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Eternity
Do any of you really comprehend it?

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Eternity
coalclear
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Posted 07/20/09 - 07:40 PM:
Subject: Eternity
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#1
The word eternity gets thrown around a lot today.

I doubt most people (in my opinion not one human being) can truly grasp this concept.

Eternity is simply beyond my imagination and is one of the most amazing/interesting thoughts the world has to offer in my opinion. Am I the only one that is blown away by this eternity thing? Have any of you really sat down and thought about it? Anything to offer?

"Submerge yourself into what you love so much that it becomes you."
"The universe surrenders to your thoughts of it, that, is the ultimate power."
coalclear
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Posted 07/21/09 - 11:42 AM:
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#2
Whoops looks like this is a duplicate topic sorry.

"Submerge yourself into what you love so much that it becomes you."
"The universe surrenders to your thoughts of it, that, is the ultimate power."
bert1
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Posted 07/21/09 - 12:09 PM:
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#3
Two main options:

1. Endless time. One thing happens after another, but stretching endlessly into the past and endlessly into the future.
2. The eternal present. Everything happens simultaneously. Or nothing happens at all.

I prefer 2. I'm not sure 1 provides a suitable home for God.

Do atheists have any use for the concept of eternity? I've only heard it used in religious contexts.

"Like a ungroomed dog in which the desired look is it’s long hair but it has been so unattended to, that combing is impractical, and it might be better if the hair was cut and attended to as it grows back." d_martin
oag
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Posted 07/21/09 - 01:05 PM:
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It is mostly useful to distinguish from the thought of something temporal. The same is true of infinite. It is basically a nonsense concept but makes sense in contrast to finite. Another one is perfect. We have nothing perfect and we never will but it is an ideal against which to contrast flaws. Something is closer to perfect than another. Everything humans experience is temporal, finite and imperfect. That doesn't stop us from imagining that there could be something eternal, infinite or perfect.
despinozist
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Posted 07/21/09 - 01:37 PM:
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It's timelessness, where our garden concepts of duration and measure do not apply.

I'll show you differences.
Gulnara
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Posted 07/21/09 - 08:36 PM:
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Not everything in the Universe should be comprehensible by humans. That be infinite knowledge.
Most of the time there will be some space left for the unknown.

G.E.
mway
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Posted 07/21/09 - 09:16 PM:
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oag wrote:
We have nothing perfect and we never will but it is an ideal against which to contrast flaws.

My cat is puuuurfect.

Lame is to Wav, as the Brain is to Reality.
nelvan
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Posted 07/23/09 - 11:32 AM:
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Eternity is a state free of evil.
wholeminutia
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Posted 07/23/09 - 11:36 AM:
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Eternity is like when you gotta go really bad and then you find out the line is long.

Like God, I want to be heard--not seen.
Aceedwin
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Posted 07/23/09 - 11:42 PM:
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#10
Eternity is either infinite existence in time, or existence out of the space time dimension.

Some people enjoy finding answers, but I dislike losing questions.
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