NationStates Jolt Archive

In a world full of exaggeration, where the phrases "seismic shift", "momentous occasion" and "the biggest ever" are used as often in news feeds as the phrase "lets get out of here" is used in Western films, are there any actual big days left in the world?

Can we truly say that any event is of any consequence iin the grand scheme of things? Or is that too nihilistic?

What about personally? Are any events of any true importance to you yourself, or is everything just a series of stuff that happens, and it doesn't matter because you're going to die anyway.

I ask this as I ponder my results this morning for my VCE. I got an ENTER 91.45, which is (apparently) equivalent to an IB score (with bonus points, whatever that means) of 33. I'm happy with this score, it's about what I expected and considering how little work I put in, a decent score. It gets me into the uni course I want, I'm happy. Just pondering how much it all means really, whether in the long run it will make much difference even to my own life, let alone anyone elses.

*note: Even though this sounds kinda depressed, it's really not. Just ponderous.

I hear that january 20th, 2009 is a big day. Mainly around noon EST.

I hear that january 20th, 2009 is a big day. Mainly around noon EST.

You'd hope so. I certainly do. But, say 100 years down the track, will it have made that much difference? Time will tell I spose...

Can we truly say that any event is of any consequence iin the grand scheme of things? Or is that too nihilistic?

What about personally? Are any events of any true importance to you yourself, or is everything just a series of stuff that happens, and it doesn't matter because you're going to die anyway.


To your first point, in that context, the beginning and end of the universe are consequential events. It's a bit of a wait between them though, so you may get bored.

On your second point
Nihilistically: Yes

But as we are also talking personally, the only criteria is something that seems to matter to you at the time. Obviously the benefit of hindsight might change their relative importance, and when at death's door they may seem either inconsequential or incredibly important as a vindication.

However, 99.9999999% of events in my life so far definitely fall into the 'stuff happens' category. The rest is up for debate!:)

And congratulations!

To your first point, in that context, the beginning and end of the universe are consequential events. It's a bit of a wait between them though, so you may get bored.

On your second point
Nihilistically: Yes

But as we are also talking personally, the only criteria is something that seems to matter to you at the time. Obviously the benefit of hindsight might change their relative importance, and when at death's door they may seem either inconsequential or incredibly important as a vindication.

However, 99.9999999% of events in my life so far definitely fall into the 'stuff happens' category. The rest is up for debate!:)

And congratulations!

You may have valid arguments. I may or may not be surprised by this, and in my early morning stupor not prepared for it. And thank you.

EDIT: Ok, so, for personal events, if the benefit of hindsight can change the relative importance of events, does that therefore imply that there is no defined, universal (can't think of the right word... opposite of relative... there's a word I know there is... come on! Two years isn't that long to forget philosophy study...) value to events taking place in one's life? That the value of anything in one's can be changed through things like hindsight, perspective, and life outlook? Just checking.

the big days are the days when spiritual giants arm wrestle with gods on mountains you can see underneath. days of grass, days of straw.

they usually don't come at predictable times of year. they come when by some mysterious and unpredictable mechanism, we simultainiously find our selves in worlds we mundanely are unable to imagine, and soon forget, or come to believe we've only immagined them, once they pass and mundania, like the lead albatross it is, has once again settled arround us and pinned us to the unimaginative delusions we exploit each other by claiming to be reality.

corporate media never report such days, being themselves so stuck in the clay of their own mutual self deceptions, as to be unable even to take cognizense of their existence.

instead feeding us such predigested pap as official holy days and cocomitant retail sales con game events.

Ok, so, for personal events, if the benefit of hindsight can change the relative importance of events, does that therefore imply that there is no defined, universal (can't think of the right word... opposite of relative... there's a word I know there is... come on! Two years isn't that long to forget philosophy study...)Absolute? Constant? value to events taking place in one's life? That the value of anything in one's can be changed through things like hindsight, perspective, and life outlook? Just checking.

I don't think it's controversial to say value is a relative concept. And something that can change over time depending on circumstances.

But that doesn't mean something can't have value at a particular time. If bread was 30p last year and 50p this year, the fact that it's changed now doesn't mean it was the 'wrong' value before, or that you were somehow mistaken about it. There's no point regretting doing something in the past you NOW consider wrong, if at the time you thought it was right, for example.

In a world full of exaggeration
Am I allowed to use my irony/livery joke again, or is it too soon since the last time? Let's just pretend I did whatever was appropriate and move on, shall we?

To answer the question, No. Nothing you have ever done or ever will do is important. Life can still be fun, but you've got to accept that it is insignificant first.
Or don't, it doesn't really matter.

In a world full of exaggeration, where the phrases "seismic shift", "momentous occasion" and "the biggest ever" are used as often in news feeds as the phrase "lets get out of here" is used in Western films, are there any actual big days left in the world?

Can we truly say that any event is of any consequence iin the grand scheme of things? Or is that too nihilistic?

What about personally? Are any events of any true importance to you yourself, or is everything just a series of stuff that happens, and it doesn't matter because you're going to die anyway.

I ask this as I ponder my results this morning for my VCE. I got an ENTER 91.45, which is (apparently) equivalent to an IB score (with bonus points, whatever that means) of 33. I'm happy with this score, it's about what I expected and considering how little work I put in, a decent score. It gets me into the uni course I want, I'm happy. Just pondering how much it all means really, whether in the long run it will make much difference even to my own life, let alone anyone elses.

*note: Even though this sounds kinda depressed, it's really not. Just ponderous.

Nihilism. Yes, this is nihilist a 100%.

Big days? I always treat my loved ones' birthdays as big days. I always think that Christmas is a big day, and if Christmas is celebrated in a 100 years, it will continue to be so... a great day. I think anything to do with my family, of a happy note, is a big day.

If the earth comes to an end, that day will also be big and catastrophic. I don't know. I never really ponder these things, not as profoundly as perhaps I should.

In a world full of exaggeration, where the phrases "seismic shift", "momentous occasion" and "the biggest ever" are used as often in news feeds as the phrase "lets get out of here" is used in Western films, are there any actual big days left in the world?

Can we truly say that any event is of any consequence iin the grand scheme of things? Or is that too nihilistic?

What about personally? Are any events of any true importance to you yourself, or is everything just a series of stuff that happens, and it doesn't matter because you're going to die anyway.

I ask this as I ponder my results this morning for my VCE. I got an ENTER 91.45, which is (apparently) equivalent to an IB score (with bonus points, whatever that means) of 33. I'm happy with this score, it's about what I expected and considering how little work I put in, a decent score. It gets me into the uni course I want, I'm happy. Just pondering how much it all means really, whether in the long run it will make much difference even to my own life, let alone anyone elses.

*note: Even though this sounds kinda depressed, it's really not. Just ponderous.

My AP/IB exams made me nihilistic, too. (My school had the bright idea of having us take both, which are completely different in their requirements, except that both require protracted test-taking).

It passes. But every now and then I recall the yawning pit of despair that was my extended essay about the Prague Spring.

Every day is what you make of it.

It passes. But every now and then I recall the yawning pit of despair that was my extended essay about the Prague Spring.
Out of the dust emerges a moment of serene eternity. A crystallized jewel of time that shall live on past itself and remain forever in the present by decree of that immortal word: "Sigged."

My day is a eat nice food day.
what is your day called?
ponder about days maybe?

In a world full of exaggeration, where the phrases "seismic shift", "momentous occasion" and "the biggest ever" are used as often in news feeds as the phrase "lets get out of here" is used in Western films, are there any actual big days left in the world?

Can we truly say that any event is of any consequence iin the grand scheme of things? Or is that too nihilistic?

What about personally? Are any events of any true importance to you yourself, or is everything just a series of stuff that happens, and it doesn't matter because you're going to die anyway.

I ask this as I ponder my results this morning for my VCE. I got an ENTER 91.45, which is (apparently) equivalent to an IB score (with bonus points, whatever that means) of 33. I'm happy with this score, it's about what I expected and considering how little work I put in, a decent score. It gets me into the uni course I want, I'm happy. Just pondering how much it all means really, whether in the long run it will make much difference even to my own life, let alone anyone elses.

*note: Even though this sounds kinda depressed, it's really not. Just ponderous.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

The flaws of the "end of history" posited in the 1990's by that oriental named fellow have been exposed by events since 9/11, but in truth, global geo-politics are conditioned by impersonal, ineluctable economic forces to such an extent that single great symbolic days are unlikely.

On a personal level, certain days do seem to acquire a seminal importance when viewed later.

in terms of the scale of human civilisation, i'd say there are days that could still be considered "big" regarding the scale of their impact. the problem with history, and progress, is it is very much a process of 'microevolution'... in that events build on other events, or advances in any given field build on previous advances (example i'm thinking of is simply technological innovation and advancement).

there are few big days, but i bet they are there. the day war was declared in 1939, the attack on pearl harbour, landing on the moon, the fall of the berlin wall... these are all individual days you can point to and say these events had an impact on history and on society.

as for your IB scores, no, they probably won't matter to anyone but you. and they'll matter less and less the older you get. but that doesn't stop the day you got thse scores from being an important day in the progress of your life - a day that opened doors for you to continue on to university. had you failed, you would be pointing to this day for years as an event that changed your life - the day that meant you couldn't go to uni and fucked up your plans. there's no reason why things going to plan need be thought of as insignificant.

/thinking out loud

In a world full of exaggeration, where the phrases "seismic shift", "momentous occasion" and "the biggest ever" are used as often in news feeds as the phrase "lets get out of here" is used in Western films, are there any actual big days left in the world?

Can we truly say that any event is of any consequence iin the grand scheme of things? Or is that too nihilistic?

What about personally? Are any events of any true importance to you yourself, or is everything just a series of stuff that happens, and it doesn't matter because you're going to die anyway.

I ask this as I ponder my results this morning for my VCE. I got an ENTER 91.45, which is (apparently) equivalent to an IB score (with bonus points, whatever that means) of 33. I'm happy with this score, it's about what I expected and considering how little work I put in, a decent score. It gets me into the uni course I want, I'm happy. Just pondering how much it all means really, whether in the long run it will make much difference even to my own life, let alone anyone elses.

*note: Even though this sounds kinda depressed, it's really not. Just ponderous.

Your life is what you make it.

Also well done on the good score, what uni course are you going to be doing?

And if the VCE is anything like the SACE then bonus points means that you got points added to your TER or ENTER for various reasons such as if neither of your parents went to uni, or that you live in the country or that you did a foreign language as one of your subjects.

I always considered my day of graduation from university as one of my biggest days yet.

However, if you put it in perspective, it's a giant leap for me, a small step for mankind.
(And it's just the beginning of a new journey.)

/thinking out loud
*waves*

I like it when you think out loud.

In a world full of exaggeration, where the phrases "seismic shift", "momentous occasion" and "the biggest ever" are used as often in news feeds as the phrase "lets get out of here" is used in Western films, are there any actual big days left in the world?
I would say that in a world with 7 billion people and many international conflicts going on, as well as all of this economic pish, every day probably is pretty momentous at the moment.

Your life is what you make it.

Also well done on the good score, what uni course are you going to be doing?

And if the VCE is anything like the SACE then bonus points means that you got points added to your TER or ENTER for various reasons such as if neither of your parents went to uni, or that you live in the country or that you did a foreign language as one of your subjects.

Oh, most VCE subjects get scaled to reflect the apparent difficulty of said subjects and to ensure that people doing all subjects have an equal chance of getting the high marks. I don't agree with it, but that's the way it is. Never heard of extras if neither parent went to Uni though...

I'm going to do Arts at Melbourne, with a focus on politics and, hopefully, languages. I needed about an 85, so I'm set for that, which is nice.

Oh, most VCE subjects get scaled to reflect the apparent difficulty of said subjects and to ensure that people doing all subjects have an equal chance of getting the high marks. I don't agree with it, but that's the way it is. Never heard of extras if neither parent went to Uni though...

Oh yeah same happened with the SACE and considering I did 4 of the suicide 5 it may have helped me a bit. As I say that is what bonus points where also given out for various reasons, I think it is done to encourage and help people get into uni if they normally wouldn't, such as those from low socio-economic households (neither parent went to uni), and encourage people to learn a second language.

I'm going to do Arts at Melbourne, with a focus on politics and, hopefully, languages. I needed about an 85, so I'm set for that, which is nice.

What you need an 85 to get a piece of paper that says you can serve at Maccas? :p

Nah just joking man, good luck hopefully you get in and perform well.