Meaning of life.

[Atomic Mitten]

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

Not at all ! what else is such fun in life ?

Apart from playing Emp or Dune of course ;D

[Big D]

And yes, Dust scout, I know the meaning of life as to the speicies is to survive, but I am more thinking, what is the point in surviving?

[Dante]

Who says we have a purpose?

Or maybe sentience is an accident, evolution has them all the time after all.

On the other hand, perhaps insects are sentient and have reached the pinnacle of life's philosophical goals, and so can afford to spend all of their time eating each other and rolling dung into balls.

In my own opinion I don't think there is a 'purpose.' I think perhaps there is a reason for our evolution, specifically to test the theory of whether brains > brawn. ;) But I do not think that there is a purpose, I do not think that there is a 'goal' that we should work towards. Sentience is not a gift, it's just an evolutionary trait that we have been equipped with because it will help us to survive without claws, wings, fangs, etc. Either that or a mistake.

[Big D]

who says that claws etc won't do. :D

I'd rather be a predator and kill to live, than to be a human and have abilities that have no purpose/use to me. ::)

as about bugs, we can kill/mash/squeeze etc them with ease, so if we are in this case stronger than bugs, then why do they even exist. ???

btw I don't think that bugs have brains to even know "that" they even life.

perhaps they just move/live/feed/kill out of instinct and they have some kind of "pre-programmed" directive form the moment that they crawl out of their eggs. ::)

[Dante]

Quite. Who says that claws won't do? But we don't have them. So we evolved something different.

You really don't know much about insects, do you? Not to mention capital letters or question marks... Insects are very powerful. There are more species of insect than all of the other animal groups put together. They are found everywhere on the planet's surface, and in a lot of places below it. They have more species than we have individuals. Do you really think that you could 'kill/mash/squeeze' all of them? So you can kill one insect, big deal. If insects were so minded they could destroy you and not even leave your bones behind. You are not stronger than insects.

Not only are they potentially mega-powerful, they also serve as a vital link in the food chain. No insects = no insect-eating birds or fish, no spiders, no small lizards, etc. This in turn means no animals that feed on them, so no lizards, no larger fish, no lions, no elephants, no humans. Without insects to pollenate them most flower species would die out, as would most trees and vegtables. No insects = barren wasteland, devoid of all life but the microscopic. Asking 'why do they even exist' is possibly one of the most obviously answerable questions I've ever come across.

btw I don't think that bugs have brains to even know "that" they even life.

perhaps they just move/live/feed/kill out of instinct and they have some kind of "pre-programmed" directive form the moment that they crawl out of their eggs.

Possibly. Perhaps they're just very good at hiding their huge intellect.

[Big D]

You really don't know much about insects, do you? Not to mention capital letters or question marks... Insects are very powerful. There are more species of insect than all of the other animal groups put together. They are found everywhere on the planet's surface, and in a lot of places below it. They have more species than we have individuals. Do you really think that you could 'kill/mash/squeeze' all of them? So you can kill one insect, big deal. If insects were so minded they could destroy you and not even leave your bones behind. You are not stronger than insects.

Not only are they potentially mega-powerful, they also serve as a vital link in the food chain. No insects = no insect-eating birds or fish, no spiders, no small lizards, etc. This in turn means no animals that feed on them, so no lizards, no larger fish, no lions, no elephants, no humans. Without insects to pollenate them most flower species would die out, as would most trees and vegtables. No insects = barren wasteland, devoid of all life but the microscopic. Asking 'why do they even exist' is possibly one of the most obviously answerable questions I've ever come across.

I know I know sorry :O I said it wrong (as usual) what I was trying to tell is that an insect vs a human 1v1 is death to the bug.

but it seems that to insects "a single life is irrelevant" and this in not true for humans (for as far as I know)

so in comparison, it will take "quadrilions" of bugs to kill mankind (prolly more).

not that they should.

(anyways I think that bugs are vile/disgusting etc) so I guess that explains my vicious response ::)

[Dante]

Sure, hate the life forms that keep you alive. Go ahead. :P And not all insects are bugs you know. Aphids are, beetles aren't.

insect vs a human 1v1 is death to the bug.

but it seems that to insects "a single life is irrelevant" and this in not true for humans (for as far as I know)

Most humans, yes...  ;D 

[Dunenewt]

Arachnids would be a different matter eh Dustie?

[Dante]

I have a soft spot for arachnids. :)

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dd_gallery/dd1/Lolth_p82.jpg

[Big D]

aaarrghh :O that's absolutely horrible :O!

[Dante]

Xun naut telanth nindel i'dol d'lil Orbb Valsharess! B'luthyrr ulu l' ib'ahalii d' Lolth...

Translation: Do not speak that way of the Spider Queen! Bow to the glory of Lolth...

[Big D]

What's a Lolth?

[Dante]

Lolth is the Spider Queen, the Goddess of malice, chaos, evil and treahcery. She is poison and she is death, she is power and she is shadow. Like the spiders that are her sacred sign she spins webs of deceit and destroys her foes, as do her chosen people, the drow. The above is only one of her many guises.

[Big D]

errm you okay there jk :)

we are getting way of topic here. :D

[Dante]

Yeah, I noticed. ;D Any more questions on the meaning of life? 42, eh heh heh...

[Big D]

well to get back on topic.

the reason why I have questions about the meaning of life is because I never seem to have enough.

I mean like I am healthy I have a home and so on and so on, but there is still a gnawing feeling left and somehow I just can't be satisfied, so that's why I wanted to know more about the meaning of life.

[Dante]

I get around that by sinking into depression for days. Try it, it works. If you come back out again you'll find that now there is this barrier to stop you thinking that kind of thought. The thoughts are useful, but depressing. Because in truth there is no answer. The barrier isn't permanent, so you may need to repeat this every few months or so. And being depressed will bring it crashing down again.

Just don't turn to religion, that will possibly make you happy and even give you answers, but it'll be wrong...

[Big D]

I'm more frustrated then I am depressed.

but you are right. I should not turn to religion, there must be more.

my problem is that I am as stubborn as a donkey :D

[Acriku]

My current opinion is that we have no purpose, we are simply the result of the successful survival of our ancestors. Purpose of life is limited to the individual, and even that is made by imagination.

[Caid Ivik]

World itself is senseless without us, so I wouldn't say we have a purpose, but we are a purpose. You should think less egocentrically.

[nemafakei]

Life has no particular meaning ingrined into it, and, as far as I'm concerned, was not designed with any purpose. That doesn't mean we can't give ourselves one.

We could aim for wealth, but that's a bit hollow if our rules let us privately claim the solar system and anything else we see as our own on the grounds that no-one else is claiming it. And we have little perspective on how successful we are - for all we know another race long before us or after us wcould do better.

We could try the spreading our seed thing, but we'll all die eventually, and again, it's a little arrogant to think we can do better than anyone else, nor will it get us anywhere. What would be the difference between ouselves and the common cold?

Such physical things are, after all, relative. But where we can make actual progress, more significant than just how many planets we can land on? It needs to be something abstract, but, equally something that produces something.

Pleasure is one possibility. But I don't think stuffing ourselves full of drugs or similar is an objective reason to live.

But what does fit these criteria is knowledge. What better pursuit than devoting ourselves to discovering the secrets of our universe?

We can follow this not just be becoming physicists, but by participating in the society that supports this research. By placing this as a pinnacle goal, by reasoning, we can work out what we must do to acheive it, which involves putting others first and generally working towards a better society which gives everyone the opportunity in life to be on the cutting edge of research.

[alchemi2]

personally i belive in the philosophy of WANT. it maybe shalllow but it works. i do this becuse i want that, if i dont want do that to achieve the other then obviously dont want it realy.

it works for me. as to any higher meaning then thats down to you as a individual and even that fits in with WANT.

I belive this because I want to. it rings true for all. ;)

[Edric O]

I want to answer a discussion on the previous page regarding the importance of sentience for survival.

All non-human lifeforms are obviously capable of surviving and reproducing just fine without being sentient, but the long-term survival of ALL life on Earth depends on our sentience, and on our technological civilization.

How long-term, you ask? About 5 billion years. Within 5 billion years, the Sun will swell to Red Giant size, and all life on Earth will be incinerated. The only hope for the continued survival of Life rests with us, because we, Homo Sapiens, have developed SPACE TRAVEL. We make the difference between Life imprisoned on one tiny little lonely planet, and Life spreading across the Galaxy, to millions of worlds.

That is how important our sentience is. And that is how great a responsibility we have.

[Acriku]

I consider that the survival of non-sentient organisms is played by the extremely active part of their genes, guiding their instincts and survival methods. With sentience, the environment comes in and plays a big role as well as the genes.

Also, in 5 billion years homo sapiens will have evolved into many other species and possibly eradicating the homo sapiens through the crowding out effect or war or any other reason. I don't think we have a future in 5 billion years.

[Caid Ivik]

Technocracy is for me a same mamon as any other form of materialism. World isn't the only thing we have to discover.