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Theme Changer

 Topic: What is the point to life?

 (Read 6968 times)
  • 12 Next page « Previous thread | Next thread »
  • What is the point to life?
     OP - February 06, 2011, 12:08 AM
    You see, when I was religious, the point to my life was to please Allah and go to heaven. However, now that I am Atheist life doesn't have a point. I am not depressed by any means and I am not suicidal (so don't worry  Tongue). I was just thinking to myself one day and.... what's the point? Once I die life is over and I won't exist anymore. What was it all for?
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #1 - February 06, 2011, 12:12 AM
    There's no objective meaning to life. It's up to you to give your life meaning.
    19:46   <zizo>: hugs could pimp u into sex

    Quote from: yeezevee
    well I am neither ex-Muslim nor absolute 100% Non-Muslim.. I am fucking Zebra

  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #2 - February 06, 2011, 12:16 AM
    Yeah that is true... but meaningless lol. In my mind, whatever you come up with will be meaningless at the end!  AHHHHHH!!!!  Flaming mad
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #3 - February 06, 2011, 12:39 AM
    Quote from: Bobonaut on February 06, 2011, 12:08 AM
    You see, when I was religious, the point to my life was to please Allah and go to heaven. However, now that I am Atheist life doesn't have a point. I am not depressed by any means and I am not suicidal (so don't worry  Tongue). I was just thinking to myself one day and.... what's the point? Once I die life is over and I won't exist anymore. What was it all for?

    Yep, its a bummer.  No heaven, No hoories, Just maggots.
    My Book     news002       
    My Blog  pccoffee
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #4 - February 06, 2011, 12:40 AM
    Strange, I'm not depressed at all. Back to playing some CoD....
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #5 - February 06, 2011, 12:59 AM
    What is the object of life? The best answer to that is found in the philosopher Colin McGinn's work of whom I'm a fan. The question comes up in this timelesss conversation with Jonathan Miller at the 5:30 mark, but you owe it to yourself to watch the whole thing. If you don't I'm gonna do naughty things to you:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY98CIAH2v0&feature=related
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #6 - February 06, 2011, 01:38 AM
    I guess it depends on the individual, doesn't it?

    Now that I no longer live to please some form of sky daddy, I live for:

    1. Loved ones
    2. Experiences that await me in the future (since I'm still young)
    3. An opportunity to do something, probably something good or to leave your mark on the world (up to the individual to decide what this is)

    So basically embracing atheism doesn't necessarily mean life no longer has a point.
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #7 - February 07, 2011, 01:08 AM
    life:

    shine as bright as you can.. for as long as you can.. and if your lucky, you will light up someone else's way and warm someone else's heart

    nesrin.
    inspired by InternalCompass!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV9vdUjuWxc
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #8 - February 07, 2011, 08:58 AM
    Quote from: Bobonaut on February 06, 2011, 12:08 AM
    You see, when I was religious, the point to my life was to please Allah and go to heaven. However, now that I am Atheist life doesn't have a point. I am not depressed by any means and I am not suicidal (so don't worry  Tongue). I was just thinking to myself one day and.... what's the point? Once I die life is over and I won't exist anymore. What was it all for?


    That’s just you wanting to live forever. Without immortality, any life one lives can be seen as a short train trip that reaches no destination.

    But the survival instinct we are equipped with, can delude us, most of the time, into believing that the moment of our death will take all eternity to arrive. So you should be fine as long as your survival instinct is sharp and healthy.


    btw, have you watched the movie, the fountain?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US06NGTDbIA

    EDIT: to answer your question more specifically, the point of life is living itself, and you can't feel comfortable knowing this will end at some point... like i said, just let your survival instinct kick in and you shall be OK.

    btw, Jehova Witnesses belive that Hell, in the Bible, is only a metaphor for mortality. To Jehova Witnesses, dying without a chance of being able to experience the joy of living again is Hell.
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #9 - February 07, 2011, 11:09 AM
    Life is a journey not a destination. It begins from nothing and ends in nothing. But you can spoil an enjoyable journey by worrying about the destination.


    The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.
                                   Thomas Paine

    Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored !- Aldous Huxley
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #10 - February 07, 2011, 11:10 AM
    Quote from: Bobonaut on February 06, 2011, 12:16 AM
    Yeah that is true... but meaningless lol. In my mind, whatever you come up with will be meaningless at the end!  AHHHHHH!!!!  Flaming mad


    I sometimes think like this. Then I think, well, what do we mean by meaningless? Why can't something finite not have meaning to it?

    We have been taught that things can only have meaning if god gives them meaning. Take god out of the equation and we are now of the belief that there is no longer meaning. Even though we have stopped clinging to the belief in god we are still clinging to the belief that unless there is a god to give something meaning there can no longer be meaning.

    So anyway, on a good day, meaning for me is to search for inner happiness, to maintain inner happiness and to share that with the people you love. And that really is enough for me!
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #11 - February 07, 2011, 01:06 PM
    Quote from: nessrriinn on February 07, 2011, 01:08 AM
    life:

    shine as bright as you can.. for as long as you can.. and if your lucky, you will light up someone else's way and warm someone else's heart

    Well, nesrin, and all the others who are wrestling with this question: You and I alike know very well that this life is ultimately void of any meaning.. and THAT'S EXACTLY the point which could somehow bring me back to religion,- although at the moment, with my rational mind triumphing over my emotions, I know very well how religion is just a desperate attempt to fill in this void..
    Sometimes I think of other animals.. They don't think about such questions, yet (in wild) they are the most happy creatures on the world.. Same with certain humans living a very primitive life in the jungle, who don't think about the distant past or future.. Living their day,- just like the rest of the animals.. Perhaps, what they are doing is the only thing we can do to live our lives , as it has been proven by thousands of years of philosophy that trying to forge an answer to the problem is futile.
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #12 - February 07, 2011, 01:21 PM
    Quote from: hypocrucifier on February 07, 2011, 11:09 AM
    Life is a journey not a destination. It begins from nothing and ends in nothing. But you can spoil an enjoyable journey by worrying about the destination.


    the journey is spoiled simply by knowing that it will end, at some point in time, in nothing. Unless you are willing to pretend that this end is not going to come any time soon, you will lose all your drive to continue on your journey.
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #13 - February 07, 2011, 01:29 PM
    which is why humans felt the need to create an after-life. It's a large-scale coping mechanism.

    But all babies need to grow up sooner or later.
    "If intelligence is feminine... I would want that mine would, in a resolute movement, come to resemble an impious woman."
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #14 - February 07, 2011, 01:43 PM
    Quote from: debunker on February 07, 2011, 01:21 PM
    the journey is spoiled simply by knowing that it will end, at some point in time, in nothing. Unless you are willing to pretend that this end is not going to come any time soon, you will lose all your drive to continue on your journey.

    the journey is spoiled by choosing to spent it slaving away worshipping a sky-daddy whose existence is unproven. .. and fearing that if you slip up along the journey you will spend eternity burning in hell.
    "Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so." -- Bertrand Russell

    Baloney Detection Kit
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #15 - February 07, 2011, 01:50 PM
    Quote
    which is why humans felt the need to create an after-life. It's a large-scale coping mechanism.

    But all babies need to grow up sooner or later.


    actually we already have a great coping mechanism, it's called survival instinct. For if one keeps the certainity of death in front of their eyes all the time, their life will turn into hell, they will crumble and die. Survival instinct is what enables a make believe that this dark hour, although certain, is scheduled in the distant future, so far away as to be irrelevant anyway.

    and only babies are immature enough as to to pretend that they can handle it, the idea of ceasing to exist, that is.

    p.s. not all religionists believed in the after life.
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #16 - February 07, 2011, 01:54 PM
    Quote from: ateapotist on February 07, 2011, 01:43 PM
    the journey is spoiled by choosing to spent it slaving away worshipping a sky-daddy whose existence is unproven. .. and fearing that if you slip up along the journey you will spend eternity burning in hell.


    i'm not aware of any religion that says if you *slip* away you will spend eternity in Hell. But that's OFF TOPIC. Who said anything about religion? I was dicussing the notion of (im)mortality and its relationship to the OP. Let's not turn this into another debate about religion, please.
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #17 - February 07, 2011, 02:19 PM
    Quote
    actually we already have a great coping mechanism, it's called survival instinct.

    Apparently it's not that great...  

    Quote
    Survival instinct is what enables a make believe that this dark hour, although certain, is scheduled in the distant future, so far away as to be irrelevant anyway.

    What are the "survival instincts" of a terminally ill person? Do you not think that such a "make-belief" can be shaken under many different circumstances?

    Considering the need in many people to firmly believe in an afterlife without any evidence of its existence, we certainly cannot dismiss Ephemeral's claim.  What's ironic is that the following pitiful yet common presumption of yours only seems to validate her opinion:

    Quote
    only babies are immature enough as to to pretend that they can handle it, the idea of ceasing to exist, that is.

    Against the ruin of the world, there
    is only one defense: the creative act.

    -- Kenneth Rexroth
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #18 - February 07, 2011, 02:29 PM
    Quote from: debunker on February 07, 2011, 01:54 PM
    i'm not aware of any religion that says if you *slip* away you will spend eternity in Hell.

    Forget the notion of eternity, my point was really about the guilt of sinning that spoils the journey of a theist.  Even a very religious person cannot claim not to ever feel guilty.

    Quote from: debunker on February 07, 2011, 01:54 PM
    But that's OFF TOPIC. Who said anything about religion? I was dicussing the notion of (im)mortality and its relationship to the OP. Let's not turn this into another debate about religion, please.

    OK. Smiley  Sorry, I couldn't help bringing religion into the equation.  Religious people like to use this argument.  I remember my brother saying "if there is no pupose of life, then why live?"  Of course, to him the purpose of life is to worship Allah.  Quran: http://quran.com/51/56 "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me."
    "Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so." -- Bertrand Russell

    Baloney Detection Kit
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #19 - February 07, 2011, 02:40 PM
     What is the point to life?

    "The point of life is living to the fullest extent keeping Golden Rule in mind and in acts as far as possible"..  if you don't agree with it  "Fuck off"


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOyP44Xu5FA

    Life is interesting if you don't agree with it  "Fuck off"
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #20 - February 07, 2011, 02:49 PM
    @ arx

    Quote
    What are the "survival instincts" of a terminally ill person?

    For example, believing a miracle can happen, scientists discovering an antidote at the last minute, etc.

    Quote
    Do you not think that such a "make-belief" can be shaken under many different circumstances?

    Yes, of course.

    Quote
    Considering the need in many people to firmly believe in an afterlife without any evidence of its existence, we certainly cannot dismiss Ephemeral's claim.

    Which was what? I’m not sure what it is you think I dismissed.

    Quote
    What's ironic is that the following pitiful yet common presumption of yours only seems to validate her opinion:

    Apparently, tough boy, you either misunderstood Ephermal or me, or both of us (or perhaps I misunderstood both of you), but I will respond according to what I understood:

    Let’s assume that one day you became 100% sure that if you go to sleep, you will never wake up again, then according to Ephermal’s measure of maturity, and of which you apparently approve, would you behave like the big tough adult that you are and just slip into your warm cozy bed, like every night, and go peacefully to sleep, or would you be an immature baby and try frantically to stay awake as long as you can?

    This extreme hypothetical example above only serves to emphasize that we can never be *mature* enough as to be able to go on with our regular lives, living our big dreams, building our vast empires, all the while keeping the notion of death in front of us at all times (even if we believed in after life).  
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #21 - February 07, 2011, 02:56 PM
    @ tea

    You still want to discuss religion in this thread, which I don’t want to do.
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #22 - February 07, 2011, 02:59 PM
    Ephemeral claimed the following:

    "which is why humans felt the need to create an after-life. It's a large-scale coping mechanism."

    After which you responded with an "actually..." followed by an alternative claim.  I took that to mean that you disagree with her point.  

    Do you find any truth in it?
    Against the ruin of the world, there
    is only one defense: the creative act.

    -- Kenneth Rexroth
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #23 - February 07, 2011, 03:10 PM
    yes, i do. in fact, i used to think that all religions included the notion of immortality, but i then found out that were exceptions.
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #24 - February 07, 2011, 03:15 PM
    there is evidence that as humans became smarter and more self-aware, burial practices began to take more meaning, and became more elaborate. From this it seems likely that humans have found the idea of an after-life comforting and that it has served a purpose of providing comfort to those who were left behind.

    I am not condemning the need to have a coping mechanism (and survival instinct is not a coping mechanism--its an instinct and therefore built in by nature, where as coping mechanisms are psychological and learned behavioural traits that help us deal with reality). I am merely stating that in order to reach a certain level of self awareness we need to be aware of the nature of these ways of coping.

    Hence the idea/analogy of the way a baby deals with things versus a mature adult.
    "If intelligence is feminine... I would want that mine would, in a resolute movement, come to resemble an impious woman."
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #25 - February 07, 2011, 03:28 PM
    Quote
    I am merely stating that in order to reach a certain level of self awareness we need to be aware of the nature of these ways of coping.


    By asserting that they are coping mechanisms you have already assumed something about the nature of the concept of the afterlife.

    That may be an aspect of it, but not it in its entirety. The origin of the concept of the afterlife no-doubt has more facets than being a crude opiate for the painful realisation of human mortality.

    In Christianity and Islam, it's used as a coercive tool to keep the plebs in line, same with the Eastern concept of 'Naraka.'
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #26 - February 07, 2011, 03:30 PM
    well yes, but thats an advanced form. Smiley

    I'm speaking of pre-historic humans of course. Essentially the birth of such ideas and where they may have stemmed from before they took on many different forms as politics came  more and more into the picture.

    "If intelligence is feminine... I would want that mine would, in a resolute movement, come to resemble an impious woman."
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #27 - February 07, 2011, 03:33 PM
    Quote from: Ephemeral on February 07, 2011, 03:30 PM
    well yes, but thats an advanced form. Smiley

    I'm speaking of pre-historic humans of course. Essentially the birth of such ideas and where they may have stemmed from before they took on many different forms as politics came  more and more into the picture.



    i don't want to read round around ... round around.. words

    WHAT IS THE POINT OF YOUR LIFE Ephemeral??
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #28 - February 07, 2011, 03:35 PM
    The ever present desire and pursuit of happiness in whatever form it may come in.

    I seek stability, fufillment, knowledge, learning. Smiley
    "If intelligence is feminine... I would want that mine would, in a resolute movement, come to resemble an impious woman."
  • Re: What is the point to life?
     Reply #29 - February 07, 2011, 03:37 PM
    @ Ephemeral

    Quote
    I am not condemning the need to have a coping mechanism.

    In this case, I completely misunderstood what you meant by your comment about babies and adults.


    Quote
    (and survival instinct is not a coping mechanism--its an instinct and therefore built in by nature, where as coping mechanisms are psychological and learned behavioural traits that help us deal with reality).

    I’m not sure if it’s more appropriately referred to as a coping mechanism as opposed to survival instinct, but in any case, I used the term to emphasize that no one can survive being fully conscious of the inevitable end of their life.  

    Quote
    I am merely stating that in order to reach a certain level of self awareness we need to be aware of the nature of these ways of coping.

    I agree.

    Quote
    Hence the idea/analogy of the way a baby deals with things versus a mature adult.

    I missed that entirely. I do apologize.
    A googolplex is *precisely* as far from infinity as is the number 1.--Carl Sagan
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