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Andy Weir's The Egg

C

coffeecup

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You can read it here.

Or watch this short film.

I searched the forums and this has been discussed before but only once or twice. Keep in mind that I'm usually very open-minded to all kinds of theories but this is something I very strongly disagree with. What, that every living person on Earth is me? I think that's a very selfish way of looking at it. And if anything, this sort of perspective makes you feel alone.

I believe everyone has their own unique soul which is shaped by the many lives they have already lived and I believe that even if our physical bodies cease to exist, we still move on. But I can't and won't believe that I may have been Hitler or some other "bad guy" in the past. Or that I may technically be living a reincarnation sent back in time.

Your soul, is your personality. The people you know vary in personalities (because their past lives have been different) and... to think that person is you, is a very strange thing to wrap your head around. What are your thoughts on this?

I apologize if this isn't the right section for these sort of topics. I couldn't find a sub-forum for general discussion. :/
 
I agree with you, Coffecup, that souls are individual. There are people that exist now and in the past that have done things that I can promise I've never done nor ever will do. Never...and if anyone can find a way to trace me through time you can verify that.


I want to joke though that in this guys theory wouldn't that mean that the Earth has a bad case of multiple personality disorder. That could explain a lot about the human race. (or I guess in this theory the Human...only?...)
 
Hi Coffecup, and welcome to the Forum. Regarding the short piece "The Egg", I don't think that Andy Weir meant to literally propose the theory that you are me, or that any one of us here have lived in the shoes of Hitler, Stalin or even Mother Theresa. However, I do believe that it is a very thought provoking concept along the lines of Plato's Republic or Hobbes Leviathan. When one compares Weir's allegory to the archaic belief in only one life per soul, one may be confident that the truth lies somewhere in the middle; while we may wonder where in that middle the exact truth exists.
 
I think weir is saying


maybe I am saying? the soul is like a jigsaw


puzzle and once all pieces fit the finished picture


is your soul of now?


I don't know that came from? cover face


My case I am still missing alot of pieces.
 
I interpret it as Coffeecup, that the author is saying that everyone in the world is ourselves... except maybe God? Or maybe God is also ourselves and we are just talking to ourselves when we talk to God.


However, probably the most mainstream interpretation is that the author means that we are all interconnected and everything we do to others we are doing to ourselves. If I hit you I`m just damaging myself.


I know I`ve had times when I thought that maybe nothing really exists in the world, maybe I am just creating the world and everything that`s in it. Since I cannot prove it or disprove it and it would be too difficult to think about life in those terms, I just dismiss it. Same as with non linear time. Technically it would be possible to time travel but I honestly don`t want to put the mind effort in understanding it so I`ll stick with time being linear. I have other metaphysical things to keep my mind busy with, I just cannot cover everything, so a few dogmas here and there would be necessary (those dogmas being: the world exists outside myself and time is linear). No knowledge is possible if we stay in the doubt. I remember first day of philosophy class, "what do we need to assume in order to study biology?" "well... that life exists".


So either I`m a superpowerful god making the whole world up, or things are the way they are. If the first option is the real option, then I can just change things with the power of my mind. Since I`m not really willing to spend time trying to change my reality by thinking it`s different and hoping that the forces I used to create the universe work (even though metaphorically we can say it`s true), I`ll just keep believing that the world exists outside of myself.
 
Errr....who?!


Hmm..looks like I better go and have a look at this and see what I make of it.....


My first thoughts (without having yet scanned this to see what its aboutcoffee) would tend towards the Christian idea (though I'm not an adherent of any particular faith) of "the body of Christ". That was explained to me as meaning that everyone differs in their innate capabilities (and presumably across lifetimes the same would still apply??) and that some of us would be the heart, some the head, some the hands, etc, etc, throughout all the body parts. But...that at the end of it all...every part of the Body is connected and has a vital part to play.


I rather liked that concept and have held onto it over the years...so will be bearing that in mind when I go and have a read of this to see if that is maybe what he is getting at...
 
One of the problems with this guys theory is that it assumes that society has been scripted from the start and you get to play each part over time. Which would give you no free will and therefore no point in having a personality. If it also assumes a perfect creator came up with this idea then *** !? What would be the point in even existing if this idea had any truth?
 
I see the concept of "all of us are one" as going along with the idea we, as souls occupying human bodies, are a portion of Source fortunate enough to have an opportunity to experience the illusion of separation from Source in an environment capable of sustaining that illusion. The purpose for such an endeavor is unclear to me, though I have been assured my greater being has enormous interest in what occurs during my ventures down here.
 
I was reading something similar to this yesterday. It might be related to the work of Caroline Myss. The writer hypothesized that there are twelve soul archetypes, and each person who has a specific archetype is part of the same soul, hence, there are only twelve souls! I don't think that I agree, but the idea is interesting.
 
I heard thus the other day not sure i agree with its idea. So we have sex with ourselves? that and a few other thoughts make me feel sure this isnt whats happening
 
Wow, I'd be very interested to know what this guy had to say about what he has created with this. I agree that the literal interpretation doesn't sound plausible or pleasant to me. Before saying how I see it, would like to clarify that I'm not sure where I am on the scale of belief in God - I was christened as a baby and brought up to have respect for all faiths, however I also believe in things such as astrology that some of the more 'hardcore' Christians whom I have met have called me a non-believer for.

Maybe the idea of this story is that everyone is a soul on their own journey to eventually learn all they need to know to be like God (in the sense of pure rather than powerful), and everyone has their own special and personal relationship with God no matter who they may be in physical lives? Maybe the story was just meant to illustrate that that personal 'audience' could happen for each of us individually by showing nobody else there to heighten the sense of exclusivity?

To me, if God is really impartial and has endless love that we can aspire to, then God loves everyone regardless of whether they may be of any faith or no faith; any sexuality or no sexuality; any gender, or transgender, or perhaps undecided which gender they would like to identify with; any racial identity; rich or poor; whether they have committed many crimes or none... and so on. There can't be exceptions if that 'all-encompassing claim' is really true.

So I guess it might be conveying the idea that we are all human beings, all equal in God's eyes, rather than saying that we have actually all been people such as Hitler. As much as it may grieve us to do so, if we believe that all are equal, that would mean accepting that Hitler was a person among us, even if he used his time on earth in that lifetime he had to do the indescribably shocking and destructive things that he did.

I might have it all wrong, but as I said, it would be really interesting to hear what the creator of this was trying to show or achieve with it. It could be nothing like what I have typed!

Thank you for sharing this, I hadn't heard of it, and it's an intriguing read :)
 
Thanks Lia for resurrecting this thread. =)

Briski, you mean you don't? ; )

I kind of find my self in agreement with usetawuz- but don't consider it so much an illusion. To me it's plausible both realities are true. I have decided to learn about the relationship between lovers- Matter and Spirit.

Is there a difference between Mother Nature and Father God?
 
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