Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Meaning, morality

The only objective meaning to our lives is to make sure we continue to have one; that we continue on as a species in this indifferent universe that we find ourselves existing in. Given the complexity and wonder of this plane of existence, it's easy to feel that there MUST be something that intricately, knowingly, and deliberately intertwines us all to some greater purpose in this world.  I am not a religious person, and I consider myself an atheist when it comes to the abrahamic god. Any god with a distinct human-like personality is usually just a by product of the creator him/herself (a person). Societies often have jealous, angry, vengeful, and all too human-like gods.
I don't have any convictions. I don't believe right and wrong exist, only our ability or lack thereof to empathize with others. When we see something happening to someone else, their expressions register in our minds, and depending on whether a certain area of the brain (it's been thought to be the anterior insular cortex) functions properly, we may or may not see ourselves in their position; we may feel ourselves being subjected to the same action that evoked their expression. Laughter is contagious, sad movies make you cry, the torture of another human makes you uncomfortable...this is nothing new to us. This is the principle behind our ideas of what's wrong and right...it ultimately comes down to what you do or don't want happening to you (assuming you're not a masochist or have a damaged a.i.c.). That is why I believe in the Golden rule as a moral guide.
Other than avoiding jail time and adhering to my own conscience, I don't pretend to know or do what's right or wrong. There are reasons why people do things, and all those reasons stem from a brain that they have little control developing (due to genetics, epigenetics, environment, etc).  Your brain is  what controls your life and the life of others. When you know that, when you know how little free will you actually have--you begin to doubt things like morality.



Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Supernatural Season 8 finale

Here's my prediction about the season 8 finale of supernatural: Crowley will open the gates of hell and release every condemned soul unto the earth. In other words, if hell is to be closed, he'll let everyone out first so that the Winchesters efforts will be in vain. And since there's no God to stop him (will Chuck reappear?) I don't see a reason why he can't do this. This makes me wonder if Naomi wants to do something similarly devious, like releasing all the good souls in heaven unto the earth. If she wants to appear good (but still have alterior motives) she can tell the Winchesters that the right thing to do is to release the souls of heaven so that they can come back to earth and fight this horde of demons and evil people. While everyone is distracted by this war on earth, I think she may try to retrieve the angel tablet, and close the gates of heaven so that only the angels she wants to be in heaven will have access. The pearly gates will slam shut, and angel Sam and Castiel (yes, I think Sam is turning into an angel due to the trials) will go demon slaying on a massive scale. This presents a problem, because if the gates of heaven are shut, where will the good souls go when they're killed in battle? I'm thinking either their souls remain dormant until the whole afterlife problem is solved, or they will go to Purgatory or hell.  I think Dean will be tasked with protecting Kevin and some other burden (he'll also fight in the war), but I'm not sure who or what that will be. In the end, I believe Sam will have to kill Crowley, rescue the innocent souls (if they do indeed go down under) and close the gates of hell. If the innocent souls are sent to Purgatory, Dean will be the one to rescue them.
The angels always seem to rag on the "hairless apes", so it would be no surprise to me if they wanted humans out of heaven. They also didn't mind when the apocalypse was coming, they were more than happy to see humanity wiped of the map. That leads me to believe that Naomi doesn't care if chaos is happening on Earth. But I think realeasing the heavenly souls back to earth to be killed viciously by demons and condemned souls (with the righteous souls having no where to go) crosses a line. I think God will eventually have to show him/herself (pretty sure it's a guy in this show-that guy being Chuck) if this scenario is correct.
However, I think I'm reaching pretty far here, and considering that I was certain that Meg was to be the demon rescued for the 3rd trial; but saw previews for "Clip Show" that suggest otherwise, I'm not confident this is how it's going to play out, but it's fun to speculate. So, what do you think will happen? Either way, I'm looking forward to these last two episodes of the season, and I'm more than ecstatic that Castiel will be returning as "a regular cast member" for season 9. What would you rate this season as so far? Right now I'd give it about a 7 out of 10, just because there were so many "breaks", filler episodes, and lack of Misha screentime. I hope they'll at least stick to the main story line for the last two episodes.