I Am a Staunch and Unchangeable Optimist.

[MineralMan]

15. Not so. It is not nonsense.

You are correct that life on this planet is finite. Recognizable homo species have only been around for less than a couple of million years. That's not very long.

We will, no doubt, become extinct long before the sun destroys the earth, some billions of years in the future. That time frame represents far longer than humans have existed, and is not a factor for anything in my opinion. In astronomical time, humans do not matter in any way.

Further a cataclysmic collision with a major asteroid is far more likely to spell extinction for humans than the expansion of our local star and its envelopment of its third planet. One such asteroid smacked into the area of the Gulf of Mexico about 65 million years ago. Seen any large dinosaurs lately? There were no humans then - just some small mammals that evolved in many directions. No human has seen a large dinosaur. The two never coexisted. Stuff changes on planets, and for many reasons.

As an atheist, I have to agree with you on the heaven and hell nonsense. We have a finite time to live as individuals. I prefer to live that time with an optimistic and practical sort of mindset and try to benefit myself and others during my time.

I think it is best to focus on promoting things that will improve human society in ways that will extend beyond my lifetime. I believe we should work toward those goals. I think we can accomplish improvements in the quality of life for the future. That is the source of my optimism.

I reject not doing whatever we can do, as individuals and in groups, to promote progress toward a better life now and into the future, within our practical capability of doing so.