What about living merely because one is alive? Things like the scientific condition of the universe like entropy, empty quantum theories, etc. ain't gonna make any difference to your quality of life, right? Isn't it all about becomming the most perfect form of oneself? To exist in perfect harmony with yourself and all else around you?
Originally posted by Wonderer
What about living merely because one is alive? Things like the scientific condition of the universe like entropy, empty quantum theories, etc. ain't gonna make any difference to your quality of life, right? Isn't it all about becomming the most perfect form of oneself? To exist in perfect harmony with yourself and all else around you?
As I prefer to believe in a spiritual dimension to the universe (Meaning of Life = "Awakening to the Dreamer/Dream"😉, I generally agree with the last part of your statement.
As for the first part: science, IMO, does enhance the quality of life in that, if we did not understand, for example, the quantum mathematics of the universe, we would not have the electronics in our lives which we so take for granted, including the computer, the internet and the truly wondrous ability for any one person to reach out and interact with the rest of the world.
Originally posted by Wonderer
What about living merely because one is alive? Things like the scientific condition of the universe like entropy, empty quantum theories, etc. ain't gonna make any difference to your quality of life, right? Isn't it all about becomming the most perfect form of oneself? To exist in perfect harmony with yourself and all else around you?
I think that living by life itself doesn´t eliminate meaning. Scientific theories would be like vehicles of meaning, some people use them to bring meaning to their lifes. I think you are just using a different vehicle, not eliminating the meaning itself. Or maybe you are trying to live with that meaning, eliminating the need for a vehicle.
there is no true meaning to life.......
humans are so egotistical. We share the same life cycle as every other living species on the planet, yet look for some sort of "meaning" to this cycle that only applies to humans.
from what I can see.....the only reason life exists, be it human, elephant or dandilion is to reproduce allowing each species to continually carry on the exact same function in it's ecosystem facillitating all other naturally occuring cycles on our planet.
here's the meaning of life.......birth --> reproduction --> death. Apply it to any species of life on this planet be it animal or plant.
Originally posted by Evil Dead
there is no true meaning to life.......humans are so egotistical. We share the same life cycle as every other living species on the planet, yet look for some sort of "meaning" to this cycle that only applies to humans.
from what I can see.....the only reason life exists, be it human, elephant or dandilion is to reproduce allowing each species to continually carry on the exact same function in it's ecosystem facillitating all other naturally occuring cycles on our planet.
here's the meaning of life.......birth --> reproduction --> death. Apply it to any species of life on this planet be it animal or plant.
Sounds like a fine meaning to me.
Indeed. Despite our 'advances' compared to other known life, we still have the same basic mission as any life-form; to reproduce and maintain the species.
Our heightened self-awareness is no reason what so ever to expect that we exist for a higher purpose.
I know we are just apes that can write, I seek no higher purpose, I just want to make the best of the time I have.
Why spend your days seeking answers to questions we are not worth to ask ourselves, while you could have a good life even in this world without higher causes, if you would focus on that instead.
Originally posted by Evil Dead
there is no true meaning to life.......humans are so egotistical. We share the same life cycle as every other living species on the planet, yet look for some sort of "meaning" to this cycle that only applies to humans.
from what I can see.....the only reason life exists, be it human, elephant or dandilion is to reproduce allowing each species to continually carry on the exact same function in it's ecosystem facillitating all other naturally occuring cycles on our planet.
here's the meaning of life.......birth --> reproduction --> death. Apply it to any species of life on this planet be it animal or plant.
If "THE" meaning of life were only "birth, reproduction, then death, we, as humans, would have destroyed everything long ago. We can be extremely chaotic, and since we are "aware" of our own mortality, unlike the other creatures on the planet, we would not last very long. The fact that we seek any meaning to life is what separates us from the other creatures, egotistical though that may be, it is also what saves us from our nature. I agree that everyone must seek their own meaning and we are connected with everything in the universe.
Wonderer, you cant blame philosophers for atleast trying to solve the meaning of life. If we all just sat around and accepted things as they are in complete apathy we would of died out long ago.
Excuse me while I take a rough excerpt from LOTR: ROTK that is probably wrong because it is from memory:
Eomer: Sire, we are well short of our expectations...With only two thousand horses we cannot hope to break the lines of Mordor!
Theoden: No we cannot....but we will fight nontheless!!!!!!!!11
If "THE" meaning of life were only "birth, reproduction, then death, we, as humans, would have destroyed everything long ago. We can be extremely chaotic, and since we are "aware" of our own mortality, unlike the other creatures on the planet, we would not last very long. The fact that we seek any meaning to life is what separates us from the other creatures, egotistical though that may be, it is also what saves us from our nature. I agree that everyone must seek their own meaning and we are connected with everything in the universe.
your statement is based on pure bollocks. Most creatures are aware of their own mortality.......which is why they use their specialized adaptations for defense to avoid predators, to continue their mortality so they can breed....fullfill their purpose of life. Some creatures such as the elephant actually show signs of mourning fallen friends........such as when they carry the bones of their fallen friends for days on end in a "funeral" type ritual. If you're going to make a statement......atleast base it on fact, not something that can be easily dismissed out of hand by data the human race has gathered since the human race was first able to see and record data.......like animals knowing and preserving their own mortality.
PS. this does not only apply to animals. even plants have evolved defenses to allow them to continue living and reproducings........some are merely toxins while others are more blatant like thorns.
Very true. And to answer Spazoid; every bit of knowledge humankind has gained has only increased the amount of damage we inflict on this world and ourselves.
This planet has been inhabited by plants and animals that could coexist and survive for millions of years, even when it was a dog-eat-dog world.
Ever since the uprise of humankind everything has gone downhill fast. In a tiny fragment of this worlds age, we exterminated or endangered over half of the other lifeforms, not to mention being obsessed with creating more effective means to kill our own kind.
We will be the cause to the end of this world, and the last to deserve a higher purpose.
Originally posted by Pandemoniac
Very true. And to answer Spazoid; every bit of knowledge humankind has gained has only increased the amount of damage we inflict on this world and ourselves.
This planet has been inhabited by plants and animals that could coexist and survive for millions of years, even when it was a dog-eat-dog world.
Ever since the uprise of humankind everything has gone downhill fast. In a tiny fragment of this worlds age, we exterminated or endangered over half of the other lifeforms, not to mention being obsessed with creating more effective means to kill our own kind.
We will be the cause to the end of this world, and the last to deserve a higher purpose.
And along with that, we have also achieved by far the highest average quality of life of all the animals...its a two-sided coin.
Average quality, and that is not as positive as it might seem. There are great extremes in the equation meaning that a large part of humanity has a life that sucks a lot. At least other animals have about the same quality of life around the entire population (and exceptions on that will most likely be because of human interference).
And will we destroy this planet trying to maintain this high quality of life the lucky ones among us have, while other lifeforms usually can coexist and survive even when they also prey on eachother.
I think our consciousness does only understand meanings.... in the same way we can just add numbers, we can only understand meanings. So, if there is no meaning to life we will never understand it since we will be trying to understand, or "associate a meaning", to something that has no meaning. Our mind is always associating meanings to things.
Originally posted by Evil Dead
your statement is based on pure bollocks. Most creatures are aware of their own mortality.......which is why they use their specialized adaptations for defense to avoid predators, to continue their mortality so they can breed....fullfill their purpose of life. Some creatures such as the elephant actually show signs of mourning fallen friends........such as when they carry the bones of their fallen friends for days on end in a "funeral" type ritual. If you're going to make a statement......atleast base it on fact, not something that can be easily dismissed out of hand by data the human race has gathered since the human race was first able to see and record data.......like animals knowing and preserving their own mortality.PS. this does not only apply to animals. even plants have evolved defenses to allow them to continue living and reproducings........some are merely toxins while others are more blatant like thorns.
Okay, my words were chosen hastily, and your rebuttal very well taken, but the science you site does not prove any more than instinctual and learned behavior based upon the Pain and Pleasure principles. Every creature has those instinctual survival aspects, but it is only human kind which ponders the meaning of death and fears what may come after death, and changes its behavior based upon those ponderances and fears. I believe that most human-made religions are born of this fear of death and the need to explain it. Some philosophies focus more on the "meaning of life" rather than the "meaning of death", but they are all similarly focused and this is NOT similar to any other creature on earth.
It does not matter that we give thought on a possible afterlife. As far as we can really tell at this point, death is permanent and irreversible. Yet we ignorantly kill other creatures and our own for short-term profits.
Religions (the prime example of how conciseness can backfire) might never have had the intention to do harm, but they have been the cause of just about every war. Just because we can't truly handle this self awareness and become desperate, ignorant and selfish, before we become wise.