Life and Death

At some point in life, one realizes that one actually has a choice to live or to die. For most of us the choice to live is instinctive. But a few among us, choose to take their own life. Faith-based religions have the ideas like sin/judgment day and karma/rebirth that are used to proclaim its wrong to commit suicide. Similarly, what are the ideas to promote life instead of death in the context of Rational Empiricism?

To recap, Rational Empiricism argues the following about life. 

1. Life is a sum of all choices.
2. The choices should bring meaning to life. Pleasure should be experienced within the boundaries of meaning.
3. What is meaningful in life is rationalized from experiencing Universe as an 'interconnection of infinite, unique objects'.
4. For illustration, 'Principle of Interconnectedness' infuses meaning into 'being sustainable on the planet'. 'Principle of Infiniteness' infuses meaning into 'being loving with our family and friends'. 'Principle of Uniqueness' infuses meaning into 'being useful at place of work'.

The decision to live or die is personal, all that Rational Empiricism or any other religion can do is to clarify the question 'what is the promise of a religious life?'. Given the above points, we can see that there is plentiful opportunity within the context of Rational Empiricism to live a meaningful and pleasurable life, to leave a net positive impact at home, society and planet by following the path and by inspiring other nonbelievers to join the path. If a person chooses not to live, he/she loses the opportunity to have a positive impact on the world.

In Rational Empiricism, living doesn't merely refer to the state of not-dying, but a bodily state of being healthy, fit and living a life of vitality with strong-will, optimism and hope for a future that's yet to be invented. So, physical and mental exercises, sleep, proper posture and ergonomics, self-defense techniques, nutrition, hygiene etc are paramount for a Rational Empiricist. You have to take care of your body first before you can take care of your home, work or planet.

A Great Life

I believe there are two aspects to a great life; meaning and pleasure. Meaning has to do with reason/thought part of being a human. Pleasure has to do with emotion/action part of being human.

Meaning:

What gives meaning to your life boils down to the choices you make in life. Religion/Philosophy/Worldview/Culture gives the foundation to make those choices. So, its critical to build that foundation. Whatever Religion you choose, it has to make sense to you and it should be something that you hopefully won't regret later in life. (I humbly propose a religion for your consideration.)

Pleasure:

What gives pleasure to you boils down to how much fun and peace you are having in life. Pleasure within boundaries of Meaning is obviously more meaningful than pleasure without meaning. Mindful engagement in indulged activity, Flow experiences and Deep Sleep are avenues to experience pleasure.

Prescription for a Great Life:

1. Do some serious thinking/exploring and settle down on a religion/worldview that will serve you well throughout your life. It should primarily serve as a guide when you are at crossroads.

2. Make very intentional, conscious choices in life guided by your Religion.

3. Execute those choices mindfully and if possible by having flow experiences.

Rational Empiricism - a religion for nonbelievers

What happens if you don't have a religion?
You conform unconsciously or get confused when you have to make choices in life. Looking back at such a wavering life could cause much distress. You might regret the lost opportunity and it may be too late to fix it.

What is a religion?
A religion is a set of guiding principles for making choices in life. Religion gives the person clarity to make those choices and to consciously decide where to spend their time and energy in this world. It facilitates the person to live a meaningful and pleasurable life and gives the strength to navigate through the painful times.

Does religion need a God?
Religion has to be based on some solid, unshakable foundation. Belief in a God and God's word or a God's messenger's word  is one way to create a religion. One downside to such God-founded religion is that there are powerful middlemen interpreting the God's message and laying down rules for others to follow. A second problem is, at times practitioners of religion vilify other Gods and religions and cause communal disharmony. A more serious downside is the nature of faith itself; a faithful can't rationalize why he has faith but he has to always protect his faith. After living a long, devout life, if some incident suddenly converts him to a non-believer, then it invalidates a large portion of his life which would be quite devastating.

What is the foundation for Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism is a non-theistic religion founded in reflecting and reasoning human experiences. Every human can testify to these two experiences; a) duality - that he exists and he is different from other things in Universe and b) causality - that there are causes for things to come into existence, causes for their sustenance and causes for them ceasing to exist. From these experiences, one can rationalize a definition for the Universe to be ''an interconnection of infinite, unique objects'. How?
1. Duality gives rise observation of objects
2. Duality also gives rise to distinction of self from other objects and to distinction of one unique object from another.
3. Duality also gives rise to observation of incomprehensible number of objects in Universe which gives rise to infinite, unique objects.
4. Causality indicates that these objects are interconnected as they continuously interact in space and time creating, sustaining and destroying each other.
Putting these concepts together, the definition of Universe as an interconnection of infinite, unique objects is justified. This definition of Universe forms the basis for the religion: Rational Empiricism.

What are the guiding principles of Rational Empiricism?
There are four guiding principles of Rational Empiricism interpreted from conception of Universe:
1. Principle of Uniqueness - Each human is unique, so is every other object in Universe.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness - Humans and other objects are interconnected to each other in complex ways.
3. Principle of Infiniteness - Each human (himself a collection of innumerable objects) and other seemingly infinite objects constitute the Universe.
4. Principle of Fitness - Each human is a person unless he is a corpse.

What is the promise of Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism promises a meaningful and pleasurable life (pleasures within the boundaries of meaning) for the practitioner, a more peaceful and just society and a sustainable planet.
1. Principle of Uniqueness encourages expression of individual's unique passions and adding value through work and predicts that people do their best work in such environment.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness supports equality for all in the society and promotes scientific understanding of the interconnected world and policy making based on those findings and predicts that a human society in-sync with nature will thrive.
3. Principle of Infiniteness asserts that a sense of belonging and companionship is desired by every human in this seemingly infinite universe and predicts that love at home will give the recipient of love the strength to navigate through the tough times in life.
4. Principle of Fitness encourage physical and mental fitness while alive before other objects eventually figure out and transform him/her to dirt.

Will Rational Empiricism stand the test of time?
If we stop experiencing duality and causality, then Rational Empiricism can be discarded. But I am guessing that when that happens we won't any longer be humans, we would have evolved to a different species or we will be living in a new Universe.
Also, if we find new ways to rationalize duality and causality different from the way it is done in Rational Empiricism, then Rational Empiricism can be adapted and evolved to the new concepts. For instance, there are two fundamental mysteries of Universe that are purposely not dealt with in Rational Empiricism: a) What is the origin of Awareness? and b)  What is the origin of Universe? Rational Empiricism doesn't bother answering these questions because these mysteries of the Universe doesn't negate our experience of duality and causality. However, if and when somebody presents rational answers to these questions and if that alters our conception of Universe, then we can evolve Rational Empiricism to the new concepts. Until then Rational Empiricism will be valid in its present form for humans.

A computer science perspective

The fundamental concepts of an object-oriented programming language mimics Universe.

1. Object - An object encapsulates data and operations. This is similar to unique attributes and properties of every object in the Universe illustrating the principle of Uniqueness.

2. Message - Objects exchange messages to invoke behavior in other objects. This is similar to the ecosystem of objects that interact with each other in space and time in Universe illustrating the principle of Interconnectedness.

3. Program - An object-oriented program is a collection of communicating objects achieving the goal of the creator of the program. This is similar to collection of infinite objects which is the Universe illustrating the principle of Infiniteness. (The key difference is that the knowledge about the creator or the purpose of Universe is beyond human knowledge. Hence, we synthesize religion/beliefs/worldview to give our lives a  purpose.)

Thinking Object-Oriented

An economic perspective

Buying
What you buy is what you assign as valuable. As long as there is demand for the product you buy, the manufacturer will produce it. So, think of all the implications before you buy i.e. the complete product life cycle from its creation to destruction. There are environmental (organic vs chemical farming, local vs global produce, biodegradable/reusable vs landfill/incinerator), health (fresh vs fast food), equal opportunity employment (gender, sexuality inequality), fair trade (child labor, minimum wage and sweat shop like inhumane work conditions) implications and many more. Vote with your dollars. This is one way to practice the principle of Interconnectedness.

Sharing
Most products you buy are best enjoyed when shared with friends and family. Think of sharing a meal, going to the movies, living with loved ones under the same roof etc. When experiences and products are shared, it enhances and enriches our life. This is one way to practice the principle of Infiniteness.

Selling
You are able to buy the products you like and share the products you buy with loved ones because of your own ability to sell in the market place. You may be selling your skills in accounting or software, farming or nursing or manufacturing etc to solve real-world problems and add value to the society. What you sell is what others buy, so try to create a virtuous cycle. This is one way to practice the principle of Uniqueness.

Universe

Universe is an "interconnection of infinite, unique objects". I have selected some pictures that exemplify this:

a) 'Interconnectedness' in Coral reef: This exemplifies ecosystem and interconnectedness of phenomena; sun, wave action, diversity and symbiosis of flora and fauna, nutrient content of water, global warming, human activity.
http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/coralreef.html
b) 'Infiniteness' in the naked eye view of Milky way: This exemplifies the sheer vastness of Universe, the expanse of space and time (as we are seeing the past, not the present when we look at night sky). The picture only shows part of our galaxy and astronomers have charted hundreds of billions of galaxies and no one really knows how big it is, yet.
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/webscope/activities/pdfs/galaxiesT.pdf
c) 'Uniqueness' in the work done by the honey bee: This exemplifies the unique role played by honeybees in pollination which is essential for more than 100 agricultural crops i.e. a third of our food consumption. Without the work done by bees, we would only have apple flowers and no fruit.
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/inf10.html

In actuality, every slice of the Universe exemplifies these characteristics; these pictures only make them stand out. So, what do I infer from this information? I infer these things:

a) From 'interconnectedness', I realize the ethics in unconditional respect for all things. Equality, I believe should be the foundation of our society.
b) From 'infiniteness', I deduce the reason for my desire for close relationships. Companionship, I believe should be the foundation of our homes.
c) From 'uniqueness', I imagine the opportunities available for my contribution and value addition. Service, I believe should be the foundation of our businesses.

I believe living a life by these ideals leads to a meaningful and pleasurable life for us, for the people we care about, the society, the planet and may be even the Universe itself. I don't see any other 'rational' approaches to achieve the same goals :)

The 30,000 foot view

1. Human life is made up of these moments.
    1.1. Moments of self-awareness
        1.1.a. When awake - Except when daydreaming or in flow
    1.2. Moments of self-non-awareness
        1.2.a. When awake - When daydreaming or in flow
        1.2.b. When asleep - When dreaming or deep asleep

2. Only in moments of self-awareness, we are faced with a real dilemma; to make a 'choice' and need help. Moments of self-awareness are 'decision points' where we decide how to chart the course of our life and how/when/where to have intense moments of self-non-awareness i.e. where to spend our time and energy.

3. On what basis do we 'choose' during moments of self-awareness? Science can help in making certain choices given the context, like "is potato chips or fruit a better snack for my health?" but it can't help in other situations like; "what constitutes a great life?". The reason is because an objective answer to the question: "what is the purpose of Universe?" is beyond our knowledge. Without knowing the purpose of the whole, the purpose of the part cannot be derived.

4. We need to synthesize an answer to the question, "what constitutes a great life?". Philosophies and Religions  try to do just that. Existing religions require the practitioner to have faith in God/s or arcane concepts. Here I propose the pillars of a Philosophy that is grounded in human experiences and reason. Speaking in religious terminology for a moment, if I have to define and choose a God, I will say that the entirety of Universe is God. It is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent because Universe encompasses all things that exist; known and unknown.

5.  This is a philosophy which I believe paves way for a meaningful and pleasurable life; meaning without pleasure or vice versa is not appealing to us. This emanates from my view of the Universe as an 'interconnection of infinite, unique objects'.
    5.1. Each object is one among infinite objects
        5.1.a. Desire close companionship to overcome infinitesimality
        5.1.b. Joys of being among loving family and friends at Home
    5.2. There are complex causal interconnections between objects
        5.2.a. Obligated to learn and be sensitive to the interconnections
        5.2.b. Joys of living in an equal and just Society
    5.3. Each object is unique
        5.3.a. Choice to demonstrate uniqueness
        5.3.b. Joys of working on areas of passion at Work


Only the ecstatic, pleasurable, personal part of the experiences are listed above. When you help other Objects attain these pleasures, it gives meaning to your life.

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