I know you're doing devil's advocate. I liked this part of your comment:
kijin>"What if all those people gave lots of damns about things that actually aren't worth a damn?"
Because I certainly don't know if these things are worth a damn or not, and I generally don't trust people who believe that they do know.
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But this uncertainty about whether "any specific thing matters" cuts both ways, and I'm not sure it is clearly stated in another part of your comment:
kijin>Sounds like defeatism and resignation. Why resign yourself to the "ride" and pretend that there's something nice about the long, arduous journey when you know very well that there's not much to see at the destination, or if you believe that everyone is riding in the wrong direction?
I think that there are 2 defeat/resignations in your hypothetical. The first defeat/resignation happens at the point where you become convinced that "you know very well that there's not much to see at the destination". The second defeat/resignation is the one that you pointed out, when you make the decision to pretend that here's some destination.
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skore>>it's related to the fact that even our understanding of the heat death of the universe is based on and limited by our human brains.
Skore is raising the question that maybe we DON'T "know very well that there's not much to see at the destination."
Some people believe that there is no way to know that "there is not much to see at the destination", and some people believe that there definitely is a worthwhile destination that is worth struggling towards. Religious people, anyone believing in transhumanism or "the singularity" to name the vast majority of humans.
Some people would lump everyone who doesn't commit suicide into this category: "If you aren't getting off the train, you're moving towards station."
ggp probably meant the word "jelly" instead of the word "jello".
No one is contesting the word "jam".
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