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Loaded question, following. Interested to see the responses.
I don't believe there is a "purpose." Life just is... I guess you could say our purpose is to exist, similar to how cougers, hens, wolfs, mosquitos, Platyhelminthes and Charlie the tuna fish exist. We where created and live within this code in our genese that determines what we do, much like a hummingbird determines it must drink nectar, a newly hatches sea turtle knows to run into the sea or a bee contributes towards building the hive. Life just is. We can give our life meaing by coming up with a purpose for it, but that is an entirley personal choice and is not the general purpose of human life, instead it is the purpose of an individual.
Some would say the true purpose of life is finding your ideal significant other. Although some of us have different thoughts about who qualifies as “ideal”.
Fuck 19 year old girls and get paid.
Lmao Isaiah will never live that down.
Solve complicated problems.
That could mean literally anything from curing cancer, conducting pioneering research, building a business, ending poverty, moving up the corporate ladder, winning someone's heart, and yes even pleasuring a woman.
All tasks in our lives require good amount of criticical thinking, solid understanding of ourselves and the outer world, and strategic acumen to be good at.
Life is a one giant puzzle to be solved and all humans have some sort an innate wish to problem solving of one form another. Some of us are more quantitative than others, some of us more analytical, and some of us more creative. Quants use math to solve problems of managing money really well. Engineers use technical skills and knowledge to design and build things. Artists use their creativity to figure out the best way to express themselves and have other people empathize. Ones who are successful are simply ones who solved these problems. But life poses more problems to us after we solve one.
Once I realized this, I felt so enlightened. It feels like I understand the world. I may not be able to do everything, but there's nothing that I cannot understand.
It's that powerful.
Eudaimonia - there is no real purpose to life, but the best use of it is to pursue happiness and 'flourishing'. This works out well for everyone as long as people aren't psychopaths/sociopaths.
Life is just life bro. There is no purpose or definite goal. You create those for yourself. I think everyone is different and should just do what either makes them happy or will help them get to a point where they are happy, for me its a combination of both. We're just here for the ride. Basically ask yourself that same question and give yourself the vaguest answer possible, and I think thats about as close as you can get.
19 year old girls
survival and reproduction
I read courage by osho and it was pretty cool. do you have any osho book recommendations
Thought about that question after I bought my first dream car. Tough one to answer. So far I've come to terms that it's simply the next car.
Bitching at Bloomberg support.
I mean it's such a controversial question. If you are religious then you are doing things that will set you up for the best afterlife. If you aren't religious then I guess you are just living and doing things that bring happiness. Scientifically we want to keep our species alive, so reproduction and survival are the purpose of life. I personally believe there is no purpose, so my philosophy on life is to experience everything humanly possible before "dying".
sex
Whatever you want it to be.
To live and enjoy it while respecting others' right to enjoy theirs.
Are we just going to recreate metaphysics in a WSO thread?
Interesting question.
I would say happiness.
According to the literature I've read; Man's Search for Meaning and Tolstoy's War and Peace. Happiness is found just above the level of privation. Humans are naturally encoded to want more so happiness is inherently unhuman. This is why true happiness is only found in some of the most deprived people who are not enjoying the full human experience.
Pursuing/reaching happiness as the meaning for life is not at all the conclusion in Man's Search for Meaning. The reason so many deprived/poor people are happy is because they live a life of love and/or their work is helping alleviate the suffering of others.
I would argue that in conjunction with Tolstoy's War and Peace it is. I do not accept either text with face value, however the combination of the two was very helpful in deciphering what I believe is happiness. I borrowed more heavily from Tolstoy's philosophy looking a Pierre's dynamic change throughout the novel searching for meaning. Using MSFM as a reference of some of the similar situations that Pierre found himself in during his epiphany moment.
I do agree with your statement on how the conclusion of MSFM is not the pursuit of happiness.
To make your bosses and the wealthy people you ultimately serve wealthier.
to be a sedated cow, not doing anything too crazy, in the eyes of the pharmacologists who have placed me on lithium and risperidone because of my bipolar 1 diagnoses. I am also probably autistic. maybe I could be kurt cobain but society, my parents, would rather see me be a sedated cow.
does anyone on here have serious mental health struggles? I got diagnosed with bipolar 1 after a manic episode pretty recently, and am also probably autistic. struggling because these meds that they have me on are doing a good job keeping the mania and depression in check but are making me feel like a sedated cow. society would rather see me be a sedated cow than use whatever genius creative gifts I have even though it is dangerous to be in the state with greater access to those gifts. there is probably a trade off between creativity and sanity and we sort of just assume that sanity is preferable for everyone and everyone has to be on meds because everyone who is bipolar 1 is a threat to themselves off meds, even if that is true I feel like it's more complicated of a question then just yes let's sedate him there is no discussion to be had, this person today told me life might be more challenging for me now, experiencing normal emotion since I have historically experienced high highs, and that I can never in my life go off these meds that they've prescribed me and this has got me feeling kind of frustrated, like I tried to be normal my whole life and didn't really do a good job and now I decide i'm going to stop trying to be normal and just embrace my eccentric self and focus on creative things but i'm on meds now that stifle whatever creative talent makes me want to pursue creative things, society and my parents would rather see me be a sedated cow than be dangerous to myself, and no one I've spoken with is even going to acknowledge that they are potentially killing off a part of me that I like or turning me into a zombie unless I mention it, I just have to find out for myself when I have so much muscle stiffness that I can't brush my teeth, can't concentrate on anything, one of the most 'enjoyable' things is laying in bed on my back and doing nothing. can anyone relate to this?
I take brain meds and they definitely mellow me out. I also think 99% of people in finance are on the autiste spectrum. and also IMO if youre in a finance roles are usually the exact opposite of where you can express your creative talents, we normally get beaten down by corporate policies and the bureaucracy is definitely creatively stifling.
There are only two possible, logically consistent answers - (1) life is basically absurd, there is no ultimate, transcendent meaning, and therefore maximizing pleasure should be the main goal (note - this position does not require that there is no God, only that there isn't a God that will judge us in an afterlife), or (2) there is an afterlife in which God will reward the just and punish the wicked, and so we should do our best to come to know, love, and serve God in one way or another.
what the point in a god playing a game with humans to see what choices they make though? why would a god create human beings just to see which ones make certain choices, that would get old fast. and then there's ethical relativism, what is good or bad? how would a tribe in the Amazon with no contact with the outside world have the same principles and morals as someone in Italy?
The point in the case of #2 would be because God is love, and he created humans to offer them the opportunity to enjoy eternal happiness and be loved by God. Don't you think most people would agree that being alive is better than not having ever been born? So the purpose would not be to see what choices people make - and as far as getting old, an eternal being that exists outside of space and time would not have things "get old fast." I am not a believer in relativism. And while someone in Italy may have been afforded more resources to deeply explore principles (I'm not actually sure this is 100% accurate, as people just chilling in the Amazon may spend more time thinking, meditating, etc. and many of them may actually be quite well developed in that area), I believe everyone is born with a conscience. Even if you don't have a Western education, you know there is something wrong with murdering your brother so you can bang his wife.
does anyone find it strange that we were all born as humans.
like how lucky are we to be a human? rather than a pond skater, for example.
I always think about this. then think there's something weird going on. like the Truman show.
just observe a dog and realise they have no concept of life or death. a dog could be broadcast on YouTube to billions of people and they would never conceptualise it. it reminds me that everything is perception.
Literally. Pond skaters arent like damn I wish I was that born as a human. I wonder if animals have any concept of how the food chain works or if they just know who is immediately above and below them.
Many humans do not understand how the food chain works before they 8-10.
Safe to say that all animals other than humans have no clue how the food chain works.
Doing what makes you happy.
Realizing you are a speck of All That Is, reflecting back on itself. Once you reach that level of inner introspection, you shoot out of 3D & go on to the next level of the game.
fuck bitches, get money
Have someone to look up to. Have someone to look forward to. And have something to chase.
alright alright alright
My purpose in life is to make a difference, to do useful things even in small ways. I know I can't change the world or anything, but I just want to make it a little bit better than before I was born.
I think making the world a little bit better is changing the world.
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