My Thoughts.

I wrote this in a blog, actually, and then transfered it to here. Enjoy:

So I was browsing this new forum I visit, at ld4all.com. The meaning of life was brought up a while ago, and has grown quite a bit. It’s funny, because there are people who run with ideas, and others who don’t even bother with the question. Some think life is just a chore/priority, just another thing that happens. I think I lean more towards this “theory”(if you can even call it that). But others try to explain why we are here, what we should be doing, god, religion, all that crap.

To me, it’s very hard to find a reason to even explain the meaning of life. There is no concrete answer, and there never will be. So why even bother trying to explain it? Just leave it alone and go on with life.

But there’s still that part of me that wants to know if there IS a meaning of life. One theory someone brought up was that the meaning/point of life is to find out what the meaning of life is. To me, this would just create one huge loop. On the other hand, maybe there isn’t just one meaning of life. Maybe the first one is to find out what the meaning it, and the other is to use it to your advantage throughout it. It’s all very complicated, and even I don’t understand it. If one tried to find a definitive answer, he/she would go insane.

It’s sort-of like that movie “Proof” I saw a while back. A man known for his great inteligence in the mathematical field, spends the last years of his life trying to find out the perfect thesis/theory to a problem no one can solve. In doing so, he goes insane. You could even say it’s a tad on the Edgar Allen Poe side(great writer, who eventually goes insane).

I could never, ofcourse, write down every theory on life in this one blog. I can’t even think of all the theories.

Yet another thing brought up at the forum was the existence of the afterlife. This theory is the same as UFO’s to me: I WANT to believe, but just can’t. People say ghosts are real and that they can appear where/whenever they want to give us a sign. Well, why don’t they ever appear on a simple camera and stop the insane debate on whether or not they exist? A simple video could prove this. I mean, does God only allow certain fragments in time for ghosts to appear. Or, better yet, does God only allow certain fragments in time for US to see them?

The theory about ghosts can only be in affect if you truely do believe in God(same thing that follows my thoughts of UFO’s and ghosts). Im a man who needs proof of something in existence. Im also a evolutionist. There’s no way in hell that Im believing an entire sea was parted(then again, this sentence is in controdiction with itself by stating hell exists). I believe in the logical, not illogical, reason as to how man got onto Earth. Bacteria to fish to bird to ?land animal? to ape to human(well, something like that). Saying God created us with a magic wand isn’t true at all.

But then we have to rethink religion. It’s a BELIEF in something, like God. There’s nothing wrong about believing in something. Nothing at all. But the creationists who say God existed and it’s the only way, those are the ones I have a problem with. Give us proof, and I’ll believe. I believe science has already pretty much proved evolution. Having a book on the creationists side as proof doesn’t really work…

A thing that wasn’t brought up on the forum(that I’m aware of), is that man has an already chosen path throughout life. I’ve started thinking about this ever since I saw Donnie Darko(the part where he see’s others paths, remember?). This I cannot really debate nor accept fully, because I don’t really understand it. I thought I had a general idea, and that the world is basically a prison if the theory is correct, but I just can’t decide now.

One thing I don’t get is that suicide is a sin(the ultimate, if Im correct). Why don’t we have the harmless choice of ending the life we live. We aren’t hurting anyone else at all(physically). If ones life is truely as bad as they think, they should logically have the right to end it. Isn’t this our right to freedom? Our freedom to die? Is that even a right? Who knows…

Man, ever since I saw Waking Life, this crap has been on my mind. I just can’t stop thinking about it. Wish I could…

I know what you’re going through, thats because I’ve been thinking about this topic (and other equally confusing topics) for quite some time now. But before I comment on the meaning of life, I’d like to give my thoughts on afterlife:

-Really when it comes down to it everyone wants to believe in ghosts and the belief that life carries on after death. This is due to the will to survive that is programmed into all humans, we fear death, and the prospect of being able to carry on as a ghost gives us hope that life doesn’t end when the body dies. So I think the belief in ghosts/afterlife is more of a defense mechanism that many people use as a crutch to deal with their own mortality. Does this mean that god is also another defense mechanism that humans invented to coupe with their seemingly meaningless existance? Perhaps, but if the belief in god helped people become more moral then I think it’s one lie worth keeping around. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a supreme being altogether though, the more I learn about the universe, the more I wonder what happened 15 billion years ago just before the universe was born…

-But as I’ve said before I don’t think life has an actual meaning beyond survival/proliferation of the species.

-If you are a chrisitan (more specifically a catholic) then the church has told you that your body is actually property of god and killing yourself is like breaking god’s toys, so to speak. Personally I think your life is yours to live or end, but I do consider suicide an act of cowardice.

Like I said though, you are not alone in the struggle to find the truth. Just don’t let it consume you or get in the way of what matters in life, make your own path and decide for yourself what the meaning of your life is. :handshake:

Practical question: assume your life has absolutely no meaning. What will you do with it? What will you eat tomorrow? Will you end up marrying that lovely person you’ve been seeing lately? Will you have children?

Having a life with no meaning—is it so unbearable?

Now, face it: between “your life is yours to choose its meaning” and “your life has no meaning,” there’s absolutely no difference.

If you put the meaning of your life in God, then killing yourself really should be a sin, because you gave yourself to God, you’re no longer your property, your quest is no longer yours, your purpose won’t be to seek for happines or, I don’t know, lets go cliché: acceptance, love…! Your purpose will be to fulfil God’s plans for humankind. In a sense, giving yourself to God makes you a bit less human. (Then again, that could mean a bit less imperfect, but this is not a theological discussion.)

There are three ways your life will have a meaning: you can assume it hasn’t and a) live without one b) choose one; you can have a revelation and submit yourself to god/godess/gods or you can seek for a good meaning for your life in philosophy (not that any of them are anymore than just guesses).