Meaning of Life

[ShadowTemplar]

So... Life: Live, Have Sex, Die?

You honesty believe thats the meaning of Life?

 

If you do... thats all it will be for you...

 

once again... it is what you believe it is.

 

*Points up*

 

But even if it was a purpose, it would still not, neccesairily be everything in your life. You should stop trying to comprehend the minds of those who do not think theocratically, or you will end up as the laughing stock of the A(nti)theist commuinty in the Swamp.

 

The correct answer is what ever you chose it to be... If you believe that you know the meaning of life than noone can tell you diffrent, even if they themselfs dont believe it.

 

The basic mistake of all religious belif, boiled down to one sentence.

 

If I really belive that my hands have ten fingers each, then, by that kind of reasoning, I would have ten fingers on each hand, no matter what my eyes told me.

 

*Points to sig*

 

Read that book. Realise that what you practise is Doublethink. Look at the regimes that benefit from Doublethink.

[ShadowTemplar]

We are but a amall part of the eternal struggle to have order and balance in the universe.

 

But the universe becomes increasinly disordered. Every process that transforms energy makes it more disordered. So you are wrong, unless the purpose of Humanity is to conquer enthropy, in which case religion hinders the fulfilment of our purpose, because if conquering enthropy is at all possible it will be done by science, and religion is impairing scientific thought.

 

I think you need to read my post again ZDawg, and this time read it as a whole, not just select portions.

 

People who practise Doublethink are usually good at selective reading.

 

I Chose to believe in God because Event in my life tell me that if I rejected what I know to be fact that I would Ignore my very purpose for life.

 

You are contradicting yourself. Reread the definition of "fact".

 

Ever seen an eye grow back into its socket? ever seen a blind mans cloudy eyes brighten up with sight as you pray for him? Don’t go off telling me I believe lies.

 

Have you? Can you give any remotely trustwothy (ie.: Non-religious) sources?

[griff38]

For me there are 2 possibilities.

 

 

#1 The Meaning of Life: There is no meaning to Life.

 

 

#2 The Meaning of Life: Pass on your Dna successfully.

[C'jais]

Originally posted by TheJackal

People are running after the wrong thing, people should instead look and try to LIVE and FEEL alive. Enjoy every moment.

 

But that is just as selfish as "wasting time pondering the meaning of it all". Yes, it's wise to go after physical pleasure, but it's up to each of us all to determine if that's all we want to do.

 

The ups and downs, the romance, the heart break. Its all part of life.

 

Everything is a part of life. If you judge the quality of your life by how much pleasure you got, then it's possible to judge people's lives as good or bad. If not, then all lives are equally unimportant (or all-important if you prefer that instead).

 

When someone tries to find the meaning of life so much time is wasted from that person's life.

 

Life is ment to be full of emotions.

 

Life isn't meant to do anything. Emotions are a way of securing our individual survival. Nothing will ever be wasted, unless you acknowledge some ultimate goal or moral.

[WolfmanNCSU]

Originally posted by ShadowTemplar

 

If you belive in the free will of humans and an omnipotent God, you run into a paradox. Well, I suppose that there is nothing that Doublethink can't handle.

 

 

Depends on how you define God (which is a way more complicated debate that I dont want to start...). I believe in freewill of all living creatures and the existance a higher power/divinty. They can coexists.

 

Originally posted by ShadowTemplar

Nature is cruel. It doesn't care if a million life forms die. In fact it wouldn't care if the entire terran biosphere was destroyed. From the perspective of eternity we kine are merely a comma in history.

 

 

This is a true fact, however it is not the fact I was trying to point out. It seems that people were elminating the posibility of our "identity", however, everyone tends to think they are special or unquie in some way or another. Is each and everyone of us nothing but a chemical reaction due to stimulus of the out side enviroment? This goes back to the freewill debate, which is common in the purpose of life debate....

 

 

 

This is just to clearify a few points that I described to vauge earlier. They are mainly to bring up more questions and to purposly not give an answer.

[ShadowTemplar]

Religion is good for the human species,

 

Yeah, right.

 

How can something that causes poverty, tyranny, totalitarism, oppression, torture, genocide, and technological setbacks possibly be good for the human species? Don't answer, it is a rethorical question.

 

Also sorry bout this long post.

 

You have evidently never seen Redwing's posts.

[C'jais]

Originally posted by WolfmanNCSU

 

Depends on how you define God (which is a way more complicated debate that I dont want to start...). I believe in freewill of all living creatures and the existance a higher power/divinty. They can coexists.

 

Notice the omnipotency. Part of being all-powerful is being all-knowing.

 

If humans have free will, God cannot know the consequences of their actions, because free will is unpredictable.

[WolfmanNCSU]

Originally posted by Cjais

 

Notice the omnipotency. Part of being all-powerful is being all-knowing.

 

If humans have free will, God cannot know the consequences of their actions, because free will is unpredictable.

 

 

Absolutely true, and I agree with that completly. However, I never defined god as omnipotent.

[ShadowTemplar]

This is turning into a Religion vs. Sanity thread. You already know what I think of deluding youselves with non-external frames of reference, but I think that it could do with repetition:

 

Religion is the direct cause of more deaths than Nazism, Communism, Facism, political corruption, and all other non-religious causes, save old age, put together. It has done nothing productive by keeping those weaklings who can't cope with their own insignificane from killing themselves.

 

"The human life is like a spark of light in an endless darkness.

Some of us may shine like bright stars, lighting up the darkness for generations, but ultimately even they will be extinguished, and obscured by newer, brighter lights.

We cling to hope and fear, love and hate, joy and pain because they make us feel alive, but ultimately we must all sink back into the deep endless darkness to be forever forgotten." - A Wizard hailing from Nuln.

[lukeskywalker1]

Originally posted by Clem

the meaning of life is to have fun

 

there is no other point .... theres NO point in life if u dont enjoy it

 

<goes to jump off cliff>

 

 

life is not just about having fun, its about serving God.

[Elijah]

Originally posted by Tyrion

 

That doesnt matter,really. The people who made it were only there for 30-100 years,correct?

 

Er..just realized whatcha meant. Also, the bible couldnt have been writen 5-6k ago, if Jesus was only born 2000 or so years ago...

The bible was started only 1,000 or so years after earth was created, the bible was writen over a huge span of time

your refering to the New testament...

 

 

 

 

 

I'm leaving this *dabate* for the same reason I left the evolution thread. We all think we are right and the other guy is wrong.

bite the bullet and "take it like a man"

 

-ZDawg out

[ShadowTemplar]

Originally posted by ZDawg

I'm leaving this *dabate* for the same reason I left the evolution thread. We all think we are right and the other guy is wrong.

 

Wrong. These debates grow stale because some people fail to use and accept solely rational thought. Communication can serve no purpose if there is no common reference, and the only possible common reference is rationalism, because if something is irrational it is by necessity individual, as it is made up by the imagination of individual minds.

 

"He who can make you belive absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -Voltaire

 

BTW: I still don't see any evidence of these supposed "miracles" ZDawg. You are hurting your credibility.

[Elijah]

Originally posted by ShadowTemplar

TW: I still don't see any evidence of these supposed "miracles" ZDawg. You are hurting your credibility.

How about a deal, you dont tell me things you dont know JACK about and I wont either. I have witnessed miracles and I know what I saw was exactly that. you cannot tell me that even though I couldnt walk but now I cant is not a miracle.

 

you will not and cannot prove me otherwise.

[JediNyt]

I dont believe in a "meaning" of life, certainly not in a phylisophical/spiritual way. There is no fate but what we make. We are here cause we evolved here. The literal meaning of life is to survive and reproduce. The best thing for the human species to do is to now is to advance in living efficiancy. Lower the population by birth control, conserve the planets natural recourses, make cleaner and better energy, and last but not least advance in technology and space exploration. The meaning of life? To better ones self and the species. Its a no brainer.

[thehomicidalegg]

DISCLAIMER: these i my opinions, i am not trying to influence or offend you, or criticise your ideas.

 

Meaning or Purpose to Life is something created by man. It is an illusion constructed by human to satisfy personal needs. This does not mean that they are no Purposes or Meanings, as even a construction in one's mind exists for that person. Thus, everyone has an unique view on life, and thus has an unique answer or purpose.

 

To understand the purpose to life, one must question what is life. Technically, it is a state of existance of a consciouisness in it's perceived world. We classify the world into living things, beings which are "alive" and inanimate objects, things that arent "alive". We also place ourselves, the human being - homo sapiens- on a pedestal above all the other species in our awareness, simply because we know, consciously and subconsciously, that we are the most intelligent species and the most "priveledged" or "empowered". When we mention life, it is immediately associated with humans, even though the every other living thing on earth technically have lives too - examples of our human mind self-manipulating the information, subconsciously perhaps, and reconstructing them in self interest.

 

Humans have always seeked to understand all things around them. Why the sun goes up, then down, why are thre seasons, why do things behave the way they do? One thing we've never been able to comprehend and forever trying to explain is life. Why are we here? This unanswered and unanswerable question passed down the ages and have been so deeply ingrained in the culture and the human psyche that it became an intrinsic element of society, the meaning or purpose of life.

 

As each people are different, they are bound to have different beliefs and ideas. The first attempts by early secluded communities to answer the meaning of life from a limited resevoir of understanding and information resulted in the forming of different religions. Even at this stage, each man and woman held slight variance of beliefs - each viewed their doctrine from their own unique perspective. As our understanding improved (as we perceives ourselves, ignorantly disillusioned perhaps), mankind is segmented further as new beliefs were born through the explosion of knowledge. The slight differences in perception regarding the abstract concept of Life is presently magnified to much greater proportions.

 

We began to realise the insignificance of our presence in the infinitely large universe and the infinitely old time. Thus to assure ourselves and/or to support our bloated egos, we look to the holy grail of our own invention, the meaning and purpose of our existance.

 

In the end, the meaning of life is just an abstraction which mankind created for self-assurance, to vanquish the perpetual self doubt that is part of human nature. We born and then die, in that short interval of time we perform deeds in our self interest, or the interest of our minds clouded by thousands, millions of external influences from all around us. We may live carefully by laws self-imposed or otherwise, faithfully believing that is the meaning of life. Or we may see that our purpose is to survive, that we live for the bettering of our species: that we live to breed in order for the continual existence of our species. Some may even go further to say that by darwinism, that in the process, the "worse" end of the human should be eliminated. Most live for pleasure, for happiness, of him/herself.

 

The meaning of life varies depending on the different contexts and perspectives.

 

To me, everyone is part of a chaotic symphony composed by themselves. One is born alone and dies alone. Yet, we are tormented with loneliness. With the help of human nature we seek to interact with eachother, for the pleasure, for the need. Our lives and everything we do amount to satifying our inner will, to be content, another of our mental constructs. So to me the meaning of life is to be part of the greater web that is mankind, to share, and to be content.

[C'jais]

Very well said!

 

Our lives and everything we do amount to satifying our inner will, to be content, another of our mental constructs.

 

However, to be content is not a mental construct per se - it is a very real form of communication of dopamin and endorphins between the neurons in your brain. Without some sort of satisfaction, we'd die.

 

Another question that arises is the question of what life is. Plants are life. Virus are life. The cells in your body each have their own individual existance. You could even go so far as to say that it would be folly to think of humans as a single entity - rather they're to be likened to a bunch of tiny, egoistical cells, only held in check by their need to survive and reproduce.

 

ZDAWG: All he asked was that you gave some sort of source to that "Eye growing back"-story.

 

I believe you saw an angel. But Christ didn't save you. God didn't save you. You made the connection between the angel-visage and protestantic Christianity. Why don't you believe in the Jewish God? Catholic God? Or Islamic God, for that matter? It could just as well have been those that saved you. You simply found the easiest available excuse for your unexplained event.

If your parents weren't Christians, I'm 100% sure you wouldn't have started worshipping the Christian God, simply because you experienced something weird in your life.

Hell, I've felt the same way, but I do not feel the need to invent Gods to take care of that which is unexplained, and in return, worship them.

 

An angel is an angel. But God had nothing to do with that.

[Elijah]

Originally posted by Cjais

I believe you saw an angel. But Christ didn't save you. God didn't save you.

The thing is Cjais, until you have experienced the things I have you have no right at all to tell me who saved me or not. PERIOD

 

You made the connection between the angel-visage and protestantic Christianity.

Did I? Or was the connection self-evident?

 

Why don't you believe in the Jewish God? Catholic God? Or Islamic God, for that matter? It could just as well have been those that saved you.

Just to inform you, they are all the same GOD! Each religion just believes they have different plans/ideas.

 

You simply found the easiest available excuse for your unexplained event.

You think it was easy believing that some God I cannot see made me able to walk? Ironic that prayer was involved and yet it could have been some healing system of my body

 

If your parents weren't Christians, I'm 100% sure you wouldn't have started worshipping the Christian God, simply because you experienced something weird in your life.

I know many people who have not even heard of a GOD and have still experienced miracles among other things. once again, get this through your thick SKULL if you don’t get anything else through: JUST BECAUSE MY PARENTS WHERE CHRISITITIANS DOESNT MEAN I WAS. I was rebellious and didn’t believe a word they said.

 

Hell, I've felt the same way, but I do not feel the need to invent Gods to take care of that which is unexplained, and in return, worship them.

My God was not Invented, I was

 

An angel is an angel. But God had nothing to do with that.

The fact that God created the angel has a lot to do with it.

[vegietto]

there is no meaning of life but to have sex and die and that's it

[thehomicidalegg]

Cjais: true. About human being made up of collection of cells: cells are made up of selctive group of chemicals, and are constructed together in such a delicate balance that humans or any other complex organisms resembles an extremely sophisticated and complex machine. I have no doubt, at a certain level of technology, man can reconstruct the cells to create a living thing... (we have already travelled down that path in cloning - i'm not here to say thats right or wrong btw). Meanwhile, in the future, we could induce metabolism in machines.

 

It all comes down to the hazy line distincting living and non-living things. The question is where is that line drawn?

[C'jais]

Originally posted by ZDawg

The thing is Cjais, until you have experienced the things I have you have no right at all to tell me who saved me or not. PERIOD

 

Nope, You told me. You told me an angel saved you.

 

Did I? Or was the connection self-evident?

 

There is no such thing as self-evident, when speaking of Gods people have never seen. You made the connection again.

 

Just to inform you, they are all the same GOD! Each religion just believes they have different plans/ideas.

 

They are not the same God. They're vastly different, as written in the Koran, Torah, Bible etc. It is exactly the different ideals that seperates the Gods. You assume they're the same because they're simply monotheistic, but that is false.

 

Again: Why choose protestantic Christianity? Why not Islam?

 

You think it was easy believing that some God I cannot see made me able to walk? Ironic that prayer was involved and yet it could have been some healing system of my body

 

It is all too easy to believe. It is far harder to look behind God.

 

To reach God, you must let go of him.

 

I know many people who have not even heard of a GOD and have still experienced miracles among other things. once again, get this through your thick SKULL if you don’t get anything else through: JUST BECAUSE MY PARENTS WHERE CHRISITITIANS DOESNT MEAN I WAS. I was rebellious and didn’t believe a word they said.

 

Watch your language, if you cannot debate this without resorting to personal attacks, I'll report you.

 

It is funny that only Christians have seen "miracles" involving angels. Even if you were rebellious, you still had a deeply religious family. If you hadn't, I seriously doubt you'd see an angel - I have never seen an angel all the times I've been pulled through lethal situations. Why didn't God show himself to me at those points? It would be an all too easy trick to convince me, as he have done to you.

 

Note: I find your miracle somewhat fishy. How tall were you at that age? If the angel lifted you 4 feet, to stop you getting hit in the chest, and instead was hit in the knee, you'd have to have had a very enormous torso indeed. And how were you able to measure the angel to be 15 feet when lying on the ground?

 

And you still have not given a source to that story about the eye growing back.

 

My God was not Invented, I was

 

By God? In that case, he did a very sloppy job creating humans (check evolution thread on why).

 

The fact that God created the angel has a lot to do with it.

 

Is that supposed to be a rational argument? You cannot know God created the angel.

[Pierre the Frog]

Originally posted by lukeskywalker1

 

 

life is not just about having fun, its about serving God.

 

I'm sorry, I'm going to go of topic now, cause that *points above* scares me. I'm gonna say stuff that people are going to hate me for, but it can't be help.

 

If you see God as omnipotent:

 

1) He would be able to do everything himself, thus doesn't need us to serve him.

 

2) He could have created us without a free will, thus not stealing it from us, when we forces us to serve him. (Which he does by saying we'll go to hell* if we don't)

 

That means he doesn't care about how we're feeling, that makes him selfish, thus he's not practicing what he's preaching once again immoral.

 

If you don't see him as omnipotent

 

He could make mistakes, which means we should be allowed to question him, which means his denying us that right, which is opression which makes him immoral to the "civilized" world.

 

Both of the above reaches them same conclusion: God's Immoral

 

we shouldn't follow anyone immoral, thus we shouldn't serve him.

 

* Before you say God didn't create hell: God created the angels, Satan was (or is if you count a fallen angel as an angel) an angel, Satan made / took hell (depends on doctrine). Since God is omnipotent he would know (cause he was able to predict what happened) what would happen when he created lucifer and thus God (indirectly) created Hell.

[Elijah]

Originally posted by Cjais

Nope, You told me. You told me an angel saved you.

I told you I saw an angle, God saved me

 

There is no such thing as self-evident, when speaking of Gods people have never seen. You made the connection again.

Your really getting no-where with this "connection stuff" that doesn’t disprove God.

 

They are not the same God. They're vastly different, as written in the Koran, Torah, Bible etc. It is exactly the different ideals that seperates the Gods. You assume they're the same because they're simply monotheistic, but that is false.

Cjais, If you are not religious in the least how would you know if these are the same Gods? once again, you are misinformed and you are incorrect.

 

Again: Why choose protestantic Christianity? Why not Islam?

they are vastly different Religions and Life Styles

 

It is all too easy to believe. It is far harder to look behind God.

...*sigh*... your not proving my beliefs are incorrect with all his.

 

Watch your language, if you cannot debate this without resorting to personal attacks, I'll report you.

You can Insult my God but I cannot Mention the size of your head?

 

It is funny that only Christians have seen "miracles" involving angels. Even if you were rebellious, you still had a deeply religious family. If you hadn't, I seriously doubt you'd see an angel - I have never seen an angel all the times I've been pulled through lethal situations. Why didn't God show himself to me at those points? It would be an all too easy trick to convince me, as he have done to you.

Nock it off, how many times must I say, NON-Christians have seen Miracles and Angels.

 

 

Note: I find your miracle somewhat fishy. How tall were you at that age? If the angel lifted you 4 feet, to stop you getting hit in the chest, and instead was hit in the knee, you'd have to have had a very enormous torso indeed. And how were you able to measure the angel to be 15 feet when lying on the ground?

First of all I said "about" 4 feet, I never said Exact.

I also said "about" 15 feet, I wasn’t giving a positive measurement

 

And you still have not given a source to that story about the eye growing back.

the story’s the eyes have seen, some times have no proof.

 

Is that supposed to be a rational argument? You cannot know God created the angel.

If I Believe what God says in the Bible than I know That he said he created the Angels.

[Tyrion]

I told you I saw an angle, God saved me

 

Again,it might just be a illusion.

 

Also,it could be your own spirit picking you up.

 

Cjais, If you are not religious in the least how would you know if these are the same Gods? once again, you are misinformed and you are incorrect.

 

they are vastly different Religions and Life Styles

 

In that case,why not budah? Or the japanese's religion? Or Egyptian? Or Mesopotamian? Or Norse? Or Celtic?

 

Also,if your such a devout christian,then why would you know about Islamic and Jewish religions?

 

You can Insult my God but I cannot Mention the size of your head?

 

You're directly insult him,who is proved to be real. We are insulting a omnipotent power which hasnt been proved to be real.

 

(At least by science).

 

Nock it off, how many times must I say, NON-Christians have seen Miracles and Angels.

 

Spirts or illusions?

 

 

the story’s the eyes have seen, some times have no proof.

 

I could say that God was the creature on a South Park special,and even though I have no proof,sometimes they are real...:rollseyes:

 

If I Believe what God says in the Bible than I know That he said he created the Angels.

 

*coughcircularreasoningcough*

 

You believe in God because the bible says so,and you believe in the Bible because God says so.

[Lost Welshman]

Imagine nothing after death, If there was nothing why would we have these memories, we would just DIE, nothing. Maybe we go into a dreamy state. Like reincarnation, i dont believe in it because how come we have no memories of other lifes, and we have lots of memories about this one. If memories were lost when reincarnated then it would be like not existing. And just going from life to non existance seems a little weird, this is why i do believe in life after death, as for the meaning of life i believe it is to conquer the work place/school

not really i made that up (duh)

[C'jais]

Originally posted by Lost Welshman

Imagine nothing after death ... And just going from life to non existance seems a little weird, this is why i do believe in life after death

 

Why does it seem a little weird? Is it weird to sleep? To feel nothing? Are you afraid of the time before your birth? No - make the most out of your life now, because all that remains after your death is memories of those you left behind, while your brain, self-awareness and consciousness disolve into the universe.

 

If you like, you could imagine an eternity for your being if you look at you as splitting apart, and having your molecules join the universe once again, to be assimilated and reunited.