What's the point?

[hmm]

I don't think cavemen had to worry about their "purpose in life". LOL

But anyway, it is my opinion that we are merely the product of an act done by a male and female of our species driven by instinct and complicated by emotions, norms and laws. I say looking for a "purpose in life" or that "something more" is only a line of thinking to keep one from wasting away. You do what you can to motivate yourself to live through the span of your life in the best way you think it is to live it.

I study because I want a job that pays me to do what I find interesting. I get a job to get money to pay for anything I need to pay for in order to experience what I want to experience.

I'd like to stress that these are my OPINIONS. And my apologies if my grammar's off. XD

 

[Yuki no Shiwasu]

I don't think cavemen had to worry about their "purpose in life". LOL
But anyway, it is my opinion that we are merely the product of an act done by a male and female of our species driven by instinct and complicated by emotions, norms and laws. I say looking for a "purpose in life" or that "something more" is only a line of thinking to keep one from wasting away. You do what you can to motivate yourself to live through the span of your life in the best way you think it is to live it.
I study because I want a job that pays me to do what I find interesting. I get a job to get money to pay for anything I need to pay for in order to experience what I want to experience.
I'd like to stress that these are my OPINIONS. And my apologies if my grammar's off. XD

Your grammar is fine

 

[Yukiko chan]

I kept delaying my answer to this thread until I completely forgot it.
I like the idea of the thread by the way, Tsuyoiko san!!

Do you believe there's a purpose to life? Perhaps to try to make the world a better place, to try to understand the workings of the universe or to propagate the species?

No, I don't believe that the universe, life as a whole, or human life have any form of purpose endemic to them. Purpose is a human concept concerning a human trait, and it would only be possible that a general purpose exists at one of the three above cited levels, if a human-like consciousness, serving as a creator, a guide, or both, exists. Since I don't believe that any form of deity exists in or out of the universe, I don't see why there would be any universal scheme following which energy transformations in space-time would be occurring.
Human beings are the only form of existence we know, which has the potential to create purposes, and despite all trials, we are still too segregated to agree on a common goal...

Whether or not you believe that life has an inherent purpose, do you try to live your life with a purpose in mind? Is your life dedicated to something? Is it important to you that your life has some meaning outside of your own desires? Do you live your life with some goal in mind?
Regardless of whether your life has any purpose, what is it that makes your life worth living? Family and friends? Knowledge? Material possessions?
I'm interested in hearing what other people think before sharing my own thoughts

Sure. Like I said, human beings can create purpose. An individual purpose is easier to create and control than a collective one. I have my own which is strictly personal, meaning that I don't preach it or believe that everybody has to follow it in any way.

My purpose is simply to know as much as I can, to construct (i.e. understand and create) as many structures as I can: to study (and possibly create) as many languages and scientific (mathematical especially) theories as my short human life allows. That purpose is what defines the meaning and the utility of each single action I purport, and without it I would probably point a gun at my head and pull the trigger.

Family ties are probably the most absurd thing I ever saw in human relationships; I don't understand them, and I probably won't, ever. Family, for the most part, are just a bunch of pushy people who think they are so "close" that they have the right to meddle with every single one of your affairs. Screw 'em!! They're nothing but a prison to individual freedom of choice. Friendship is interesting though: it's a relationship which involves almost no form of authority, while the platform of mutual respect and interest is much wider than that of family, of which the only Raison d'Etre is some sort of hereditary (and hence authoritative) obligation.

I would certainly dedicate my life for a friend, as long as that does not contradict my primary purpose (remember that we'd only become friends if we share that purpose partially or wholly!!), but for some so-called "close one" just because we "share blood"? Certainly not!!
As for material possessions, again I only want enough to make my objectives achievable, no more and no less.

 

[Revenant]

Enjoy Life, help others, and leave a better world for our descendants is what I'd say were I to intellectually guess the best meaning I as a secularist can attach to life.

I guess just enjoy life and my family would be the purpose I live for now.

 

[Tsuyoiko]

Family ties are probably the most absurd thing I ever saw in human relationships; I don't understand them, and I probably won't, ever.

I can think of four reasons why people maintain family ties. One is respect for authority. We are told that you should respect your family, and so most people do so. Secondly, gratitude. If we are lucky, our family takes care of us and is there for us when we need them, so we reciprocate. The third reason is common interests. We might spend time with our families because we enjoy the same things and enjoy spending time together. Since we share genes and have usually shared a home environment with our family, I think we are more likely to have common interests and values with them than with a random person. Lastly, family ties are sometimes maintained just for the sake of a quiet life. For example, my husband and I don't have anything in common with his family, and in fact actively dislike them, but we maintain a minimum of contact because it's easier to do that than to break ties with them altogether.

 

[Huppiflupp]

Personally I do not believe that anything happens coincidencialy.
I think everything happens for a reason but for most of humanity it is like looking at an enormous equasion ,which seems unsolvable ,until we extend our understanding.
I think a pretty good example of this is how our understanding of scores of numbers has changed.
We started out with it being a linear line extending into positive direction ,then we added the 0,then the negative components and so forth until we ended up with a 2 dimensional system (there might be more complex systems but this is all that I have knowledge of).
As our understanding of something abstrakt like this progressed so did our understanding of the world around us.
I believe ,that through science we can get very very very close to understanding the porpouse of life but can never reach it the last step most be made by developing our true person and casting off the traits our ego gave us.

 

[Yukiko chan]

I can think of four reasons why people maintain family ties. One is respect for authority. We are told that you should respect your family, and so most people do so.

Not in my case. The only authority I have respect for is reason, despite its limitation in some cases. Any other authority must draw its legitimacy from principles that I accept following a logical reasoning, otherwise I would have no reason (Ha!) to accept them.

Secondly, gratitude. If we are lucky, our family takes care of us and is there for us when we need them, so we reciprocate.

Hmm, I guess if you consider that you were well cared for by your nearest of kins, disassociating yourself from them would be probably ungrounded, even if you don't particularly like them... words are slippery though, and what may seem like a caring and loving household for some could be purely hellish and unbearable for some others...

The third reason is common interests. We might spend time with our families because we enjoy the same things and enjoy spending time together. Since we share genes and have usually shared a home environment with our family, I think we are more likely to have common interests and values with them than with a random person.

Meh, absolutely untrue in my case!! In that family, I'm like the black dot on the white board (or the white dot on the black board!!).

Lastly, family ties are sometimes maintained just for the sake of a quiet life. For example, my husband and I don't have anything in common with his family, and in fact actively dislike them, but we maintain a minimum of contact because it's easier to do that than to break ties with them altogether.

mm.. I agree that it's hard to break ties all at once. I'm already taking my dispositions for that purpose though!!

 

[Yukiko chan]

I think a pretty good example of this is how our understanding of scores of numbers has changed.
We started out with it being a linear line extending into positive direction ,then we added the 0,then the negative components and so forth until we ended up with a 2 dimensional system (there might be more complex systems but this is all that I have knowledge of).

Yups, there are hypercomplex numbers, most known of which are quaternions and transfinite numbers.

You've made interesting points which I'll address later.

 

[Huppiflupp]

Maybe I should change my degree course from engineering to physics in order to be up to date =D

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

My personal philosophy to life is to leave the world a better place for your existence than without. Its a simple philosophy, but i feel it is right on a lot of levels.

Obviously i try and treat people as best i can, and i try to be productive in my day-to-day life. But also i would like to do something beneficial for the environment before i leave this world, like set up/grow a nature reserve. This will be my way of thanking the world for my time on this earth, especially since i think it is our impact on the environment that makes our existence a bad thing, so the more we can benefit/help nature the better .

Ultimately, i think we decide/make our own purpose to our existence to being on this earth, and i think this usually boils down to either living a selfish/parasitic/negative existence, or a beneficial/positive/harmonious existence (or something inbetween the two) ^_^ . The worth of your life is based on how you choose to live it. Which path do you choose?

 

[Huppiflupp]

My personal philosophy to life is to leave the world a better place for your existence than without. Its a simple philosophy, but i feel it is right on a lot of levels.

Obviously i try and treat people as best i can, and i try to be productive in my day-to-day life. But also i would like to do something beneficial for the environment before i leave this world, like set up/grow a nature reserve. This will be my way of thanking the world for my time on this earth, especially since i think it is our impact on the environment that makes our existence a bad thing, so the more we can benefit/help nature the better .

Ultimately, i think we decide/make our own purpose to our existence to being on this earth, and i think this usually boils down to either living a selfish/parasitic/negative existence, or a beneficial/positive/harmonious existence (or something inbetween the two) ^_^ . The worth of your life is based on how you choose to live it. Which path do you choose?

But this means you are referring to a system in which certain actions are accounted a specific worth ,be it positive or negative.
Any other person with a different system might come to a totally different conclusion on how good or an action is and therefore how can you say what is ,or is not good?
Parasites for example are just as much a part of an eco-system as are most plants ,who are the foundation of animal life on earth.
So in my opinion ,there is no real path ,there is just the choice of realizing ,that you are nothing more than a small part of a system which again is a small part of you.

 

[Pachipro]

First I believe that there must be a purpose to this life or why else would we be here? If there is no purpose than why would we have thought and the ability to distinguish right from wrong? Why would we perceive happiness and sadness, laughter and tears, love and heartbreak? If there was no purpose for our being then I believe that we would be no different than the animals, unable to experience the things I mentioned above. Also, unlike the animal kingdom we think. "I think, therefore I am."

Of course I live life with a purpose and that is to know the difference between right and wrong and to do no harm to other beings on this planet whether animal or human. Life is basically hell on earth and it is up to each individual to make the best of it. As I once read "Your present position in life is the sum total of every decision you have ever made in your life up to the present moment." Therefore, whatever your position, whether good or bad, happy or sad, financially comfortable or not, is your own doing based on your own decisions. Therefore, my purpose in this life is to get through it in the best way possible.

For centuries humans have been trying to figure out man's purpose on this planet and no one has yet yo fully explain it. It is all theory as no one knows for sure. What then makes this life worth living then for me? I believe we are energy spirits having a human experience in a flesh and blood "shell" (for what purpose I don't know). Since energy cannot be destroyed and just takes another form, I believe we go on after the human shell dies. I cannot believe that it is just "lights out". If it is we'll never know the difference anyway.

What makes this life worth living to me is that there is something on the otherside. If there wasn't it would be a terrible waste of a life and an existence, and for what, so we can just die and disappear? I hope not.

 

[UAE Local]

My purpose in life is to honor the name of my clan. Avoding all that would bring shame to my clan's name. I work hard, so that my clan will be remembered as one of the gloriest families in history. Making my clan's magnificient name a household name known by all who live on this Earth is what pushes me further. More importantly, I also live to serve my Lord.

 

[Huppiflupp]

And what an exciting life that must be....

 

[Drew-san]

If there is no purpose than why would we have thought and the ability to distinguish right from wrong?

Right and wrong is subjective. One person's right can be another's wrong, so that doesn't really constitute a purpose.

 

[Huppiflupp]

Then again there is no thin such as objectivity.

 

[AJBryant]

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[Huppiflupp]

Wir verlangen, das Leben müsse einen Sinn haben - aber es hat nur ganz genau so viel Sinn,
als wir selber ihm zu geben imstande sind.
Hermann Hesse

Quote war.

 

[Yukiko chan]

Great quote Huppiflupp!

"We demand that life must have a meaning, but it only has as much sense as we are able to give it" Hermann Hesse

 

[The Dunadan]

I believe that "In the beginning God..." as much as I believe "Man is the measure of all things."

Cogito, ergo sum and eyeh-asher-eyeh I am thinking, therefore I am; I am that I am. God creates man who creates God, something of a circular and mutually symbiotic relationship. That's the purpose of man, to create God. Or, better, to define God. My own part of this drama began when the first photons of light erupted from the singularity, a story 13 or 14 billion years in the making and which'll go on till the Big Crunch, then it'll be all over- for the physical plane at least. Till then, well as long as my body persists, I'll continue to speculate on the ultimate nature and meaning of the wide universe.

Those who believe purely in tactile sensations and ocular/audio sense impressions, maybe a little electochemical stimulation here and there, might as well believe that the entire meaning of existence is to burp and fart, moan and groan, be no better than clever animals with opposable thumbs, and, eventually, to rot in a cold grave. These are life's real humbugs to me.

 

[Tsuyoiko]

Those who believe purely in tactile sensations and ocular/audio sense impressions, maybe a little electochemical stimulation here and there, might as well believe that the entire meaning of existence is to burp and fart, moan and groan, be no better than clever animals with opposable thumbs, and, eventually, to rot in a cold grave.

I smell a straw man, as I don't think I've seen anyone claim that biological functions are the entire meaning of existence. However, assuming that anyone really does think that, what reasons would you offer for believing that there is more to life than that?

 

[The Dunadan]

I smell a straw man, as I don't think I've seen anyone claim that biological functions are the entire meaning of existence. However, assuming that anyone really does think that, what reasons would you offer for believing that there is more to life than that?

I wouldn't offer anything to anyone because I'm not an altruist who's looking to lead others to the promised land. I don't ask proof of the sun as to why it shines, call that a straw man argument if you want to, but no "proof" of any sort is required for me to give my own life meaning.