I HAVE NO LIFE!

Upon reading parts of a dissertation by Donniell Fishkind called “New Consistencies in Infinite Utilitarianism: Is Every World Good, Bad or Neutral” (http://jdh.hamkins.org/Publications/2002b/pdf), my interest was greatly sparked. Here is my reaction to this article:From the very beginning of the dissertation, it is established that heaven is endlessly positive (1+1+1+1…), hell is endlessly negative (-1-1-1-1…), and purgatory is endlessly neutral (0+0+0+0…). It is also stated that the goodness of heaven cancels out the evil in hell. To put it into more concrete terms that everyone can relate to, let’s talk about the nature of the world we live in: Earth. It is valid to say that “heaven on Earth” (endlessly positive) or “hell on Earth” (endlessly negative) is impossible. One’s situation in the world, no matter what it may be, can be described as either positive or negative, whether it be slight or great. However, as many aspects of the world prove to show, what goes up must come down. This is proven through science, economics, and even everyday life; there is always an antiparallel to cancel out the other. Examples of these are as follows: nature disrupts order due to its tendency to favor entropy, with every economic boom comes the eventual recession, a life that was once born will be taken away through death, joy is disrupted through an eventual sorrow, and so forth. Relating mathematics to the world we live in, there is a limit when “x” (with x being a positive or negative action) approaches infinity (those who studied calculus know that it is impossible for x to reach infinity) and the result is its corresponding opposite action. Therefore, upon this recognition, one could say that the world we live in is endlessly neutral (+1-1+1-1…), and it is impossible to live in a world of entire bliss or misery.However, one could even use this thought as grounds for an even more abstract thought. If our physical world and purgatory are both considered neutral, are they equals? Is our life on earth essentially purgatory? Also, since infinity is impossible to reach, does heaven and hell even exist (if not, purgatory cannot exist as well)? Keeping in mind the set of integers of Earth (+1-1+1-1…), could it be said that our life is a delicate sum of heaven and hell? In fact, the question of whether of not heaven or hell exists leads to whether or not our life is “real.” After all, the neutrality of our life comes from positives and negatives, which is so often symbolized through heaven or hell (i.e. heaven is the ultimate reward [+], and vice versa). These questions leave us in a paradox which we will probably never fully understand, and will be driven by the eternal flame of a desire for knowledge.Personally, I don’t believe in religion, and don’t blindly find it as so many do. After all, there are people who know nothing about religion, yet decide to believe in a god. In my opinion, religion is used as comfort for us typically weak minded human beings. So based on my previous thoughts, perhaps life isn’t actually “real.” Perhaps we are essentially here for no reason other than to live our lives in a way that will give us maximum utility.