251 replies to this topic

[Professor T]

Blueogre2, on 12 January 2013 - 12:22 AM, said:

Greetings forum. Today I had a random thought that I felt was good enough to write down and share. Many people have commented on the meaning of life, most of whom are far more qualified then I am to discuss such things, but nevertheless I felt I could throw my two cents in anyway. The real reason for living is not money, or pleasure, or even to serve other people. Neither is it found in devoting oneself to a god. No, the true meaning is in letting go of ones own humanity. Allow me to explain. Everything that has every been put forward as the goal of life is actually quite mundane when examined closely. Money is nice, but it won't satisfy all your needs. Pleasure is nice but it ultimately causes you to become intoxicated and lose sight of the big picture. Serving others is nice but in the end you will find that most people are not worth the effort. Devoting yourself to a religion is nice, but it can cause you to become disconected from reality. But what is truly good? Setting your sights on greater things beyond the limits of the human condition. Attempting to evolve into a higher state of being. How is this to be done? I myself do not know, but it seems to me that it would be worth investigating. But enough about my thoughts I want to know what others think

In life, the only thing worth persuing & developing is our consciousness, because as far as we can tell it's the only thing we take with us when we go.

[J. K.]

Here are some random thoughts.  These do not necessarily reflect my opinion, but I would be interested in reading comments on them.

1.  Life is a byproduct of natural evolution, therefore it has no inherent meaning.

2.  The goal of life is to leave something behind for the future.

3.  Anything left behind will eventually disappear, so the meaning of life is to live for the moment.

[notforgotten]

Our purpose in life as christians is to get to know God.

[Mr Right Wing]

Blueogre2, on 12 January 2013 - 12:22 AM, said:

Greetings forum. Today I had a random thought that I felt was good enough to write down and share. Many people have commented on the meaning of life, most of whom are far more qualified then I am to discuss such things, but nevertheless I felt I could throw my two cents in anyway. The real reason for living is not money, or pleasure, or even to serve other people. Neither is it found in devoting oneself to a god. No, the true meaning is in letting go of ones own humanity. Allow me to explain. Everything that has every been put forward as the goal of life is actually quite mundane when examined closely. Money is nice, but it won't satisfy all your needs. Pleasure is nice but it ultimately causes you to become intoxicated and lose sight of the big picture. Serving others is nice but in the end you will find that most people are not worth the effort. Devoting yourself to a religion is nice, but it can cause you to become disconected from reality. But what is truly good? Setting your sights on greater things beyond the limits of the human condition. Attempting to evolve into a higher state of being. How is this to be done? I myself do not know, but it seems to me that it would be worth investigating. But enough about my thoughts I want to know what others think

I believe the purpose of life is learning to regulate your own mind.

You either get there by choice or its forced upon you by unpleasant experiences including, if needed, hell.

[Sky Scanner]

I don't believe there is any meaning to life (in the general sense) it just had no other option then to come into existence as science follows the steps that make things evolve (be it the universe, and this planet). I just happen to be lucky enough to alive at this time and be a part of it all.

[Mr Walker]

To be all that I can be, and as a consequence of that, to do all that i can do to increase the potentiality of the universe. Ie to make a positive difference to the future.

[Mr Walker]

Professor T, on 28 January 2013 - 06:12 PM, said:

In life, the only thing worth persuing & developing is our consciousness, because as far as we can tell it's the only thing we take with us when we go.

How do you ascertain this? I would argue that it is very uncertain whether our consciousness survives our organic death.

My consciousness is a creation of my brain and the memories and thougths i have accumulated since i was conceived. When my brain, which hosts my consciousness dies, why (logically) should my consciousness be able to survive?

[DingoLingo]

[jake1967]

Blueogre2, on 12 January 2013 - 12:22 AM, said:

Greetings forum. Today I had a random thought that I felt was good enough to write down and share. Many people have commented on the meaning of life, most of whom are far more qualified then I am to discuss such things, but nevertheless I felt I could throw my two cents in anyway. The real reason for living is not money, or pleasure, or even to serve other people. Neither is it found in devoting oneself to a god. No, the true meaning is in letting go of ones own humanity. Allow me to explain. Everything that has every been put forward as the goal of life is actually quite mundane when examined closely. Money is nice, but it won't satisfy all your needs. Pleasure is nice but it ultimately causes you to become intoxicated and lose sight of the big picture. Serving others is nice but in the end you will find that most people are not worth the effort. Devoting yourself to a religion is nice, but it can cause you to become disconected from reality. But what is truly good? Setting your sights on greater things beyond the limits of the human condition. Attempting to evolve into a higher state of being. How is this to be done? I myself do not know, but it seems to me that it would be worth investigating. But enough about my thoughts I want to know what others think

  How are you less qualified than others to discuss the meaning of life? Are you insinuating that 'others' have more experience with life than you do..despite the fact that you have lived life? Most of mankind seeks the materialistic..(because society says that in order to be 'succesful' you must have this or that..) ..and that materialistic mindset also gives him/her value in society. You mention the people becoming intoxicated and losing sight of  the  'big picture'..but what does the 'big picture' represent to you? Life eternal? Here we are on this small planet trying to justify our existence and our ultimate purposes..all of us asking questions. The question is why do we ask such questions? Why does that question exist?..why the topic in the forums on spirituality to begin with ..if mankind is not searching for an answer to his own existence? There is but ONE truth..and according to the Bible..seek and you shall find. Humankind does not belong to only to itself..but to something much greater..otherwise..why bother to question in the first place? . If this statement makes no sense to the reader..then you missed it..keep searching..and you will find your answers. The answers to the questions you ask can all be found in the word of God. Your acceptance of those words is entirely up to you! I will not debate..or post again on this topic. I see truth as self evident...and as long as your eyes are open..it always will be. The TRUTH..can only be found in Jesus and God....but they kill Christians..dont they? ..the greater question is 'why' do they kill Christians...and why is that faith such a great threat to humanity that it warrants such actions? TRUE Christianity teaches LOVE..(not the christianity that is politically motivated to garnish 'votes' for a political party)..LOVE ...is that such a threat?  Think about it..and make up your own minds

[Seeker79]

aaaa the meaning of life. well i have spent some time  in meditation and  study on this . i have had an evolving opinion on it over my  time. I have run the gambit of everything mentioned so far at one point in my life. I have come to the conclusion that the meaning of  life is simply to decide what your life means. For me at the moment its  being father.

[Professor T]

Mr Walker, on 03 February 2013 - 12:29 AM, said:

How do you ascertain this? I would argue that it is very uncertain whether our consciousness survives our organic death.

My consciousness is a creation of my brain and the memories and thougths i have accumulated since i was conceived. When my brain, which hosts my consciousness dies, why (logically) should my consciousness be able to survive?

There's no certainty in any of this to be honest.. But there is less uncertainty of consciousness surviving death than any other aspect of our humanity.. OBE's prove consiousness survives the need of what we define as a physical presence or body.. Our Brains, therefore, are secondary to consiousness, but primary to physical consciousness.

That being said, consiousness exists outside of physical limitations rendering death unimportant in it's own survival.

[Tutankhaten-pasheri]

42

[theSOURCE]

Life has no meaning. That's why we die.

[fullywired]

I was browsing the other day when I came across some .excerpts from a book entitled "How life really works" by Gregory Spohr
Here are a few quotations from it
In his quest to find a purpose in life that might help him cope with the adversities of life, man has invented supernatural beings. Since he could not cope with the mysterious forces of his environment, he invented gods or other mystical forces that might enhance his survival and security by responding to prayer, sacrifices or similar devotions.
Man thus invented the fiction that gods had created man and that man was under the control and in the service of such superior beings. Consequently, man believed that it was his purpose in life to placate and please these gods by subjugating himself to their will in order to ensure their goodwill and protection.
There is no objective evidence whatsoever that such omnipotent beings actually exist or, if they existed, that they have any effect on individual human lives, or that they can vest human lives with a preordained purpose. If someone claims that there is a preordained purpose to human life, such claim is merely a completely undocumented opinion, at best, or a hallucination, at worst. Not only is such extraordinary claim without any shred of evidence, but it also stands in contradiction to all factual evidence available to man.


If there is no preordained purpose to human existence, what are we to do with our lives? Randomness and the dog-eat-dog world of evolution may be a disappointing and uninspiring way of looking at life and human existence.
However, this is how life is and no flights of fancy into delusions or illusions will alter this fact. We need not whine, merely because there are no gods and no ghosts, holy or otherwise, that can imbue our life with a preordained purpose. Instead, we can benefit from the utilization of our rational mind to enhance our happiness and our joyful experience of life.


i found myself agreeing with most of what he said and lf you consider all life on the planet then it is more compelling, life as no meaning

  fullywred

Dum vivimus, vivamus, . (Since we are living, let us live well) Horace

Edited by fullywired, 06 February 2013 - 05:51 PM.

[Seeker79]

fullywired, on 06 February 2013 - 05:49 PM, said:

I was browsing the other day when I came across some .excerpts from a book entitled "How life really works" by Gregory Spohr
Here are a few quotations from it
In his quest to find a purpose in life that might help him cope with the adversities of life, man has invented supernatural beings. Since he could not cope with the mysterious forces of his environment, he invented gods or other mystical forces that might enhance his survival and security by responding to prayer, sacrifices or similar devotions.
Man thus invented the fiction that gods had created man and that man was under the control and in the service of such superior beings. Consequently, man believed that it was his purpose in life to placate and please these gods by subjugating himself to their will in order to ensure their goodwill and protection.
There is no objective evidence whatsoever that such omnipotent beings actually exist or, if they existed, that they have any effect on individual human lives, or that they can vest human lives with a preordained purpose. If someone claims that there is a preordained purpose to human life, such claim is merely a completely undocumented opinion, at best, or a hallucination, at worst. Not only is such extraordinary claim without any shred of evidence, but it also stands in contradiction to all factual evidence available to man.


If there is no preordained purpose to human existence, what are we to do with our lives? Randomness and the dog-eat-dog world of evolution may be a disappointing and uninspiring way of looking at life and human existence.
However, this is how life is and no flights of fancy into delusions or illusions will alter this fact. We need not whine, merely because there are no gods and no ghosts, holy or otherwise, that can imbue our life with a preordained purpose. Instead, we can benefit from the utilization of our rational mind to enhance our happiness and our joyful experience of life.


i found myself agreeing with most of what he said and lf you consider all life on the planet then it is more compelling, life as no meaning

                                  fullywred

Dum vivimus, vivamus, . (Since we are living, let us live well) Horace

It's a tad bit disturbing though. Focusing on your own ego and gratification has dire consequences for others and future generations. Even if you are a decent person, under a utilitarian philosophy like this, you might be concerned with the greater good, but the majority would not, so you would be out voted.... Hmmmmm is this happening now?