What is the purpose of life.

[Rebiu]

You charge by the hour or something? :hihi: "Tell me about your mother..." Hahahaha.

You have an easygoing wit my friend

 

 

It sounds like you are sure about that which is consciousness and that which is unconsciousness. Congratulations. That's awesome. Now, maybe you could articulate these concepts to the rest of us so we are no longer just looking at shadows of reality, but instead at reality itself.

 

 

Cheers. :cup:

I think it is time to put this thread to bed. What seem so clear to me did take years for me to actualize but perhaps I have provided a light in the dark for someone..

[InfiniteNow]

You have an easygoing wit my friend.

Thanks. And other times I really am just a total smart ***. I was serious though. Your tone implies such certainty, and this where I find fault in your statements. The only thing about which one can be certain is that they are not ever certain. Anything else is delusion and misunderstanding.

 

 

I think it is time to put this thread to bed. What seem so clear to me did take years for me to actualize but perhaps I have provided a light in the dark for someone..

Either way, that's fine. I will pivot back to the catalyst of this exchange though, since no real progress has (seems to have) been made.

 

 

What is termed as "conscious" and what is termed as "unconscious" are still components of one mind. The seperation between the two is both self-imposed and unnecessary.

[MagnetMan]

What is the purpose of life? From a philosophical perspective what is the purpose of an individual’s life and how does it shape ones goals and actions.

 

From a purely biolgical perspective the answer is simple - endless consumption, endless procreation. Life would have no goal or ambition if it were spiritless.

 

Now. What the spiritual purpose of life is, presents a far more complex nuclear equation, one which science itself has yet to answer - thought it is teetering on the brink as it delves into the indeterminable mysteries of quantum mechanics. Theology has given us the intuitive answers for thousands of years of course. There answer there is beautifully simple. The purpose of life is to Love - to give it and to receive it.

 

The problem is that science cannot accept that answer without some form of proof that shows the union between love and matter.

 

As a Nuclear Age metaphsyician who has been gnawing on the unfication question for nearly forty years I have come up with my own theory on the origins of the union. As no tangible evidence can ever be persented, I have had to take the case to court on the basis of irrefutable circumstancial evidence. Psyche-Genetics, lays out this evidennce and also shows motive and opportunity - via an evolutionary argument that stretches all the way back to the Stone Age and the very first thiought that made man see himself as a seprate observer and fell in love with his reflection.

 

I am new here and will surf a while yet before I create a new thread and post the general premise of the theory - and then find out who agrees - or can demonstrate how far off the beaten I might have wandered.

[infamous]

As a believer in derterminsm this question strikes me as a little absurd. The only thought about this question that comes to my mind is the following: The purpose of my life is what I make it. Everyone has their own purpose, otherwise why would there be a need for so many of us occupying this small planet?

[Pyrotex]

...The purpose of my life is what I make it....

I'm with you, Infy. Well said.

 

If we read the good doctor Alfred Korzybski, we come across an interesting idea. "Life" exists as part of the reality of the universe. "Life" is like mountains and water and stars and magnetic fields. It has first order reality. It's a part of, as he would say, "the territory".

 

"Purpose" on the other hand, does NOT have first order reality. Purpose is a linguistic construction of the mind. It is a word we created to express a concept we created to reflect a relationship between our minds ("the map") and our world ("the territory").

 

"Purpose" does not exist in the world as a reality. "Purpose" exists in our maps of the world, our mental understanding of the world. We can cut open a rock or a tree; we can split an atom or an apple--we will not find any "purpose" inside. We cannot detect "purpose" in the test tube or the telescope.

 

We create "purpose". We imagine it and make it real within ourselves. We express it and live it. And then for some weird reason, we try to absolve ourselves of any responsibility for "purpose" and blame it on... something or someone else.

[TheFaithfulStone]

Hit and Run Existentialist Articulation:

 

The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

 

TFS

[Pyrotex]

...The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

Self-referential, infinitely recursive truth is still truth.

[TheFaithfulStone]

I'd say the nature of Truth is self-referential and infinitetly recursive.

 

[notice that capital]

 

TFS

[arkain101]

Truth Basic is one and undeniable, and un-dissagreeable.

 

When we discovered electricity, we revield truth-basic.

 

When magnatism was discovered, it is truth, a veil removed for all that is.

 

There is an underlying reality of basic truth, the Base of reality. Our perceptions and ideas can try it and alter it but truth will always remain the same.

[hallenrm]

Truth Basic is one and undeniable, and un-dissagreeable.

 

When we discovered electricity, we revield truth-basic.

 

When magnatism was discovered, it is truth, a veil removed for all that is.

 

There is an underlying reality of basic truth, the Base of reality. Our perceptions and ideas can try it and alter it but truth will always remain the same.

 

I disagree!!!!:confused:

[Panjandrum]

Thanks for sharing your insights, hallenrm. Thats a really useful post you just made.

[Pyrotex]

Thanks for sharing your insights, hallenrm. Thats a really useful post you just made.

Amen, brother!

 

Philip K. Dick, the science fiction writer ("Blade Runner") once said,

“Reality is whatever doesn’t go away after you stop believing in it.”

 

I would add that Truth is whatever doesn't change when looked at through the viewpoint of different beliefs.

[motherengine]

for what it is worth i would say listen to the zen buddhists instead of the scientists. scientists can tell you what you are symbolically and mathematically but, regardless of what some may think, this does not mean they know any more about why you are then the average schmo. life is about living. if there needs to be another purpose than i would say it is transcendence. one can always laugh in the face of the abyss.

[Boerseun]

The purpose of Life. Hmmm.

 

Easy.

 

We live because we can. There is Life on Earth because the Earth allows Life to Be. If the Earth was colder or warmer or wetter or drier, Life would have adapted to that set of circumstances and we would've been none the wiser.

 

We are trying to confuse ourselves (very successfully, I might add) by assigning a special reason or purpose to Life. There is none. You metabolize until you die. What you want to do in the interim is up to you.

 

Just make sure you enjoy the ride and don't waste your time with unnecessary guilt-trips and artificial moral struggles and worries about what'll happen after you croak.

[ldsoftwaresteve]

Beorseun: I'll be dipped. I Totally agree with you! :computer:

I would like to add just one little tiny thing: life exists because it must, because it's driven into existence by the very nature of existence and if it has a purpose, that purpose is to bring balance to something that we don't yet comprehend. By living and doing exactly what you say, we fulfill that purpose without even knowing it. And we don't owe anything to any God except to simply be what we are. And that means no guilt for being Human, for loving our lives, for the passions we feel as we move through this oh so short existence.

Cheers.

[Pyrotex]

for what it is worth i would say listen to the zen buddhists instead of the scientists....

Ahhh, Little Grasshopper,

you are so close to THE TRUTH, but no chai cigar for you.

 

To obtain universal wisdom, listen to the zen Buddhists AND the scientists AND your mother.

 

addendum

Reminds me of a little story. This guy wanted universal wisdom. He heard there was this Great Guru in Nepal who could tell him the Meaning of Life. He sold all he had and went to Nepal, where he was told that before he could speak with the Great Guru, he had to spend 3 years cleansing his spirit, 3 years studying the great philosophies and 3 years mastering his chi. He did this, then dressed in only a loin cloth, he ascended a high mountain. He crawled up in the rain, snow, sleet, howling winds, day and night. He was bleeding, torn, frozen, bruised, hungry, thirsty, in constant pain and anguish. After 3 weeks he reached the cave at the top and met the Great Guru.

 

"Oh, Great Guru, what is the Meaning of Life?"

 

"Ahhh, my child, the Meaning of Life is a wet raven flying through the night."

 

The man was stunned. "Are you shittin' me?! I've spent nearly ten years getting here! I'm bleeding, torn, frozen, bruised, hungry, thirsty, in constant pain and anguish. I've come all this way just to be told that the Meaning of Life is a wet raven flying through the night?!?!"

 

The Great Guru's face, normally placid and calm, distorted with increasing concern and alarm. His brow furrowed. He began to twitch and stutter. His eyes filled with water. He looked up at the man.

 

"What? You mean it isn't?!?!?!"

[InfiniteNow]

Philip K. Dick, the science fiction writer ("Blade Runner") once said,

“Reality is whatever doesn’t go away after you stop believing in it.”

How timely was your post yesterday, Pyrotex. About 30 minutes after reading it, I was in my car going out for lunch when they stated this exact quote on NPR. Were you perhaps listening, and I just heard a re-airing of the story? Or is this some example of synchronicity?

 

 

Cheers. :confused: