QuoteReplyTopic: What Is The Real Purpose Of Life? Posted: 25-Aug-2012 at 20:47
One day, while riding with my wife through Denver (apologies to those who live in really big cities, but Denver's the best we can do) I was suddenly struck by what I saw around me. I saw the clamoring, stinky, crowded city the way an alien might, as something I was trying to understand the purpose of, and it struck me that the entire purpose of our cities, our factories, our businesses and our technology is to enable us to eat, live and reproduce...solely in order that our offspring can also live, eat and reproduce, and so on ad infinitum.
To accomplish that better, we have created an entire advanced techno-society that does everything bigger, better and faster, much faster. As a result, we have a lot of time on our hands, and we deal with by inventing multi-trillion dollar industries that provide recreation and entertainment, in order to fill up the extra time that we now have from our sole purpose of eating, sleeping and reproducing.
Somewhere in this process, I asked myself if there wasn't a lot more to it than that, and I realized that no - there isn't. We don't have any higher goals. We undertake lofty projects, but they are devised to achieve anything loftier than to continue to eat, sleep and procreate, while consuming parts of our planet in the process.
So I looked at that, and I saw it as though Life were a broken faucet. The water keeps running long after the need for it is gone. Our procreational drive is a huge success -we now number cloe to seven billion people and we keep speeding up and refining the process, working hard to inuisre increased survivability and loingevity, despite the fact that we have no need for more people. the species is here to stay...but we can't stop. For al of our intelligence, adaptability, knowledge and understanding, we are breeding ourselves to eventual death. And to what end?
We do things bigger and faster than ever before, bit I realized that we don't actually do them as well. By that I mean that we no longer construct things that last for thousands of years on their own. In our rush to develop all of that technology that makes eating, sleeeping and procreating easier, we build things that require a great deal of technology and maintenance to maintain, and whi have very short shelf lives without that constant attention.
When I was a growing up in Europe, I visited a lot of old castles, cities, monuments and other edifices. I stood on the old Appian Way outside of Rome and realized that that road had lasted, intact, for thousands of years and would outlast any highway constructed using modern methods and materials.
I look at structures like the Pyreamids, Ankor Waht and the Mayan structures which have survived thousands of year of environmental assault and remain essentially intact, and I wonder what we, with all of our knowledge, science, techonlogy and hubris, can buold to match them? These structures served once as the driving purpose for the societies and cultures that created them, but today, as "advanced" as we believe ourselves to be, we haven't got anything like that in our lives.
Sme peole talk of space treavel as the Holy Grail of Mankind, but our reasons for going into space are to seek more resources. Why? In order to keep on living and procreating. That's it. We do not have a goal of conquering the stars bewcause it would give us a noble purpose...we just want to keep pon doing what we're doing.
If, someday, we live on Mars or elsewhere, we will put up the same structures, eat at the same fast food restaurants, and keep on eating, sleeping and reproducing, because that is what we do, which means we will run out of space and resources again...and again...and again for as long as we are around.
So what is the real purpose of Life in our universe? What can we do that any bucket full of algae can't do faster and better? And without consuming everything in the process? We consider Life to be special, but why? What can we add to the universe that it doesn't already have in abundance, besides ourselves?
Would we be better off if we lived more simply, with fewer of us, and simply lived to the best of our ability? What has our technology really given us to compensate for the tension,. the nervous breakdowns, the cancers, the heart attacks, the crime, the pollution and the consumption of an entire world that we cannot replace? Are we actually happier than the ancient cultures were with their lives?
I'm interested in your replies, and the reasons behind those replies if you're willing to share.
Creatures compete to become apex predators, acheive it, deplete all the resources in the environment, suffer a rapid population reduction and perhaps die off to be replaced by a better adapted predator. We were born within, are living within and will die within the depleting the resources stage, everyone before and after us had/will have it totally crap, we are really lucky and might as well enjoy it then. Going to a party and having a miserable time because you're worrying about all the people who weren't invited is pointless. We shoud eat, drink, shag, party, dance, travel, debourch, indulge, over indulge, and when we have done it in every way possible we should do it over again. It's better to burn out than fade away.
Stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?
One day, while riding with my wife through Denver (apologies to those who live in really big cities, but Denver's the best we can do) I was suddenly struck by what I saw around me. I saw the clamoring, stinky, crowded city the way an alien might, as something I was trying to understand the purpose of, and it struck me that the entire purpose of our cities, our factories, our businesses and our technology is to enable us to eat, live and reproduce...solely in order that our offspring can also live, eat and reproduce, and so on ad infinitum.
To accomplish that better, we have created an entire advanced techno-society that does everything bigger, better and faster, much faster. As a result, we have a lot of time on our hands, and we deal with by inventing multi-trillion dollar industries that provide recreation and entertainment, in order to fill up the extra time that we now have from our sole purpose of eating, sleeping and reproducing.
Somewhere in this process, I asked myself if there wasn't a lot more to it than that, and I realized that no - there isn't. We don't have any higher goals. We undertake lofty projects, but they are devised to achieve anything loftier than to continue to eat, sleep and procreate, while consuming parts of our planet in the process.
So I looked at that, and I saw it as though Life were a broken faucet. The water keeps running long after the need for it is gone. Our procreational drive is a huge success -we now number cloe to seven billion people and we keep speeding up and refining the process, working hard to inuisre increased survivability and loingevity, despite the fact that we have no need for more people. the species is here to stay...but we can't stop. For al of our intelligence, adaptability, knowledge and understanding, we are breeding ourselves to eventual death. And to what end?
We do things bigger and faster than ever before, bit I realized that we don't actually do them as well. By that I mean that we no longer construct things that last for thousands of years on their own. In our rush to develop all of that technology that makes eating, sleeeping and procreating easier, we build things that require a great deal of technology and maintenance to maintain, and whi have very short shelf lives without that constant attention.
When I was a growing up in Europe, I visited a lot of old castles, cities, monuments and other edifices. I stood on the old Appian Way outside of Rome and realized that that road had lasted, intact, for thousands of years and would outlast any highway constructed using modern methods and materials.
I look at structures like the Pyreamids, Ankor Waht and the Mayan structures which have survived thousands of year of environmental assault and remain essentially intact, and I wonder what we, with all of our knowledge, science, techonlogy and hubris, can buold to match them? These structures served once as the driving purpose for the societies and cultures that created them, but today, as "advanced" as we believe ourselves to be, we haven't got anything like that in our lives.
Sme peole talk of space treavel as the Holy Grail of Mankind, but our reasons for going into space are to seek more resources. Why? In order to keep on living and procreating. That's it. We do not have a goal of conquering the stars bewcause it would give us a noble purpose...we just want to keep pon doing what we're doing.
If, someday, we live on Mars or elsewhere, we will put up the same structures, eat at the same fast food restaurants, and keep on eating, sleeping and reproducing, because that is what we do, which means we will run out of space and resources again...and again...and again for as long as we are around.
So what is the real purpose of Life in our universe? What can we do that any bucket full of algae can't do faster and better? And without consuming everything in the process? We consider Life to be special, but why? What can we add to the universe that it doesn't already have in abundance, besides ourselves?
Would we be better off if we lived more simply, with fewer of us, and simply lived to the best of our ability? What has our technology really given us to compensate for the tension,. the nervous breakdowns, the cancers, the heart attacks, the crime, the pollution and the consumption of an entire world that we cannot replace? Are we actually happier than the ancient cultures were with their lives?
I'm interested in your replies, and the reasons behind those replies if you're willing to share.
And no...I'm not crazy...yet.
History has already shown we have done that and whether it's been discerned as better or worse is a subjective opinion. Because in the end I'm not necessarily required to give a shitt what others care and think about unless I wish it.
So tis easier to drink tiswin and man the barricades when I feel it's necessary. And when all else fails adopt the attitude of the Bob Howard's of this world.
Edited by Centrix Vigilis - 26-Aug-2012 at 06:51
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
S. T. Friedman
Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'
Isn't a question like what is the real purpose of life one of those what is the meaning of life questions? Let me think a second, Mmmmmmmmm. I think I'm going to go with two simple words, "to strive". Come to think of it I'll say they probably cover as the answer to all meaning of life questions when broken down to the simplest form. Then again maybe cheese is the answer, I love cheese, tasty, really tasty.
What a handsome figure of a dragon. No wonder I fall madly in love with the Alani Dragon now, the avatar, it's a gorgeous dragon picture.
Isn't a question like what is the real purpose of life one of those what is the meaning of life questions? Let me think a second, Mmmmmmmmm. I think I'm going to go with two simple words, "to strive". Come to think of it I'll say they probably cover as the answer to all meaning of life questions when broken down to the simplest form. Then again maybe cheese is the answer, I love cheese, tasty, really tasty.
"Striving", certainly, but to achieve what? Simply striving isn't a goal, per se; it's a behavior.
Creatures compete to become apex predators, acheive it, deplete all the resources in the environment, suffer a rapid population reduction and perhaps die off to be replaced by a better adapted predator. We were born within, are living within and will die within the depleting the resources stage, everyone before and after us had/will have it totally crap, we are really lucky and might as well enjoy it then. Going to a party and having a miserable time because you're worrying about all the people who weren't invited is pointless. We shoud eat, drink, shag, party, dance, travel, debourch, indulge, over indulge, and when we have done it in every way possible we should do it over again. It's better to burn out than fade away.
Works for me. I've always liked the car analogy - I don't want to arrive at my final destination in pristine shape like a classically preserved car; I want to come sliding up as everything breaks down and falls apart and jump out saying "Wow! What a ride!"
Interesting thought that this might be the last generation to have fun.
Well I'll be dead. My body will decay. Me and my ethereal self I hope will go to heaven or its equivalent.
As I understand it, "heaven" is for all eternity, so what will you do there? Can a human all of eternity with no more goals to achieve?I go crazy in the house with nothing significant to do.
In an infinite place I expext there will be infinite things to do no?
Isn't a question like what is the real purpose of life one of those what is the meaning of life questions? Let me think a second, Mmmmmmmmm. I think I'm going to go with two simple words, "to strive". Come to think of it I'll say they probably cover as the answer to all meaning of life questions when broken down to the simplest form. Then again maybe cheese is the answer, I love cheese, tasty, really tasty.
"Striving", certainly, but to achieve what? Simply striving isn't a goal, per se; it's a behavior.
I said, "To Strive", Mountain Man, not simply "Striving", there is an obvious different wouldn't you say? Also, Mountain Man, wouldn't you say that behaviour is secondary to the maintenance of life itself, for which behaviour is but a passenger riding piggyback. Mmmmmmmmm, talking about bacon, I do like an egg fried in the fat left over after bacon has been fried.
What a handsome figure of a dragon. No wonder I fall madly in love with the Alani Dragon now, the avatar, it's a gorgeous dragon picture.
Well I'll be dead. My body will decay. Me and my ethereal self I hope will go to heaven or its equivalent.
As I understand it, "heaven" is for all eternity, so what will you do there? Can a human all of eternity with no more goals to achieve?I go crazy in the house with nothing significant to do.
In an infinite place I expext there will be infinite things to do no?
Such as...what? No one has to work in heaven, do they? Surely no one starves? No one goes needy? What, exactly, would there be to do in perpetuity in the idyllic vision of heaven promoted by the religions of the world?
Isn't a question like what is the real purpose of life one of those what is the meaning of life questions? Let me think a second, Mmmmmmmmm. I think I'm going to go with two simple words, "to strive". Come to think of it I'll say they probably cover as the answer to all meaning of life questions when broken down to the simplest form. Then again maybe cheese is the answer, I love cheese, tasty, really tasty.
"Striving", certainly, but to achieve what? Simply striving isn't a goal, per se; it's a behavior.
I said, "To Strive", Mountain Man, not simply "Striving", there is an obvious different wouldn't you say? Also, Mountain Man, wouldn't you say that behaviour is secondary to the maintenance of life itself, for which behaviour is but a passenger riding piggyback. Mmmmmmmmm, talking about bacon, I do like an egg fried in the fat left over after bacon has been fried.
I think your definition borders on semantic hair-splitting, to be honest. If your goal is to strive, then your behavior is striving. However, the wquestion still remains unanswered: "striving" towards what? Or if you prefer, "to strive" towards what end?
I would say that behavior is the human reaction to the events of life, but that's just my humble opinion.
Well I'll be dead. My body will decay. Me and my ethereal self I hope will go to heaven or its equivalent.
As I understand it, "heaven" is for all eternity, so what will you do there? Can a human all of eternity with no more goals to achieve?I go crazy in the house with nothing significant to do.
In an infinite place I expext there will be infinite things to do no?
Such as...what? No one has to work in heaven, do they? Surely no one starves? No one goes needy? What, exactly, would there be to do in perpetuity in the idyllic vision of heaven promoted by the religions of the world?
I think your definition borders on semantic hair-splitting, to be honest. If your goal is to strive, then your behavior is striving. However, the wquestion still remains unanswered: "striving" towards what? Or if you prefer, "to strive" towards what end?
I would say that behavior is the human reaction to the events of life, but that's just my humble opinion.
In what way do you consider my definition to be bordering on semantic hair-splitting, Mountain Man? If in the variety of meaning of life where you are talking about a person's goal in life, then there behaviour would indeed be to strive, and again like I have said, as far as I know all types of meaning of life, in their simplest forms are define by those two simple words, "To Strive" But can you state that all forms of the meaning of life are defined by a person's behaviour? Hell if I'm not needing to snack on something tasty, and then get a wee bit of shut eye.
What a handsome figure of a dragon. No wonder I fall madly in love with the Alani Dragon now, the avatar, it's a gorgeous dragon picture.
I think your definition borders on semantic hair-splitting, to be honest. If your goal is to strive, then your behavior is striving. However, the wquestion still remains unanswered: "striving" towards what? Or if you prefer, "to strive" towards what end?
I would say that behavior is the human reaction to the events of life, but that's just my humble opinion.
In what way do you consider my definition to be bordering on semantic hair-splitting, Mountain Man? If in the variety of meaning of life where you are talking about a person's goal in life, then there behaviour would indeed be to strive, and again like I have said, as far as I know all types of meaning of life, in their simplest forms are define by those two simple words, "To Strive" But can you state that all forms of the meaning of life are defined by a person's behaviour? Hell if I'm not needing to snack on something tasty, and then get a wee bit of shut eye.
Striving towards what? You spend your whole life "striving", so what is your goal? Simply "striving" isn't a goal or an objective; it's just purposeless behavior. An obsessive-compulsive constant "strives" but goes nowhere with it.
Since this discussion is about the purpose of Life, it begs the question of defining specific goals for such Life, in a setting where Man is becoming more and more transitory and everything in our world including major constructions are becoming more and more disposable.
Everywhere you look people are constantly tearing down things and building other things, over and over. Why? Is that the sole purpose of Life?
People spend their entire lives at jobs they hate, to accomplish what? Live until they can retire and die? Is that their purpose?
There are almost seven billion of us and we keep frantically producing more when we not only don;t need to, but in fact need to cut our population drastically. So why do we keep on with pointless behavior that generates negative consequences? Where are we going with all of this?
There is no purpose - one get's born without even wanting, and gets sucked up into trying to survive numerous stuff, physicaly and mentally. But because we humans are reasoning creatures, we are trying to find a purpose in what there isn't because we need that meaning; otherwise the hardness of life becomes even harder to bear.
So, any idea of life having a urpose is an illusion, pure and simple. But we need to imagine there is something ike that, so people "tear"and "build" in order too create for themselves ittle projecsts that will let them imagine that life has a purpose - till the next project is done, etc.
Life is purposeless, it's empty project, we try to give it purpose. Which is useless, but fun.
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