What if you found out your purpose in life was meaningless?

[alltatup]

Noooooo WE won't. Whatever evolves will.

I'd much rather not fuck the place up in the first place.

It depends on whether or not you believe in reincarnation. I do believe that we will reap what we sow and that whatever mess we make, we'll be back until we learn how to clean it up.

It breaks my heart every day to watch what's happening to the planet, the ice caps, the polar bears, the barrier reefs, etc. etc. But I have infinite faith in mother nature.

 

[Bugeye]

The theory that everything came by chance and so did life and our own consciousness, would be all too convincing, except that I could not find a reason for why the laws of nature are the way that they are. Why is the speed of light such and why can't anything go faster? Why does light itself challenge the theory of relativity? If a spaceship is going at 1/2 the speed of light in one direction and a light beam was shot in the same direction, the light will never cross the light speed due to the initial velocity of the spaceship. More strangely, if the light beam is shot in the opposing direction of the ship, it will not go any slower than light, but it will go out exactly at the speed of light. Why is gravity calculated in such a way and why do the formulas for energy work the way that they do, creating all this danger and excitement in the known universe? Such deep questions leave me baffled and the thing that I know best, is that we know all way too little.

Quantum entanglement, or "spooky action at a distance," as Einstein once described it, seems to nullify the theory of light being the fastest speed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement

 

[Bugeye]

but what if you found out it was all meaningless?

Clearly this would be a conclusion reached in a state of darkness. Get to place of light and tap into collective consciousness. Ask your purpose and you will get directed towards your purpose, it will feel right.

 

[alltatup]

And who or what would determine the meaningless of one's life? A laboratory? "God"?

To believe it's meaningless constitutes a belief--that's all. We can use all kinds of metaphorical language to describe or assert how the belief "colors" our perception of what goes on around us, or how it generates certain paths of action and behavior, or to misquote the Buddha, how it "creates" our reality. But all that is is metaphorical language about the belief.

There's no scientific proof of what a belief does.

I agree with you, Bugeye: the better course of action is to believe in the place of light, perceive it and guide one's consciousness into it. I believe that humans feel better doing whatever they do if they believe they act purposefully. But I recognize it as a belief, and I see in the world all around me that billions of people have different motivations for the courses of action they choose. I don't take for granted that living middle class in the USA, I have the luxury of philosophizing about all of this--which billions of others don't.

I haven't read this entire thread, but if someone concludes or believes that his/her purpose is meaningless, what to do? Perhaps discuss it a bit, see if the belief can be mobilized (as some can, while others may be too deeply entrenched). But I'm no proselytizer. I'm just going to fall back on my own beliefs in karma and reincarnation. I'll think, whatever karma I don't resolve this time around, perhaps I'll be able to clean it up next time. But I try not to project my beliefs onto others. It's my belief system predicated on trying to do what brings the most happiness and peace into my life. Shantideva writes, "Happiness generates virtue."

 

[alltatup]

I agree with your premise. I don't agree with your conclusion. Those things do not indicate that life has no meaning, but rather that meaning dies with you like everything else. Meaning is just another part of your identity. In the same way that your preferences, your tastes for foods, your favorite songs, your pet peeves, are part of your identity. You've always known that those things will die when you die. If that hasn't ever bothered you, then it shouldn't bother you that meaning dies as well. Meaning is finite, but not non-existent.

Also like your preferences, some of the stuff that means something to you is going to mean something to other people as well. If your accomplishments and actions and the way you live your life means something to you, chances are that they are always going to mean something to someone.

I think that one could counter-argue for the impact we have goes on; people who are now dead had a tremendous impact on the course of my life; I think one of our purposes here is to help alleviate suffering, and that's an impact that can go on and on: each one teach one...

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

Quantum entanglement, or "spooky action at a distance," as Einstein once described it, seems to nullify the theory of light being the fastest speed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement

possible, but until we're able to travel as sub atomic particles, not very useful

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

i don't think we're here to do anything in particular. we're not mother nature's protectors, we're her children, and terrible children we are.
the purpose of our existence is to improve ourselves. to learn to live on our world without destroying our place in its ecology. without destroying anything, needlessly. never know what you're going to need later, maybe those carrier pigeons and dodos would have been real handy to have in the future...but we'll never know

 

[ttystikk]

possible, but until we're able to travel as sub atomic particles, not very useful

Maybe for communications?

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

sure, and also security applications, all kinds of uses, but not travel

 

[Padawanbater2]

i don't think we're here to do anything in particular. we're not mother nature's protectors, we're her children, and terrible children we are.
the purpose of our existence is to improve ourselves. to learn to live on our world without destroying our place in its ecology. without destroying anything, needlessly. never know what you're going to need later, maybe those carrier pigeons and dodos would have been real handy to have in the future...but we'll never know

So if you found out conclusively (somehow) that there was no objective meaning to life, are you saying you would reject that conclusion and develop your own meaning elsewhere justified by the things you believe gave your life meaning?

 

[tstick]

i don't think we're here to do anything in particular. we're not mother nature's protectors, we're her children, and terrible children we are.
the purpose of our existence is to improve ourselves. to learn to live on our world without destroying our place in its ecology. without destroying anything, needlessly. never know what you're going to need later, maybe those carrier pigeons and dodos would have been real handy to have in the future...but we'll never know

I usd to wonder about getting my tonsils removed was going to mean that, when the aliens or Jesus or whoever comes back to save us, they will communicate only to the people who have their tonsils! Like, the tonsils were installed as a kind of receiver. And, since I have, as of yet, had no superhuman contact, I can only assume that it's because I don't have my tonsils!


Maybe humans are just a momentary "mold" that blossoms up every few million years and ends up killing other creatures and feeding on their bodies...basically extinguishing entire species like a plague. And, after awhile, the living planet (that Earth is) gets whopped by a meteor...or a big emission burps out of the Sun...or something....and wipes us out just like that...and a few hundred years after we are gone, the flora and fauna that survive, will proliferate and evolve into the next dominant version - much the same way humans evolved after the dinosaurs were wiped out...It will be the next, opportunist and adaptable "thing"....maybe totally different than humans. Who knows?

Certainly, in any case....Mother Nature...her children...and everything else, including the planet, itself, will be disintegrated....and, in enough time, it will be as if Earth was never even here...Our Sun will be gone....the planets....It just takes time. Humans can't grasp that. It's too infinite...It takes too long. We are impatient creatures who want to believe that everything is here to serve our needs. I wish I could be one who was totally in-harmony with my planet....but there are still a lot of things out there that can kill me....so the competition continues!

 

[ttystikk]

I usd to wonder about getting my tonsils removed was going to mean that, when the aliens or Jesus or whoever comes back to save us, they will communicate only to the people who have their tonsils! Like, the tonsils were installed as a kind of receiver. And, since I have, as of yet, had no superhuman contact, I can only assume that it's because I don't have my tonsils!


Maybe humans are just a momentary "mold" that blossoms up every few million years and ends up killing other creatures and feeding on their bodies...basically extinguishing entire species like a plague. And, after awhile, the living planet (that Earth is) gets whopped by a meteor...or a big emission burps out of the Sun...or something....and wipes us out just like that...and a few hundred years after we are gone, the flora and fauna that survive, will proliferate and evolve into the next dominant version - much the same way humans evolved after the dinosaurs were wiped out...It will be the next, opportunist and adaptable "thing"....maybe totally different than humans. Who knows?

Certainly, in any case....Mother Nature...her children...and everything else, including the planet, itself, will be disintegrated....and, in enough time, it will be as if Earth was never even here...Our Sun will be gone....the planets....It just takes time. Humans can't grasp that. It's too infinite...It takes too long. We are impatient creatures who want to believe that everything is here to serve our needs. I wish I could be one who was totally in-harmony with my planet....but there are still a lot of things out there that can kill me....so the competition continues!

The trajectory of the solar system sends us through the disc of the galaxy every 65 million years or so, which tends to perturb the orbit of some large rock in the Oort Cloud and sends it into the core of the solar system where we are and smacks the Earth. Turns out we're about due.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

we could already have a defense system in place, if we could concentrate on the future, and quit worrying about the past.
we could already have an active base on the moon, we could be mining iron and rare metals from asteroids, using solar energy, and be building a jumping off point in space to start colonizing mars.
while we were out mining, we could be dropping small tracking satellites that keep an eye on anything over a certain size that passes by them. that would give us time to destroy them, or at least alter their trajectory so they miss the planet. all this tech exists now, its not science fiction. we're just too busy killing each other for personal reasons to do anything about it.

 

[ttystikk]

we could already have a defense system in place, if we could concentrate on the future, and quit worrying about the past.
we could already have an active base on the moon, we could be mining iron and rare metals from asteroids, using solar energy, and be building a jumping off point in space to start colonizing mars.
while we were out mining, we could be dropping small tracking satellites that keep an eye on anything over a certain size that passes by them. that would give us time to destroy them, or at least alter their trajectory so they miss the planet. all this tech exists now, its not science fiction. we're just too busy killing each other for personal reasons to do anything about it.

It seems killing each other for oil is more profitable. In the short run. For them.

 

[alltatup]

So if you found out conclusively (somehow) that there was no objective meaning to life, are you saying you would reject that conclusion and develop your own meaning elsewhere justified by the things you believe gave your life meaning?

This hypothesis doesn't work, because where would the conclusive evidence come from?? It would be impossible to "find it out"; it's the kind of thing that you can believe or not, but there's no evidence for it.

So how about this: Let's say you find it absolutely impossible to believe in the God concept, and that you have an alternative way of struggling to make sense of everything and its meaning. Because I do think it's a life-long struggle to make sense of life.

I can tell you about my philosophy and my beliefs--and that's just what everyone's been doing here--but I can't put it forward as the truth--only as my search my meaning and truth. And I think that if we put it like that instead of insisting that "I am right"--people feel freer to express how they see things.

I know I haven't been here long, but I've been searching high and high to find a cannabis/philosophy discussion... real important to me...

 

[ttystikk]

This hypothesis doesn't work, because where would the conclusive evidence come from?? It would be impossible to "find it out"; it's the kind of thing that you can believe or not, but there's no evidence for it.

So how about this: Let's say you find it absolutely impossible to believe in the God concept, and that you have an alternative way of struggling to make sense of everything and its meaning. Because I do think it's a life-long struggle to make sense of life.

I can tell you about my philosophy and my beliefs--and that's just what everyone's been doing here--but I can't put it forward as the truth--only as my search my meaning and truth. And I think that if we put it like that instead of insisting that "I am right"--people feel freer to express how they see things.

I know I haven't been here long, but I've been searching high and high to find a cannabis/philosophy discussion... real important to me...

It sounds like you're on the right track.

I can't believe in the Gods others have put forth so I'm stuck creating my own meaning.

We'll see how it all works out in the end lol

 

[eye exaggerate]

There is no meaning to life, life just is. It exists, you exist, we exist just because. Because of the natural interactions between chemicals over time. Your life began just like it'll end, in the sea of oblivion. The chemical reactions that make up your body, mind, and consciousness will eventually cease and you won't exist, as you. What you're made of will still exist, but you won't. Wrap your head around that.

How does that make you feel, and why?

It makes me feel like having a discussion about archetypes, which is exactly what one's head is wrapped around.

 

[eye exaggerate]

fft

"The shadow side of “science as a modern-day wisdom tradition” is that it can, and often does take on the qualities of a religion, with all of its taboos and heresies that violate the open-minded spirit of the scientific method. The tenets of science, which can easily resemble a disguised form of religious dogma, call for its adherents’ intellectual and emotional allegiance in a way that borders on the irrational. People who have been indoctrinated into the dictates of this scientific creed, as if hypnotized or under a spell, can find it difficult or even impossible to imagine that the world can be anything other than the way they have been taught that it is, as if no other way of thinking or knowing about things has ever occurred to them. The still-dominant attitude of “scientific materialism”─with its hidden metaphysical belief in an objectively existing world─has erroneously excluded the subjectively experienced mind from the domain of the natural world to the point that “scientific knowledge” has come to be equated with “objective knowledge.” And yet, quantum physics has proven there’s no objective anything."

 

[thump easy]

I dont think so big dog there is evedance of much more pluss time does not make blue prints of dna.. Come on you guys are smarter than that what it is im not shure but i aint taking theory of big bangs i need proof no missing links no missing motherfucken nothing i need facts religous and atheist

 

[thump easy]

Big bang no way fuck man that is just a thery no proof