Figuring out the point of life as one

[digolbick]

Ive been reading a lot of ideas on the reason for our existance. They all make sense, which is easy because none of us know the true reason for our being. I do think that their is one correct answer. But we'll never find it because we're more caught up in defending our own beliefs. Alot of times people just blurt out an answer but without showing how they got to that answer. Either no one can understand it or they just dont want someone telling them what to believe. So if we are to ever find a univeral answer to why we are here we must first ask ourselves...why does it matter? I would say that it matters only if the rumors are true that if we do bad things then we go to hell and suffer terribly. Hell is only mentioned in the bible. So if you are to believe in hell then you are also to believe in heaven and pretty much everything else the bible preaches.

Now if you don't believe in hell then you dont believe the bible and then pretty much you dont believe in consequences for our actions. Then the answer to the meaning our lives is meaningless. It means you can do anything you want because whos to say that it is wrong.

Well in that case...you would still have to be a good person because man still judges us and man can still sentence us to life in prison. So you would have to be a good person without the hope that resisting ur evil desires will one day result in a glorified never ending party.

And then you would have to accept that everything you love will one day leave you forever. And you would probably not see the point in loving anything ever again. You wouldnt see the point in becoming successful or famous. Why would anyone put themselves through a very real emotion only to have it shattered without any possible reason. We would all become depressed and the world will not have any motivation to continue to live. This is actually the number 1 reason why people between the ages of 17 and 23 commit suicide. Well somewhere along the lines of age we realize something. We realize that no matter who is right and who is wrong we all will die one day. And that our time here is much shorter than we all think. And if we spend too much time wondering why we are here then we will end up missing all the wonderful things we could be sharing with eachother. We all go through life wondering why we should be alive..We should be saying..why shouldnt we be alive. We have the choice to enjoy everything around us if we want. If you dont want to enjoy it..then thats just too bad for you. because while youre mourning your death everyone else is embracing life...

But the truth is that if you murder someone you go to jail. If you rob someone you go to jail. and so on. So if your going to have to be good might as well hope that it will pay off in the end. I guarantee you that it will. And if it there is no after life...well at least you didnt spend the only time you have here depressed or in prison.

This is just a rough draft so please open ur minds up a little and dont criticise too harshly.

Now, my belief why we are all here is that we want to be here. We decided before we were born that we really wanted to be here. You know how theres a bunch of sperm and all them are trying to get in the egg but only one ever does. So deep inside of us all is a winner. We managed to kick all the other sperm's ass and also to get in that egg. Good Job everyone. But im sure everyones questions goes even deeper than that. we all want to know why the human race is here. God. Well who is God and who created God? I read in a philosophy book once about the question, "who is john jason?" This question was asked in the 80's. And a whole hell of a lot of people answered this question. The funny part was that there was no such thing as "john jason" he never existed. I have a feeling that a long long time ago people were asking themselves these same very questions. And since these questions were so hard to answer ..we all came up with one conclusion. And that conclusion was "God" its just a title for the unexplained. but somehow people got confused and thought that God was a physical being. and they created numerous gods to go with it. Zues..etc...then we all got a little smarter and realized that was stupid. mainly because we started to question it. just like we do now. of course this whole thing started because we started questioning. Im sure that at one time along time ago people finally realized that there is only God and God is the beginning and the end. but people were still clueless about the whole thing. what really threw everyone off was when Jesus came and started proclaiming he was the son of God. He had good answers for everything people asked and he could prove that he really did have divine powers. He tried to tell people that he was here to serve us and not the other way around. and that only his enemies will be his foot stool. he tried to tell us to love eachother and love ourselves. At that particular time people were so dependent on the government that they were like mindless sheep. terrible things were happening to them and they were just taking it. Jesus came and taught us all that we are all born equal. He taught us all how to think for ourselves...he taught us to be independent and to be forgiving. But of course people who are evil hated this mentality because it was similar to teaching a slave how to read. and this has evolved into what it is now. alot of people are blind christians and others are blind atheists and others are dancing to the beat of their own drums. some people are happy and others are miserable. money doesnt mean youll be happy and poverty doesnt mean youll be miserable.

even though we all perceive life differently it doesnt mean that their is more than one reason to life. There is only one reason. We wanted to be here...we are now here....some were given more money and others were given more talent...God cant make us happy and neither can man...only we can. its a test that is different for everyone but leads to one outcome. we choose how we experience life. we can ask why or why not...either way, from dust we came and from dust we will return.

If humans werent alive...would the animals miss us...
asking why we are here is like asking why is God here...

[Jay!]

Originally Posted by digolbick

We decided before we were born that we really wanted to be here. You know how theres a bunch of sperm and all them are trying to get in the egg but only one ever does. So deep inside of us all is a winner. We managed to kick all the other sperm's ass and also to get in that egg. Good Job everyone.

Coolest thing I've read in weeks.

[youngvr4]

that is kinda kew isnt it

[hotgrlzracin]

very well put.

a good read.

[dirtydx]

listening to John Lennon lately??

[fredjacksonsan]

Pretty good; think of this though (and read all the way, give it a little time):

Murder is wrong. Why? If you believe in heaven/hell/etc, then it's because you'll be punished and God says so. But what if you're an atheist? Well then, it's still wrong because you just took away the only opportunity for that person to live. Ever.

Same philosophy works for everyday life. Treat people decently and with respect, either because your soul will be in jeopardy if you don't, or because it's the only opportunity for that person to live.

Now someone will say that if it's the only chance for yourself, live however and get what you can, and I can see that point and that's where personal morals and standards come in. Do you kick the bum on the street and laugh, just walk by, or give him a burger? Personal choice.

[fredjacksonsan]

I think maybe that each of us defines our own reasons for being here. After all, you can direct your own life and make your own decisions.

[BLU CIVIC]

well...none o us know the orgin of life or why we're here...doubt anyone will...if u look at our bodies, we're ment to live forever (can't remember how often every cell is reproduced/ replaced in our body)

i used to ponder life and get scared of life...and i still do...but i think the if u want to find the meaning or orgin...go out and find it b/c that's how u live...not behind some computer searchin for it....and that is my

[fredjacksonsan]

7 years...approximately every 7 years you're a whole new person.

[kublah]

Originally Posted by digolbick

Now if you don't believe in hell then you dont believe the bible and then pretty much you dont believe in consequences for our actions. Then the answer to the meaning our lives is meaningless. It means you can do anything you want because whos to say that it is wrong.

I had a hard time getting around this. I personally do not believe in hell or much of anything in the bible in a theological sense. But in no way does that mean that I don't think I'll ever be held accountable for the things I do beyond the laws that mankind sets upon itself, and it doesn't mean that any answers to the meaning of our lives are pointless. I've met a few deeply religious people who seem to carry around the presumption that people without that defined religion have no morals and don't care about what happens to them outside of this world as we know it. I don't think that's what you were getting at, but the sentiment is out there all the same and I couldn't disagree with it more.

For me, it boils down to the fact that I have no idea for sure what happens in whatever afterlife there may be, and neither does anybody else. You can believe whatever you want, but there's very little reason that I can see to follow any one religion over the other. I guess that's why it's called faith. It seems to me that religion, let alone Christianity specifically, doesn't determine whether or not people are concerned about the things they do or why they're here, it just gives them a starting point and a few broad rules of how everything supposedly works.

The people who don't read the bible or whatever just have a little bit more to work out for themselves about morality and the way we're supposed to live and treat each other. Most people who do this usually arrive at similar conclusions, and believe in many of the same things that I think form a thread through the core beliefs of many religions as well.

I think we all want basically the same things, and the rules by which we live are pretty similar no matter what book we read them from, if the book has even been printed yet. Maybe modern society is just riding around on the coat tails of centuries of hard core religious doctrine, but today you don't need to thump the bible to consider yourself a morally and spiritually righteous person.

[lazysmurff]

i have a hard time getting around your objectivist standpoint. you state that there is definatly one purpose to life, yet you state that how we live our lives is totally subjective.

maybe theres something very subtle that im missing here, but it seems somewhat contradictory. if i am free to choose how i live and onterpret my life, doesnt it stand that everyone else is? especially if there is no after life? if all there is in our experience is our lives on this earth, and we are free to do as we please and interpret that life as we wish, then arent there as many meanings and people?

just wondering out loud and not having the desire to actually analyze everything, ignore me

[youngvr4]

well layzy smurff you got a point. if we had no rules and just went by our own thoughts and feelings, then people like hitler can not be looked down on, osama binladen cannot be looked down on. and charles manson cannot be looked down on. for then everyone is subject to whatever they feel is right, is right.












but instead were givin rules. because as grown men and grown women, we can all act like ignorant children

[dirtydx]

A person is only capable of being themselves though. Imagine you didn't have a sex drive, but instead, that powerful feeling is directed on hurting others. You've got a boner, and your girlfriends got her legs spread; can you resist?

nobody tells me how to act, and I don't have a rule book on how to "properly" live a life. Have I killed anyone? No. Am I partying and fucking prostitutes? No, and I have no desire to.

[youngvr4]

and you sir are one out of 6 billion

you do what you do. Natural Man. and though you can't be told what to do, i hope you keep that good personality


if only all 6 billion were like you

[lazysmurff]

Originally Posted by youngvr4

people like hitler can not be looked down on, osama binladen cannot be looked down on. and charles manson cannot be looked down on. for then everyone is subject to whatever they feel is right, is right.

thats a common argument against subjectivism, and one that is easily delt with.

subjectivism does not necessitate a lack of moral judgement, or acceptance, or moral relativism. it is merely subjectivism.

hitler, manson, bin laden and every other horrible person out there did what they did. and they are free to do so. and they are free to believe that what they did was right, and FOR THEM it was right.

for the rest of us, however, it isnt, and never will be. and we are free to act to stop them, and totally free to make moral judgements about them. nothing in subjectivism says we have to accept the actions of others. we just have to accept that they may think thier actions are right and therefore FOR THEM, they are right.