given that the present is 0 and nothing is absolute 0, then >0 is in the past and <0 is in the future.  enlighten me!

I think so. Our lives are a rich tapestry. If I need an answer to some aspect of well, me, I trace the threads to see where they cross and the image they make. It's amazing when you see the image all at once - threads which hung loose with no seeming direction now join with others to create something beautiful. My entire destiny was woven into the tapestry. It's up to me to trace the individual threads to their origins to the place where they mesh with the others and decipher the pattern.

Quote from: Katia on July 06, 2007, 10:14:57 PM
given that the present is 0 and nothing is absolute 0, then >0 is in the past and <0 is in the future.  enlighten me!

The past is 100% immovable. It absolutely can not be changed or effected in any way. In this regard, it's solid and stable, unlike the present which is forever changing. While the past is our anchor and we can see, if we look, where we have been, it's relation to where we are going is entirely up to us. For me, I have never been able to find the answers I seek, in my past. Of course I had to look really carefully first, to find that out.

Then it dawned on me, that I am not tied to my past by anything but memories. I can be whatever I want. In the end, we decide who we are and how we live our lives. Free to change direction or beliefs anytime we choose. Perhaps there are answers that lie in our past, but the answers to how we live our lives are in our present, because we can change anytime we want. We are never(within physical limitations of laws), bound to our past beliefs. Because we can adopt new beliefs, our answers are not bound to the past.

Love always,
Elizabeth

No because sometimes we are soul searching in the present mode and we can answer questions based upon what we are going through at the current moment in our lives or possibly the future and the goals and dreams that we want to act on in the very near future :-)

Katia, you ask some of the most interesting questions. This question reminds me of two guys I heard talking about sports, they had figured out all the angles and taken into account all the statistics but still couldn't come to an agreement on who would win the game. What they could agree on is, it didn't matter how much they Analyze everything about the game the only way to figure it out is to play the game. So as far as your question goes, "do all our answers lie in the past?" No, that would be too easy, nor will you find all of them in one place, nor will you find one all inclusive answer that tends to cover everything. Life is incredibly complex and you will have to use more than just your memory to find your answers, so I wouldn't take my thinking cap off anytime soon.
I'll apologize for this up front but one could always answer the question,
"Do all of our answers lie in the past?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana


[thinking fondly of her sister]

To a point, but one must discern and traverse that 'field' very carefully, for it could lead to despair and eventual destruction, via unwarranted guilt and self-recrimination.

Discretion is the 'order of the day' here, blessed sister.

No.  All of our questions lie in out past.  Our answers lie in the future.

I'm beginning to suspect that all of my answers are lying in the morgue. 

Quote from: RebeccaFog on July 07, 2007, 08:12:38 PM
I'm beginning to suspect that all of my answers are lying in the morgue. 

Life's possibilities are found when you seek the living, granted not all of them are pleasant but lying in the morgue isn't going to teach you anything. What if life's lessons are something that must be learned or the problems caused by not learning them follow you no matter where you go, even into the afterlife? You can win!

Quote from: Jonie on July 07, 2007, 10:45:41 PM

Quote from: RebeccaFog on July 07, 2007, 08:12:38 PM
I'm beginning to suspect that all of my answers are lying in the morgue. 

Life's possibilities are found when you seek the living, granted not all of them are pleasant but lying in the morgue isn't going to teach you anything. What if life's lessons are something that must be learned or the problems caused by not learning them follow you no matter where you go, even into the afterlife? You can win!

Thanks,
Not only can I win, I will win!

Quote from: Rebis on July 08, 2007, 10:46:46 AM

Quote from: Jonie on July 07, 2007, 10:45:41 PM
You can win!

Thanks,
Not only can I win, I will win!

What game were we playing?

Life?

Merrily rowing boats you mean? I'm all for it. Who loses though?

I think many answers do lie in the past, because everything in the present is connected to the past in some way.  We are who we are now because of who we've been.  If you can trace back the connections, you can sometimes find the origins of things and shed useful light on the present.

That's if anyone really wanted a serious answer by this time.   

If not, here's the truth:  The real answers to everything are in fortune cookies.    

Quote from: Rob on July 18, 2007, 01:55:37 AM
I think many answers do lie in the past, because everything in the present is connected to the past in some way.  We are who we are now because of who we've been.  If you can trace back the connections, you can sometimes find the origins of things and shed useful light on the present.

That's if anyone really wanted a serious answer by this time.   

I was serious.  You can spend your life looking for the answers in the past.  Or you can spend your life creating the answers for the future.

Quote from: Lisbeth on July 18, 2007, 09:23:58 AM
You can spend your life looking for the answers in the past.  Or you can spend your life creating the answers for the future.

Well, I simply choose a middle road between those two positions; I don't think it's good to be so obsessed with and caught up in the past that you don't really live in the present, or that it keeps you from building a meaningful future for yourself, but--speaking only for myself--I feel that the (very substantial) time I have spent delving into my past--into the origins of who and how I am and some of the reasons why--has not been time wasted, but has given me invaluable information that illuminates myself and the road ahead, and helps me to mindfully shape my future and decide what I want from the rest of my life, and from myself.  I think this is part of the examined life that Socrates was talking about in that famous quote. 

Looking at one's past, or at The Past as a whole (history!), it's important we be mindful of fundamental mistakes, and try not to keep making them.

the middle way of the present - can you live in the actual present? be present...
- is, to me, where it's at...

[which is why my initial response (which did occupy too much space  ) was a big 'MU' (not/without), or re-ask the question.]

Quote from: None of the Above on July 17, 2007, 11:04:51 PM

Quote from: Rebis on July 08, 2007, 10:46:46 AM

Quote from: Jonie on July 07, 2007, 10:45:41 PM
You can win!

Thanks,
Not only can I win, I will win!

What game were we playing?

Cat & Mouse

---

  I think Jonie mistook my morgue response to mean that I won't be happy until I'm dead.  Although, it's true that the rest of you won't be happy until I'm dead, it is not true for myself.

  When I wrote

QuoteI'm beginning to suspect that all of my answers are lying in the morgue.

I wasn't being mopey or depressive, I just meant that my answers are all dead and are lying in the morgue  . I was being literal. My answers are all lying in the morgue waiting for me to come identify them.

  I'm in the frame of mind where I feel I don't need answers.  ha ha - I stuck my tongue out again.

42

Quote from: Rebis on July 18, 2007, 10:57:26 AM

Quote from: None of the Above on July 17, 2007, 11:04:51 PM

Quote from: Rebis on July 08, 2007, 10:46:46 AM

Quote from: Jonie on July 07, 2007, 10:45:41 PM
You can win!

Thanks,
Not only can I win, I will win!

What game were we playing?

Cat & Mouse

In Itchy versus Scratchy, who wins?

None