Re: atheists-- what is your source of hope?
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What occurs after [life] is over is irrelevant. The concept you call "hope" is an illusion.
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I would disagree. We attempt to affect the world in such a way that after we die we know that our influence has and will continue to change the world. After we die, those that know us and what we fought for in life will be negatively affected if our cause is not followed or has no impact. I suppose if I had no aspirations and lead a meaningless life then you would be correct. And my hope of leaving the world in a better state than I found it is not an illusion. I will work towards that end, and I hope I will see results which will lead me to believe with a high degree of certainty that after I am dead, my contributions will not have been in vain and useless.
But in another sense, yeah, you're right, 10,000 years from now I will probably not be remembered nor will anything I have done really matter, unless I really do a number like Jesus or Newton or something like that, but I'm looking for that kind of impact. (And by the way, I do think Jesus impacted the world more, but I think Newton's impact proved to be more useful.)
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