Is it normal to live in a paradox?

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97 Comments

This is not often discussed or thought about but time as it is must be a paradox. Most things in life are made by things that already existed and this cycle endlessly continues. This goes for all things and species. This even goes for matter that exists in space. Following this logic existence itself is impossible as it had to have something before it to create it. Even time goes in cycle. A clock goes one of two ways. It goes 12 or 24 hours and restarts. This goes for months and we go forward each year. So how is this possible? Logically we should not exist at all should we? Existence in it self is an impossibility. If everything is a cycle where did this cycle begin? Even if they say aliens or even if they say god what created them? Something created god right? What existed before the beginning? Was it blank space? Like a little piece of paper?

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58% Normal
Based on 52 votes (30 yes)
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Comments ( 97 )
  • VioletTrees
    11 years ago | pl

    You're not thinking hard enough.

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    • dude_Jones
      11 years ago

      Question: Did you not prove your existence by thinking up this post?

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      • Anonymous Post Author
        11 years ago

        Hahaha

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago | pl

    It takes only the meanest of intelligence (read: half a brainstem) to make something more complex and undiscernable. Genius to simplify.

    I'm not trying to bash you but your type of "philosophy" has never interested me. I don't want to see the pebbles, but the mountain they rest on.

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    • [Old Memory]
      11 years ago

      What does that mountain rest on? Every surface, by definition, depends upon another surface

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      • shade_ilmaendu
        11 years ago

        It's on the pebbles.

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  • suckonthis9
    11 years ago | pl

    This is actually often discussed.
    Existence is possible, because we actually do exist.
    Although many things in nature do exhibit a cyclical behaviour, all these cycles did have a beginning at some time. Cycles do not continue endlessly, but change through spacetime. One example of this is: The Earth-Moon system. At some point in the future, The Moon will escape the gravity of Earth.
    You do not understand time properly. Time is, quite simply: a property of massenergy in space. A clock is not time. A clock is an instrument designed to measure time, usually as a portion of the time that it takes the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun.
    The cycles began at the very beginning of the formation of the Universe.
    Aliens do exist in nature, god does not. 'God' is an abstract concept. What created aliens was (and is) an evolution of massenergy and sometimes quarkenergy, sometimes quite similarly to our own evolution, but sometimes quite differently. 'God' was created in the minds of humans (loosely). [Some other human species also created a concept similar to 'god']
    Space is infinite and always existed. It is not like a little piece of paper.
    Space was never 'blank'.

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago

      It didn't always exist, though. Not as such.

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    • kupokupo
      11 years ago

      There's no evidence for you to discount a God, but aside from that, great comment.

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      • suckonthis9
        11 years ago

        There is also no evidence to count a 'god'. Zero physical evidence.

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        • kupokupo
          11 years ago

          Then it's still a possibility until proven otherwise. :)

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    • Avant-Garde
      11 years ago

      Have you looked into string theory?

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      • suckonthis9
        11 years ago

        String theory is a trap, from which there is no escape. You can never understand the actual nature of the Universe using string theory.

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        • Avant-Garde
          11 years ago

          I see, but it's still interesting...

          What theory isn't a trap?

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    • jackjones
      11 years ago

      then where did space come from suckonthis9?

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      • suckonthis9
        11 years ago

        Three-dimensional space has always been present and is infinite.

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        • jackjones
          11 years ago

          everthing has a beginning, except God. space wasnt always here

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          • GoraIntoDesiGals
            11 years ago

            That's special pleading, a fallacy.

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            • dude_Jones
              11 years ago

              Time:Motion::Matter:Space

              This analogy would imply that empty space is irrelevant unless there is something to occupy it.

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            • suckonthis9
              11 years ago

              I agree. All the advanced Sentient and Ethical creatures in the Universe accede that three-dimensional space has always existed (including the one [now deceased] that jackjones perceives to be their deity).
              Once again, any deity creature must be a complex being. The Universe could not have begun in a complex way.

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    • loveechelle
      11 years ago

      So you dont believe in god?
      So who died for your sins.....
      If that's possible in what hands of time where humans were created?

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      • Anonymous Post Author
        11 years ago

        You can only say that to someone who believes that the incidents happened. That someone in fact died for our sins. Not to say I am against Christianity but that is assuming everyone is Christian. Not the case here. Granted given the circumstances we can neither prove or disprove god. We can neither disprove aliens. We can not prove something of a higher life form may exist. Some people believe that ghosts live on a different dimension but same world. However even with all this your statement makes no sense at all unless the person you are asking states "I believe someone died for our sin". So you can not just assume he is of the same religion as you. This is nothing against Christianity. You just make no sense.

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        • loveechelle
          11 years ago

          Im making plenty of sense, but your just ignorant...

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    Our universe is like cell in the human body. That cell is within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell and that cell is like Our universe, a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within a cell within the human body.

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    • NotStrangeBird
      11 years ago

      Far out, man.

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    • suckonthis9
      11 years ago

      Our Universe is not "like a cell" in the human body or any other cellular life form.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        http://vimeo.com/52177048

        actually it is

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  • thinkingaboutit
    11 years ago

    who is john galt

    but your not really defending your theory of time and life being paradoxical? im not rly sure what i just read

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  • PumpkinKate
    11 years ago

    The inherent flaw with the notion that we're not meant to exist due to the immeasurable quality of time is that time in and of itself is a human concept created to measure that which is immeasurable.

    Think of "time" as an imperfect coping mechanism one species on one planet came up with to quantify the unquantifiable.

    Or turn your question to the philosophical side of things. Why is a validation of our right to be here, of its statistical, physical, or metaphysical probability mandatory in the first place? Existence simply is. It doesn't need a reason, or a calculable cause, because it's happening right now, all around us, always has been, and always will. You're simply in it, so... what do?

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  • justsomekidfromcanada
    11 years ago

    Go and learn some physics man. It'll blow your mind if you're smart enough to fully grasp the concepts.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      I do like science. Not sure how good I would be at physics.

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      • justsomekidfromcanada
        11 years ago

        Don't worry about how good you think you'll be at it. Just start with the most basic particle physics. Don't jump into anything like quantum physics for a while though or you'll be lost. It's one thing to read something, it's a whole other thing to completely understand it. If you're just interested in the beginning of life as we know it, it's quite easy to find information on that as well. Also while god might exist, there is no reason for him to and it wouldn't matter to me at all if there wasn't a god. I don't get why people need a higher meaning to life. Just being alive, conscious and able to think through things like this is an amazing thing and the product of millions of years of slow evolution and change. I think it's fucking fantastic just to sit back and contemplate it a bit. Life is amazing.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          I like your mindset.

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  • TheMightyOz
    11 years ago

    Infinite regress, my dear.

    Someone created the big bang.
    Then, someone -> someone -> big bang.
    Then, someone -> someone -> someone -> big bang.
    Then, someone -> someone -> someone -> someone -> big bang.

    Negative infinity; you get the idea. By the way, Motion:Time::Matter:Distance.

    "Go forth and prosper." --Mr. Spock

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  • Devyn
    11 years ago

    The theory of relativity show that the universe does not exist within space and time but rather the universe and space/time are linked and are dependent on each other to exist. Hence the concepts of "before the universe" or "outside the universe" have no meaning.

    As for causality, an object can only send information to another object at the speed of light or below the speed of light, not faster. So not only can past events only effect present and future events, but past events can only effect events that are at least t second ahead in time; where t = the distance between the events/ the speed of light.

    You can think of this like lag on the internet. In online games everything someone does will only effect everyone else slightly later than they did it. So if you and another person do an action at the same time, theirs will appear to happen slightly later than yours, because of lag. So for you, their action happened later than yours. However this also works the other way around! For them, your action happened later than theirs. So you can't agree on the timeline on events. Obviously in online games there is a server that works out a set timeline. However there is no equivalent to a server in the universe, but this "lag" still occurs. So the timeline of events is different from different perspectives!

    I know that doesn't solve much but hopefully it gives you something more to think about :P

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    • q25t
      11 years ago

      That was a really good metaphor for that. Nice one.

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      • Devyn
        11 years ago

        thank you

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  • ProcrastoMan
    11 years ago

    Ignore these douches saying you're thinking too hard or you're on drugs. This stuff is interesting and meaningful to think about. I believe in God so I think he created us....I actually what you're talking about is an issue with entirely neglecting God for science. WE got here somehow. SOMETHING or someone created us, space, the universe, etc. As for how God got there - difficult to explain. To say 'God has always been and always will be' is hard to comprehend, but I'd have to think He operates on a different plane than we do. So perhaps it is impossible to comprehend now, on the Earth as a human, but in the afterlife we will understand.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      No they are just not smart enough to comprehend such a concept. People who do not understand this mind set are not very intelligent people at all. If you are smart you look at all the possibilities. Not just what you perceive to be important. It is alright because we really can not change these people.

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  • iezegrim
    11 years ago

    Lots of people (myself included) live in a permanent existential crisis. It's possible to find peace despite it.

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  • NotStrangeBird
    11 years ago

    If you're dropping acid you should go out and run around in the woods or something. Stay off the internet.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      No I am not high.

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      • NotStrangeBird
        11 years ago

        OK, look at it this way. You go down to the store and buy a soda, talk to some folks and walk home.

        Yes, the mysteries of the universe are all there, there's unimaginable quantum mechanics going on in your soda can, that oak tree in my yard was exactly 2600 miles from your left ear at one point (to the thousandth of an inch) and your favorite rock star drove by drinking the exact same soda that was the next can off the production line from yours.

        But you'll never know any of it. And so what?

        Some things we're just not meant to know. And nobody here ever will.

        I'd say not to get too wrapped up in specifics about meanings or other mystical shit. Live your life, enjoy your soda and try to make the best. Maybe after it's all over we'll get some answers.

        And be wary of anyone on this earth selling you those answers.

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        • disthing
          11 years ago

          True. The futility of existence is only matched by the futility of worrying about the futility of existence.

          I mean, it's probably a right of passage, to ponder what this all is, but once you travel that passage most of us get to the stage where we're wiser (in so much as we know we're none the wiser) and no longer need to ask these big questions.

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          • dude_Jones
            11 years ago

            What is the questions lead to quantum theory? Wouldn't math and physics be the next step?

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            • disthing
              11 years ago

              Sure, I'm not saying intellectual curiosity of this kind becomes pointless. Maths and physics can certainly help explain many things.

              Just that if you have questions of a certain magnitude, you shouldn't necessarily expect to find the answers, only to better understand the questions.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          People are not meant to fly either but the Wright brothers tried. Amazing isn't it? What can be done when you think of the possibilities?

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          • NotStrangeBird
            11 years ago

            The wright brothers could not fly. They invented a contraption that could fly using Bernouli's principle, which was postulated centuries before.

            Their machine flew and they went along for the ride. No humans can fly. I can't fly, but I can sit on my ass and drink bloody marys on a plane.

            But we're talking about existential and/or religious questions that have no answer. The whys, not the hows.

            Science and engineering are different. They answer questions about the physical world.

            Yes, we routinely teach schoolchildren things that were unanswerable a couple of centuries ago, but there's still stuff that can never be answered. It also seems that for every major discovery or breakthrough, more questions pop up.

            All these profound questions have little bearing on day-to-day life. The mysteries of the universe have no effect on me picking up my dry cleaning. Just try to enjoy life as much as you can.

            Ever heard of a book called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"? It's about a philosopher who goes insane pondering the meaning of quality.

            He comes to the conclusion that none of it matters next to living his life and raising his son. Great book.

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  • kelili
    11 years ago

    GOD is Great!

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      God is good.

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      • ProcrastoMan
        11 years ago

        Let us thank him for our food.

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        • MissyLeyneous
          11 years ago | pl

          Ramen.

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          • Anonymous Post Author
            11 years ago

            Hahaha.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          The fact you got thumbed down shows that people are prejudice assholes. I really think some of the people on this should not be allowed to down the comments.

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          • MissyLeyneous
            11 years ago

            You aren't allowed to thumb down comments unless you've been here for quite a while. Then everyone is free game.

            Life sucks, shit happens, people get over it. :)

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            • Anonymous Post Author
              11 years ago

              That makes sense. Thank you for telling me.

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  • Hippie
    11 years ago

    Damn this post makes me tired -.-

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  • neuroticmofo
    11 years ago

    Yes, if you live by a lake there might be a pair of docks there.

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  • Fartyr
    11 years ago

    It's okay to live in a paradox as long as you have Schrodinger's Cat as your pet.

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  • boston12
    11 years ago

    paradox shmaradox, u are only guessing that everything is cyclonic, guessing that everything must have a begining and end. some things in life remain a mystery regardless of science or mans belief in god.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      However science will one day find an answer to everything.

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      • boston12
        11 years ago

        thats only ur opinion, science may answer sum of the questions, but there will b many unanswered . there will never b a time where humanity will know everything.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          I never said it would. As with every answer there is many new questions.

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  • boston12
    11 years ago

    i think thee protests too much :)

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  • MiaScar.
    11 years ago

    I stopped reading after like the second question. You think way too much. Smoke something and calm down.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      I do not smoke and do not do drugs.

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  • Retard73
    11 years ago

    I cannot read this :(

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  • disthing
    11 years ago

    It's not necessarily a paradox.

    We presume everything is created by something, we presume everything has a beginning. However this is only theory. It's difficult to comprehend, but it's perfectly possible that there is and always had been something. In other words there was never a start to everything and there will probably never be an end either. The universe may simply be an endless, continuous shifting of all matter and energy, and we happen to be one of an unlimited amount of consequences to that chaos.

    Existence is not an impossibility, not everything must have a beginning. Simple... Sort of :)

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      If things had no beginning why is it here?

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      • disthing
        11 years ago

        You're implying there must be some justification, some idea behind it all, some universal reason.

        Why must there be a reason? We are guided in life by our powers of reasoning, but the mechanisms of humanity aren't applicable to everything in existence. Who's to say the universe isn't simply here and always has been?

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        • [Old Memory]
          11 years ago

          But this argument doesn't abide by causality principles, and therefore has no logical structure and is unsubstantiated. But the inverse cannot be proven either, and so goes the paradox

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          • disthing
            11 years ago

            You're right that neither theories can be proven. However causality doesn't require that there be a beginning, only that there be something before, so there is logical structure if we assumed the infinity of the universe is true.

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            • [Old Memory]
              11 years ago

              True, but there is no logical justification for infinity so its like making an argument for something that you're assuming in that argument. But thats all of existentialism.

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  • frist
    11 years ago

    There's a book about to be published about all this. Should be out very shortly :-). Fascinating stuff.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      What is it?

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    These are the questions that everybody asks and nobody can answer. Existence is absurd. Existence is pointless. Knowledge does not exist.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Knowledge does exist but it really shouldn't. We are not suppose to be here. We are not meant to exist. It is an impossibility. As it is a cycle falling upon it self. What came first the chicken or the egg? If you follow this something had to make the first egg or first chicken. So what does this mean? It means before this there was nothing or something from in front of the time line has made something in the past. This is an impossibility. This is what is known as a paradox. So what did we have before all this? Before space since something made space? Was it blank air? Nothing just a white sheet like a piece of paper.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        What is knowledge if nothing in existence has a fundamental truth?

        You do not have "knowledge" of, for example, this internet dialogue (i.e. what has happened, whether it happened). Think you do? Prove to me, prove to YOU, that you aren't dreaming this. Prove it that you exist and that the endless string of memories that create "you" aren't a fabrication.

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        • disthing
          11 years ago

          The only conclusion is that there is almost nothing we can be certain of. This is, however, very uninspiring.

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          • [Old Memory]
            11 years ago

            This is the ultimate conclusion. To embellish this beautifully incomparable conclusion, I would recommend all here to read existentialist literature, such as "No Exit". Or do a hallucinogen. Or both.

            But I dont break the law nor facilitate any illegal activity...but Aldous Huxley told me that acid is beautiful so I'm just taking his word for it and speaking hypothetically...

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          Yes that is another theory. Also if this is just a dream it is a very sad dream. In my dreams I have super powers.

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          • boston12
            11 years ago

            a dream with in a dream with in a dream? smile

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            • Anonymous Post Author
              11 years ago

              Yes! Who is the dreamer. If this is a dream who is dreaming of us? Unless we are all dreaming and we see something different.

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      • Annon12345
        11 years ago

        Well if it cant possibly happen then why are we here?

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          That is what I am saying. We are not suppose to be here but we are. Something can not exist without having something else before it. Following this that means something that already exist must have made up the past. If you follow this what created the beginning to start? What started and how did it start if nothing was created yet to continue this cycle?

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  • Minato17
    11 years ago

    Your thinking way too hard...

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  • Imsupernormal
    11 years ago

    OP is on drugs.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      I DO NOT DO DRUGS.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        Why are you so defensive? If you don't do drugs then such comments are nonsense.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          I said this 3 times. I am also against drugs. I am one of the biggest anti drugs supporters. So I find it annoying to be told I am high. When I would never touch drugs. This goes for prescription. Anything beside pain killer I will not take.

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          • boston12
            11 years ago

            well pat urself on the back, shouldnt bother u if ur not. its not as tho we know who u r or where u live. chillax

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