Where are we headed? To answer this question, its important to consider the obvious facts: history revolves in circles. The cosmic equation, if there were one, is inclined to go round and round like a merrygoround.

In other words, what has happened before must happen again and again and again.

Come now, it is surely not a far fetched supposition, that, swansont etc. 

Does the bee not buzz repetitively? Do humans not reproduce, and die, then live, and die again in that order, eternally?

'Course they do. 

And that manifestation of cyclic rebirth and death, of a myriad forms of existence, is surely a big player in the question of 'where is the universe headed?'

I reckon we've been going round and round like that merry go round ever since the big bang happened.

WW2 for instance, was WW1 incarnate in a different time space continuum, as it were. 

WW3, well it's around the corner, very likely, going by what's happening in Russia. 

The crimea, the boer war, the medivial wars, all were fought again and again. Only the weaponry were more advanced with every successive war. The sticks and stones gave way to the biplanes and triplanes, which gave way to the dogfights with supersonic jets in the modern era.

The world, history, travels in circles. Round and round. To discern where we are headed, look to the past. Where were we once upon a time? 

As far as the generalities go, we were always where we were. Therefore the basic goals of humanity have always been the same, will always be the same. 

 

What is the decision that matters? 

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

What is the decision that matters? 

To be or not to be?

20 minutes ago, Genady said:

To be or not to be?

that is the question...

The title is interesting, but the OP is a junk argument. We're doomed to ride an unchanging carousel because we've repeated some mistakes? I wouldn't mind discussing the title in good faith.

11 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

The title is interesting, but the OP is a junk argument. We're doomed to ride an unchanging carousel because we've repeated some mistakes? I wouldn't mind discussing the title in good faith.

me too... 

13 hours ago, JacobNewton said:

In other words, what has happened before must happen again and again and again.

What do you mean by that? We have to wake up every morning, eat at reasonably regular intervals and go to sleep at night? Then yes. The weather grows colder as winter approaches, warmer in spring, hot in summer and then cools down again. Then, yes. Groups of people desire the same things as other groups of people and fight over those things? Then, yes. 

However, no two meals, summers or wars are identical.

13 hours ago, JacobNewton said:

Do humans not reproduce, and die, then live, and die again in that order, eternally?

Though many believe in consecutive lives and eternity, I see no evidence of it. I believe each human, each life is unique and finite. And, while I don't speak apidaean, bees probably are, too. 

 

13 hours ago, JacobNewton said:

I reckon we've been going round and round like that merry go round ever since the big bang happened

I heard it was more like a continuous expansion that still hasn't stopped, with a good deal of local variation in stars, planets, asteroids, gas clouds and the spaces between. And not the least bit repetitive. Or merry.

13 hours ago, JacobNewton said:

The world, history, travels in circles.

I'd be happy with completing one circle, so we could go back to sticks and stones and rethink the situation before somebody builds a great big stone tomb. But that's just me. War has certainly been one of humanity's favourite pastimes - preparing for war, making war, cleaning up after a war. But in between, and during wars,  people do lots of singing and working and playing games, too.

 

13 hours ago, JacobNewton said:

Therefore the basic goals of humanity have always been the same, will always be the same. 

To survive. It is the primary motivation of all organisms. That's unlikely to change. 

So? What do you propose to do about it?

 

Edited January 17, 20232 yr by Peterkin

25 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

me too... 

OK, I'll try.

The goal of humanity should be to relax.

There's just one goal??

22 hours ago, Genady said:

OK, I'll try.

The goal of humanity should be to relax.

I think the important question of this thread is, why is war inevitable?

In a world that can potentially feed and house, almost everyone; why should we accept an excuse to fight, where no reason exists?

7 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

I think the important question of this thread is, why is war inevitable?

In a world that can potentially feed and house, almost everyone; why should we accept an excuse to fight, where no reason exists?

However, Russians, Ukrainians, British, Irish, Arabs, Israelis, Armenians, Azeris, etc. are all well fed and sheltered, and they are/ were in wars anyway. There are other reasons.

1 minute ago, Genady said:

However, Russians, Ukrainians, British, Irish, Arabs, Israelis, Armenians, Azeris, etc. are all well fed and sheltered, and they are/ were in wars anyway. There are other reasons.

There's plenty of excuses, but war 'and peace' is a process; if too many people think an excuse is a valid reason, then war is a self fulfilling professy (I'm sure I've spelt that wrong); I'm not talking utopia, I'm talking one, 'economic', step at a time.

1 minute ago, dimreepr said:

There's plenty of excuses, but war 'and peace' is a process; if too many people think an excuse is a valid reason, then war is a self fulfilling professy (I'm sure I've spelt that wrong); I'm not talking utopia, I'm talking one, 'economic', step at a time.

I don't believe it because I don't see evidence for it, rather a wish.

2 minutes ago, Genady said:

I don't believe it because I don't see evidence for it, rather a wish.

It worked for quite a while in Europe, just bc Putin's a dick doesn't make it inevitable; imagine if China was persuaded to side with the West for economic reason's, rather than embroiled in Trump's sanction war's; I rather doubt that he would have dared even start this (Ukrainian) war. 

5 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

It worked for quite a while in Europe, just bc Putin's a dick doesn't make it inevitable; imagine if China was persuaded to side with the West for economic reason's, rather than embroiled in Trump's sanction war's; I rather doubt that he would have dared even start this (Ukrainian) war. 

If not this, there would be something else. Belorussia, Kosovo, Serbia, Basks, who knows.

You know that babies exhibit a feel of 'fairness' very early in life. They get upset when they perceive something as being 'unfair.' This emotion alone is enough to perpetuate wars.

3 minutes ago, Genady said:

If not this, there would be something else. Belorussia, Kosovo, Serbia, Basks, who knows.

You know that babies exhibit a feel of 'fairness' very early in life. They get upset when they perceive something as being 'unfair.' This emotion alone is enough to perpetuate wars.

If war is inevitable, then so is peace.

2 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

If war is inevitable, then so is peace.

Amen.