Man's search for meaning

[Spiderman]

You were expecting something from Viktor Frankl? . Nope

So let's say there is no creator and a great explosion lead to perfectly round planets, billions of stars and pond scum that became a fish, that became an amphibian, then a reptile, a mammal, an ape, and eventually you. There is no reason for it to happen really.

Is there really any purpose to life? Why be honest and charitable? Why follow the golden rule? We came from pond scum and will shortly be a decomposing corpse...does it matter 100 years from now what your life and choices were like?

Why do the majority of these evolved chimps worship a God of some sort? Perhaps they see how meaningless life is without faith in a Creator?

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life. 100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

 

[taykair]

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life. 100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

But it would matter to you and those around you. Is this not enough?

 

[Spiderman]

But it would matter to you and those around you. Is this not enough?

100 years from now I won't care

 

[taykair]

But you do now. Again, is this not sufficient?

 

[Spiderman]

But you do now. Again, is this not sufficient?

For me if I had a gun I would just blow my brains out if I knew there was no Spirits or God to please and no afterlife... I jumped off a building and broke multiple bones in a suicide attempt... lets just say it's a good thing I don't have firearms and good I'm not atheist anymore

 

[sayak83]

100 years from now I won't care

Therefore? Please feel free to throw away your life. Less competition for me.
See how that logic works?

 

[taykair]

For me if I had a gun I would just blow my brains out if I knew there was no Spirits or God to please and no afterlife... I jumped off a building and broke multiple bones in a suicide attempt... lets just say it's a good thing I don't have firearms and good I'm not atheist anymore

Then perhaps it's best to let Gods and Spirits and Afterworlds take care of themselves, and focus upon where we are now.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Simply put I find it ludicrous that there HAS to be a purpose to life. It is like saying there HAS to be a purpose to water, rocks, the shape of mountains and so forth. We as humans find and create purpose and the only purpose we would have is in the eyes of our creator and not us creating purpose from our creator. To me religion has it backwards and must realize that if someone created us they did it for their own benefit and not for ours as we are created with the initial purpose to begin with. Christianity has destroyed itself with this notion by constantly fixating on a god so loving it is weak, pitiful and stupid.

A god is a god and ultimately should be loved, feared and respected as even the Bible says so. This charismatic approach to theology is ridding religion of everything it needs to be thriving in its view of the world.

The reason we are honest and show morality at all is because we do so out of our own benefit and our need to survive. Indeed if a god put it in us we are doing as that god intended and religiously we all fulfil our goal in this aspect. So obviously we believe in a creator and worship that creator out of the bottom of our heart but if anything we do so because we know it is real.

We worship gods because they are there and not because our purpose reflects back to this god but instead our actions are reflective of this god's intent upon us.

 

[Rival]

It would be ultimately meaningless and you would have every good reason to fall into an existential crisis. I was almost completely delusional for days during mine. I recommend if you are feeling this way to try to keep yourself occupied and not engage with religion at all if that worsens it.

 

[Spiderman]

It would be ultimately meaningless and you would have every good reason to fall into an existential crisis. I was almost completely delusional for days during mine.

If I go back to atheism it is drugs, jails, institutions, and jumping off another building... I can't survive without faith...but I admire those who can

 

[Rye_P]

... I can't really find motivation really to live a good life.

Maybe because you're a pessimist?.

 

[Spiderman]

Maybe because you're a pessimist?.

Oh...as an atheist I was...now I'm honest and charitable because I believe it pleases the noble spirits

 

[LuisDantas]

Is there really any purpose to life?

Quite many.

Why be honest and charitable?

Because it is far more constructive than the alternative.

Why follow the golden rule?

It is not always the best course of action, in truth. It can be improved on. But it is a good starting point to establish an ethical framework for a healthy society.

We came from pond scum and will shortly be a decomposing corpse...

You talk as if that were somehow problematic or bad.

It is not.

does it matter 100 years from now what your life and choices were like?

It will matter to those who inherit the effects of our existences.

And it certainly matters for us while we live.

Why do the majority of these evolved chimps worship a God of some sort?

Not sure. Apparently there is a neurological or sociological tendency to seek confort in authority figures, and that often ends up encouraging god-beliefs or at least the willingness to act as if it existed.

Perhaps they see how meaningless life is without faith in a Creator?

I don't think so. That claim does not make any logical sense to me. A Creator God is hardly necessary, or even useful, for giving life meaning.

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life.

I am sorry for you then.

I hope that you manage to develop an appreciation for joy and beauty in existence, for those are many and worthy.

Mortality does not spoil beauty.

100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

It won't matter to you, because you will be dead, sure.

But it matters right now. And it may easily matter for those who will be alive in the future and will have to reap the seeds that we sow now.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life. 100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

Well if you went that route, you probably wouldn't get along too well with other people.

 

[Mindmaster]

Is there really any purpose to life? Why be honest and charitable? Why follow the golden rule? We came from pond scum and will shortly be a decomposing corpse...does it matter 100 years from now what your life and choices were like?

Why do the majority of these evolved chimps worship a God of some sort? Perhaps they see how meaningless life is without faith in a Creator?

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life. 100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

What if the purpose is to find the purpose or meaning?

Secondly, the negative karma (in a real world sense) would become a full time occupation as you deal with the consequences of being untrustworthy, a thief, do drugs all of the time, or otherwise partake in such activities. That's why the, f--- it all, line of reasoning isn't profitable, ultimately it is illogical and also not good for ones own happiness. There is no payday... You'd have traded misery for more misery...

 

[JoshuaTree]

Read Ecclesiastes. Solomon was richest and wisest of all and struggled searching for the meaning of life while living in the shadow of an all knowing and all powerful God. Although Solomon knew God was in control he wasn't quite able to surrender himself totally to God because God was in control, hence his frustration. So Solomon realized that the best he could do for now was to keep God's commandments until the time and place of his enlightenment.

Nicodemus was equally frustrated asking Jesus what could he do to enter the peace of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus told Nicodemus we must be born again implying that just as we had no control over the time and place of our first birth we have no control over the time and the place of our second birth into the kingdom of heaven (in the here and the now overcoming sin death and the power of the devil). Nicodemus teacher of Israel who followed all the rules could not accept this at the time and that frustrated him.

Hang in there,

Blessings!

 

[Augustus]

A Creator God is hardly necessary, or even useful, for giving life meaning.

While it certainly isn't necessary, it sure seems to be useful to billions of people. Aren't they a better judge of what they find personally useful than you?

Seems a bit obtuse to pretend something has no utility simply because you don't like it or don't find it personally useful.

 

[Stevicus]

You were expecting something from Viktor Frankl? . Nope

So let's say there is no creator and a great explosion lead to perfectly round planets, billions of stars and pond scum that became a fish, that became an amphibian, then a reptile, a mammal, an ape, and eventually you. There is no reason for it to happen really.

Is there really any purpose to life? Why be honest and charitable? Why follow the golden rule? We came from pond scum and will shortly be a decomposing corpse...does it matter 100 years from now what your life and choices were like?

Why do the majority of these evolved chimps worship a God of some sort? Perhaps they see how meaningless life is without faith in a Creator?

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life. 100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

Even if there is a God, it doesn't necessarily mean there is a purpose to life. We can pretend that there is a purpose. We can imagine all kinds of things. Things we do now might indeed matter 100 years from now. 100 years is really just a drop in the bucket compared to how long the universe has existed. Even 1000 years is a relatively short period of time. But 100,000 or a million years from now - probably not much we do will really matter.

Some people take more of a hedonistic route and believe that the only thing to do is enjoy life while you can, take as much pleasure and fun as you can - since life is so short. But even that seems rather pointless in the grand scheme of things.

I don't think there's any real answer to the questions you're asking. But the way I see it, as long as we're here, might as well keep asking these questions and shake a few people out of their complacency.

 

[Kuzcotopia]

Is there really any purpose to life? Why be honest and charitable? Why follow the golden rule? We came from pond scum and will shortly be a decomposing corpse...does it matter 100 years from now what your life and choices were like?

Why do the majority of these evolved chimps worship a God of some sort? Perhaps they see how meaningless life is without faith in a Creator?

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life. 100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

Because doing those things makes you desperately unhappy. Do you want to be happy?

Trying to do the bidding of spirits/gods, etcetera is cowardly. It means you don't want any responsibility, and anything that happens to you is attributable to others.

Making your own choices and living a good like that you want, without all that, means that you take responsibility for your own life, and no despotic god-concepts are going to stand in your way. That's heroic. That's brave.

I know you can't let it go right away. . . But start seeing yourself as having power. . . agency. . . control.

Imagine helping someone else right now. Did you help them because some all-powerful being commanded it and you might get rewarded? Or did you help them because you wanted to cause the world around you be a little better than it was?

Which is a better reason to help others and be a better person?

 

[ChristineM]

You were expecting something from Viktor Frankl? . Nope

So let's say there is no creator and a great explosion lead to perfectly round planets, billions of stars and pond scum that became a fish, that became an amphibian, then a reptile, a mammal, an ape, and eventually you. There is no reason for it to happen really.

Is there really any purpose to life? Why be honest and charitable? Why follow the golden rule? We came from pond scum and will shortly be a decomposing corpse...does it matter 100 years from now what your life and choices were like?

Why do the majority of these evolved chimps worship a God of some sort? Perhaps they see how meaningless life is without faith in a Creator?

Seriously, if we just evolved from scum and rot in the ground ceasing to exist, I can't really find motivation really to live a good life. 100 years from now it won't matter if I lie, steal, hurt others, do drugs, and throw my whole life away.

Re First paragraph, gravity caused the planets to form, which are not precisely perfectly round, earth for example is an oblate spheroid.

As for abiogenesis, recent understanding suggests that life is a consequence of thermodynamics.
[1209.1179] Statistical Physics of Self-Replication

Also i understand no scum was involved, on the contrary, water needed to be quite clear for sunlight and heat to penetrate.

Second paragraph. I consider meaning of life to be personal, certainly on a universal scale life is meaningless. On a local or planitary scale then yes, life can have the meaning you want for it. Some people are content doing the their best for their family, that's their meaning. For some their meaning is to change the world. Without such people humanity would still be living in caves and grunting at each other.

Third paragraph. As an atheist i cannot answer that one.

Fourth paragraph, it will matter to future generations if you are one of those whose meaning of life is to improve it for humanity.