Question~

Off Topic
41

[quote]Professor X wrote:
However, you do have a purpose, don’t you? You feel it as the motivator waking you up in the morning, causing you to go to school, to search for friends, to have sex and to eat. You feel hints of it upon logging into a forum with the hopes of finding like minded individuals being present who also felt they had a purpose stronger than simply the act of being. It pushes you to do something…more than simply following in line. Or is that drive an illusion…a state of insanity held by those who have the audacity to think they are more than average or that their lives even matter?

In the balance of right and wrong, up and down, left and right, the art is in the fact that the opposite even exists.
[/quote]

It’s strange, but I feel that what drives me is internal conflict.

I am driven to resolve them, but end up with different ones.

It is like having a restless soul.

Thats what drives me to seek and adapt.

42

[quote]duke wrote:
I don’t subscribe to your point of view, but that’s the beauty of free choice, we each can choose our beliefs, and therefore determine our own purpose in life.

I stated mine, and there’s nothing wrong with yours.
[/quote]

Thats odd, since (assuming you are Christian) your religion says the exact, diametrical opposite.

It is said that the worst thing about Christians is that they are hypocrites – that is, they dont do what they believe. I would say the best thing about Christians is that they dont really believe what they claim.

Also your first post on god=purpose is false logic, you assume the very thing you claim to prove, in keeping with the logic of your religion.

(please note, Im not flaming you, this is just for sake of discussion)

43

Well, this is the simple answer to all these musings on purpose etc:

THe greatest sense of purpose an individual can have is to serve something greater than oneself. I think Shaw said that but he obviously didnt coin the idea.

This sums up all discussion concerning purpose. And serving, or being part of, something greater than oneself is subjective. For many, its an intimate relationship, a family. FOr others it takes on dimensions of ideology, even religion. But the underlying ingrediant is the same.

44

[quote]Majin wrote:
Just because ‘we’ may have a purpose doesn’t mean you or I have a purpose. Our purpose could be as simple as being alive, being this force of planet Earth, being life in general. Our purpose as a whole, not as individuals. And we may be fulfilling it whatever we do, as long as we technologically advance and spread.

[/quote]

George Carlin suggested that our ‘collective’ purpose was to create plastic. FOr some unfathomable reason the planet wanted plastic and so evolved a species capable of creating it. Now that there is an abundance of plastic that will last until the end of time and beyond the planet no longer needs us. That is why we are facing extinction.

45

[quote]Scotacus wrote:
duke wrote:
I don’t subscribe to your point of view, but that’s the beauty of free choice, we each can choose our beliefs, and therefore determine our own purpose in life.

I stated mine, and there’s nothing wrong with yours.

Thats odd, since (assuming you are Christian) your religion says the exact, diametrical opposite.

It is said that the worst thing about Christians is that they are hypocrites – that is, they dont do what they believe. I would say the best thing about Christians is that they dont really believe what they claim.

Also your first post on god=purpose is false logic, you assume the very thing you claim to prove, in keeping with the logic of your religion.

(please note, Im not flaming you, this is just for sake of discussion)[/quote]

It’s important to remember that just because a person claims to be Christian doesn’t mean they really are. Just like a person claiming to be a bodybuilder or a doctor isn’t necessary one either. Those people that went out killing nations for the sake of God and Christ aren’t Christians. And people that preach the Bible but have no love in their hearts for other people aren’t Christians either.

The biggest mistake I see people make in trying to understand religion and life is they think about it too logically. It makes no difference if you’re an educated genius or a bushman in the jungle. We all have equal ability to discern spiritual things if we seek them. If you seek God, meaning, purpose with only your brain, then you’re on a doomed quest.

46

Someone asked what was wrong with just being. And this is a valid question. No one who was happy and content ever bothered to consider the Meaning of Life, and rightly so. However, if you do find yourself muddled up in what the hell the purpose of life could be, follow this presription: get over yourself and get involved in something greater than yourself: a relationship, a community, an idea that demands involvment and not just contemplation.

It can be anything you desire, really. You will find your anxieties about Purpose and Meaning will melt away.

47

[quote]Captain Ron wrote:
Scotacus wrote:
duke wrote:
I don’t subscribe to your point of view, but that’s the beauty of free choice, we each can choose our beliefs, and therefore determine our own purpose in life.

I stated mine, and there’s nothing wrong with yours.

Thats odd, since (assuming you are Christian) your religion says the exact, diametrical opposite.

It is said that the worst thing about Christians is that they are hypocrites – that is, they dont do what they believe. I would say the best thing about Christians is that they dont really believe what they claim.

Also your first post on god=purpose is false logic, you assume the very thing you claim to prove, in keeping with the logic of your religion.

(please note, Im not flaming you, this is just for sake of discussion)

It’s important to remember that just because a person claims to be Christian doesn’t mean they really are. Just like a person claiming to be a bodybuilder or a doctor isn’t necessary one either. Those people that went out killing nations for the sake of God and Christ aren’t Christians. And people that preach the Bible but have no love in their hearts for other people aren’t Christians either.

The biggest mistake I see people make in trying to understand religion and life is they think about it too logically. It makes no difference if you’re an educated genius or a bushman in the jungle. We all have equal ability to discern spiritual things if we seek them. If you seek God, meaning, purpose with only your brain, then you’re on a doomed quest.[/quote]

I made no reference to people killing in the name of their god(s) so you are addressing a discussion that does not exist.

I studied the tenets of Christianity, seriously, for years. “Its” greatest ideas (concerning brotherhood, love etc, that you allude to) predate it. Its only claim to “legitimacy” is the uniqueness of the Christ, a carry-on from the “chosen nation” theme.

If you need the delusion that you go someplace special after you die (and who doesnt from time to time) then by all means subscribe to a god that offers such a plan. But the idea that CHristianity, even in its purest form, invented concepts of brotherhood, sisterhood, love, compassion etc etc is simply, historically, wrong.

48

I?m really glad I read this post. I?ve been thinking a lot about this lately and that story really hit close to home. I remember when my mom told me my dad had died and the look of fear in her eyes, ever since then I?ve always had trouble finding a point to it all.

Thank you for sharing this

49

First off, great thread with a lot of insight. This question has plagued man for as long as he has been aware of life’s brutality and fleeting nature. Or is it a blessing, and not a curse, to be conscious enough to contemplate that life might actually hold a deeper meaning for us, that we aren’t just animals placed on this planet to eat and procreate.

Countless philosophers have addressed this, trying to resolve the conflict, all coming up with different conclusions. I’ve been bothered by this question for a long time, have read Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Camus, Sartre, etc. trying to get a better handle on it, all to no avail.

Duke alluded to Nietzche’s quote that “He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how.” but the question for me, and I believe for most people, lies in finding the WHY. The more I struggle to find what I’m searching for, the further away from it I get, like being in quicksand or fighting against a losing trade in the market, and it’s at those times that I think of the following quote to ground myself again.

It gets me on the right path to successfully coping with life’s unanswerable questions.
Don’t aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue… as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.–Viktor Frankl

50

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Pauli D wrote:
Suspended simply by grace, I am content for anything to happen.

Not my words, but an interesting and worthwhile outlook nonetheless.

Contentedness not in the sense of passivity, not in the sense of submissive or weak-minded compliance, but simply content and quite grateful for all that has happened, all that has not and for all the potential and possibility that lies ahead.

Very well written, Professor X.

Peace

Do you think many people even realize that there may be a reason to be “grateful”?[/quote]

I suppose most folks have moments of entitlement and control as well as moments of helplessness and despair…

“Thankful” is probably the “mean between extremes” and sort of comes and goes, I would think.

It’s quite another thing to “live” there though…isn’t it? -to live in that sense of peace and contentedness?

To live in that peace and contentedness takes more strength than most can muster, I’m afraid.

peace

51

[quote]
Don’t aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue… as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.–Viktor Frankl[/quote]

Worth remembering.

52

Great thread Prof. I think about these things as well and for me personally, I am here to carve out my piece of this world. I do not expect anyone to give me anything but somehow someway with hard work, dedication and honor I plan to better myself physically, emotionally, spirtitually and intellectually.

I want to make my folks proud and surpass my mom and dad’s great achievements. I intend to raise my kids with that same mindset to better themselves to the point they surpass those who came before then.

I apply these same principles when it comes to the iron game as for me it builds discipine, character and integrity.

A

53

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:

It is like having a restless soul.

Thats what drives me to seek and adapt.

[/quote]

I can totally relate. Very good analogy.

54

I will say this - Its an ass like the chick has in the powerfull images thread that make life worth living :wink:

55

[quote]Pauli D wrote:
To live in that peace and contentedness takes more strength than most can muster, I’m afraid.

peace
[/quote]

It takes nothing short of an acceptance of our own personal fears, acknowledging them, and then relegating them to “un-useful” status. I’ve found that my strength comes from the inner peace and contentedness, not vise versa.

A wise person once stated we are nothing but shadows and dust. When any one of us explores this idea in toto, then are we opened to the best of our own possibility and potential.

56

[quote]Amsterdam Animal wrote:
Great thread Prof. I think about these things as well and for me personally, I am here to carve out my piece of this world. I do not expect anyone to give me anything but somehow someway with hard work, dedication and honor I plan to better myself physically, emotionally, spirtitually and intellectually.

I want to make my folks proud and surpass my mom and dad’s great achievements. I intend to raise my kids with that same mindset to better themselves to the point they surpass those who came before then.

I apply these same principles when it comes to the iron game as for me it builds discipine, character and integrity.

A [/quote]

AA, honor, pride and integrity… these are but labels. Don’t get caught up in lables, lest you miss out on the sublime mysteries of life. Say, something so inconsequetial as a cherry blossom. So delicate, so transient. Certainly something cherishable, no? The blossom has no pride or honor. Yet it has immeasurable value.

57

I’m of the opinion that the universe [God, Allah, Zues or whatever You want to believe] has laid predetermined paths in front of us, but it’s up to us to choose wich paths we take.

58

Gotta disagree with you there without getting into a pissing match. They are not just labels to me, they are principles and values I live my life by. Life’s mysteries are great but I could give two shits about the cherry blossoms and how sublime they are. They dont do anything to turn me into the kind of man and person I aspire to be.

A

[quote]kroby wrote:
Amsterdam Animal wrote:
Great thread Prof. I think about these things as well and for me personally, I am here to carve out my piece of this world. I do not expect anyone to give me anything but somehow someway with hard work, dedication and honor I plan to better myself physically, emotionally, spirtitually and intellectually.

I want to make my folks proud and surpass my mom and dad’s great achievements. I intend to raise my kids with that same mindset to better themselves to the point they surpass those who came before then.

I apply these same principles when it comes to the iron game as for me it builds discipine, character and integrity.

A

AA, honor, pride and integrity… these are but labels. Don’t get caught up in lables, lest you miss out on the sublime mysteries of life. Say, something so inconsequetial as a cherry blossom. So delicate, so transient. Certainly something cherishable, no? The blossom has no pride or honor. Yet it has immeasurable value.[/quote]

59

[quote]Skuebb wrote:
jsbrook wrote:
I think we’re here 1. to enjoy life as much as possible and 2. to leave the world a little bit better in some way than we found it. What else could it be?

Years ago, I quit a job. On my last day, my peers, who I thought I had no effect on, gave me a card.

It quoted Emerson:
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

They talked about how I’d had a positive impact. I remember it like yesterday. And like you, this is enough of a purpose for me.

[/quote]

Yup.

Cheers,

Justin

60

[quote]Scotacus wrote:

If you need the delusion that you go someplace special after you die (and who doesnt from time to time) then by all means subscribe to a god that offers such a plan. But the idea that CHristianity, even in its purest form, invented concepts of brotherhood, sisterhood, love, compassion etc etc is simply, historically, wrong.[/quote]

Nah, those things weren’t invented. They’ve always been in existence.