Ideology...
1. What is the nature of the universe?
The universe is nothing more than an infinite array of infinitesimal locally acting forces spread out over infinite space and time. It is a summation of negatives and positives equal to zero.
Where does it come from? An unknowable imbalance.
Of what is it made?
It is made of nothing except forces of attraction and repulsion. All particles can be distilled into or fractioned into smaller particles to a degree of infinite smallness. At which point, the particles in their most infinitesimal states can only be described by their influence on one another and have no hypothetical mass. Therefore all mass, is actually a product of aggregations of infinitesimal forces.
2. How did it come to exist?
Again unknowable
What is its purpose?
There is none.
By what process does it change?
It is at once trending to both order and entropy. Entropy in that all states of matter are temporary and can be converted by known processes into energy, and order because as states of matter are reduced, the complexity of the relative systems are simplified into states of opposing forces which ultimately seek balance, again reinforced by the net sum zero equation. -1,0,+1.
3. What is the place of man in the universe?
Man is simply the result of one of the infinite and constantly calculating equations in the vast set of probability that is the universe.
Is man the highest fruit of the universe or is he just an insignificant speck in infinite space-or something in between?
Both. Man is by nature among the most complex and dynamic of all systems in the known universe. Man is the syncretion of all laws of science in one strange self-aware and infinitely complex system. Yet, in the scope of what we know in the sense of universal space and time, we are merely a pop on the record, a glitch in the data, and one pixel in a constant stream of static.
One cool trick.
Is the universe conscious or unconscious of man?
It is unconscious altogether.
If it is aware, is it warm and friendly to him, or cold and indifferent, or even hostile?
It is hostile to man in the same way that a man is ignorantly hostile to the bacteria in the water that he boils to make tea.
4. What is reality?
Reality is perception assembled by the set of senses and prejudices imprinted in the chemical and physical material of the human mind. It is a snapshot of an average of a moment in space. This is what we mean when we attribute to the bodily object "a real existence"... By means of such concepts and mental relations between them, we are able to orient ourselves in the labyrinth of sense impressions. These notions and relations...appear to us to be stronger and more unalterable than the individual sense experience itself, the character of which as anything other than the result of an illusion or hallucination is never completely guaranteed.
It is the most glorious and benevolent property of the mind that it prevents us from attaining a complete understanding of those concepts so vast and startling that they would surely drive us mad. -Albert Einstein.
What is the role of myth and folk tale in forming culture?
Myth and folk tale are the foundation of culture. They are the fundamental means of transmitting a shared understanding of reality and our relationships to eachother and the natural world.
5. What is good and what is bad or evil?
Evil is a human construct ascribed to disorder. It is that which causes destruction, disorder, or the elimination of things we believe to be beneficial to humanity.
What is moral?
Is the ascription of ethical value to an act or set of acts based on its functionality to the continued existence of a culture (mostly human, but it could be argued that animals have their own morality).
What is Ethics?
Ethics is the application of logic to justify human conduct and interaction.
What is ethical?
That which does the least harm.
Who decides good and bad, right and wrong; and by what standard?
Cultures decide good and bad, right and wrong, by the standard of their own set of prejudices.
Is there an absolute standard of good and bad beyond one’s personal opinions?
No.
Should good and bad be determined by custom, by rational law, or by the situation?
All of the above.
What if the decisions of others (society, authorities, laws, etc) determining good and bad are contrary to one’s personal beliefs or freedoms?
Then you have an ethical obligation to oppose them.
The universe is nothing more than an infinite array of infinitesimal locally acting forces spread out over infinite space and time. It is a summation of negatives and positives equal to zero.
Where does it come from? An unknowable imbalance.
Of what is it made?
It is made of nothing except forces of attraction and repulsion. All particles can be distilled into or fractioned into smaller particles to a degree of infinite smallness. At which point, the particles in their most infinitesimal states can only be described by their influence on one another and have no hypothetical mass. Therefore all mass, is actually a product of aggregations of infinitesimal forces.
2. How did it come to exist?
Again unknowable
What is its purpose?
There is none.
By what process does it change?
It is at once trending to both order and entropy. Entropy in that all states of matter are temporary and can be converted by known processes into energy, and order because as states of matter are reduced, the complexity of the relative systems are simplified into states of opposing forces which ultimately seek balance, again reinforced by the net sum zero equation. -1,0,+1.
3. What is the place of man in the universe?
Man is simply the result of one of the infinite and constantly calculating equations in the vast set of probability that is the universe.
Is man the highest fruit of the universe or is he just an insignificant speck in infinite space-or something in between?
Both. Man is by nature among the most complex and dynamic of all systems in the known universe. Man is the syncretion of all laws of science in one strange self-aware and infinitely complex system. Yet, in the scope of what we know in the sense of universal space and time, we are merely a pop on the record, a glitch in the data, and one pixel in a constant stream of static.
One cool trick.
Is the universe conscious or unconscious of man?
It is unconscious altogether.
If it is aware, is it warm and friendly to him, or cold and indifferent, or even hostile?
It is hostile to man in the same way that a man is ignorantly hostile to the bacteria in the water that he boils to make tea.
4. What is reality?
Reality is perception assembled by the set of senses and prejudices imprinted in the chemical and physical material of the human mind. It is a snapshot of an average of a moment in space. This is what we mean when we attribute to the bodily object "a real existence"... By means of such concepts and mental relations between them, we are able to orient ourselves in the labyrinth of sense impressions. These notions and relations...appear to us to be stronger and more unalterable than the individual sense experience itself, the character of which as anything other than the result of an illusion or hallucination is never completely guaranteed.
It is the most glorious and benevolent property of the mind that it prevents us from attaining a complete understanding of those concepts so vast and startling that they would surely drive us mad. -Albert Einstein.
What is the role of myth and folk tale in forming culture?
Myth and folk tale are the foundation of culture. They are the fundamental means of transmitting a shared understanding of reality and our relationships to eachother and the natural world.
5. What is good and what is bad or evil?
Evil is a human construct ascribed to disorder. It is that which causes destruction, disorder, or the elimination of things we believe to be beneficial to humanity.
What is moral?
Is the ascription of ethical value to an act or set of acts based on its functionality to the continued existence of a culture (mostly human, but it could be argued that animals have their own morality).
What is Ethics?
Ethics is the application of logic to justify human conduct and interaction.
What is ethical?
That which does the least harm.
Who decides good and bad, right and wrong; and by what standard?
Cultures decide good and bad, right and wrong, by the standard of their own set of prejudices.
Is there an absolute standard of good and bad beyond one’s personal opinions?
No.
Should good and bad be determined by custom, by rational law, or by the situation?
All of the above.
What if the decisions of others (society, authorities, laws, etc) determining good and bad are contrary to one’s personal beliefs or freedoms?
Then you have an ethical obligation to oppose them.