Mr. Leland was a bit addicted to oxycodone, by the happenstance of a past injury, and with his new found wealth he would easily enter into a downward spiral of further drug abuse and self-destruction. After his death his remaining family would become splintered and embittered over a long fight for the inheritance of what some called 'the cursed bullion of Leland'.

Mr. Dean meanwhile loved nothing more than the humble walkabout thrill of combing landscapes with his metal detector and little terrier dog, Boo.

:clap: :sweat: That's life!

:lol: It's not over until the fat lady sings, oui mon ami?

That's life! — 180 Proof

No fair!

Are these the best of times? Are we all lucky folks? As an example, slavery is in the past and animal rights is in the future. We're at the cusp of a ethical revolution that though it's fragmented and chaotic is full of promise.

Are these the best of times? Are we all lucky folks? As an example, slavery is in the past and animal rights is in the future — Agent Smith

No they are not, on still exists and the other will not get very far until humans evolve to be able to live on a different type of diet.

No they are not, on still exists and the other will not get very far until humans evolve to be able to live on a different type of diet — Sir2u

Ok. We can do better.

It's not over until the fat lady sings, oui mon ami? — Agent Smith

Unless you've seen this opera before, we can't assume that there is only one fat lady singing. If I was librettist, my opera might be composed of only fat ladies, singing for hours and hours and hours (perhaps days).

Unless you've seen this opera before, we can't assume that there is only one fat lady singing. If I was librettist, my opera might be composed of only fat ladies, singing for hours and hours and hours (perhaps days). — Nils Loc

:zip:

Is it true that everything happens for a reason?

I remember on some older thread I tried to explain something @180 Proof had said about, I don't remember exactly. Ordinary vs extraordinary or something? Something like things are ordinary individually, and extraordinary all together. I had said that, eating a sandwich in itself is pretty ordinary, but if you think about everything that had to happen for the sandwich to come to be, and what had to happen for you to be able to be there to eat it, it is extraordinary.

Meaning is the opposite. Individually things have meaning. Eating a sandwich is meaningful when you are hungry or desiring pleasure. But compared to infinitely, every limited meaning loses its meaning.

Its interesting that we should want meaning, when meaning is limiting.
Consider if we combined all meanings of words together. It would lead perhaps to "all meaning" which has no meaning.
Its like how if you combine all colors you have no color: White

Within the web of life, everything is interconnected, nothing to chance. So everything in the context of the web of life is full of meaning. Outside of life there is obviously no meaning, for there is no consciousness to create it.

Everything having meaning and everything having a reason are separate questions so I was far off the topic. Sorry amigo!

:up:
No.

No — 180 Proof

You get full marks for confidence, but what about the PSR (principle of sufficient reason)?

I've been waiting for over four decades for someone to point to or cite an description of 'the sufficient reason for the PSR'. Since +99% of nature is vacuum consisting of random (i.e. a-causal) quantum fluctuations, to the extent the PSR obtains, it is an ex post facto mirage of epistemology (like 'intentionality') and not a feature (or bug) of fundamental ontology (pace Leibniz et al). Of course, I could be mistaken ... but then the question of "What is the PSR of random processes (e.g. vacuum fluctations, quantum uncertainty, spontaneous symmetry-breaking, etc)?" seems begged at least. :chin:

https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/693943

https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/720487

If everything happens for a reason then, everything is meaningful, oui mon ami?



I get where you're coming from, but in my humble opinion the reason why x happens is to be found in the future (light cone) of x and not in the past (light cone). For instance John missed his plane because he was supposed to meet Jane, the woman he has to marry, on the next available flight. So, the reason for the random (acausal) origins of our universe will/can only be known when the universe meets its very own Jane so to speak.

Never mind.

Never mind. — 180 Proof

:smile: Too much, eh?

What is luck anyway? Is it the name we give to the set of variables tha we have no control over or is it just a synonym for our blind spot? Sometimes these uncontrolled/unforseen factors can work in our favor (good luck) and at other times they foil the best of plans (bad luck).

:up:

I was asked to define luck by a workmate, this is what I came up with.

Luck is nothing more than the coincidence of time, place and purpose.

I am in the right place at the right time to catch a plane, I am lucky. Too late or wrong airport, I am unlucky.

I am in the wrong place at whatever time to find the treasure, I am unlucky

Nice definition. Luck, to me, is, sensu latissimo, a conjunction of favorable (good luck) or unfavorable (bad luck) elements that have both short-term and long-term impact on one's life.