135 réponses à ce sujet

[Dragonikus]

  These forums are full of
assumptions, and most of us hope that Bioware will, yet again, surprise us with
some kind of interesting stories/information. The idea of the Reapers is great
and it is a very original one.
I was asking myself about the "meaning of life" and Reapers came into
my mind.



Yes, their ways, "manners", and acts are generally evil but what if
their purpose was a good one?

Organics "wither and die", humans live around 100 or more years,
asari more than a thousand but still, they eventually die, while Reapers are
almost immortal.



There are many theories about what happens after our life ends, but if the
Reapers were the best choice? Our bodies and maybe souls merged into one. Many
thoughts, one mind. Millions, billions or even more years of existence. Unlike
during reincarnation your memories are kept within your genetic
"paste" and merged. 



My little theory about the way our souls travel is that there is one big
source, one soul, one force so big we cant even begin to understand and when a
life is born a tiny, almost unnoticeable piece of this force is transferred
into this new organism. So in my theory we are all one soul anyway, just
separated for the moment, but they will merge eventually.

No one said I cant have my own faith, right? and its not based on Mass Effect.



What if being a part of a Reaper was a good thing? 




 

[Jedi Sensei]

What is the meaning of life to a Reaper?

[Dave of Canada]

Jedi Sensei wrote...

What is the meaning of life to a Reaper?

It's to pillage, destroy and burn then go to sleep.

Pretty similar to our real lives.

[Dragonikus]

That's not the point. Its about sharing your thoughts, memories with a whole nation that is merged into one being. I am sure they can think of some fun things to do.

[Internet Kraken]

But Reapers are hive minds. The many minds that make up a Reaper all think the same, act the same, and work towards the same goal. There is no internal conflict in a Reaper. When you are melted down into a genetic paste you sacrifice everything that makes you a person. I never considered being a hive mind to be a good thing.

[Speakeasy13]

Speaking of meaning of life, you do realize that life has more than physical components right? If you ended up comatose, you're technically "alive", but if your consciousness, emotions and intelligence, or as you put it, your "soul" are all gone, does it mean anything that your body is merely functioning?



I dunno about you, but I would rather someone pull the plug on me and let me die already if that was to happen. I guess the same could be said about being part of a Reaper. It may be my physical components, but it's not me.



I guess what I'm trying to say is, how long we live does not matter. Our spirits live on in the memories of those whose lives we impacted. So be it Salarian years or Asari years, it's what we do with the years given that counts. Besides, if we don't die eventually, then our lives have no meaning of its own. There'll be no urgency, no motivation to leave our mark in the universe, and subsequently, no advancement for the greater whole.



PS: What faith is that you have? I don't dislike it but it doesn't sound like any faith I know of.

[The Spamming Troll part 2]

a hundred years ago humans had a 30 year life span. now i see lots of people in their 80's running around. in a hundred more years people will probably become very imortal with medical advancements and artificial implants.



maybe humans are only a few years away from being reapers themselves.

[Mcjon01]

Speakeasy13 wrote...

Besides, if we don't die eventually, then our lives have no meaning of its own.

I hate to break it to you, but whether or not we die has no effect on the inherent meaninglessness of life.

Speakeasy13 wrote...

There'll be no urgency, no motivation to leave our mark in the universe,
and subsequently, no advancement for the greater whole.

Prove it.

[Galimor_001]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Jedi Sensei wrote...

What is the meaning of life to a Reaper?

It's to pillage, destroy and burn then go to sleep.

Pretty similar to our real lives.

So basically they are giant space prawn vikings?

Modifié par Galimor_001, 28 mars 2010 - 04:40 .

[Collider]

It's subjective. There IS no "what if they're right."

[Dragonikus]

Its just my own little faith. My way of explaining death and meaning of life.



Anyway, imagine you are not just a component in a Reaper but just a big mind, like Geth. There is no "I, there is we" (it reminds me of soviet russia...) Your soul is kept, connected with other beings, and as a result the life force I was talking about is a lot greater.

Reapers are in a state of hybernation most of the time, but how else could you endure immortality, even as the greatest being in all the universe?

[cos1ne]

The OP is stating his belief in a form of Pantheism, speakeasy.



Anyway Reaper's may not be wrong, but they sure as hell aren't right. At least for our own legacy as humanity. They are not what our spirituality has been evolving into, because they destroy all that does not submit to them. And everything that submits to them is dissolved of individuality that the personhood of all the parts of the reaper are destroyed in the process. Thus making your choices death or non-existence, which to me is not the path that humanity should take.

[Dragonikus]

cos1ne wrote...

The OP is stating his belief in a form of Pantheism, speakeasy.

Anyway Reaper's may not be wrong, but they sure as hell aren't right. At least for our own legacy as humanity. They are not what our spirituality has been evolving into, because they destroy all that does not submit to them. And everything that submits to them is dissolved of individuality that the personhood of all the parts of the reaper are destroyed in the process. Thus making your choices death or non-existence, which to me is not the path that humanity should take.

Good point, so you are saying that accepting to be a part of the reaper was a Paragon move? 

[Mcjon01]

Dave of Canada wrote...

Jedi Sensei wrote...

What is the meaning of life to a Reaper?

It's to pillage, destroy and burn then go to sleep.

Pretty similar to our real lives.

"Sovereign!  What is best in life?"

"To crush the organics, see them driven before us, and to hear the lamentation of their women."

[Dragonikus]

And I googled "Pantheism". Its basicly what believe in. Thanks for helping me name it.

[Internet Kraken]

Dragonikus wrote...

Anyway, imagine you are not just a component in a Reaper but just a big mind, like Geth. There is no "I, there is we"

And here lies the problem. Reaper are a hive mind, while Geth are a mind hive. Geth have some individuality. They have differing opinion and beliefs, but are dependent on other Geth to remain sapient. The organisms that form a Reaper no longer have any individuality. Harbinger always refers to himself as "I", and only when talking about the Reapers as a whole does he use the term "we". While a Reaper itself may have individuality, I don't think the organisms that form it have any.



Look at the Collectors. And entire race stripped of their culture, beliefs, and pride to serve as pathetic pawns for the Reapers. All because they couldn't be used to create a Reaper. This does not sound like a good thing.

[Collider]

I'd rather not be mind controlled, thanks.

[Speakeasy13]

Mcjon01 wrote...

Speakeasy13 wrote...

Besides, if we don't die eventually, then our lives have no meaning of its own.

I hate to break it to you, but whether or not we die has no effect on the inherent meaninglessness of life.

Are you immortal? Cause if you're not (and neither am I) then we'll both be debating in hypotheticals here. That's rather pointless. You wanna be a Nihilist? Fine. As long as you don't feel sociopathetic enough to commit mass murder, or rape your own children. Cause hey, life is meaningless right?

Speakeasy13 wrote...

There'll be no urgency, no motivation to leave our mark in the universe,
and subsequently, no advancement for the greater whole.

Prove it.

Have the Reapers seen any kind of advancement during the last 50,000 cycle?

Why are Salarians more productive (in the same time unit) than Humans, and Humans more than Asari? How driven we are to acheive things is more often than not in porpotion of time afforded to us.

Modifié par Speakeasy13, 28 mars 2010 - 07:44 .

[Zulu_DFA]

OP: indoctrinated.

[Kaiser Shepard]

Mcjon01 wrote...

Speakeasy13 wrote...

There'll be no urgency, no motivation to leave our mark in the universe,
and subsequently, no advancement for the greater whole.

Prove it.

Try to compare what the average salarian achieves in it's life to what the average asari achieves in her life.

Modifié par Kaiser Shepard, 28 mars 2010 - 07:50 .

[Ray Joel Oh]

Somebody just watched End of Evangelion.

[Tooneyman]

Heres what a reaper is period. You want  to know jabroni. HEres your answer.

Resistance if Futile.



This is bascially what a reaper is and this is what their philosophy. Nothing more nothing less. Argue that on a flag pole.

[cruc1al]

The reapers cant possibly be morally right about destroying civilizations that consist of thinking, feeling, sapient minds. Even if those civilizations develop in the paths they want.

Even if being "a" reaper is in some objective sense better than being a human or mortal, it is not justified to eradicate entire civilizations by processing them into DNA milkshakes.

And it is not 'better' for a human to be a reaper than it is for a human to be human for the simple reason that if you're turned into a reaper, what is good for a human doesn't apply anymore. Only if the human voluntarily agrees to donate his/her DNA to constructing a reaper might it be morally sound; but that would require the human to be unknowing about the consequences of building another reaper.

It comes down to freedom of choice. Reapers want to take away that freedom from humans, and it's not a good thing even if the objective is to become something 'better'.

Modifié par cruc1al, 28 mars 2010 - 08:37 .