immune. I don't see it as being about spiritual belief. It's more philosophical grounding for me. Training. I can strive for perfection but never expect it.

Even Caine could stray from the path.

 

[Matty]

I guess if I could leave just one solid one-liner behind, one that was promoted to the rank of idiomatic expression for the next 5 or 6 centuries, before a dusty old academician declared it archaic in the latest Merriam-Webster (or Grand Robert), I'd be pretty happy with myself.

 

[Tron]

Matty, you created the calm strike rating continuim. You've already made it.

 

[xpansive]

I guess if I could leave just one solid one-liner behind, one that was promoted to the rank of idiomatic expression for the next 5 or 6 centuries, before a dusty old academician declared it archaic in the latest Merriam-Webster (or Grand Robert), I'd be pretty happy with myself.

I saw what you did there...

MrX your better than this...

 

[bacon]

I agree with what Matty said.

 

[Gilmartin]

Never knew what the authoritative dictionary was for French. I like it.

 

[MrX]

Why is this addressed to Team Atheist? Still a valid question to ask to zealots.

No good reason. I was just more interested in the responses from the atheist front, because they'd be more likely to be something I can relate to.

The idea of dying is more intriguing/worrisome to me than however long-lasting my "legacy" might be.

Me, too, for sure. I guess that's a big part of the question I was trying to ask. Does the idea of leaving a legacy in any way diminish the existential anxiety associated with thinking about your mortality?

I care some. I would like to leave some piece of art that is appreciated after I am gone - although intellectually I understand the complete pointlessness of the desire. But the vanity is there.

There are a number of human feelings I realize intellectually are pointless but I would be lying to say I am 100% immune. I don't see it as being about spiritual belief. It's more philosophical grounding for me. Training. I can strive for perfection but never expect it.

I relate to this a lot.

I guess if I could leave just one solid one-liner behind, one that was promoted to the rank of idiomatic expression for the next 5 or 6 centuries, before a dusty old academician declared it archaic in the latest Merriam-Webster (or Grand Robert), I'd be pretty happy with myself.

Does anybody but Shakespeare get idioms to last longer than a century? Over 4 centuries and that guy's still got scores of them floating around.

MrX your better than this...

Crap, really? Wait, what am I better than?

 

[MrX]

Although I am not an atheist, I find the question interesting.

You're close enough.

 

[vagabond]

I am too self-absorbed to care about what others think. So, it doesn't make sense to bother about such things as remembrance and legacy after my death.

 

[reno cool]

yeah sure I care. I don't expect that I'll be caring when I'm dead though.

I like to think that I taught or influenced someone somewhere.

 

[Mudcat]

I am too self-absorbed to care about what others think.

I have known many people who like to make this proclamation. They all exhibit many behaviors that show significant concern about what others think.

Kidding themselves.

 

[Mudcat]

If you understand the vastness of time, it is all pointless. Most people don't understand the vastness of time. People make statements like such-and-such will never change. You can tell they are actually thinking in terms of 20 years or something. Maybe 100.

Pfft.

How about a million years? A million years from now will come. In the blink of an eye.

Who's got long-term fame? Shakespeare? Julius Caesar? Aristotle? The prophet Muhammed?

Ain't nobody going to be gabbing about them in a million years. Human beings - if there still are human beings - will probably look completely different and talk completely different and regard us similar to how we see chimps.

 

[Matty]

I want a pet chimp. One that dresses like madmaxx.

 

[bacon]

If you understand the vastness of time, it is all pointless. Most people don't understand the vastness of time. People make statements like such-and-such will never change. You can tell they are actually thinking in terms of 20 years or something. Maybe 100.

Pfft.

How about a million years? A million years from now will come. In the blink of an eye.

Who's got long-term fame? Shakespeare? Julius Caesar? Aristotle? The prophet Muhammed?

Ain't nobody going to be gabbing about them in a million years. Human beings - if there still are human beings - will probably look completely different and talk completely different and regard us similar to how we see chimps.

What are you God now, you're going to be around and see all of this happen? No, you won't. Your perspective is only what you see in this life. I do get wanting to leave proud relatives, legacy etc.

So when you do shit like win the jelly bean contest at your new job, even though no one will remember in 1,000 years, we're here and that shit "represents".

 

[Matty]

Savour your small wins, Muddy. The grand scheme of things is beyond your grasp.

 

[RayRay]

by now, my whole family knows im not god fearing...i would like it to be announced at the funeral home... its putting distance between me and my cunt sister in laws family(except her brother), which is a good thing... her cunt mother turns her nose up to me every time i see her...i can honestly say that i dont and will never give a flying fuck what anyone thinks of me now or when i die...cant please everyone:donthinkso: