Nothing Lasts and "You" Don't Matter

The mind exists in "an information dimension". Other people with a similar model of the mind think there's "one information dimension" and conceptualize it as a place and think the distinction between individual's minds is an illusion. Who knows? Anyway, there's a sort of strange relationship between this dimension and the 3D reality world. They are attached, but distinct. In fact, the concept of a "space" or "dimension" seems entirely off, but there's no other suitable analogy because ironically enough the mind's representations of such a concept revolve around the body's relationship to other objects in 3D reality.

This scenario gives birth to all sorts of human dramas and delusions. The entirety of these delusions is encompassed in the probably apocryphal, too good to be true story of Alexander "the great" meeting the cynic philosopher Diogenes of Sinope, which is in present day Turkey. The two men offer completely different conclusions about how one should live when the temporality of a mind is the most fundamental human fact.

Not only is "I" temporal but the entirety of human endeavor is also. Diogenes decided to live the simplest possible, most "natural" life. Alexander went and killed a bunch of people and "conquered" territory to establish "hellenic civilization", that is to impose the mental model of his bros on as many people as possible to the extent that's ever possible which is "great". The civilization model is basically a shared delusion.

For some odd reason for many people it's a bitter pill to swallow the notion that nothing at all lasts and you don't "matter" even though this is as obvious as the blue sky, stars, or sunrise. In a world of all change, nothing lasts. Even stones eventually turn to dust. Men and women age. Once firm, supple skin turns wrinkly and dry. The entire world of man will be over in the blink of an eye in geological terms. That is all obvious.

The story of Diogenes and Alexander revolves around the "I matter" concept. Ultimately, mattering can be boiled down to "leaving a mark". I think that terminology betrays the origin of the "I matter" concept. The verbal and symbolic reasoning aspect of the mind is an entity of symbol processing and memory. As long as there's "memory" there's an "I". Another aspect of "mattering" is being able to impose one's own internal model of reality on others. A person can insist "I matter the most". This particular idea is expressed by the tombs of pharaohs of Egypt, or those Chinese emperors buried with terracotta armies, or Viking funerals where the bros of the dead dude sacrificed women, pets, horses and the like.

Modern variations on this theme are greatly attenuated and more playful. For example, the grave of Benjamin Orr, a member of the rock band  "The Cars" has a grave site in Thompson, Ohio. Fans put little trinkets to pay homage to his memory. Similarly, Chef Boyardee's grave in All Soul's cemetery in Chardon is honored with cans of spaghetti and meatballs and the like.

 

Another twist on this scenario is people form narratives with a "god" and order of the world related to the god or gods, where the "I" existed before birth, then continues after death but is blessed or punished according to some cosmic rule book and presumably a life score. This is the mind model of probably billions of people. The concept there is one "matters" as part of a gamified, systemic reality. The particular rules of these games are bizarre and utterly arbitrary.

I think the rules various groups invent betrays some genetic underpinning for belief. Like various sects of jews have hyper-legalistic beliefs about their demon lord's systemic game. Other ethnic groups understand the game is not legalistic at all, because of course it's absurd god has a giant set of rulebooks and have more animistic and ironically more comprehensive views of the information dimension/spirit realm.