Thread: the meaning of life (2)

This is the serious side of this question, as my other one failed to get me to a conclusion this shall! So i begin "what if the meaning of life was to discover the meaning of life?

this begs the question what is the purpose once we discover the meaning of life.

On another note I have come to the conclusion that either we are a meaningless bi-product of the formations of matter, or in the great cosmos life does actually have a purpose coinciding with the formations of matter.


Hypothetically speaking what if life's purpose was to, lets say, structure the universe.

That is hypothetical of course but the point is that life may have a meaning in relation to existence itself.

Moved to Philosophy and cleaned up.

No spam please!

Perhaps we look for meaning simply as a way to reduce our sense of suffering, meaning therefore is nothing more than a coping mechanism, as suffering is easy to explain and understand from a survival of the fittest argument.

I think there is a tendency to look at life from the intelligence perspective. We humans are more intelligent therefore that's what it's all about, getting smarter for some important discovery down the road. Then again we could be wiped out tomorrow by some random event.

I like to consider life as possibly being the closest thing we have to something beyond our present comprehension....sorry God lovers.

I ask myself what would the universe be like without life? Probably not much different but seemingly pointless.

My views on the meaning of life are pretty well exemplified by the Sartre quote I have in my signature - basically, life has no intrinsic meaning or destiny or purpose. Each individual must forge their own decision on what life means to them; that is all we can do.

Originally Posted by paralith

My views on the meaning of life are pretty well exemplified by the Sartre quote I have in my signature - basically, life has no intrinsic meaning or destiny or purpose. Each individual must forge their own decision on what life means to them; that is all we can do.

Very true, how can one say that life have intrinsic meaning if it is the result of chemical reactions. The question of an intrinsic meaning to life is a question purely for agnostics, theist have their religions, and atheist must accept that the world is without intrinsic meaning.

A question I have often pondered and the subject of the last poem I've written (don't write much anymore, though occasionally).


That's Just Life

Life can be cruel and it can be kind;
While often a reason, seldom rhythm & rhyme.

Strange is the process of growth and learning;
Often at its worst, for wisdom we are yearning.

We scurry about ever in a big hurry;
Till life flies by so fast, it becomes a bit blurry.

Wondering where the time has all gone;
You'll someday learn to appreciate a simple morning dawn.

Your mark upon the world, you will decide;
By your actions & words, good or evil will judgment abide.

by Randall Klopping
written June 7, 2006

first a characterization of life has to be added. a "life" of an individual, or humanity, maybe the earth in its whole, or the whole universe (as it can also be classified as a living organism, as it does sustain us) ?

still, i allow myself some freelancing without waiting on further explanation.
first i think questioning about the meaning of life needs no answer. it it the question itself which is worth while, which pulls us on the path, seeking the answer. so the objective is not the answer, its the search itself.

then if you agree that its all about the search itself, some other questions should be asked as well,

what is life anyway?

an first of all...

who am i?

as to even begin with exploring the exterior we must first at least get a glimpse of the tool of our perception, as that is in some way the definition of ourselves. as everything we perceive, we do it through ourselves, im not talking only about the senses, there is also the part of decoding the information and re encoding it into our experience. its like looking through a bunch of lenses without knowing about all the deformation that occurs along the way.


uf.. i went a bit of track
but to summarize, it think the meaning is the questioning itself, still, there are more possible answers, as i do think truth is "multi dimensional".

there are as many truths as there are universes. for example every human creates one and lives in it. maybe i go to far using the word universe here. maybe i can call it a mathematical space with infinite dimensions, its existence can be defined as an isomorphism of the "real universe". there is a problem of our limiting mind that cannot, and was never supposed to, grasp the dimensional infinity of it, and so lives in a small finite part of it. and so as the mind lives in a finite space witch is by far not an isomorphism of any other mind created space, and so different opinions are created, but still they are true in some way, while the connection between them cannot be seen due to mind limitations. still, i certainly do not say that everything is true in the "real universe". lots of stuff only applies and plausibly exists only in the "twisted" minds.

ok enough for now

Originally Posted by free radical

Perhaps we look for meaning simply as a way to reduce our sense of suffering, meaning therefore is nothing more than a coping mechanism, as suffering is easy to explain and understand from a survival of the fittest argument.

In my personal opinion the search for the meaning of life increases one’s suffering.

Originally Posted by bhakti

there are as many truths as there are universes. for example every human creates one and lives in it. maybe i go to far using the word universe here. maybe i can call it a mathematical space with infinite dimensions, its existence can be defined as an isomorphism of the "real universe". there is a problem of our limiting mind that cannot, and was never supposed to, grasp the dimensional infinity of it, and so lives in a small finite part of it. and so as the mind lives in a finite space witch is by far not an isomorphism of any other mind created space, and so different opinions are created, but still they are true in some way, while the connection between them cannot be seen due to mind limitations. still, i certainly do not say that everything is true in the "real universe". lots of stuff only applies and plausibly exists only in the "twisted" minds.

If we, as complex as we seem to be, are still just a tiny part of a immense and much greater universe, then the universe must be something absolutely amazing… If only we could view it from the “outside”, to understand it… I think we would be completely astonished.

I never thought the riddle was all that impressive. It's just a glitch in the terminology. The word should be "Lives" not "Life". So as a result, the question is fundamentally bogus. One man's meaning is another man's punch-line.

Questions such as What time is it? Where is the emergency exit? and How can I get that girls number? - are, to one degree or another, more practical and therefore more important to ones being than any kind of "Meaning-of-Life" nonsense.

I believe that the question in it's self is the meaning of our lives.

By this, I presume the meaning of the Human race, is the question!

What else on this planet do we know of, can even ask the question?

VMStudent, I think it depends on how far you get in your search for meaning. If you discover the meaning of life very slowly, then I think it does reduce your suffering. If you on the other hand do so very quickly it increases your suffering.

danspurs, that idea destroys itself. If the meaning of life was to discover the meaning of life, you ask, what is the meaning of life? Well, it is to discover the meaning of life. This repeats infinity and never goes anywhere, therefore becoming pointless since a conclusion cannot be found.

I agree paralith; we can only formulate our own meaningless purposes in life.

Originally Posted by Cold Fusion

VMStudent, I think it depends on how far you get in your search for meaning. If you discover the meaning of life very slowly, then I think it does reduce your suffering. If you on the other hand do so very quickly it increases your suffering.

I disagree with you both. The search for the meaning of life will only bring you suffering if you expect to find much purpose outside of your own thoughts and opinions. Life itself has no purpose to offer.

I agree paralith; we can only formulate our own meaningless purposes in life.

Just because the purpose we find is ours alone does not render it meaningless. My own purpose is meaningful to me, and no doubt meaningful to those who care about me. And that is more than enough.

I know some people who have told me that finding meaning in life has brought them some happiness. Unfortunately they will eventually realize that the meaning that they found previously was in fact meaningless.

Of course our own purposes are meaningful to ourselves-otherwise we would not hold them as our purpose.

I give myself purposes in life (they change every couple of years) knowing that they are meaningless to the universe.

It appears to combat entropy. So perk up Cold Fusion, you aren't so futile.

Originally Posted by Schizo

what if life's purpose was to, lets say, structure the universe ...life may have a meaning in relation to existence itself.

Life's a part of the universe, so of course we have to factor it in... woops - we didn't!? Heads will roll in the physics forums.

It never stops amazing me how easy it is to overlook the obvious. Life is part of the universe is about a true statement as you will ever read.

Where does chemical process become pre-biological? What are the medium restrictions and size limitations?

A man told me that we are in fact the universe looking at its self. This would in fact be true in my opinion because the two are all inclusive.

Look out the window and take it all in. Look up in the heavens at night, converse with someone with a different opinion and have all the sex you can.


Vincent

i feel if you want to figure out a (purpose to life). other than to keep others alive by dying than think what whould it be like, if you weren't there. and than compare the two, what ever is left over is your purpose, if you will put it in a simple equation 3 subtract 2 you have 1. your purpose is 1, what it would be like if you are there is 3, and without you 2. if that makes any scence. but to know the answer to 2 and 3 then you have to know yourself and all other things that you interact with and have an effect upon.

and think to your self what the world would be like without life, would it still be there would the universe still be there.if you didnt have any concius knowledge of your own existence than would you still think of a meaning to your existence. would there be a meaning to existance.and if you yourself have a reason to be, to live, to exist than why find it out what would be the point to knowing unless by searching for your meaning is in itself a reason to be,"you can spend forever trying to find nothing"

i dont know if that makes scence but when i write it i get a feeling in my head that it is right

I got it brother.

That is the definition of tectonics. The Earth will pull everthing to the center of the Earth.

All we love, all we hate and all we do don’t matter. Damn

We connected for a moment, good show.

I connect to music, listen to the lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntm1Y...eature=related

Vincent

Seems everywhere we go the Spaniards are trying to catch up. Your leaders are weak and so are you.

Dang, I think I have been banned before for saying that.

Vincent

Your people run over the boarder

That says a lot about Mexico.

Vincent

Originally Posted by Vincent

A man told me that we are in fact the universe looking at its self.

Vincent

I have heard that statement before altho' expressed in a different way.
"We are an attempt of the universe to understand itself." (George Wald)
This could be the "reason" we exist as a species!

At an ultimate primeval level isn't the meaning of life to procreate?