No Monty Python Answers Please

[Trillipse]

Existence, mmm?

What's the point?

Now, let me qualify that:

I've been through all the "life begets life" and the "the meaning of existence is reproducing itself" stuff...

AND the only reason i've bothered to bother is the ceaseless drumming of the impotent war-bongos between those of us who do and don't believe in a higher bloody being.

Give it to me straight - lets go all oscar wilde on this (d'ya see what i did there?!) give up your epigrams and craplets and couplets and limericks on WHY WE ARE HERE!

(and no boring ********)

(please)

love and hugs

Trillipse

[mimififi]

why does there have to be a point; why can't it just be?

beautiful sunsets, snuggling down with your hunney, a new baby's tiny fingers, marmite toast, beloved pets, this list goes on and on...For me it is not what's the point (not most days anyhow LOL), but rather, what is there to live for. When I take stock of what there is to live for, then life is worth living. if nothing else, there are 5 little people all tucked up in their beds after a busy day learning, playing and wakling along the beach that make it everyday purposeful.
Existence? Because we do.
what's the point? There are many
Why are we here? because we are. Have a good one, or have a boring one trying to figure out the why. It is not the why, but the how.

[John Brennan]

qapmoc.  ...do something like what?

qapmoc.  ....am interested in what you believe (animal descent), any ideas on where we are going, what we will become?

Trillipse/   .....sounds like a song coming on, or is that no john no john no...?

[Trillipse]

"The unconsidered life is not woth living"

Sometimes i wish i were simply a beast, that i would be free from the shackles of humanhood. From morals, and their attendant dilemmas. From guilt, responsibility, religion, cruelty, grief, suicide.

Sometimes I Wish That.

But. I know I need more than simple animal pleasures, and for that, the price is having to deal with more than just a simple animal or bestial life. I have to consider the future, I have to weep at the loss of my family, I have to feel bad for being selfish, I have to bear trauma as I come to terms with the superstitious heritage of my race.

I want to know why..

So, mimififi, though i relish the simple pleasures of life and the world, i also feel that first bite of the apple of knowledge and wonder why.

If you can live without questioning, i wish you all the best with your happiness.

[jimmer]

Trillipse

The meaning of life, why we are here, is to be selfish. Any act we do, any thought we have is selfish, our questioning minds are a product of our need to survive. Considering the future is selfish, crying for the loss of loved ones is selfish. Even giving to charity is selfish. The meaning of life - if there is one - is to be selfish.

Just for the record: The majority of christians believe in evolution. We did not decend from chimps but we do share a common ancestor with chimps.

 

jim

[Trillipse]

"  I've been through all the "life begets life" and the "the meaning of existence is reproducing itself" stuff..."

thanks for your thoughts, Jimmer, but did you read the question?

I'd included that strain in the original post as being the most obvious truism i figured people were likely to enlighten me with...

[jimmer]

No no no Trillipse, you misunderstand. Self interest is the meaning of life. By opening up to what is truly in our own self interest we open up a world of possibilities that would be denied us if we attempted to live life either altruistically or by what gave us the most pleasure at any given time. I don't mean this in a Witney Houston kind of way - learning to love yourself - coz that is frankly b*****s. I mean you need to identify what is important to keep yourself entertained, nurtured, edified, rested and exercised, fed and watered so that life is as interesting and comfortable as possible. Kind of like you would to a tamogochi.

 

jim

[mimififi]

I didnt say I didnt question; I merely pointed out that there is sometimes no point questioning.
I had questions when my baby died; I had questions when it looked like cancer; when we couldnt make ends meet despite an honest living; when my daughter was being bullied and beside herself with sorrow; I have questions, but not all questions have answers that we can quantify. The alternative to acceptance and dealing is a life of grappelling with an unknown enemy; one you can not even see.

You didnt want answers that deal with a faith in a higher being. But maybe, the reason religion has always been a part of the fabric of siciety is because it does deal with the why.
maybe the reason you have surprisingly few posts in answer to this question is because you didnt want to bring faith into it.
I question and my faith doesn't always bring the answers; but it does give me a contentment and acceptance that enables me to live a very peaceful life. I have a father who I have full confidence in knowing the answers, carrying the burden so that I don't have to.
I hope you find the answer you are looking for.

[Trillipse]

ah jimmer! i have done you an injustice.

i like it. (your train of thought, that is, not injustice)

very good, solid and hearty.

[Trillipse]

mimififi,

that's more like it - i generally dislike being an annoying little chimp, but had decided to play devil's advocate on this thread. i wholeheartedly endorse your feelings about where to find value in life, and wish you all the best with it - i have more sympathy than may be apparent.

i did have an honest reason for excluding religious talk from this thread, and it wasn't for lack of tolerance of such views - it's simply that that's something that's been more than amply covered, and usually with much bitterness and sarcasm, which was where i was aiming. i've no doubt there would have been hundreds of long posts is religion/faith had been on the cards, but all predictable and hackneyed.

 

as it is, i've had some splendid, meaningful and original answers from people (including you) and i like it A LOT.

[jimmer]

Well I needed my own philosophy. You see, religion is so arbitrary...so mythological. While science on the other hand is pure empiricism and by virtue of it's method excludes metaphysics. But I guess I wouldn't believe in anything, if it wasn't for my lucky astrology moodwatch.
Steve Martin

[mimififi]

Trillipse

smile smile smile smile

Mimi XX

[Trillipse]

mimififi, you're such a sweetie!