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| danspurs |
 Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:32 am Post subject: the meaning of life (2) |
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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?
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I quote; "why does my life always co-inside with violence" |
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| Schizo |
| Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:31 am Post subject: |
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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. |
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| Pendragon |
| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:35 am Post subject: |
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Moved to Philosophy and cleaned up.
No spam please! |
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| free radical |
| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:56 am Post subject: |
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| 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. |
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| zinjanthropos |
| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:09 am Post subject: |
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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. |
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| paralith |
| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:47 am Post subject: |
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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.
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Man can will nothing unless he has first understood that he must count on no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth.
~Jean-Paul Sartre
Monkeys in Clothes - hosted by SFN blogs |
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| i_feel_tiredsleepy |
| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:54 am Post subject: |
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| paralith wrote: |
| 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. |
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| Teknowizard |
| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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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
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I am a Weaver of Light & Illusion - though disabled, I walk amongst the stars, weave new stars of my own and even explore new universes. |
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| bhakti |
| Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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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 |
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| VMStudent |
| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:51 am Post subject: |
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| free radical wrote: |
| 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.
| bhakti wrote: |
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.
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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. |
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| Kolt |
| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:56 am Post subject: |
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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. |
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| 1C3 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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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?
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Do you know why this cup is so useful? Because it is empty! |
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| Cold Fusion |
| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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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.
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Forget all that you know, achievements can only be accomplished by starting from nothing and selectively applying facts that are purely objective and absolutely necessary. |
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| paralith |
| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 06 Jun 2007
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| Cold Fusion wrote: |
| 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.
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| 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.
_________________
Man can will nothing unless he has first understood that he must count on no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth.
~Jean-Paul Sartre
Monkeys in Clothes - hosted by SFN blogs |
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| Cold Fusion |
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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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.
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Forget all that you know, achievements can only be accomplished by starting from nothing and selectively applying facts that are purely objective and absolutely necessary. |
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