Death and Meaning

In the next 100 years, none of you reading this post will be alive.

Life is so fleeting when one considers how short it can be.

Also consider that our galaxy is over 10 billion years old. We never get to even live a quarter of that time frame.


What really is the point of life if it ends all in death?


One lives all his or her life struggling to survive ie struggling to avoid death which will inevitably occur.


A medical student who was the best in his class throughout university died on his first day as a doctor.


You can work hard all your life and die the moment you want to reap what you have sowed.

===================================================

An animal life

What is the purpose of a fish? To be eaten by sharks and human beings? Just to live and die as food for other animals?
What is the purpose of a cat? To beg for milk and fish from humans?

We can all agree that assigning a purpose to an animals life is ridiculous. Why then are humans exempt?

We think we are special because we can reason. A dog looking at the moon can not understand the significance of the lunar cycle. The same way we can never understand the universe in its entirety. So how are we really different?

Our reasoning has limits. What if the purpose of life is truly beyond our reasoning abilities? What if the minds of the gods were meant for more evolved beings?


========================================================================


Purpose and Religion

To the religious people claiming that our purpose as humans to serve and worship God, they should understand that it is not just true logically if you consider the death of babies.

Babies who die in the womb due to natural/spontaneous abortions never get to worship God or even develop the reasoning ability to understand any concept of God. Natural abortions are the most common abortions that occur in millions every year.

Those babies that die in the millions do not get to worship God in their brief life. So, I ask again; what is the purpose of life? What exactly is God's purpose for babies dying natural deaths in the womb?


What is even the essence of religion? The way religion was practised in the 7th century is different from the one practised today. It all seems arbitrary- religious doctrines sway to the interpretations of whichever religious leaders are in power or the most vocal.

Buddhism promises some inner peace, Islam promises a total way of life for peace, Christianity promises salvation, Paganism promises oneness with the earth. But all these do not guarantee a better life on earth. You could die the same day you convert to any of these religions. One can live a fulfilled life without any of these religions.


====================================================================

So what is your purpose in this life?


What exactly is your purpose?
1) To leave a legacy?
All legacies get bastardized after a while. Jesus Christ is now popularly known as a white Italian hippie. Whereas, in reality Jesus would have been a dark skinned radical Jew.

Worse, only few people get to leave legacies. If you dont have money or power, you will die a nobody. Afterall, even the few people that will remember you will die eventually.

2) To enjoy life to the fullest?
Hedonists usually die quicker. What if you were born without legs or as a Siamese twin? What then? You wouldnt be able to enjoy most sports. Most people will treat you as a freak. Se.x or marriage partners would be harder to come by. And so on.


3) Religious devotion (to the afterlife)
Yes, the afterlife. A life after death that you have never seen and cannot prove. A haven that you have been promised by religion but with crazy standards to fulfil.
If preparing for heaven is the purpose of life then, life is truly pointless. Why not just send us to heaven directly? Why would we need to be tried and tested if God knows our inclinations? What is the point in putting us in such a world where the only the fittest survive? This life is such an unnecessary test if one adheres to an all-knowing God. We are nothing but pawns in an eternal chess game.


4) I was born to be a leader/accountant/doctor
Hitler could also claim that he was born to lead the Aryan race and exterminate "rats" like the Jews. No one is born to be anything. We can only prepare ourselves and our talents for a brighter future.
Wayne Rooney was also a talented boxer. Man chooses his destiny (at the discretion of fate).

===================================================

What do I believe as the purpose of meaning of life?

Life has no meaning. We only ascribe meaning to it because it is our human nature to see patterns even where there are no patterns.

The best we can do is give our lives meanings ourselves through the one factor that distinguishes us from animals- reasoning.

As arbitrary as that sounds, reason and logic are the only effective tools for understanding our universe and navigating it. A well reasoned life is a better life.

No! It is life without Christ that has no meaning. This is what happens to people who are separated from the one who is life himself, the become confuse and feel like life is meaningless. They think they are wise but that emptiness in their heart proves they are desperately in need of the God who his love. If you find God you find the purpose of life.

I like this, I also liked it, literally.

Except the animal reasoning part, I do think animals reason, albeit not to the level of man. Google it. The popular belief that we are the only animals that reason is just another saying to make us feel better about ourselves.

Absolutely brilliant LB

Nice post buh i DISAGREE with "life is purposeless" @JackBizzle

And someone thought I will fall for the lie that atheism isn't purposeless.

All these kind questions that makes one grow grey hair.
Well my purpose in life is to find the cure for ageing.

Clintosman:
Nice post buh i DISAGREE with "life is purposeless" @JackBizzle

ok according to you what is the purpose of life

UyiIredia:
And someone thought I will fall for the lie that atheism isn't purposeless.

Atheism itself does not have a purpose. It is simply the disbelief in deities.


However, an atheist doesnt have to believe that life is purposeless. It is up to the individual atheist to get his or her philosophy from his or her own school of thought.

LastOkpaBender:
I like this, I also liked it, literally.

Except the animal reasoning part, I do think animals reason, albeit not to the level of man. Google it. The popular belief that we are the only animals that reason is just another saying to make us feel better about ourselves.

You may be right.

However, I think the issue is that animals dont reason to our level.....

Hiswordxray:
No! It is life without Christ that has no meaning. This is what happens to people who are separated from the one who is life himself, the become confuse and feel like life is meaningless. They think they are wise but that emptiness in their heart proves they are desperately in need of the God who his love. If you find God you find the purpose of life.

Okay, so what purpose does Christ give your life?


Just so you know, there are many Nigerian christians living meaningless lives in poverty. Some wasting their lives as slaves to political godfathers. Some wasting their lives as ushers in church that wear the same clothes every sunday with body odour.

lastmessenger:
All these kind questions that makes one grow grey hair.
Well my purpose in life is to find the cure for ageing.

haha....you might die before finding that cure.

life is difficult

UyiIredia:
And someone thought I will fall for the lie that atheism isn't purposeless.

It is better to believe in the other lie that a Jew died for your sins, thus giving you a purpose. So much for the reasoning faculties we possess.

musKeeto:

It is better to believe in the other lie that a Jew died for your sins, thus giving you a purpose. So much for the reasoning faculties we possess.

lol.....he forgets that many of his christian brethren who have purpose in christ end up eating grass for their pastors, being witch-slapped by pastors, live meaningless lives in abject poverty in Africa....etc

musKeeto:

It is better to believe in the other lie that a Jew died for your sins, thus giving you a purpose. So much for the reasoning faculties we possess.

That's how silly you are. Even within the Bible men had purpose before Jesus. While certainly Jesus infused a fresh era of grace and love purpose was first established when God breathed his spirit into a lifeless man.

JackBizzle:



lol.....he forgets that many of his christian brethren who have purpose in christ end up eating grass for their pastors, being witch-slapped by pastors, live meaningless lives in abject poverty in Africa....etc

And so. build universities, do charity, run successful businesses etc

UyiIredia:


That's how silly you are. Even within the Bible men had purpose before Jesus. While certainly Jesus infused a fresh era of grace and love purpose was first established when God breathed his spirit into a lifeless man.

@ bold, what is that first purpose?

UyiIredia:


And so. build universities, do charity, run successful businesses etc

Even secular people build universities, do charity and run businesses......yet, some of them feel that life is meaningless

JackBizzle:



Atheism itself does not have a purpose. It is simply the disbelief in deities.

Or the belief that there are no deities.

[quote author=JackBizzle post=27905241] However, an atheist doesn't have to believe that life is purposeless. It is up to the individual atheist to get his or her philosophy from his or her own school of thought.

Of course the atheist doesn't have to believe life is purposeless. I'm saying the belief is inherently purposeless since its materialistic.

JackBizzle:



Atheism itself does not have a purpose. It is simply the disbelief in deities.

Or the belief that there are no deities.

JackBizzle:
However, an atheist doesn't have to believe that life is purposeless. It is up to the individual atheist to get his or her philosophy from his or her own school of thought.

Of course the atheist doesn't have to believe life is purposeless. I'm saying the belief is inherently purposeless since its materialistic.

JackBizzle:


@ bold, what is that first purpose?

The first and most basic purpose in life. To survive.

UyiIredia:


The first and most basic purpose in life. To survive.

That is just plain silly.

Survival is not a purpose. It is instinct. A reflex.

Survival is a biological function and not really a purpose.

If even you are sleeping and I pour water into your mouth, you'd cough it out. One doesnt even have to think about survival.

UyiIredia:





Of course the atheist doesn't have to believe life is purposeless. I'm saying the belief is inherently purposeless since its materialistic.

FALSE.

Atheism is not necessarily materialistic. See Buddhism for example.

UyiIredia:


That's how silly you are. Even within the Bible men had purpose before Jesus. While certainly Jesus infused a fresh era of grace and love purpose was first established when God breathed his spirit into a lifeless man.

Actually, that was a trap I purposely set for you and you fell for it nicely.

JackBizzle:

@ bold, what is that first purpose?

UyiIredia:

The first and most basic purpose in life. To survive.

The first purpose certainly wasn't survival, remember? Man wasn't created to die. Apparently, God needed a gardener and some pets. All the gardener had to do was take care of the garden and name the pets. All lived in harmony until.....



continue with fable of your choice.

JackBizzle:



That is just plain silly.

Survival is not a purpose. It is instinct. A reflex.

Survival is a biological function and not really a purpose.

If even you are sleeping and I pour water into your mouth, you'd cough it out. One doesnt even have to think about survival.

Survival: to KEEP ON living

Survival is also a purpose too. A purpose that can be lost when one is depressed and decides to commit suicide.

musKeeto:

Actually, that was a trap I purposely set for you and you fell for it nicely.

I only see wilfully ignorance, not a trap, someone made a thread that buttresses my earlier point of your stance being purposeless and here you are.

musKeeto:

The first purpose certainly wasn't survival, remember? Man wasn't created to die. Apparently, God needed a gardener and some pets. All the gardener had to do was take care of the garden and name the pets. All lived in harmony until.....

How would man fulfill the other purpose if he didn't survive. Any purpose in life rest on the foundation of survival because without life (and hence survival) purpose can't be achieved. BTW even before man was told to tend the garden he was told in the spirit to multiply.

musKeeto:
continue with fable of your choice.

shrugs

JackBizzle:



FALSE.

Atheism is not necessarily materialistic. See Buddhism for example.

Buddhism isn't atheistic. That's a misconception I once held. Just because a religion doesn't profess belief in God doesn't make it atheistic. For that it has to show skepticism about God. In fact, Buddhism (especially in its varieties) is theistic.

JackBizzle:


haha....you might die before finding that cure.

life is difficult

At least I can try and with progress so far it's possible that I will achieve that before I die.

UyiIredia:


I only see wilfully ignorance, not a trap, someone made a thread that buttresses my earlier point of your stance being purposeless and here you are.




How would man fulfill the other purpose if he didn't survive. Any purpose in life rest on the foundation of survival because without life (and hence survival) purpose can't be achieved. BTW even before man was told to tend the garden he was told in the spirit to multiply.



shrugs

Ol' boy, you are just being disingenuous here. DOES God survive?

JackBizzle:
Death and Meaning

In the next 100 years, none of you reading this post will be alive.

Life is so fleeting when one considers how short it can be.

Also consider that our galaxy is over 10 billion years old. We never get to even live a quarter of that time frame.


What really is the point of life if it ends all in death?


One lives all his or her life struggling to survive ie struggling to avoid death which will inevitably occur.


A medical student who was the best in his class throughout university died on his first day as a doctor.


You can work hard all your life and die the moment you want to reap what you have sowed.

===================================================

An animal life

What is the purpose of a fish? To be eaten by sharks and human beings? Just to live and die as food for other animals?
What is the purpose of a cat? To beg for milk and fish from humans?

We can all agree that assigning a purpose to an animals life is ridiculous. Why then are humans exempt?

We think we are special because we can reason. A dog looking at the moon can not understand the significance of the lunar cycle. The same way we can never understand the universe in its entirety. So how are we really different?

Our reasoning has limits. What if the purpose of life is truly beyond our reasoning abilities? What if the minds of the gods were meant for more evolved beings?


========================================================================


Purpose and Religion

To the religious people claiming that our purpose as humans to serve and worship God, they should understand that it is not just true logically if you consider the death of babies.

Babies who die in the womb due to natural/spontaneous abortions never get to worship God or even develop the reasoning ability to understand any concept of God. Natural abortions are the most common abortions that occur in millions every year.

Those babies that die in the millions do not get to worship God in their brief life. So, I ask again; what is the purpose of life? What exactly is God's purpose for babies dying natural deaths in the womb?


What is even the essence of religion? The way religion was practised in the 7th century is different from the one practised today. It all seems arbitrary- religious doctrines sway to the interpretations of whichever religious leaders are in power or the most vocal.

Buddhism promises some inner peace, Islam promises a total way of life for peace, Christianity promises salvation, Paganism promises oneness with the earth. But all these do not guarantee a better life on earth. You could die the same day you convert to any of these religions. One can live a fulfilled life without any of these religions.


====================================================================

So what is your purpose in this life?


What exactly is your purpose?
1) To leave a legacy?
All legacies get bastardized after a while. Jesus Christ is now popularly known as a white Italian hippie. Whereas, in reality Jesus would have been a dark skinned radical Jew.

Worse, only few people get to leave legacies. If you dont have money or power, you will die a nobody. Afterall, even the few people that will remember you will die eventually.

2) To enjoy life to the fullest?
Hedonists usually die quicker. What if you were born without legs or as a Siamese twin? What then? You wouldnt be able to enjoy most sports. Most people will treat you as a freak. Se.x or marriage partners would be harder to come by. And so on.


3) Religious devotion (to the afterlife)
Yes, the afterlife. A life after death that you have never seen and cannot prove. A haven that you have been promised by religion but with crazy standards to fulfil.
If preparing for heaven is the purpose of life then, life is truly pointless. Why not just send us to heaven directly? Why would we need to be tried and tested if God knows our inclinations? What is the point in putting us in such a world where the only the fittest survive? This life is such an unnecessary test if one adheres to an all-knowing God. We are nothing but pawns in an eternal chess game.


4) I was born to be a leader/accountant/doctor
Hitler could also claim that he was born to lead the Aryan race and exterminate "rats" like the Jews. No one is born to be anything. We can only prepare ourselves and our talents for a brighter future.
Wayne Rooney was also a talented boxer. Man chooses his destiny (at the discretion of fate).

===================================================

What do I believe as the purpose of meaning of life?

Life has no meaning. We only ascribe meaning to it because it is our human nature to see patterns even where there are no patterns.

The best we can do is give our lives meanings ourselves through the one factor that distinguishes us from animals- reasoning.

As arbitrary as that sounds, reason and logic are the only effective tools for understanding our universe and navigating it. A well reasoned life is a better life.

If life truly has no meaning, then all the above is meaningless.

No?

johnydon22:


ok according to you what is the purpose of life

Purpose is discovered & it is based on individual conception e.g christianity; though death is inevitable for every christian, the purpose is aimed @ making you a better person through reasoning i.e firm belief, faith, good deeds e.t.c[s](a christian's purpose could also be serving/waiting for Christ's return)[/s]. While in this context- "life is meaningless", could simply mean it is cut short regardless of the defined-purpose in/of your life.....

JackBizzle:
Death and Meaning
Purpose and Religion

To the religious people claiming that our purpose as humans to serve and worship God, they should understand that it is not just true logically if you consider the death of babies.

Babies who die in the womb due to natural/spontaneous abortions never get to worship God or even develop the reasoning ability to understand any concept of God. Natural abortions are the most common abortions that occur in millions every year.

Those babies that die in the millions do not get to worship God in their brief life. So, I ask again; what is the purpose of life? What exactly is God's purpose for babies dying natural deaths in the womb?

babies who died from womb are one particular class of individuals that certainly go to heaven even though they haven't accepted Jesus as Savior. The Bible makes it
clear that infants and children who die go to heaven on the basis of their inability to fully understand the difference between good and evil and make a rational choice. It is likely that older individuals who are, likewise, unable to choose.
Some reasons for reaching such a conclusion are as follows:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ died for all of Adam's race (for all mankind), including every infant that has ever been born. Consider the following study: For Whom Did Christ Die?
2. A person is condemned for rejecting Jesus Christ and for refusing to believe in Him: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). An infant is not capable of rejecting Jesus Christ. An infant is incapable of committing the sin mentioned in John 16:9.
3. Those who go to hell in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 are those who have deliberately disobeyed the gospel by refusing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Infants have not willfully disobeyed the gospel. Note: The heathen, who are not under the hearing of the gospel, are condemned for rejecting the lesser revelation that God has given to them (Rom. 1:20-21, etc.). For a detailed study of this see Romans chapter 1. But an infant would also be incapable of rejecting this lesser revelation.
4. Revelation 20:11-15 indicates that all of the unsaved are resurrected to appear before the Great White Throne, and twice it is stressed that each will be judged according to their works. It is doubtful that young infants are included in this evaluation. What evil works has a 6 month old baby committed?
5. Consider the compassionate heart of God for those who are lost: "Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4--this is God's desire). "Not willing that any should perish" (2 Pet. 3:9). "Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish" (Matt. 18:14). "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 33:11). While these verses do not refer specifically to infants, they do teach us that the loving and merciful heart of our God desires the salvation of all men.

God did not create this univers to be perfect,God only called it good,the Bible says that God allows
temporary, bounded evil in order to allow free will beings to have the
ability to love and to make
choices.the choices we make may affect other's people.