Happyness

The only way to evaluate the meaning of life is to have a value by which to judge it. However, what is a 'value'? Why, a value is something which is important. What is important? Well, it's what I seek of course! And I seek happiness. But what is happiness? Happiness comes in many forms. Satisfaction with your accomplishments, pure pleasure of owning things, or experiencing sensations. It is different for each person.
Why? Why is each person different. Because we are all variants of the previous model. Why? Because a group as an organism is most effective (able to consume resources) when it produces variations which may be dominantly successful and improve (be able to consume even more resources) the group through speciation.

It is the non-random selection of random variations. Thats what evolution is. And it makes us all very similar, but also different. And out of that chaos, comes many orders, many species, many types of calculators. But one calculator is different in some way. The 'x' factor of yet one more variable into the mental process. That is the human species. We have a consciousness. One which asks 'why?' and one which requires an answer.
We fight wars. We kill one another; all trying to figure out 'why'. But 'why' is often just another way to ask 'what' and the 'what' is clear. The 'what', is happiness.
Happiness is the only point, and it is only achieved one way. Happiness is a trait evolved to reward and encourage. And like the species which beholds it, it is always similar, but every one a unique variation.
The key to happiness is to express the natural desires that derive from your genetic predisposition. The key to happiness is to follow your values. This is why coercion is wrong, because it is by definition again against your wishes, and is therefor against your happiness. It must be. Its all circular. Coercion is the definition of unhappiness, and unhappiness is the definition of coercion. Joy is the only true consent, and we all must be allowed to pursue our own joy and happiness. Each life is of infinite value, and all that matters is its ability to express its desires; and all that allows that is consent, and the only thing which can stop it, is coercion.
And this is why, I beg for peace, I beg for freedom. I beg for joy, for happiness, for every one. Every. Single. Individual.

On the Illusion of the State

Consider for a moment; that the 'State' is not a real thing. Not real like your table, or your hat, or your house. It is just an idea. It is an agreement, between individual actors to act in a certain way, or according to certain rules. But this agreement, these rules, they also do not exist.

Perhaps they are written down somewhere, they exist as ink or as digital numbers, but really, that ink isn't anything serious either. It does not serve a function by its self. It requires thoughts. It requires understanding. It requires a concious, active, aware human brain to make a decision.

This human brain, makes mistakes, and more importantly, has its own aspirations and desires acting only for the purpose of furthering its own interests.

A truly alien perspective on this, would to ask why so much pomp and frills around the replication of DNA?

The answers of course lie within a mistaken belief that these illusions keep us safe some how, or that without them we would lose our humanity.

I'm not sure; I'm really not.

When I look at shit like this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13judge.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/video-watch-judge-jail-teenager-1589558

I mean, really, a judge is just a man who wears a dress and bangs a wooden mallet. Even worse, the so-called law-enforcers doing his bidding are just psychotic apes that have devices capable of lethally throwing metal around... for what?

For an idea in their head.

Perhaps in the days of the Khans, with roving barbarians, when war-fare was fought with steel, blood, and sweat, maybe then the State was an idea worth holding onto.

As I see it now, in this modern age with modern communicative abilities, it is a way to rob us of our humanity; the only apparatus capable of creating terrible, pointless weapons of mass destruction, and even worse, capable of senselessly unleashing those weapons upon human beings. Not for reasons of a single rational mind, but rather because of the kind of hodge podge decisions and outcomes that come naturally from group decision making.

What Science Doesn't Do

Science does not tell us why. It is not a value judgement tool. It's really not either a tool for helping to describe what reality is, only does it tell you what reality does.

Science is a tool for giving us useful information. Science is not necessarily in competition with other information sources.

Science only needs to do one thing; produce reliable and measurable results. Nothing more, nothing less.

Its important to understand this. Gravity might as well be caused by invisible, weightless, scentless, ethereal gremlens who have very strict mathematical guidelines for their actions. Science does not care about that which is non-predictive and that which does not leave detectable evidence.

Those who work to "undermine" Science, really must not understand it; for viewed through the lens of those who understand what it is; all a science denier is really doing is screaming at a trendline on a graph.

Unless you have some radical new set of points to place onto that graph; no amount of pleading, begging, or snide remarks will change that trend line.

Simply because you can find collaborative evidence for what you beleive is true; does not mean that it is true. What is true must be determined by a natural repeatable occurrence upon the trend line. Anything else is called Cherry Picking.

Starting with a single idea, and building like a tree upwards and outwards in several branches is not the way your knowledge should be; but rather it should be the conclusion of reoccurring, predicatable, likley activities, which survive the null hypothesis as well.

Knowledge

Knowledge is a very funny thing. Theory of knowledge, sometimes called 'Epistemology' is a complicated topic.

I feel, however, it is also an extremely important topic.

I believe in Truth. With a capital mother-fucking 'T'. There is one singular Truth, and it is knowable.

But there is something the post-modernist nihilist self-important pretentious assholes DID get right. You don't know the Truth. You know, next to nothing.

In fact, I would argue that you know nothing but what you have experienced.

However, even your experiences are ultimately incongruous. Therefor internal assumptions must be made. That which provides the greatest amount of consistency with your knowledge is likely to be true. What you do not know you must assess a likelihood. Your whole world view is a tower of likelihoods on top of likelihoods.

Beliefs are a set of ideas or concepts that you burn into your mind; an anchor for which all likelihoods are to be judged against. Beliefs are an outdated technology. Science has replaced the natural belief software we come with. Beliefs are what cause human beings to start with a conclusion and work backwards.

Perfect for a hominid on the savanna, needing to make snap life and death decisions, without the time, understanding, or benefits of group collaboration. Beliefs are fantastic heuristics which help you maintain control in the heat of the moment. Not that I could convince you to have no beliefs at all, as it is your own natural human predilection to do so. But here is what I would suggest to you:

Examine your beliefs, examine the hell out of them. Keep them only to topics which are of importance at times when you do not have the time, temper, or patience to be reasonable.

Everything else, try to stop thinking in terms of 'knowledge'. A simple change in the terminology can be very helpful. Try instead of 'I know JFK never landed the twin towers on the moon' saying 'I find it unlikely that JFK landed the twin towers on the moon'.

See how much more credible you sound?

TLDR; Nothing is known for certain, but many things are likely. Beliefs are dangerous, but can be useful when limited to situations you do not always have time to assess likelihoods. Stop assuming you know how things are, and start discussing how likely certain facts and assessments are.