• OK, it's on.
  • Please note that many, many Email Addresses used for spam, are not accepted at registration. Select a respectable Free email.
  • Done now. Domine miserere nobis.

Purpose

YOLOisonlyprinciple

Active Member
Local time
Today 1:26 PM
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
322
-->
What is purpose in life?

Religions say *uniting with God*
Media says *happiness*
Government says *being useful*


I personally feel none of those reasons would be really accepted even by a fifth-grader.


And if you dont have any real purpose, why do you even bother waking up, or visiting this toxic forum anyway ;)
 

onesteptwostep

Junior Hegelian
Local time
Today 4:56 PM
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
4,253
-->
What is religion?

What is media?

What is government?

I think we should define our terms first, or at least (or maybe more importantly) understand why those institutions exist in the first place. How did they come about, and why did they come about?
 

Architect

Professional INTP
Local time
Today 1:56 AM
Joined
Dec 25, 2010
Messages
6,691
-->
This is a highly shortened version of my deduction of the purpose of life.

Any discussion of purpose has to take it's starting point from reality. For example, I could say "My purpose is to live as a rock", well then good luck with that. Let's assume the physical world as a backdrop, that is, that our purpose isn't something like "to live in the physical world".

Our starting point then has to be we are human. What makes us human? Evolution, the one thing that has been working for 4 billion years to produce us is evolution. Evolution does nothing but produce change, and most of the time improvement. In fact if we look around us, most of our time, energy and everything that is important to us has to do with this; making the world a better place. The world is already so fantastically wonderful because of previous generations who have made it so. So therefore ...

The purpose of life is we Evolve, the inevitable consequence is that we individually contribute to this process and in turn benefit from it.

The purpose of life must begin with this basis, simply because the question wouldn't even be asked. Life wouldn't even exist without this basis, so the answer must start from it.

You can add to that anything you wish, such as "my purpose is to become a musician" or whatever. For me personally, I take this basis and simply personalize it. I like working on computers, and in fact the information world is where evolution has moved to, from the physical world. So I contribute to our continued evolution by adding my own change and improvement to the system. By this philosophy the "unlived life", or the life of pure consumption is one having no purpose and no point.

The point becomes clear if you consider the following thought experiment. Imagine seeing the question from the outside, say by watching little A.I. bots in a video game, like in the Game of Life. Little pixel constellations move and change by eating up their neighbors. Sometimes they go off continually into the distance (walkers), sometimes they get stuck and sit there just changing between two forms (blinkers) and often other times they just die off. The rules for GOL are extremely simple.

Now imagine that in addition to the rules, the little constellates have the ability to think and ask "what is the purpose of life"? From the outside, doesn't it seem obvious? They're programmed to evolve, change by specific rules, that's the purpose. We know, we programmed them that way! Anything else they come up with is fine, but that's their business. At a basic level they are supposed to, and will do nothing more than march around gobbling up neighbors and changing.

This isn't meant to imply a supernatural being that created us, unless you want to consider the natural process of evolution as such, but it should make the point clear. We are made to do one thing (evolve/change), and will will do it whether we want to or not. So the root of our purpose is this.
 

Haim

Worlds creator
Local time
Today 10:56 AM
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
781
-->
Location
Israel
Purpose exist only in the brain,it is emotion.
That is like asking "What is hate/happy/love.. in life"
There is no one answer and it can even change for one person.

For me is to create and anything needed for it(learn,get inspired(watch anime :P))
I mainly do it with programming.
 

YOLOisonlyprinciple

Active Member
Local time
Today 1:26 PM
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
322
-->
This isn't meant to imply a supernatural being that created us, unless you want to consider the natural process of evolution as such, but it should make the point clear. We are made to do one thing (evolve/change), and will will do it whether we want to or not. So the root of our purpose is this. [/SPOILER]
So our purpose is to continue doing what we are doing, even tho we cant stop doing what we are doing?


Purpose exist only in the brain,it is emotion.
That is like asking "What is hate/happy/love.. in life"
There is no one answer and it can even change for one person.

For me is to create and anything needed for it(learn,get inspired(watch anime :P))
I mainly do it with programming.

Yea, i love programming too; there is something about writing a code which can automate something which we had to do before or do something new we couldnt before..
But even then, there seems to be the doubt, a quest for a grander purpose.. the world is so big, but our purpose is limited to only just doin work on a computer.


If our purpose is limited to being a progammer/musician what is the point of having all these other things in the universe. The AI bot in the game only has a very limited environment to work with. We on the other hand have such a complex and vast universe, from which discerning our purpose seems to be very difficult
 

Architect

Professional INTP
Local time
Today 1:56 AM
Joined
Dec 25, 2010
Messages
6,691
-->
So our purpose is to continue doing what we are doing, even tho we cant stop doing what we are doing?

I look around and see plenty of people who aren't living their lives, or at best are barely living them. Don't need to go much further than this board actually.
 

Analyzer

Hide thy life
Local time
Today 12:56 AM
Joined
Aug 23, 2012
Messages
1,241
-->
Location
West
How do you know if evolution is progressive by nature?
 

Architect

Professional INTP
Local time
Today 1:56 AM
Joined
Dec 25, 2010
Messages
6,691
-->
Look around you, 4 billion years ago the planet was a ball of goo.
 

Haim

Worlds creator
Local time
Today 10:56 AM
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
781
-->
Location
Israel
So our purpose is to continue doing what we are doing, even tho we cant stop doing what we are doing?




Yea, i love programming too; there is something about writing a code which can automate something which we had to do before or do something new we couldnt before..
But even then, there seems to be the doubt, a quest for a grander purpose.. the world is so big, but our purpose is limited to only just doin work on a computer.
If our purpose is limited to being a progammer/musician what is the point of having all these other things in the universe. The AI bot in the game only has a very limited environment to work with. We on the other hand have such a complex and vast universe, from which discerning our purpose seems to be very difficult

And I see more and more of that universe and my universe(my brain) and create ideas.
Programming is little about setting in front of pc,most of it is thinking when you are not typing.
 

Reluctantly

Resident disMember
Local time
Yesterday 9:56 PM
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Messages
3,135
-->
just a thought,

Some people will say life has no purpose; these people demand there to be a purpose encompassing their entire lives. For them life must have some kind of inherent motivation to be worth anything at all. This can lead to people finding and following a narrow unyielding sense of purpose. Religion is quite good for that.

But giving oneself a purpose, rather than expecting one to be handed down or divined, brings freedom of purpose. I wouldn't have it any other way. And I suppose that's what I would describe as the purpose for life - the freedom to be. It seems a necessity for anyone that truly appreciates the nature of purpose.
 
Top Bottom