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Purpose of life
Posted on: Thu, 2006-09-07 21:33
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Purpose of life
Does not believing in God necessarily mean that there is no purpose for life? Rational Squad Alerts |
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No not at all. Just because you do not believe in god does not mean that you dont have a purpose. In not believing in god you have to set your own purpose in life instead of looking to a "greater power" to set it for you. I personly believe that i am here to help other people enjoy life. I am a professional entertainer and that, as of right now, is my purpose. I live for the moment and life every moment like its my last. My purpose is my own as yours should be your own. No one is going to set my course in life i am here to set it myself.
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Albert Einstein
Bryan
I believe everyone has their own purpose for their life.
[b]BUT[/b] only [i]THEY[/i] and sometimes others] decide their purpose.
I don't believe the "god put us here for a reason" stuff, obviously, but I believe, that as we grow and mature, we start to realize our purpose in life. Whether it's to become a doctor, a scientist, a nothing, etc.
We make our futures, so I guess we decide our purposes.
If any of that made sense
Ha, Bryan you and I stated the same opinion at the very exact minute.. I thought that was funny.
shall we call it destiny? =)~
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Albert Einstein
Bryan
Ha maybe! lol
lol anyway....
Ph8 what is your opinion?
Well, I've thought yes, and then heard arguments, and thought no, and then heard more arguments, and changed my mind again, so I really guess I'm not sure. That's why I made this thread; hopefully we'll get people for both sides and I'll be able to read the arguments and decide for myself.
"We now know that the human animal is characterized by two great fears that other animals are protected from: the fear of life and the fear of death..."
-Ernest Becker
It shouldnt matter what other people say the choices in life should be your own not depicted by others. Choose for yourself.
Well, can I ask how old you are?
Me? im 18
no no no. Not you lol. Ph8
We just happened to have posted at the same time again
lol again? whats with this destiny stuff getting in the way of our postings!
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Albert Einstein
Bryan
dunno but it's making this very difficult lol!
lol so the question at had is it destiny that we keep posting at the same time or is it just good timing?
haha well destiny would explain why we posted the same opinion at the same moment..that or we just have damn good timing like you said lol. Who's to say? lol
Well I asked about the age thing, because I was going to say, if he's around my age or even older, then he's got plenty of time to start to make his opinion more stable and has plenty of time to find his purpose.
Finding his purpose might not even happen till he's way older.
I still don't know my purpose.
I think maybe to be a social worker, but that's just because i'm fucked up and can relate. And i'm told i'm great at listening to people and give incredible advice ^_^ So hey, why not make the best of that
I'm eighteen, and trust me, just cause someone tells me something I don't believe it. However, both sides have good points, and I wouldn't want to believe something until I'm sure its true. Thus, I get people opinions, read and interupt, and eventually decide.
"We now know that the human animal is characterized by two great fears that other animals are protected from: the fear of life and the fear of death..."
-Ernest Becker
Exactly you have to work with what you got. I am what you could call a jack of all trades i guess. I do literally a little bit of everything. I am good in most things i do which is a wonderful gift but also a terrible curse. I am always doing new things and cant focus so much on one. I could have many purposes. Either way though im having fun. As of right now i make people happy and bring joy into there lives, weather it be threw improv or circus skills (those are my two main things right now). Life is what you can make out of it, meaning your purpose is what you make it.
And on a side note, I am never catching you two in points :( :-p
"We now know that the human animal is characterized by two great fears that other animals are protected from: the fear of life and the fear of death..."
-Ernest Becker
lol yea i just noticed how many points i have its a little crazy considering today is the first day i started posting. They said you can get free stuff with them? If so i want a free t-shirt or something like that =)
Today is the first day i started posting a lot..
I'm becoming addicted I think.
And yeah I completely forgot about the point trading thing.. Nifty.
But like Bryan said, it's all a part of aging. you'll find your niche, and when you do you'll know it. It doesn't just suddenly happen..it takes time and experimenting :-)
Something like 75% of college students dont know what they want to do until after they get there BA. so trust me your not alone
Just because you don't believe in a god doesn't mean there's no purpose for life, you're here to live it while you can.
I don't believe in a purpose in the sense that there is a predesignated purpose.
But to be literal, our 'purpose' is to make babies. Our 'purpose' is to make life better for said babies, so that our species may survive. But even that isn't... absolute. Prupose I don't like as an idea, because it implies a rigidity. I have ideas of what I want to do, but that's it.
-There is no sin save faith
I don't beleive there is a purpose to life, simply because the theory of evolution simply shows that life was an accident that excelled at improving itself. However, that doesn't mean life is pointless. We have porn and music and card games and rocket ships. What else could you want?
Just because you dont believe in the purpose of life doesnt mean that it shouldnt have meaning.
i'm going to post something here that i just typed up to a friend of mine (theist) that was concerned that maybe i dont consider people's feelings with being an active atheist.. like if a lady had 3 sons die or something and if i were to bring up the theism issue... it related to the thread near the end:
i understand what ya mean, like watch out fer people's feelings if they're in a vulnerable place.
yet the value of the truth is priceless and i wont be able to control what people hear and i wont be able to control how things are interpretted.
"dont be afraid to say you know what I dont know but Ill listen, and be here for ya..."
dont know if i understood that part.
but if people are hurting after a loved one has died, i'll generally just bring up things that i remember about them, if at all. genreally tell people to always remember how the person made them feel.. that sort of thing. atheism doesnt devalue death, i mean, death is a tragedy and i recognize that. emotions are powerful in these situations and i cant ignore that. but while i'm alive, i value life and the truth behind it.
so yea i know what you mean, and well, the value of a human life is incredibly important. if they're in a vulnerable spot (death in the family, depression, etc) then i probably wont argue that god doesnt exist with them if that's what is helping them hold on to hope or whatever. i recognize some people NEED god to maintain a positive outlook on life but like my avatar says, i've stopped believing because i can find meaning without god (fairy tales, harsh way to word it, but brings point across) but of course that's not my only reason for not believeing, heh.
if someone was in a very vulneravle place but approached ME asking 'how would you find solace if someone you knew died?' i'd reply 'well, i wouldnt blame god, if that's any help.' and probably leave it at that. but recently someone i work with had a friend's dad commit suicide, and through my co-worker, the friend asked ME how can i value life or care that someone commits suicide if there is no life after death... well, the only thing that i think motivates anyone to suicide is the delusion of life after death but since there is no evidence for a life after death, i see life as the only valuable thing in the equation. so i care if someone commits suicide because there's no reason to think or assume that there's anything MORE then life! right here and right now is what is valuable and if the person who commited suicide understood that, then they wouldnt have ever entertained the idea... apparently when my co-worker told his friend that, he smiled and really liked my answer. my co-worker said that was the first time he had seen his friend smile since his dad's funeral.
so yea i try to make sure i keep my nose out of people's business until they approach me.
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so anyways, the 'purpose' in life is life itself. to the atheist, life is the ultimate, most valuable, most precious, most cherished thing we have in this universe. i'm atheist BECAUSE i value my LIFE so god damn much (heh god). get it though? there's no evidence for an afterlife anyways, this life is what is right NOW and what is REAL. it's freakin valuable.
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nontheist
There is, of course, no "meaning" or "purpose" for us being alive (other than to survive and reproduce, as goes evolution), however we can create one for ourselves: "To be happy." That's a pretty good one I'd say.
"While I am opposed to all orthodox creeds, I have a creed myself; and my creed is this. Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so. This creed is somewhat short, but it is long enough for this life, strong enough for this world. If there is another world, when we get there we can make another creed. But this creed certainly will do for this life."
— Robert G. Ingersoll, 1882
www.myspace.com/nickpoling
Krispy Kreme?
-There is no sin save faith
No other purpose than to reproduce (copy your genes). But you define your own meaning in life.
J.P. Sartre used to say "existence precedes essence"
I think that's better than to have a pre-packaged meaning defined by a god or whatever... stand up and make your own choices!
For me I guess it is something like make friends, love, read a lot of books, travel etc... in a word "experience" for whatever years I have left...
Indeed.
"We are all going to die... and that makes us the lucky ones."
- Richard Dawkins
Seize the day!
I think that we live simply to live, no real reason besides the false ones we give to ourselves. There is no goal to aim for in life, so we make our own
You should all read this:
http://www.btinternet.com/~glynhughes/squashed/sartre.htm
Nice I love sarte he is an amazing philosopher and has some great books on existentialism.
Oh god, sartre is absolutely amazing i love him too. Sartrean existentialism is really cool to read up on. I suggest anyone to get to know it.