What's the point of life?

[Sightless]

I don't think that many people seek the meaning of life for the sole purpose of telling everyone else. I mean, it seems like a nice thing to do, but then you go knocking on people's doors and they tell you to go away. Primarily I think it's for self-satisfaction, or whatever is close enough to that. Finding reason seems to be the thing to do. We want explanations for things; we want (need?) context.

I would construe not choosing as making a choice not to choose, you see. Maybe that's a dick move for the argument, but I think that's the forced decision that comes with being confronted with the question. Saying "I don't know" (why you do something, or what the meaning is) is probably fairly honest for a lot of people, but it's hard to maintain that position while you're staring right at the question.

I'm not sure why the brain being too complicated is relevant for finding meaning. All I have to offer there is that we can appreciate complex things.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

Appreciate them, yes, but then move on. Dwelling is a waste of time, and sitting around thinking about things you're only going to keep to yourself (if that's the case) is dwelling. Discovering the meaning of life as it means to you, on your own, in your own time is great, but like most things it all just changes.

Unless sightless the meaning of your life is to find the meaning of life for your own life, then go for it. And I'm not trying to be a simpleton or a troll, I just find such threads (like the one about it being hot, which we had last year) devoid of meaning.


Mindblown.

 

[UrbanMasque]

The universe could not have simply come into existence....Whether it is a deity, or scientific tom-foolery, it couldn't have just "popped" into existence.

By this theory, the universe cannot be stagnant, the level of creators rises forever, and there is no answerable ending or beginning.

The time before The Big Bang (I, as others, don't really care for that name) would have been a time before the laws of physics as we know them existed. Maybe something did just pop into existence.  

This.

1 - You have vast amounts of nothing. just fucking, nothing. Everywhere. Nothing.... Nothing.
2 - Given the lifespan of an eternity - What is the possibility that something, no matter how minute, how insignificant, or how brief, is going to happen somewhere in that nothing.

Pretty close to zero.. Pretty close, but not absolute.

Over the life span of an eternity, that very small fraction of a percent, almost seems like an inevitability. Some occurrence happening somewhere at some point.
Very thin - but possible.

The alternative - the universe has always been here. I've answered all your questions. now go to bed.

 

[WickedLiquid]

I was actually thinking of telling you that, Wicked. I know you like it, and it's almost relevant to this thread. I HAVE just watched Waking Life AND A Scanner Darkly over the weekend. I'd seen Waking Life before, but not the other. It's normally the kind of movie I'd insist on watching alone, but I still enjoyed it immensely. Then I found out that the person I watched it with hasn't seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or has but doesn't recall what it's about, so that's going next on the list.

To be completely honest, there are some bits that I dislike in Waking Life, but that's just because of what some of the characters say. I sometimes worry that people accept what is said in that movie as truth.

As a note about choosing what to believe, that's fine and all, but I really can't say that I have as much respect for people who continue to maintain/ignore inconsistencies in their beliefs. I think if you're going to choose a belief, you really need to be rational about these kinds of things. I don't really count it against anyone, but I think I will always strive to encourage people to think critically about all things.

Sweet, those are definitely three of my favourite movies. What I love about A Scanner Darkly is the brutally honest truth about losing friends to drugs, more so than the sci-fi plot. To me it felt like a very personal story. Eternal Sunshine is also another personal story about heartbreak that really got to me. I guess I’m a sucker for depressing movies.

Waking Life is not for everyone, you’re right. But it also has a lot to do with what I was saying earlier about what you choose to believe in. You shouldn’t go in expecting to hear factual evidence, you should watch it and decide for yourself what blows your mind and what sounds like psuedo garbage.

My point on free will is you can’t change someone’s beliefs. People are whom they make themselves out to be. Your individuality defines who you are. I mean, hey, that’s just how I look at it. I think what you’re referring to is when one’s beliefs becomes preachy, violent and can result in prejudice, genocides and wars. Which is obviously terrible and need to be stopped. But I don’t believe the ugly side stems from the religion itself, just the psychological mindset of the individuals involved who are not right in the head.

Damnit, I didn’t want to get too involved with my own opinions and just wanted to absorb information from everyone but you had to bring up those movies, haha.

 

[Sightless]

Unless sightless the meaning of your life is to find the meaning of life for your own life, then go for it. And I'm not trying to be a simpleton or a troll, I just find such threads (like the one about it being hot, which we had last year) devoid of meaning.

Well yeah, for some people that is what they've decided. For me, personally, questioning what's meaningful is meaningful (as everything provides meaning). Your stance is fair enough — I just wanted to speak out against everyone shutting down the pursuit of figuring this stuffs out.


WickedLiquid: I laughed through the first half of A Scanner Darkly, then started to tear up in the second half. And then I read the bit of dedication at the end, and those sure were tears. I loved it so much. It definitely is all about the relationships in the movie, and everything to do with identity. Things that have to do with memory loss really freak me out, though. I'm really... sensitive? scared? I guess? about mental degradation/decay. Very sad.

Twirly haired girl in Waking Life reminded me of Clementine from ESotSM. I like the way people in both those movies interact with one another.

I'm not sure I'm going to agree with you on the point of religion, that the bad doesn't stem from the beliefs themselves. At least in some cases it does. I don't think you can separate a person's mindset so distinctly from their beliefs, and some beliefs have embedded in them a mandate, more or less, to act in certain ways. I don't really want to get into it about religions, but I feel like this retraction of the "ugly side" of it is due to pressures or realizations that it's just not nice, and people don't really want to endorse killing, or what have you. But my point wasn't actually about that.

I meant that regardless of what your beliefs are, religious or not, they should be examined in detail. I'm not saying this is easy -- I think that most people have conflicting views of the world, and in many cases they are ideas that are deeply ingrained in their way of life, for whatever reason. I'm not here to prescribe thoughts or ideas to people, and of course people can do whatever they want. I just think that to not be reasonable, logical, is the opposite of what people actually want to do. So I believe it's beneficial for people to recognize when things don't make sense, and it's at that point that one has to decide whether to shrug that off, or to work out the issues.

That's why these discussions are important to have, in my opinion. These kinds of beliefs influence how we act. They aren't insignificant. Our beliefs should change over time as we accumulate information from each other, but we kind of have to express them in some way in order for that information to get exchanged.

Anyway, don't blame me! Youuu're the one who brought up Waking Life! It's only fair that you dish, if everyone else is going to do it.

 

[Affen]

Life's what you make it to be.

When you are on your deathbed and look at the life you have lived and feel satisfied. I'd say you have found the meaning of life somewhere along the way.

But I don't personally feel like we have a certain purpose. Make up a purpose if it makes you feel good, but I like it this way.

 

[UrbanMasque]

Life's what you make it to be..

I just think that to not be reasonable, logical, is the opposite of what people actually want to do.

I don't know mate.. I mean people will believe whatever is less inconvenient for their life - rational or not. And having debate and thoughtful discussion has largely been discouraged in human history. Tell me, how you could look at the sun, the moon, see eclipses and THEN think - the rock you're living on is a flat square? It takes a whole lot of willful ignorance.

 

[WickedLiquid]

I don't really want to get into it about religion.

Haha, same here. I learned a loooong time ago religious debate just goes around in circles. And I have to say, for a thread that's 5 pages, I'm impressed it didn't come down to mindless bickering. I suppose that's where a sense of humour is key when it comes to talking about this.

I guess I misunderstood you. My whole beef is when people use religion as a cop out excuse to incite violent behaviour. I guess the biggest example is Islam. But I suppose if Muslims choose to kill themselves in the name of their God then they were fucked up in the head to begin with. The same can be said about a kid who shot up his school: People will blame video games and music and television but if that is what it takes to turn people into a psycho killer, then why am I so normal? There are plenty of Muslims whom I know of that are some of the nicest people I've met. But of course these are people who grew up in the Western world. Still, I don't think it's about trying to convert 1.5 billion Muslims they're wrong, as much as it is stopping the people out there who are just nuts.

In terms of being preachy, well believe me, I know all too well the feeling of having Christianity shoved down your throat. It's a line people often cross where they believe they need to "save you". It gets annoying but you just have to realize if they're not going to convert you, you can't convert them. Like I said, religious debate just goes around and around in circles.

As for my own personal beliefs, I'm Agnostic. Which helps give me an open mind when I hear people talk about their faith or science. A Jewish friend of mine once said "God has a sense of humour, afterall, circumcision is no way to get a head" haha.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cut myself while listening to Deftones

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Tell me, how you could look at the sun, the moon, see eclipses and THEN think - the rock you're living on is a flat square? It takes a whole lot of willful ignorance.

The problem usually hasn't been WILLFUL ignorance, it's that those in power have used ignorance and repression to keep the masses under control.

For the example you stated, people on this planet have known that the Earth is round for thousands and thousands of years. Hell, we've known the circumference of the Earth since around 200 BC.

It's just that once you get a serf's head open to new ideas about their purpose in life, they won't want to be a serf anymore.

 

[Sightless]

I don't know mate.. I mean people will believe whatever is less inconvenient for their life - rational or not. And having debate and thoughtful discussion has largely been discouraged in human history.

I do think that most people want to experience immediate comfort, but I'll still say that that's in conflict with a desire to be rational. People get frustrated when things don't make sense. It's just more convenient to let it slide if the things that don't make sense compose your own lifestyle. Surely discouraging thoughtful discussion means that people wanted to have it in the first place.

And I second everything that Longo said. Thanks.

Wicked, yeah -- part of the problem is figuring out what "nuts" and "nice" mean. This is a whole other sidetrack... being cautious about having *-centric views. It can be difficult when core attitudes between two groups are so opposed, but you have to ask if it's really crazy or normal to act in these ways. To be careful, I'm not throwing out a "who knows, anyone could be right!" statement out there, and I don't know where I'm going with this. It's just something important to think about.

A question about your agnosticism: Do you think it's possible for us to ever know?

Deftones is a good choice. It might be more interesting to try to blame it on Justin Bieber, though.

 

[Mod-Chip]

I don't really want to get into it about religion.

I guess the biggest example is Islam.

Actually, if you count numbers alone, The Crusades have accounted for way more deaths/people involved than Islam ever has. Every religion is bound to have nut-jobs, it's just convenient for the Media/Politico machine to exaggerate Islamist activity in order to promote an expansionist agenda.

 

[WickedLiquid]

No no no, mod-chip that was not a shot at Islam. There are plenty of groups who claim to represent their region with violent intentions. My whole point was that religion doesn't incite hatred unless you want it to. As if it is an excuse for murder.

and I don't know where I'm going with this. It's just something important to think about.

Exactly. I don't know where I'm ever going on this issue because I'm asking questions that don't have an answer.

So no, I don't think we'll ever figure it out. Which comes back to why people have faith. You can't prove faith, you just choose to believe in it. Of course maybe in a thousand years, when space travel is no different than taking an air plane to Australia, we may encounter something that may sort out all the confusion. I mean, if we're just an insignificant speck on an insignificant speck then who knows what's really out there.

 

[UrbanMasque]

Every religion = nut-jobs

fixed.

 

[De-Ting]

Every religion = nut-jobs

fixed.

 

[Wes]

I mean, if we're just an insignificant speck on an insignificant speck then who knows what's really out there.

A galaxy from a long time ago and is far far away?

You guys will never solve this but it's not the point to solve it! Don't worry about why you're alive, worry about not living it!

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Everyone = nut-jobs

fixed.

Fixed.

 

[UrbanMasque]

Everyone = nut-jobs

fixed.

Fixed.

Fixed.

 

[Affen]

Everyone = nut-jobs

fixed.

Fixed.

Fixed.

 

[UghRochester]

Let's make everything ok.

http://www.make-everything-ok.com/

 

[Wes]

Everything is NOT OK Ugh.