What is the true purpose of our life here on Earth?

[Onesoul]

Life is a long journey of discovery, wherein each person must meet - and love - themselves, overcome their own fears, and learn the truth about loving. It is a process of perfecting the innate, God-given beauty of the Soul.

 

This is our purpose in life.

[Dark Mind]

Trying to attain perfection? Seems a little ambiguous and extremely difficult. Well, hell, maybe it isn't very difficult (The amibiguity could make it a very simple purpose.). I'm sure there are loads of people who think they and their soul are perfect just the way they are... Because God, in all His omniscience, made each and every one of us "perfect".

 

I like my idea of our purpose being to create a purpose for our life.

 

And I'm perfectly okay with that being your purpose for your life, but I created this thread mainly to find out what other people thought could be a "broad" approach at explaining what purpose is for humans in general.

 

...Not the purpose of life for believers.

[Ananke]

Life is a pointless waste of time, with no meaning and no purpose. It consists of an endless, tedious series of irritations and annoyances, and is marked by a constant and largely futile attempt to distract oneself from boredom. To paraphrase that fat waste churchill, life is the worst possible state of being, apart from all the alternatves.

[InfiniteNow]

Time can't be wasted, it expires at the same rate for everyone!

While I follow and mostly agree with the tone of your post, the (second part of the) above statement is not true. Time is relative, and passes differently for objects in different frames of reference. It has been theorized conceptually, demonstrated and repeated empirically, and is generally referred to with the term dilation.

 

Curiously, defining the concept of "wasting time" is also relative to the observer. :D

 

 

Cheers. :evil:

[eye on the skies]

Alright, now i know that just about everyone on here is going to disagree with me, but what i think is the true purpose of our life is simply to love eachother. Think about, that's all anyone really needs. if we love eachother and contribute acts of love and kindness to everyone around, we'll all be fine, and happy too because, honestly, what else in the world really matters?

[InfiniteNow]

Alright, now i know that just about everyone on here is going to disagree with me, but what i think is the true purpose of our life is simply to love eachother. Think about, that's all anyone really needs.

 

The Beatles beat you to it! :evil:

 

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/alluneed.htm

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.

Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.

It's easy.

 

Nothing you can make that can't be made.

No one you can save that can't be saved.

Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.

It's easy.

[Turtle]

On the contrary, I think that just about NOBODY is going to disagree with you - well, not individually, anyhow!

I intended to, then decided not, but now I will.:lol: On the grounds of my earlier reply here, love is just a form of efficiency. Cardioid anyone? ;)

[eye on the skies]

that doesn't mean it isn't true....

[dr_roose]

Hi All,

 

The following is a chapter which I have lifted from my book "The Fifth Revolution" It is a little long for a post perhaps, but then you did not expect "the True Purpose of our Life here on Earth? to be a oneliner, did you?

 

THE FIFTH REVOLUTION

The Dawn the Age of Wisdom

 

The Purpose of Human Life

 

I would like to humbly suggest that if a given, factually provable, undeniable Purpose of Life were to be discovered, considering the vast amounts of human effort, and the vast amounts of wealth and resources that have been expended over the past 200,000 years by humanity in pursuit of the Purpose of Life, it would be the greatest discovery in all of human history. Such a discovery would give humanity something it has lacked for all of human history; a sound, rock solid foundation on which it could build a civilization which would be capable of lasting indefinitely; and a sound, rock solid foundation on which human morality could be based forever. I would also like to suggest even more humbly that I, through fortunate circumstances not of my own making, have made that discovery. I would like to very humbly present my finding in the following paragraphs for your consideration.

 

Since Life first appeared on Earth approximately 3.8 billion years ago only a teeny, tiny fraction of all the life forms have exhibited any form of intelligence. Over the 3.8 billion year history of life on planet Earth the only truly intelligent life form appears during only the last 200,000 years, humans. Even during the 200,000 years of intelligent life, the ratio in population of intelligent life to non-intelligent life is on the order of 1 to a few trillion. The overwhelming mass of life on the planet consists of single celled organisms like viruses and bacteria. Even multi-celled organisms such as plants, insects, fish, reptiles and lower order mammals far, far outnumber the human population.

 

It is extremely important to our understanding of the Purpose of Life to note that all life forms on Earth are made up of the same basic elements, hydrogen, carbon, iron, oxygen and a few other trace elements. The only differences between all life forms are the ways in which differing amounts of the basic raw materials are arranged. It is also extremely important to note that the way all different life forms function in order to survive is also entirely dependent on the arrangement of these same basic elements. All life forms, including humans for the first few months of life, function according to their built in, hardwired “instinct”. This arrangement of the basic elements dictates not only how an organism looks, its physical characteristics but also the ways in which the organism behaves. It determines how and what it takes into itself for nourishment. It determines how the organism senses itself and its surroundings, and how it reacts to its environment. Finally the arrangement of the basic raw elements determines how and when the organism will reproduce itself. It is this, usually final, act which defines life as we know it, the ability to reproduce one or more copies of itself.

 

The single most important thing to realize is that all life forms on Earth, except one, function throughout their entire lives without any “choice” in any part of their life cycle. Their life history is written in the way the basic raw elements of life are arranged. Whether they survive to reproduce is purely a matter of ability and chance!

 

Humans different from other life forms in the far greater abilities the arrangement of the basic raw elements gives us. A large part of these greater abilities is the intelligence which gives humans the ability to “choose” courses of action which give us a better probability of survival than pure chance would dictate.

 

The function (i.e. arrangement of basic raw elements) of every life form on Earth is to survive to reproduce. Of this point there is absolutely no question, it is in fact the way we define life. As a matter of fact, the only function any life form on earth, save one, ever performed was to survive and reproduce. For most life forms the act of reproduction is the final act of the organism. The organism reproduces and dies.

 

Now there is some debate about whether function and purpose is the same thing. But most people would agree that if a thing has but a single function, then that things purpose is the same as its function. My online dictionary defines “purpose” as “something set up as an object or end to be attained”. The same dictionary defines “function” in part as “the action for which a person or thing is specially fitted or used, or for which a thing exists”. The parts “specially fitted” and “for which a thing exists” very strongly imply “end to be obtained” so I believe it is no stretch to say that life, in performing it “function” over 3.8 billion years has also been fulfilling its “purpose”. All except one single life form on Earth simply has no option but to fulfill its purpose because it had no other capabilities. Humans are the only life form which can choose whether or not to reproduce.

 

Many of you will see a flaw in this argument in that “something set up” implies the question “who set it up?” This question could lead us into the quagmire of religion and the question of “God”, but I am not going to go there yet. If you believe the universe and Planet Earth were created by a Creator, then the answer to the question “who set it up?” is that Creator. If you believe the Universe just happened or is just one of many Universes then you must fall back on the fact that intelligent life cannot exist without purpose. In either case I would hope that you read on to see if the Purpose of Life and the consequences that I propose make sense to you.

 

To prove that intelligent life cannot exist without Purpose we need only glimpse at human history to see and realize that the extraordinary lengths humans have gone to could only have been accomplished if the end objective (i.e. “The Purpose of Life”) was absolutely necessary. The extraordinary cost humans have been willing to pay to support and enforce their faith in one of the many, many different Answers that have been proposed as the Answer to the Purpose of Life is astounding,

 

Unless we are religious fanatics, in the quietness of our own soul each of us knows that the faith we have in what ever Higher Power our religion taught us to believe in is a power we use to avoid the stark reality that we do not know with any certainly what life is all about. We know we cannot prove the existence of our Higher Power any more than anyone else can prove that our Higher Power does not exist. We cling to our faith because it provides us with answers to otherwise unanswerable questions that have confounded mankind for as long as pre-humans and humans have walked upright on the face of the Earth for some 2,000,000 years. Our faith shines a light into the dark, very scary jungle inhabited by Dragons, Beast and Devils that only our imagination can conger up; and where no other light can reach. It gives us hope for a better future where the woes which beset mankind are forbidden, and where peace, prosperity, contentment, happiness and love prevail. Our faith in our Higher Power’s strength to protect us from the Dragons, Beast and Devils is a necessary instinctual mechanism of our brains that prevents us from being overwhelmed by our fears, for there is no other protection possible from these aberrations, save our faith in a Higher Power. Our faith in a Higher Power’s ability to lead us to that better place where peace, prosperity, contentment, happiness and love prevail is also a necessary instinctual mechanism of our brains that allows us to face the stark reality of our mortality and the finality of our eventual journey into the Great Unknown we call Death. The tenants and teachings of our religion are the guidepost we use in our everyday life to give order and continuity to our life even in the midst of disorder and chaos, and this too is a necessary instinctual mechanism of our brains.

 

According to Will and Amy Durant’s 11 volume “Story of Civilization” there have been over 2500 different religions practiced by past civilizations in all different parts of the world. In fact, to the best of my knowledge no human society or civilization except “communism” and “socialism” (and even these are religions of a sort in that they are based on the philosophy or scientific reasoning that the common good of humanity is the Purpose of Life.) has ever existed which did not have as its moral foundation a religion underpinning of some sort. Moreover, religion and its enforcement and/or propagation has been the major obsession and consumer of mankind’s wealth, resources, physical efforts and sacrifice of human life since pre-humans first walked upright on the savannas of Africa some 2 million years ago. Could humans have sacrificed so much for so long unless the objective was a basic, universal, instinctual need of humanity? I think not!

 

The stark reality of human religion is that all religions are interchangeable! The God or Goddess or Gods and/or Goddesses of different religions are different; The Good Books, the tenants and teachings of different religions may be different from one another. But… all religions accomplish the same thing. Religion fulfills the basic, universal, instinctual need of all humans for a Higher Power, something beyond human capability, to protect us from our all too real, inescapable fear of the unknowable unknown.

 

The absolute, unavoidable fact of “Death”, that realization of our inescapable mortality and the “finality” of our eventual end, is another reason that a Purpose of Life is necessary for human existence. The human Answer to Purpose has always been to allow humans to approach and accept the inevitable reality of Death with dignity, peace and even joy. Death according to the Laws of Nature is necessary and inevitable for all living things. It is the final sacrifice we humans make in the fulfillment of the Purpose of Life; we pass on to make room for the new generations of humans comfortable in the knowledge that we have, to the best of our abilities fulfilled the Purpose of Life. We need not have accomplished our life Purpose with perfection, we are after all only human and humans are never perfect. It is a fact that all human mistakes are, at there most basic cause, the result of ignorance the mistake maker is unaware of. There is no such thing as “Sin”, there is only ignorance. Nor should we fear punishment in the afterlife for such retribution for ignorance is illogical in the extreme and the Laws of Nature which ultimately define all aspects of life are not illogical in any way. Rather in our autumn years we should look forward to the end. Death is after all nothing but eternal peaceful sleep without care, responsibility or strife. Death is by definition that place where all human suffering and evil is forbidden; and where Peace reigns supreme for all eternity. Death is also the only possible way we will ever find out if a Creator exists or not. Death is the only possible escape from the boundaries and limitations the Laws of Nature impose on humans; and it may just possibly for us to enter that Greater Universe where the Creator resides and finally know the true Nature of the Creator.

 

That the Purpose of Life is so crucial to human existence gives rise to the question… “why have human societies failed to live up to the promise of what is so fundamental to human existence; or to provide that most fundamental yearning of all human souls for peace, prosperity and happiness? Most human societies have been able to provide these things to part of the society most of the time, and to large parts of some societies for relatively long periods of time. But in the end, all past civilization, small and large, have failed and fallen into decay and vanished from the face of the Earth forever.

 

The reason all civilizations have failed in the past is that the foundation on which they have been built was not a foundation based on any substantial human reality. All past civilizations and our present civilizations have been built on a foundation of religion. We can see clearly the fallacy of building a civilization on such an unstable foundation if we realize that there have been over 2,500 different religious foundations on which human’s civilizations have been built; civilizations which have lasted for hundreds and even thousands of years.

 

All religions claim in some way to have a direct connection to some form of God, some as direct descendents from God, some by having been created in the image of God and some by divine inspiration and/or intervention by God. Are there indeed over 2,500 different Gods and Goddesses existing somewhere, looking over, inspiring and guiding human activity? I doubt any sane human will entertain this idea as even remotely possible. Is it possible there exists but one God who in its infinite wisdom has chosen to confound humans by inspiring so many different concepts of God in so many different places, with such dire consequences over such a long period time as humanity has existed? Again most sane humans would reject this notion as illogical at best. Such a God would need a twisted (in human sensibility) sense of humor, a sense of humor far, far beyond human comprehension. And thereby make any search for the true Purpose of Life pointless and doomed to failure by definition.

 

Is it possible that the one and only God allowed all these other concepts of God to flourish, but did choose and inspire one and only one society as the Chosen People with the one and only “True” concept of God? I would point out that this notion is universal among all religions and in reality makes about as much sense as there actually existing 2,500 different Gods. Think about it, if God is good and just in the same sense as humans naturally and instinctively think of good and just; and if God intended humans to be good and just in this instinctive way, wouldn’t this be an illogical way for God to expect humans to achieve goodness and justice? No human society has ever proposed any other concept than a logical God which intends goodness and justice to prevail among human society (or at least among the chosen people), so we must logically reject this latter notion.

 

Let us, as an exercise, take a blank slate and list what every human instinctively knows about God and see if we can create a concept of God and human reality which is based on human reality rather than human imagination; bearing in mind as we do so that our only understanding of human reality is based on our understanding of the Laws of Nature which are the definition of what is possible and what is not possible in this Universe.…

 

1. We exist in a Universe which prior to about 14.5 billion years ago simply did not exist. Through our understanding of the Laws of Nature we know that the Universe was created 14.5 billion years ago in an event we call the “Big Bang”, where all of the matter/energy in the Universe was contained in an infinitesimally small point in space and then exploded and expanded over the intervening 14.5 billion into the glory we now see in our night sky.

 

2. We do not know nor is it possible for humans to ever know what, if anything existed before the Big Bang. It may be possible (i.e. is not forbidden by the Laws of Nature) that human souls, but not human individuals, may possibly find out but this can occur only after death, for we are by definition, no longer human after death but simply a collection of simple elements which decay back into the dust we came from.

 

3. Our solar system, along with the planet Earth, was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago just as many, many solar systems have formed throughout the Universe. Over the intervening 4.6 billion years until now, Life arose and evolved according to the Laws of Nature into the wonderful proliferation of life we now experience.

 

4. Everything which has happened, is happening or will ever happen in the Universe is according to the Laws of Nature. Everything, including the development of an intelligent life form like humans was preordained in at the moment of the Big Bang. What the Laws of Nature allow is possible, and given enough time, inevitable.

 

5. There is nothing in the Laws of Nature which suggest or requires any human morality beyond the use of “logic” as a primary survival mechanism.

 

6. Morality, God, any afterlife and even the Purpose of Life are the products of human imagination and as such are not any more real than we choose to make them. While intelligent life was preordained at the instant of the Big Bang, moral intelligent life was not. There is simply nothing in the Laws of Nature which require any morality as is demonstrated by the profusion of life on this planet which survives and propagates without any moral considerations or consequences what so ever.

 

7. Morality and a Purpose of Life are a requirement for human existence, survival and propagation because of the greater capability bestowed upon us by the Laws of Nature. By being gifted (some may think cursed) with the ability to understand the Laws of Nature and the future they define for humanity puts upon us the responsibility to strive toward a Purpose in a moral way which allows every individual human to contribute to the very best of their capability toward the success of the human species ability to survive and propagate even beyond the life cycle of our solar system. No individual human can hope to succeed in the Purpose of Life unless the human species as a whole succeeds in the Purpose of Life.

 

8. In order to be successful the only thing the Laws of Nature require of any living organism is that they, as a species, survive to propagate the species.

 

From the foregoing it clear that for humans, as it is for all life forms, the only single, logical, provable and undeniable Purpose of Life is to reproduce and propagate the species!

 

This being the case, Children are the human Purpose of Life. They are the only reason for our existence. Any other Purpose pales to insignificance when compared to our Children. We have absolutely no future without them. If we fail to raise them and teach them correctly, then we burden them with a task they are not prepared for and therefore not able to perform. We doom them as unworthy citizens of the next generation. We prevent them from ever realizing their full potential as humans.

 

At this point some readers may figuratively be slapping their foreheads and exclaiming "I knew that!" but a great many other readers may be wanting to slap me up along side of my head and exclaim "I knew that Dummy, everybody knows that!". And both groups would be right. We all instinctively know that children are the purpose of life. Is there any joy in the world that can compare with the joy a new mother experiences when for the first time she holds her infant against her breast and feels that first instinctual life effort to survive by suckling. Can you picture an awe or wonder that can match the awe and wonder a new father feels as he first holds his infant in his arms and realizes that "This is mine, this is my responsibility for the rest of my life!".

 

In every human society since the first pre-human walked up right on the savannas of Africa 2 million years ago, human infants have been welcomed into the world with unconditional love from all members of the society, be it tribal or city society.

 

Unfortunately when mankind first started to settle into villages and towns; and began the first necessary efforts to go from savage to civility, Mankind some how forgot to include the children in these first efforts at finding "Peace and Goodwill" for all mankind. Humanity has never looked back on those humble beginnings, but instead has continually strived to improve mankind’s condition, always forgetting the importance of the children.

 

Perhaps it is most important to our understanding of the Purpose of Life being to correctly raise and educate our children that this Purpose is the only Purpose for humans suggested by our understanding of the Laws of Nature. The Laws of Nature made it inevitable that that an intelligent being like humans would evolve somewhere in the Universe; and that the intelligent being would be able to and would question its existence in the Universe. If the Universe were indeed created by an all Powerful Being, a Creator if you will, then that Creator must have intended that humans be able to understand the Laws of Nature because we can and do understand the Laws of Nature. Since the Laws of Nature came into existence at the instant of Creation with the Big Bang; and if indeed the Creator exists and Created the Universe with some intended Purpose, then the Laws of Nature must be accepted as being directly from the Creator and any message the Creator intended for humans must be contained within the Laws of Nature. They are, after all, the only undeniable, constant, inviolate thing which exists in this Universe. Does it make any difference whether or not the Creator exists? It does not! The Laws of Nature exists whether created for some intended Purpose of not. The Laws of Nature are for all intents and purpose of humans, the “Word Of God” regardless of whether that God exist or not. They are the one and only “Higher Power”; that undeniable, constant and inviolate Power humanity has yearned for and sought for so long; and which humanity so desperately needs.

 

It is interesting to note that this understanding of the Purpose of Life also leads us to some other answers to other questions which perplex humans. For instance the question debated by evolutionist and creationist about how such a complex thing such as intelligent life could arise from the chaos and disorder of the earlier Earth without divine intervention is answered once and for all by the fact that the Laws of Nature, which were instituted with the Big Band 14.5 billion years ago; and which control and/or limit every single aspect of the Universe since the beginning to the present; predict that, given the age of the Universe, intelligent life was inevitable and was preordained in the first instant of the Big Band. There never was any need for divine intervention. What ever the Laws of Nature allow will occur given enough time. The proof of that is that we exists even though there is not a single solitary shred of evidence anywhere to suggest divine intervention in our creation.

 

Another question answered by this understanding of the Purpose of Life is “Why does a Good and Just Creator allow so much Evil and resulting suffering on Earth?” The answer is that the Creator neither allows nor forbids Evil. We Humans were given the capability for preventing Evil by our ability to understand the Purpose of Life and the suggestions therein as to the proper course of human activity required to prevent Evil. It must be clear to anyone interested that Evil is a human practice and that the Evil mankind practices impede mankind’s ability to obtain the True Purpose of Life.

 

To appreciate the profundity of this Purpose of Life for humans you must appreciate how different this Purpose is from all of the other purposes on which human civilizations has been built.

 

If we accept reproduction as the Purpose of Life then children become the single most important thing in any and all human activities. If we consider children as the fundamental and ultimate Purpose of Life, then the whole shape of human society changes in dramatic ways. In order to appreciate how drastically different things could be consider this…

 

What if every human decision, every personal decision, every business decision, every government decision and every religious decision made by humans were based first on the single overriding criteria of “Is it good for the children of Earth?” Think about it for a while and then think about human history and take a long hard look at the society you now live in and ask yourself… How many truly historically significant human decisions have ever been made on the single overriding criterion of “Is it good for the children of Earth?” How many places in human history can you see where the good of all children has been ignored and even scorned? How many places in your society can you see where the good of the children is ignored. How many sermons have you ever heard telling you your primary Purpose in Life was the care of not just your children, but of all children? Has any human society ever set as the primary objective of the society as a whole, the nourishment, care, teaching and raising of all of the children?

 

If we, as a society, understood that raising our children properly and making it possible for each one of them to reach their full potential as human beings was the highest calling a human could reach for, could we ever contemplate sending them out to fight and kill other children and be killed by other children in war? To me the thought is ludicrous in the extreme. And yet, human societies have been doing this over and over again since before the dawn of human civilization.

 

When we apply the Purpose of Life to humans, it becomes so much more than just breeding and birthing children. Birth is just the beginning, the way children are raised sets the foundation on which tomorrow’s society will be built and we humans have been building crumbling foundations for society since the first cities were built.

 

The Purpose of Life being the propagation of the species poses a special problem for humans that no other life form has. It presents humans with a task so Herculean that it may even be impossible. The fact is that life on the Planet Earth is “finite”! Life cannot continue forever on Planet Earth. Someday, perhaps in some far distant future or maybe not so far distant, the Earth will no longer be able to support life. This is a universally known in the human scientific community and this fact is undeniable. At some point the Earth will no longer be able to support life as we know it!

 

There are many, many scenarios for how all life on Planer Earth could end. The possibility of each scenario is small but taken together and given enough time, the probability of one or more scenario actually happening is “ONE”! The end of Life on Planet Earth is inevitable, and there is nothing humans can do to prevent it. This is what Stephen HHawkins said on a television concerning the end of life on Earth.

 

The only way for humans to insure the propagation of the species, the only way for humans to truly and ultimately fulfill the Purpose of Life is for humans to colonize other planets orbiting other stars. Mankind’s only sure future lies in outer space.

 

The colonizing of another planet orbiting some far distant stat is a task so huge that it will take the organized efforts of the entire population of Erath, working together toward a single objective, coupled with the expenditure of a large portion of the resources of this solar system to achieve, if it is even possible at all.

 

Here is a task for Heroes!

 

If the human race is to fulfill the Purpose of Life, it must put aside all of its petty geopolitical, racial and religious squabbling and come together as a single society, with all individual citizens working together toward a single all consuming objective. For unless mankind does so, it will fail the Purpose of Life and disappear into the dust bin of history as just any another extinct species! A single world society, with a single world wide political system and a single world wide religion is not an option for humanity, it is an absolute necessity!

 

In the following chapters I will examine the ways in which knowing, accepting and fulfilling the Purpose of Life can lead to a single, better human society and a far, far better future for the whole human race.

 

You can read the rest of my book online.

 

Thanks,

 

dr. Richard C. Roose

 

There is but one, single all encompassing criterion for all human decisions - Is it good for the Children of Earth?

[freeztar]

Hey doc, welcome to Hypography.

 

Please note that Hypography does not allow spam in the forums. Your first two posts here have promoted your book and that can be viewed as spam. I'm sure many members would be interested in what you have to say in your book, but please take the time to get to know the forum and its members first. Stick around for a while and get involved in some of the many discussions here. This lets us know that you did not join just to promote your book. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to send me or any other moderator a private message. Thanks

 

Also, the post above is much too long for the average reader. Adding to the discussion in small, but meaningful ways will encourage more people to read what you post, imho.

[jedaisoul]

Hi All, The following is a chapter which I have lifted from my book "The Fifth Revolution" It is a little long for a post perhaps, but then you did not expect "the True Purpose of our Life here on Earth? to be a oneliner, did you?

 

[snip]

 

From the foregoing it clear that for humans, as it is for all life forms, the only single, logical, provable and undeniable Purpose of Life is to reproduce and propagate the species!

 

This being the case, Children are the human Purpose of Life.

Actually, your answer was a one-liner "Children are the human Purpose of Life". I just had to wade though a lot of verbiage to find it. :Alien:

 

No, but seriously, I do not get your conclusion that just because propagation of the species is what most lifeforms DO, that that is necessarily their purpose. I could just as easily argue that the purpose of the non-intelligent life is to provide an environment in which intelligent life could flourish and prosper. In that case, isn't identifying the Purpose of Life of intelligent species as being to procreate like an unintelligent one, setting the bar a little low?

[ldsoftwaresteve]

So, excuse me while I go exercise that purpose.

Without a clear understanding of life, how do we propose to understand its purpose?

I think it's related to the fact that only life is able to perceive change. A rock just goes through an infinite number of nows.

Why does that ring a bell?

[dr_roose]

Hi ldsoftwaresteve, What do you not understand about life?

 

dr. Roose

[ldsoftwaresteve]

Hi ldsoftwaresteve, What do you not understand about life?

 

dr. Roose

 

How is it different than a rock? How do I know that a rock is not 'alive'?

 

I happen to think it's related to the fact that life is able to, or seems to be able to anyway, sustain 'moments', 'nows', internally. We then create the concept of time to glue those moments together. Thus we come to understand existence as it relates to the changes between moments.

 

But a rock is probably not able to 'know' that it just had a large chunk taken out of it by that other rock which slammed into it a moment before. It simply is what it is, now.

 

But I'm not certain about any of this. I just bring it up because it seems we all argue without reference to the fundamentals, and in this case what life is seems to be such a fundamental.

 

Time is also another of those fundamental things that we seem to take for granted, as though we thoroughly understand it. And in time's case, we believe in it so completely that we project it into existence in spite of the fact that nobody has ever been able to point to something and say, 'that is time'. Time is a concept of consciousness and is intricately tied to life, perception (of change) and all of human 'knowledge'. I only mention it here because any solid definition of life would have to address the concept of awareness and that implies awareness of change and change triggers the concept of time.

 

So, all we have to do is unravel those gordian knots first, okay? Then we can deal with purpose. Or, perhaps that is the purpose, eh?

[Moontanman]

To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women. :)

[modest]

We add layers of icky decomposing goo to the surface of the planet.

 

In all seriousness, I do agree with some of your conclusions Dr. Rose. The purpose of life is to live. Ultimately that means procreation, adaptation, intelligence... and all the other stuff.

 

~modest

[lemit]

I like Idsoftwaresteve's parable of the rock.

 

As an existentialist, I think we're closer to the rock than we should ever admit. Our purpose is to persevere. But that's not much fun. So, our purpose is to persevere and to improve the space in which we live. That's not much fun either. So, our purpose is to choose to enjoy improving the space in which we live. That's still not much fun, but it contains the basic concept: we should choose to enjoy life, whether it earns that enjoyment or not.

 

That's what my other posts in other forums (which I always want to call "fora") will always attempt to portray. We should always find beauty, truth, love, and especially humor wherever we can. The rest will take care of itself.

 

--lemit

 

p.s. This level of self-examination isn't fun. Why do we do it?