In this GQ thread a poster asked, if the origin of the universe is not the ultimate question, then what is? To me, the origin of the universe rates quite high on my interestingness scale, but ultimately falls behind what I consider to be a more interesting question: Given Feynman’s pithy quote: “There’s plenty of room at the bottom,” what is most interesting thing that can exist, given the optimal arrangement of matter, period? What sort of optimal and efficient “being than which none is greater,” or what sorts of societies can emerge out of such an arrangement? Are there as-yet undiscovered states of existence that lead to agents which that are so hyper-intelligent as to make humans and our notions of “consciousness” seem silly?
If we think of smaller fleas as going backwards in time, and greater fleas as going forwards in time, aren’t these greater fleas as least as interesting as the smaller? Isn’t the infinite progress just as interesting as the infinite regress? These discussions of the “ultimate” always seem to go backwards, so at least for the sake of novelty, I would say my most interesting question is concerned with what is yet to come.
This leads me to wonder: What is your most interesting question, and what do you think about this topic?
What is the ultimate state of the universe?
Is there life after death?
Is there a God?
Can I learn to enjoy mere existence?
How should I lead my life? By what criteria should I decide?
In my opinion, the most interesting question is the cause and nature of consciousness. What is consciousness, what makes a living creature conscious, is it possible to create consciousness artificially, etc.
It’s also a very hard problem, which is why I’ve always stayed far from cognitive neuroscience and related fields.
Seriously, I think the most *baffling *questions involve the birth and death of the Universe and what, if anything, can be “outside” or “beyond” it.
And yes, consciousness. Not just its nature, but I’d be interested in knowing what was the very first individual conscious creature on earth, and what forces were responsible for its consciousness?
Questions of consciousness automatically make me think of Continental philosophers (but then, I’m a Humanities major). The difficulty of such questions makes me want to stay far, far away from that field. Well, that and travel back in time so I can bash Heidigger’s brain in with a hammer.
The question of aliens and of life after death have always intrigued me most.
I guess if I were given one chance to have one question answered it would be something along the lines of
How can we arrange things so nobody has to be hungry, suffer violence, or fear violence?
If I could have TWO questions answered the second would be
How can I eat anything I want and still lose weight?
Since overpopulation by and large accounts for the world’s hunger and violence problems, the easiest solution is to reduce world fertility rates. Would that be acceptable to you?
As for the second question, a lap band or gastric bypass would alter what you “want” to eat and would most likely lead to weight loss. Is that an acceptable answer?
I went over that question with a friend not too long ago.
My question would be what happens to us at death. Does our consciousness cease to exist or pass into another dimension or get reincarnated or what? And what remains of our consciousness: memory, personality, knowledge? If it ceases to exist, it would probably make me more fearful of death though, so I may be better off not knowing the answer.
This is my ultimate. In the thread the OP links to, I said “why is there something rather than nothing” as in relation to the existence of the universe is my penultimate… second only to this very fascinating and mystifying subject.
The only comforting thought here is that if you just cease to exist, you won’t even know you’re dead. I try and imagine what it was like before I was born. That’s what I expect death to be like. Still gives me the creeps though.