To Be

[zep73]

"I am", or Yahweh, is the name of the Jewish god, that (most of) the rest of the world foolishly adapted to.

"To be or not to be" is a famous phrase from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

"I think therefore I am", is Descartes famous philosophical words about existence.

But what the fog does it mean to be ??! Be what? What's so cool and awesome about being?

 

PS. Yes, it's me "sci-nerd". I've changed my handle, after wanting to do so for a long time. Now it's done.

[+and-then]

3 minutes ago, zep73 said:

What's so cool and awesome about being?

Wiki has a answer for you.

"To be, or not to be" is the opening phrase of a soliloquy uttered by Prince Hamlet in the so-called "nunnery scene" of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1. In the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, bemoaning the pain and unfairness of life but acknowledging that the alternative might be worse. 

Sounds like Hamlet was mulling the idea of ending his existence.  

[zep73]

3 minutes ago, and then said:

Wiki has a answer for you.

"To be, or not to be" is the opening phrase of a soliloquy uttered by Prince Hamlet in the so-called "nunnery scene" of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1. In the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, bemoaning the pain and unfairness of life but acknowledging that the alternative might be worse. 

Sounds like Hamlet was mulling the idea of ending his existence.  

But 'you know sometimes words have two meanings'.
- Led Zeppelin

[Kittens Are Jerks]

20 minutes ago, zep73 said:

But what the fog does it mean to be ??! Be what? What's so cool and awesome about being?

As @and then suggests, to be is to exist, is it not? So is your question then, what's so awesome about existing?

[eight bits]

30 minutes ago, zep73 said:

What's so cool and awesome about being?

Before I was born, I was not. Since then, I have been.

Having both been and not been, I think being is better than not being.

Surely, not being wasn't cool or awesome; at least being has had its moments.

(Wear your new nick in good health.)

[spartan max2]

I think in philosophy To Be means self awareness. 

Like if you're in a vegitative state you are technically still alive. But I don't think you are really "being" anymore.

[XenoFish]

39 minutes ago, zep73 said:

But what the fog does it mean to be ??! Be what? What's so cool and awesome about being?

I think it refers to awareness both inner awareness and external. 

[zep73]

13 minutes ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

As @and then suggests, to be is to exist, is it not? So is your question then, what's so awesome about existing?

3 minutes ago, eight bits said:

Before I was born, I was not. Since then, I have been.

Having both been and not been, I think being is better than not being.

Surely, not being wasn't cool or awesome; at least being has had its moments.

(Wear your new nick in good health.)

That's it? What an epic disappointment!

[spartan max2]

1 minute ago, XenoFish said:

I think it refers to awareness both inner awareness and external. 

Haha beat you to it 

[XenoFish]

Just now, spartan max2 said:

Haha beat you to it 

I think we posted at the same time.

[zep73]

2 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

I think in philosophy To Be means self awareness. 

Like if you're in a vegitative state you are technically still alive. But I don't think you are really "being" anymore.

1 minute ago, XenoFish said:

I think it refers to awareness both inner awareness and external. 

So, we're talking about the ability to understand yourself, the world, and your role in it?

[Kittens Are Jerks]

2 minutes ago, zep73 said:

So, we're talking about the ability to understand yourself, the world, and your role in it?

Is that not all part of existing?

[XenoFish]

1 minute ago, zep73 said:

So, we're talking about the ability to understand yourself, the world, and your role in it?

Right now you are who you are, doing what you are doing, thinking whatever thoughts arise. You are being. To be can be seen as active conscious awareness. 

[Kittens Are Jerks]

5 minutes ago, zep73 said:

That's it? What an epic disappointment!

Why a disappointment? Existence is complex.

[spartan max2]

1 minute ago, zep73 said:

So, we're talking about the ability to understand yourself, the world, and your role in it?

For me, I would define self awareness as being aware you are an independent entity in the world. 

Not sure how to word it, but like how alot of animals just act on instinct. 

Humans have a something extra where we are "aware" of ourselves. 

[zep73]

Just now, Kittens Are Jerks said:

Is that not all part of existing?

The Jews, Shakespeare and Descartes must have meant something more.

I mean, it can't be that simple.

[XenoFish]

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-consciousness-question/201210/the-nature-being

[XenoFish]

4 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

For me, I would define self awareness as being aware you are an independent entity in the world. 

Not sure how to word it, but like how alot of animals just act on instinct. 

Humans have a something extra where we are "aware" of ourselves. 

I think the only difference between us and animals is a bit more frontal lobe matter in our skulls. I've seen my dogs mourn a loss. So I don't think it's too much of a difference.

[spartan max2]

2 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

I think the only difference between us and animals is a bit more frontal lobe matter in our skulls. I've seen my dogs mourn a loss. So I don't think it's too much of a difference.

It definitely hard to differentiate the level of awareness and consciousness between humans and animals.

Because it's hard to imagine being alive without the prefontal cortex, our literal ability to think since we have never expierenced it we have no frame of reference for it.

[XenoFish]

3 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

It definitely hard to differentiate the level of awareness and consciousness between humans and animals.

Because it's hard to imagine being alive without the prefontal cortex, our literal ability to think since we have never expierenced it we have no frame of reference for it.

Makes me think of sleep walking or sleep talking. An activity that people do without the awareness of actually doing it. 

[spartan max2]

1 minute ago, XenoFish said:

Makes me think of sleep walking or sleep talking. An activity that people do without the awareness of actually doing it. 

That makes sense.

I have always thought it would be interesting if, for people who got Lobotomized, we could magically reattach and fix their nerves and then interview them on it what they would tell us.

[XenoFish]

2 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

That makes sense.

I have always thought it would be interesting if, for people who got Lobotomized, we could magically reattach and fix their nerves and then interview them on it what they would tell us.

I wonder if they would even remember? I do think that the bulk of our existence is on an unconscious/subconscious level. Where well worn paths are tread (habits). How much of the time are we on autopilot? I know that I've lost a day (quite a few over the years) without being fully aware of it. 

[Kittens Are Jerks]

5 minutes ago, zep73 said:

The Jews, Shakespeare and Descartes must have meant something more.

I mean, it can't be that simple.

It is that simple as all your references deal with aspects of existence.

• Yaweh: God is and always was. He has no beginning; he has no end.
• To be or not to be: To exist or not to exist.
• I think, therefore I am: We cannot doubt that we exist as we are the ones doubting our existence in the first place. In other words, I think, therefore I exist.

[zep73]

8 minutes ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

Yaweh: God is and always was. He has no beginning; he has no end.

Supposedly... 

[spartan max2]

21 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

I wonder if they would even remember? I do think that the bulk of our existence is on an unconscious/subconscious level. Where well worn paths are tread (habits). How much of the time are we on autopilot? I know that I've lost a day (quite a few over the years) without being fully aware of it. 

This discussion actually reminds me a lot about when i was a kid.

When I was like 6/7 I suffered a severe fall and broke my skull. 

I was in the hospital for 3 months before I "woke up", before I became aware of myself. But I'm told that I was talking and still alive during that whole three months, I have zero memory of any of it until I "woke up".

I remember just thinking. Where am I? Lucky I have great parents and my mom was by my bed and immediately could fill me in on the details.

Apprently I also had to relearn how to do stuff like open doors.