Meaning of life.

[Atomic Mitten]

You make your own life, as Edric said. Basically, the only guidelines you have to follow is what you truly believe to be the right thing to do. Don't think too long and hard on that, if you can't find a reason why, mayve its because it just is. All you really need is a little self-honesty (trust me, I think we are honest with ourselves only 1% of the time). Basically, go out and find yourselves. Just do... what you think is truly right. Not what others think it is, or what you think others want to hear, or even what you think will help you out -- just what you feel is right. You're the one living your life, you might as well live it on your own terms.

This Wolfwiz is one of the wisest statements I've read in a long time.Younger members of this forum would do well to ponder over it for awhile.

I would love to know how you obtained this knowledge ?

Either you are very mature for your age or somebody who is very wise has taught you well.

I would like to add that most people know the difference between right and wrong, although they don't always consider long enough the consequence of their actions and how they effect other people.

I try and live by my own moto of helping people when I can, without hope of financial reward.The smile on someones face is reward enough.Try it out, you'll like it. :)

[Atomic Mitten]

Well, this is a tough call. You said:

" would derive more pleasure from living a nice quiet life than from a lifetime of struggle against capitalism."

This however i question. Is it realy a quiet life that gives you more pleasure? I don't think you would have much pleasure when livinga quiet life with the fact in mind that you didn't do anything against capitalism.

It depends what someone wants out of their lives, very few people are truly happy with their lot.The ones that are ,have found a way of peace , balancing what they hope for, the reality of their situation and what they have achieved or not in their lives.

If people were satisfied with their lives and especially themselves, more people would be happy. It's just modern society puts people under pressure to achieve an ideal, that few will ever manage.So this makes them feel as if they have failed, To be aware of this is half the battle for a stress free life, well totally stress free is maybe an impossible task, but everyone can help each other to overcome their problems and worries.

That is what is wrong in this world of ours, people have stopped worrying about others, they just consider their own comforts and needs.

If people start reversing this situation the world would start to heal itself again.But everyone must be willing to stop and think, this is again something people don't find time for.

This forum is like a big family and we should all help each other, so please let's all try it out ? more than already is the case.

I think this is a goal that the forum was created for ?

[Atomic Mitten]

Hmm, no comments from anyone ?

[Big D]

I try and live by my own moto of helping people when I can, without hope of financial reward.The smile on someones face is reward enough.Try it out, you'll like it. :)

where do I find more guys like you :D ;D

[Atomic Mitten]

There are quite a few on this forum !

Just some are busy at the moment work wise.

[scotsman]

Perhaps "the meaning of life" is a questions that is never intended to be answered. Rather it encourages people to look for answers. Finding the answer is not as important as the looking for it. How a person chooses to look for his or her answers to "the meaning of life" will be as unique as the answers to many thought provoking problems they come across.

We evolve because we question everything!

[Big D]

I know what you mean. if you are searching for sumptin, your busy with it. but when you have found it you're just sitting there doing nuttin ;)

[The_Sadukar]

I want to know what you guys think the point of life is.

there is a frog which lives in the brazilian rain forest it lives no where else on earth , under the tongue of this frog lives a worm , this worm spends its entire life living under the tongue of this frog , when the frog dies the worm dies , what is the point of the worms life ? there are fields in england where plants grow , and they grow no where else on earth. but a tiny field in england,...why...?

shy ::)

I would say honour, and duties to your Fatherland and it's people are the meaning of life.

re:The meaning of life:

Sir Sard you need one

no it's the other way around, you see I have a meaning with my life, but you ask what the point of all is

[Caid Ivik]

EdricO, maybe he didn't ment hedonistical, earthly pleasure. I prefer pleasure as well, but transcendental. That's my sense of life, salvation, everything else is just its derivate. If you think its fulfilling is in serving your nation, love or serving others, that's your choice. Just do it with love and careness for all affected by your acts.

[Wolf]

Atomic Mitten; I appreciate your words. In answer to your question, I guess I'm just lucky. But, I think you deserve a bit better than that, since it doesn't help you out much. Feel read to read my huge post below, I apologize for its length, but I hope you enjoy.

In my experience, I've found that the one thing that would change almost all of society's wrongs is for people just to be *honest* with themselves, and from that, to do what they *truly feel* to be right. I know, you guys are about to spring that relativistic crap on me, "what is truth?", "things are only right from a certain point of view". Those are great philosophies to argue, and I love arguing philosophy (why else would I be here?), but when it comes down to it, what else have we got to do? All we know is what we know, we rarely know *why*. Philosophy generally deals with the why. Anyway. I see that people generally want to *do* the right thing, no one is "pro-killing children", but people *are* pro-war. I think this is because people live in an environment which fosters a certain mind-set which (usually inadvertently) tricks an individual into thinking that a certain action *is indeed* the "right" thing to do. Even though it's truly not, and a certain amount of self-honesty would fix this.

It *doesn't*. This is because we *hate* being honest with ourselves. We hate to admit that we do certain things for sex, to look cool, to feel smart, and to enjoy things. Furthermore, we *hate*, especially, to break away from the herd. Why do you think we ALWAYS create our own societies, no matter where we are? There are cliques in office places, schools, prisons, governments, militaries, name it, and I can show it. A society is the organization of people, but, a society also has the effect of being a vehicle through which we can create an ALTERNATE FRAME OF REFERENCE THAN OUR OWN MINDS which makes deceiving ourselves not only "okay", but feasible. What I'm saying could be seen as breaking apart from the herd, or joining another one, or motivated by some inner sexual desire (oh boy), and I admit, that might be right. However, getting my message sucked into a cesspool of philosophical oblivion doesn't appeal to me much. Again, I live life on my own terms, and I realize that we, as a race, truly *want* to do good things. I mean, not all governments are created as corruptions. Laws, governments, religions, are all created with the idea of a common good in mind. I hate to use religion, but look at Jesus Christ. Love your neighbor. Be truthful, even unto thineself. I'm not saying that you should do it because God is watching, but you should do it because you can't really function for long any other way -- you become the worst parts of the USSR in individual form.

Being totally honest with myself, I see a lot of people who want to do the right thing. Granted, we have our criminals, but how many of them commit crimes because they thought it was the "right" thing to do? This brings up the point about whether or not *evil* is in humanity. Well, it is. It's fun to be bad, it feels good to be the bully. That just shows us that we can't always do what makes us feel good -- something that American society, I hate to say, has travelled far down the road of. I'm not saying lead the life of a monk, but when it comes to the wire, you have to do what's *right*. We can argue about it later, but people know what's right and wrong.

Doing the right thing isn't always easy. Others can punish you for it. Others *will* punish you for it; because they know it's the right thing, and it bothers them that some punk kid like you knows what the right thing to do is. Furthermore, it just ruins the fun. Damn spoilsport. But you have to do it. You have to do it even if it costs you your *life*. It's a real tragedy, that this has to be done. But if you were willing to lay down your life for what you thought was right, and the person next to you was willing to lay down his for the right thing, and the person next to his was willing to do the same, you *wouldn't have to do it at all*. Laying down your life is a far-cry from killing, and killing is something that we *know* is not the right thing to do.

Living life on your own terms means not letting yourself be led into a way of thinking. I hate saying that, and it makes me feel guilty for writing any of this at all. Why? Because I'm telling you not to listen to anyone -- even me. That's some more of that philosophical oblivion (which I have already admitted I enjoy -- maybe that means its an evil) for you, but what can you do? Go find yourselves, not because I say so, but because you have the free will to do so. What is "yourself"? I don't know. However, I do know that whatever it is, it's going to be what *you* think is *truly* the *right* thing to do. In the long run, you'll be happier -- you won't know why, but you will. Maybe its because you'll be as free as you are going to get. I, personally, wish I had known sooner.

In advance reference to any arguments that pop up, I felt that writing this was the right thing to do. Why is it right? I dunno. I could defend it by saying that its *your* free will to read any of this, so I'm not forcing anything on anyone. I could do a lot of things. But, when all is said and done, I've written all of this without really thinking about whether it was something "right" or wrong" to write until now. I just did it. Maybe I acted from animal instinct. Maybe not -- that's one damn smart animal, then. Maybe reading my words helps you all out, maybe not. Personally, you might have a better chance of doing "the right thing" by forgetting my words and everything else that has ever been taught to you. Since we know we can't do that, well, here's my best shot. It's all we really can do, after all.

[Big D]

claps ;)

[Atomic Mitten]

This poses another question, what if you don't like what you find in your search of your true self ?

What do you do then, because if you don't like what you find , what should you do ?

[Wolf]

If you don't like what you find, that means that there is a part of you (the part that is in control of you -- for it was the one doing the introspection) that is *better* than the real you. If you don't like what you find, work to make yourself better. If you don't like what you find, it probably means you havn't been doing what feel is right. Not liking what you find is actually what is MOST LIKELY to happen when you're honest with yourself -- it's another reason we HATE being honest with ourselves.

But, I don't think that's what you're asking.

What if you don't like what you *know* is the right thing to do? Well, what do you mean by not liking it? If you don't like the right thing because it isn't pleasureable, or because it gets you in trouble with others, you have to decide for yourself whether the *right* thing to do is worth the consequences. (I advocate that typically they are, and I submit to you that crime and hatred are *never* the right thing to do, and we can only deceive ourselves into thinking that they are.) If you don't like the *right* thing to do ITSELF, then it isn't the right thing to do. If you don't like the *right* thing to do in and of itself, not because of any consequences, but because of the very nature of the "right" thing, then, well, it probably isn't the right thing to do! You just know.

[Atomic Mitten]

Actually I didn't mean me personally, I meant it hyperthetically.

Actually I can be brutally honest with myself, and I like what I find, I always try to be fair, tolerant and patient with people.

I actually like people, I can put myself in their shoes and see both sides of an argument, which sometimes causes it's own problems, for people who expect you to blindly loyal to them, I just can't do this, if I think or know someone is wrong I tell them so.

I hope though that I do this in a diplomatic way without hurting anyones feelings, although I can be outspoken at times, I strive not to judge people , after all none of us are perfect and never will be.

I hope that the members of this forum think I am fair,and that I don't bore them too much ? ;)

[shygirl4]

Re:Meaning of life.

its quite simple , to reproduce , thats it , every living thing on the planet has one goal , to reproduce , and I carnt wait .... ::)

[Wolf]

No problems, Mitten, I didn't mean it to you personally. And, it truly seems that you do your best to be fair. Which is good.

I see that Shygirl has no problem being honest with herself with regards to sex.

[Atomic Mitten]

No problems, Mitten, I didn't mean it to you personally. And, it truly seems that you do your best to be fair. Which is good.

I see that Shygirl has no problem being honest with herself with regards to sex.

Erm I think Shygirl is refering to having babies, not just Sex.Maybe she was being ironical too ?

[Wolf]

Probably. But, then again, so was I in that particular statement.

[Acriku]

I don't know why you keep saying we hate being honest with ourselves. I'm well aware of my motives and intentions.

[Atomic Mitten]

Probably. But, then again, so was I in that particular statement.

You said sex ! which is not reproducing, there is a difference you know !

[Dante]

As I've said before, my goal isn't to reproduce... Although I am rather unhappy that unless I find a surrogate mother my genes will die with me... It's something of an archaic viewpoint.

And living for sex? Doesn't that seem a little... hedonistic?

[Acriku]

Anybody know what is wrong with hedonism, as if there is an inherent evil?

[Wolf]

Acriku; are you really? You see, I can never be sure, and I think if we *were* honest with ourselves, we'd realize that often we're not. You may be an exceptional individual who has managed to rise above thousands of conflicting social and personal stimulii combined with thousands of evolutionary and animal-style insticts, combined further with a sense of self that neither you nor the world of philosophy (for the last 3000 years) has been able to coherently describe. All I can say in response is... are you sure? Are you really, truly sure? Are the motives you are aware of motives that you truly care about, or are they motives you care about because someone made you care about them, or you care about them in order to get a reaction out of society that is desirable (an example is wearing a hat to school one day to get a girl to notive you). It's near-impossible, I say, to be honest with yourself. But it can be done. It has been done. Why not you?

[Acriku]

Well, if I am not telling myself the truth, then it is my subconscious that is the bearer of false tongues, which I have no direct control over. I'm basically a very self-aware and introspective person, and many times I do not like what I see.

[Atomic Mitten]

Hmmm serious stuff this ! ;)