this thought is depressing me.......?

Question

The universe will eventualy die due to expansion right??? if thats true then is this theory possible???
The Eternal Return is basically the theory that there is infinite time and a finite number of events, and eventually the events will recur again and again infinitely. Consider the world as a super-complex chess game. If games of chess are played one after another forever, eventually a game will be repeated since there is only a finite number of possible games, it is the same with the world; eventually events will recur in the same order. The world is an eternal process of coming to be and passing away. The process, however, has no beginning or end. Eventually every combination of matter and energy will be realized and repeated and infinite number of times. it was one of the main topics of the philosopher nietzsche.

(this is NOT reincarnation, it is reliving life over and over EXACTLY down to the last detail. its the same life over and over for all eternity)


the thought is very disturbing cause we have to relive this life over and over forever. and i have NOT had an easy life

Answer 1

This is just a theory though; don't spend your time worrying about it. By the way, the next time the universe is created, it will be a much beter place, (God told me so). ;-)

Answer 2

Okay.... Let's assume the theory holds true, that given an infinite amount of time and a finite amount of matter and energy, every conceivable (and inconceivable) combination/event can and will occur (and not just a single time). Then, just considering how much matter/energy currently exists "on" this planet (that is not counting any new matter or energy introduced from outside the system - from space for example), it will still take a very long time before the event that is "you" as you are now and the exact same sequence of events that you know as "your life" to occur. I mean the entire planet will have to be destroyed, reformed as an exact duplication, and the entire sequence of history will have to occur, before the event of your life occurs again. And that whole, exact sequence of events is not likely to occur immediately one after another.

Considering that alone ought to bring you some comfort, because you won't have to again go through the life you know right now for a long, long, long, long .... A VERY LONG time.

Let me point out something else.... Even if the event of you repeats the same sequence of event you call your life, you do have the power to change how you perceive it.

And if these two points don't help you to feel better consider the following story:

-- Practice Makes Perfect --
A dramatic ballad singer studied under a strict teacher who insisted that he rehearse day after day, month after month the same passage from the same song, without being permitted to go any further. Finally, overwhelmed by frustration and despair, the young man ran off to find another profession. One night, stopping at an inn, he stumbled upon a recitation contest. Having nothing to lose, he entered the competition and, of course, sang the one passage that he knew so well. When he had finished, the sponsor of the contest highly praised his performance. Despite the student's embarrassed objections, the sponsor refused to believe that he had just heard a beginner perform. "Tell me," the sponsor said, "who is your instructor? He must be a great master."

Answer 3

Ok so say things will "replay" themselves so to speak, the theory states that the same EVENTS will reoccur, but not necessarily the same PEOPLE will relive those events. So NO its not reincarnation, its actually the same events reoccuring throughout infinity but through different people. As will the example with chess, the same finite number of moves in an infinite game will repeat, its not YOU who is repeating every game, there will be different people who encounter the different moves that add up to the finite moves, and other people will redo those finite moves over the infintes of history. GOOD THEORY, not exactly scary when you think it over and break down the code.

Answer 4

"i have NOT had an easy life."

That's kind of the point actually. That is when the creature comes to you (in your darkest hour) and says that essentially this is it. Your life as you live it now will repeat through all eternity. At that point you have two choices. You can either rage against the notion or embrace it, affirming your entire life for exactly what it has been. Anyone can affirm life when it is going well but have you the strength to do the same when things are going horribly? That is what Nietzsche himself tried to do and much of his life was pretty bad. He was chronically ill and poor with failing eyesight and an anti-Semitic sister. But he got to the point where he stopped looking for someone to blame for his suffering and embraced it instead.

There is some debate as to whether Nietzsche actually believed in this idea or if it was more a kind of thought exercise.

Answer 5

No one else's life is as easy as you might think it is, nor is our own as hard as we might think. Remember the old one about being sad fro having no shoes until seeing someone with no feet.

As for the universe repeating, a teacher once recommended I read John Norman's "The Priest Kings of Gor," probably for the sake of the last paragraph. In it the hero speaks of the infinite repetition theory, which seems to render everything we do meaningless. The priestking tells him that if it's true, he should act at each moment in a way he won't mind repeating, in a way for which he will have no regrets.

And in a book by a WWII concentration camp survivor, "Man's Search for Meaning," the psychiatrist advises his patients, "live each day as if you're already living it over for the second time, and as if you screwed it up as badly the first time as you are doing now." That thought just might free you from taking it all too seriously.

When people ask why bad things happen to good people, I tell them it's because bad things happen to EVERYONE, and being good doesn't make them special, or exempt. If there's anything worth learning from the Bible, it's that not even the "son of God" was special enough to be exempt from suffering and death. That makes all prayer for special favor very suspect; it reeks of primitive belief in magic, not to mention self-righteousness and selfishness. Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane started out like that, but it ended with "thy will be done."

Finally, remember Nietzsche's words: what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

Answer 6

Here's a thought. You say your life hasn't been easy and you don't want to relive it as is. Try making the rest of your life better. You will have to decide how to go about doing that, but at least it will give you something else to dwell on. Then if this theory is correct, which I doubt, at least the ending might be better than the beginng.

Answer 7

Sigh, You ended.. "I have NOT had an easy life." Meaning this one. Which means you can't remember your past lives whether they were easy or not. And that means that this is the only life you have lived so far.

Nietzsche, the idiot that put this idea in your head? where is he now? Dead right?

Start living a different life and make a positive difference in your own life and with other people you live with now. And for a future challenge in the next life, if you still believe this. Make your life an ever better life.

Answer 8

Trippy thinking, eh?

You could think of things that way... but you must also realize that if you are reliving your life you won't be conscious of reliving it- for all you know your existance right now could be nothing but a repeat.

Best thing to do if it's all depressing you is change your future so that whenever your life repeats it'll only suck up to a point.

Optimistic? No... it just seems logical to me.

Answer 9

Yes, but the uberman--german for superman or overman--could face death with a sense of accomplishment. People who find this view depressing are usually just depressed about their own life, so they have to invent religion to ease the pain. Most people will look at death and eternal ressurection and think, "The horrors! The horrors!" but the uberman will be at peace, knowing that he accomplished his goals.

Answer 10

well why don't you look at it this way: you will be long, long, long, long dead before the universe explodes (if it does) and when you do live again, you will not remember a bit of unhappiness you have now, or any bit of the life you are now living. in fact, it will be like living all over again from the mind of an infant. so it won't bother you, you'll just be living again. it's not like everything you did in this life haunts you many years from now.

Answer 11

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