Life is meaningless - Page 4

Ben Kenobi · February 13, 2004, 03:21

For me, life has meaning because of its origins, as a gift from God, returning blessings everyday. For without God, we would not have life, and without life, no joy.

Neutrino · February 13, 2004, 03:40

IMO, the meaning of life is to pass on our genes.

monolith94 · February 13, 2004, 04:28

"Religion provides the salvation of our souls."

Philosophy proves the existence of souls. Without philosophy, religion would be passionless and arbitrary.

Brundlefly · February 13, 2004, 09:36

Quote:

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
For me, life has meaning because of its origins, as a gift from God, returning blessings everyday. For without God, we would not have life, and without life, no joy.

Freud said religion is the collective neuroses of mankind. And I find it hard to disagree with that.

I wish I had your faith, Ben. I was religious once. But once I studied philosphy in college, God began to seem like Santa Claus to me...

Any argument for the existence of God has at its foundation: faith. There is no logical argument for the existence of God. What I seek is a logical argument for having faith.

alva · February 13, 2004, 10:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
Religion provides the salvation of our souls.

Hmm, religion provides the illusion of salvation which is a comforting thought, but absolute false.

You need to deal with the thruth, and the thruth is that there is no meaning(yet?).

IMO it can only have meaning if we would be able to live forever which is exactly what (all?) religions promise, be it in an other (physical or spiritual) form.

GePap · February 13, 2004, 12:48

Life has no meaning, anymore than red has a meaning. That does not mean we can not enjoy red though.

Lancer · February 13, 2004, 13:01

Life isn't meaningless. I'm not sure wtf it is, but it isn't meaningless. I have a wife that is alive with meaning, and a faithful God that puts joy in my heart. On a sunny morning after a chilly night it seems that the meaning in life will overwhelm me.

Oncle Boris · February 13, 2004, 13:03

Quote:

Originally posted by Lancer
Life isn't meaningless. I'm not sure wtf it is, but it isn't meaningless. I have a wife that is alive with meaning, and a faithful God that puts joy in my heart. On a sunny morning after a chilly night it seems that the meaning in life will overwhelm me.

GePap · February 13, 2004, 13:07

Quote:

Originally posted by Lancer
Life isn't meaningless. I'm not sure wtf it is, but it isn't meaningless. I have a wife that is alive with meaning, and a faithful God that puts joy in my heart. On a sunny morning after a chilly night it seems that the meaning in life will overwhelm me.

I can say is that this is a fine belief...

BUT

I would respond and say that the human mind makes meaning- it does not get meaning from the outside world, which has none whatsoever.

People GIVE the world meaning-meaning they invent in their mind, just like people have given the color red meanings, even though "red" is a word for the sensual experience we derive from a certain frequency in the eletro-magnetic spectrum.

Lancer · February 13, 2004, 13:14

"I can say is that this is a fine belief...

BUT

I would respond and say that the human mind makes meaning- it does not get meaning from the outside world, which has none whatsoever.

People GIVE the world meaning-meaning they invent in their mind, just like people have given the color red meanings, even though "red" is a word for the sensual experience we derive from a certain frequency in the eletro-magnetic spectrum."

Okally dokally..

Wait a sec. Diss was asking us if life has meaning, yes? Certainly the question was posed to us, so we may assume he asked if life has meaning to us, yes? So life has the meaning we assign it, which may depend on who we are, which to me depends on our relationship with God, the notion of which sends alot of people to whom life has no meaning into convultions, and in so doing inadvertantly creates a run-on sentence.

monolith94 · February 13, 2004, 13:31

What is meaning?

Lancer · February 13, 2004, 13:44

"What is meaning?"

That which is meaningful?

Cruddy · February 13, 2004, 13:59

Some people may have meaningless lives.

It's up to the individual... if you think you're life is meaningless now, why not change it?

As opposed to sitting in the corner moaning and whinging.

yavoon · February 13, 2004, 14:01

I hope my life isnt meaningless! that would be depressing!

GePap · February 13, 2004, 14:02

Quote:

Wait a sec. Diss was asking us if life has meaning, yes? Certainly the question was posed to us, so we may assume he asked if life has meaning to us, yes? So life has the meaning we assign it, which may depend on who we are, which to me depends on our relationship with God, the notion of which sends alot of people to whom life has no meaning into convultions, and in so doing inadvertantly creates a run-on sentence.

Dissident did not ask "does your life have meaning"-there the answer can be yes or no. He asked "does LIFE have meaning"...that is a different question-it seeks some meaning seperate from any one life that applies universally (42). And the answer is that LIFE does not have meaning.

Now, as for your answer to Monoliths question:

That which is meaningful is something that has meaning-that is not the answer to what IS meaning.

Lancer · February 13, 2004, 14:06

"Dissident did not ask "does your life have meaning"-there the answer can be yes or no. He asked "does LIFE have meaning"...that is a different question-it seeks some meaning seperate from any one life that applies universally (42). And the answer is that LIFE does not have meaning.

Now, as for your answer to Monoliths question:

That which is meaningful is something that has meaning-that is not the answer to what IS meaning."

LALALALALANCER'S last post in this thread, which has lost all meaning to me.

LALALALALA

GePap · February 13, 2004, 14:10

Quote:

Originally posted by yavoon
I hope my life isnt meaningless! that would be depressing!

WHy? What if the meaning of life is death and suffering and pain?

If LIFE is meaningless, you get to decide what you do with your own.

Theben · February 13, 2004, 14:21

People are confusing meaning with purpose. There is no purpose for our being here, for the human race to exist. Meaning is a human construct, to which we assign our own values. Therefore your life can have as much or as little meaning as you desire, as well as other's lives.

yavoon · February 13, 2004, 14:22

Quote:

Originally posted by GePap

WHy? What if the meaning of life is death and suffering and pain?

that would also be depressing!

monolith94 · February 13, 2004, 14:24

"That which is meaningful is something that has meaning-that is not the answer to what IS meaning."

I asked - what is meaning - because I want to know what we are describing when we say a "meaningful life".

So far, no one has actually told me what either is, in precise terms.

I went to dictionary.com and looked it up. Some of the more relevant definitions:

1. An interpreted goal, intent, or end
2. Inner significance

This seems to me to be more of a question of whether or not you believe in fate and predestination. Everyone has inner significance. My life has meaning for several reasions: my imagination, my passion for certain aspects of life, etc. Those are all part of my inner significance. And because I give my life a goal, something that I'm working towards, I would say that I give my life meaning. Therefore mine is not a meaningless life.

Whoha · February 13, 2004, 14:25

Life isn't meaningless, just think, Billions of years of movement & time in the universe all culminating in a thread on Apolyton about the meaning of life. That has to mean something.

GePap · February 13, 2004, 14:29

Nope.

alva · February 13, 2004, 14:44

Quote:

As opposed to sitting in the corner moaning and whinging.

But that IS the ..aaaaarhhh....never mind
-

Quote:

Life isn't meaningless, just think, Billions of years of movement & time in the universe all culminating in a thread on Apolyton about the meaning of life. That has to mean something.

Quote:

Nope.