Thread: The meaning of life

I started by looking in books. Psychology, Spirituality, Sociology, Philosophy. Read, read, read. There are many books that have touched this issue in ways that I found highly revealing. It is not an easy task, but it can be done. I am now searching for some 6 months and still going. I learned a lot about myself already and continue to do so through this task. If needed I can write a list of books.

Another great place to look is www.stevepavlina.com. He writes some good things about life purpose, values etc.

Existentialism is always a good starter.

I have been searching for meaning of existance, the truth behind death, life, and reality ever since my grandmother died. It's a pretty sick (As in complex) obsession, but Youtube does have alot of different aspects you can look at on the situation. I'll just keep my personal views out of it to keep from having a religious war started, but I will say that it all seems pretty bleak when you look at life for face value.

There are just too many universals, too many unknowns, and too many unanswered questions for ANYONE to form an opinion on the matter in my eyes. Including myself, but we all do it. We all have our own personalized, almost predisposed meanings for life, and our existance on this planet.

My question is why? Beyond the obvious scientific version (Our higher cognitive functions create a fear of death, and question the unknown.) why is it we have Emotion, symbolism. What is the TRUE definition and origin of Time, Space, and Matter, and even taking it a step further to ask the true origin and definition of information, and concepts, and qualia so to speak.

But the biggest question I ask for science and religion to answer is:
Who is the ghost in the machine? The subjective creature that has come from the 100 billion neurons in my brain. Why am I me, and nobody can tell me different. Are we just highly complex organic machines? Or is there something else there? Why do I have free will and choice? Basically questions that must be answered before we can answer the meaning of true consciousness.

Eventually you will find that looking outside, external to yourself, will not yield any results other than more externals pointing the way to inside yourself.

You need to ask yourself "who is the "I" in the statement "I am" ?"

What are you referencing when you say "I" ?

You might respond quickly referencing the physical body, but is that really so?

Are you really using the physical senses when you refer to "I" ?

Everytime you make reference to "I" look at it, question it, contemplate it.

Spend a few weeks with this.

Do not be quick to jump to conclusions.

Well dont get me wrong. I have ALWAYS believed in the everlasting soul, I just want to hear some valid arguements for it. Instead of always relying on blind faith.

Originally Posted by Ruhe1986

I have ALWAYS believed in the everlasting soul, I just want to hear some valid arguements for it.

I think you're out of luck, as there are none. (This is, of course, assuming that these hypothetical souls are undetectable and cannot communicate with us)

As for the 'meaning' of life, I agree with Flanders. There is no reason to look for one - "meaning" is derived from intention, intention from consciousness. The universe, as far as we know, is not a conscious entity, and so it's not logical to look for objective meaning in life.

As for personal meaning, I believe that it is necessary for people to create some sort of goals/purposes for themselves in order to live fulfilling lives. Some people resort to devoting themselves to Gods, some people play sports, some go into research, etc. etc. etc.

It's just human nature, perhaps something intrinsic to the human brain. Again, there's no reason to look for objective meaning behind our need for subjective meaning.

Chairman: [of the Very Big Corporation of America]... which brings
us once again to the urgent realisation of just how much there
is still left to own. Item 6 on the Agenda, the Meaning of
Life... Now Harry, you've had some thoughts on this...

Harry: That's right, yeah. I've had a team working on this over the
past few weeks, and what we've come up with can be reduced to
two fundamental concepts... One... people are not wearing
enough hats. Two... matter is energy; in the Universe there
are many energy fields which we cannot normally perceive. Some
energies have a spiritual source which act upon a person's
soul. However, this soul does not exist *ab inito*, as
orthodox Christianity teaches; it has to be brought into
existence by a process of guided self-observation. However,
this is rarely achieved owing to man's unique ability to be
distracted from spiritual matters by everyday trivia.



So... are you a hat person, or a soul person?

Originally Posted by The Cusp

in the Universe there
are many energy fields which we cannot normally perceive.

Seriously. What are you talking about? I have a feeling you're making this up because it sounds cool. Do you even know what energy is? Good, because no one does. Not to mention energy forms which we 'cannot perceive'. You might as well claim that there are unicorns which we cannot normally perceive.

Originally Posted by The Cusp

Some
energies have a spiritual source which act upon a person's
soul.

We may not know what energy is, or, indeed, whether or not it actually exists, but we've defined it as a property of objects and systems. Your soul, assuming that there is such a thing, is neither.

And how do you make such a huge assumption? You're clearly begging the question in some manner.

Originally Posted by The Cusp

However, this soul does not exist *ab inito*, as
orthodox Christianity teaches; it has to be brought into
existence by a process of guided self-observation.

If you're going to claim that souls are the sources of consciousness (I'm assuming, correct me if I'm wrong here), then you can't also claim that you must observe yourself in order to 'get' one. How can you observe anything at all when you lack consciousness?

Moreover, what is your evidence/reasoning for this? You sound very authoritative. Are you really convinced?

Chill out man! It's from Monty Python's meaning of life. It's supposed to be funny. It's a prelude to the best scene from the movie where the Crimson Permanent Assurance company attacks.

Originally Posted by The Cusp

Chill out man! It's from Monty Python's meaning of life. It's supposed to be funny. It's a prelude to the best scene from the movie where the Crimson Permanent Assurance company attacks.

Are you serious?

I just owned myself.


My apologies, I've been getting increasingly irritated at the vague and incomprehensible statements some people make around here. Did I rip your paper tiger?

Originally Posted by The Cusp

Chill out man! It's from Monty Python's meaning of life. It's supposed to be funny. It's a prelude to the best scene from the movie where the Crimson Permanent Assurance company attacks.

Ah! I knew that sounded familiar. I love that movie.

So, a mystery we will never know...where do you start looking for the meaning of life? personal meaning and actual meaning are different. If i wanted personal i would do things that i liked, i mean the actual meaning, why are we here and what are we supposed to be doing here? kind of meaning. maybe there is no meaning to life, life just is? and because we are humans and need things we think life needs meaning when we are meaningless. Perhaps we are like a something that happens and gets fixed and you never have to worry about it ever again, or something like that. Anyway meaning or not it will be pretty pointless if there is no meaning to your existance, you just are and that is all. Maybe meaning is pointless thus we are pointless, and the deeper we search for meaning the more pointless we find ourselves in. I dunno, i can go even more deep into this but i pretty much covered it and will just continue to say the same thing but useing different words.

An ultimate meaning is, indeed, ultimately futile. One can easily understand what the ultimate meaning should be like, but it will remain elusive until a reference point is established, just as speed cannot be measured without a reference point.

If it is assumed that an ultimate meaning exists, a purpose that the universe serves, one must ask whose purpose it serves, and what purpose they serve, for whom do they serve it, and so on, ad infinitum. The answer is meaningless without a reference point, an ultimate being that decides for himself what the purpose of all things, including himself, must be. He does not search for any ultimate meaning because he serves no other being.

Fortunately, the choice of ultimate being is arbitrary. One can either have faith that there is a greater being and spend countless years trying to guess his purpose, or appoint a person, usually oneself, to be the final arbiter of meaning. In the latter choice, we are free to choose not only our own purpose, but the purpose of the universe in relation to us.

That guy in the youtube video said "...thought process and our reasoning our logic, our rationality...it still all means nothing." yet earlier he said "Saying that that's true... means that we have no purpose." So clearly some of us need to grasp exactly what "meaning" is before thinking so deeply about it, or perhaps he just has a different meaning of the word? I would reply to him "But saying that it was or wasn't true could mean anything else to somebody else," - it's just another way to look at the world. Unless, you think he is the man who kick-started the big-bang.

He finds purpose from posting a video on youtube.


The meaning of anything is completely up to you, it's universal. Remember - life is what you make it.

Want some interesting truths for free? Visit cuttingthroughthematrix.com for information from Alan Watt. All you will ever need to know!!

Originally Posted by FOREVERLUCID

Want some interesting truths for free? Visit cuttingthroughthematrix.com for information from Alan Watt. All you will ever need to know!!

I'll soon find out if you're a spammer. >,..,<

Originally Posted by ClouD

I'll soon find out if you're a spammer. >,..,<

Not a spammer, just a disemenator of truthsL

""That's right and what we find today in Europe especially in Britain and in the Americas and Canada you have the same, it's not even a handful of main publishing houses that give you all of your educational books because they want to standardize education worldwide. Therefore, it must all contain the same information or disinformation because it's all done for a social agenda, not to educate you really, and so you have standardization of the educational system worldwide under the International Education Association."

George: Do you think some of this of course is intentional and then some of it evolved over centuries or millenniums and they are actually refining this system of hidden rule and control? Do you think it sort of evolved and then some of it is really intentional too?

Alan: Some of it may have evolved. However, there's no doubt most of it is intentional. When you go in again into the history books and you realize just how long big meetings, world meetings in a sense have been held comprising of the wealthy families and their control over their countries. Mainly these families even in Europe are all related to each other, regardless of the countries they live in. They cornered every market including the educational market because they plan the society they want. They plan the next 100 years, 200 years. You don't keep power by leaving it to chance. You keep power by planning the future and altering the structure of society to make sure that you're always in charge of it.

Originally Posted by FOREVERLUCID

Want some interesting truths for free? Visit cuttingthroughthematrix.com for information from Alan Watt. All you will ever need to know!!

It's sad that people today think they can find the meaning of life through a website. One must find answers through nature, experience, and living life... not from some guy who says he has the "truths".

Originally Posted by ClouD

I'll soon find out if you're a spammer. >,..,<

Originally Posted by MontyFlatts

It's sad that people today think they can find the meaning of life through a website. One must find answers through nature, experience, and living life... not from some guy who says he has the "truths".

He did not say he has the truths. I said it. No need to get so excited. There's lots of referral information posted on this site. This is just a referral, get it. No one is forcing you. So relax, chill and do a reality check!


Oh I just realized you're the same person posting in that degenerate porn thread. Oh Okay, I now completely understand. Nuff said!

Originally Posted by FOREVERLUCID

degenerate porn thread

I would ask you why being involved with a porn thread makes you degenerate and your opinion worthless, but that would derail this topic. More broadly though maybe I could suggest that you try defining yourself through other means than direct, repeated reference to a fringe conspiracy theorist's website, because it just makes you look like a very unwelcome tool. Develop your own authentic ideas and then return.

I admit that my bullshit cosmology is 100&#37; baseless opinion and wishful thinking. It involves a lot of constructive nihilism, the observation that 1 + -1 = 0 and that that equivalency with 0 doesn't stop those numbers from existing anyways, and eventually ends up asserting that the meaning of the cosmos, self-fulfilled in its existing at all, is novelty or "newness for newness' sake", and that the only purpose for humans to fulfill is for them to invent their own purposes. Which is fine to assert intellectually, and whole nother matter to translate into a prescription for living life. It's a philosophy that admits that things only exist for the sake of existing and that there's no other rhyme or reason to pick one's teams by, which makes a bleak picture once you come to realize it. The great trick of living is forgetting for a time that it's not worth living, and once you come to know that you realize how much easier it would have been to live life - picking sides, finding meanings - not knowing it at all, still living zoomed in enough to be mistaken that any pattern of life could be inherently meaningful or worth striving for.

I posted to a spammer thread on lesbo pr0n in this phil forum.

Originally Posted by FOREVERLUCID

get it.

No, I don't think you do.

I believe that in this current day and age, on earth, that the meaning of life is simply incomprehensible. The answer to that question (if there even is one) would and could only be known only to the universe itself and forms of intellegent life that have been around for millions, possibly billions of years that have achieved a level of intuition and intellegence far beyond the realm of current human capacity. I believe, however, that in the far future, the fully evolved form of our species, the Neo-Human, could have the answer to this question. I know how difficult it is to understand that the current human mind is uncapable of certain things because for thousands of years we have known ourselves to be the dominant and intellegent life form on earth, however egotistical this sounds. But to make my point more understandable, consider this analogy. For the current man, learning the meaning of life would be like a dog learning calculus. It's just impossible at this day and age. I won't say that pondering the question is completely meaningless, but we aren't going to arrive at an answer any time soon. For now, we must focus on our own individual "meanings of life" and persue our own purposes before we can look at the larger, universal picture of the meaning of life.

Originally Posted by Spamtek

I would ask you why being involved with a porn thread makes you degenerate and your opinion worthless, but that would derail this topic. More broadly though maybe I could suggest that you try defining yourself through other means than direct, repeated reference to a fringe conspiracy theorist's website, because it just makes you look like a very unwelcome tool. Develop your own authentic ideas and then return.

I admit that my bullshit cosmology is 100% baseless opinion and wishful thinking. It involves a lot of constructive nihilism, the observation that 1 + -1 = 0 and that that equivalency with 0 doesn't stop those numbers from existing anyways, and eventually ends up asserting that the meaning of the cosmos, self-fulfilled in its existing at all, is novelty or "newness for newness' sake", and that the only purpose for humans to fulfill is for them to invent their own purposes. Which is fine to assert intellectually, and whole nother matter to translate into a prescription for living life. It's a philosophy that admits that things only exist for the sake of existing and that there's no other rhyme or reason to pick one's teams by, which makes a bleak picture once you come to realize it. The great trick of living is forgetting for a time that it's not worth living, and once you come to know that you realize how much easier it would have been to live life - picking sides, finding meanings - not knowing it at all, still living zoomed in enough to be mistaken that any pattern of life could be inherently meaningful or worth striving for.

Sounds very beautiful and alluring to begin with. However, when you realize living life unconsciously, feeding into the unconscious pain only makes it grow larger and wreaks havoc in your life. Who wants to get older, sicker, joyless and feeling even more sufferation. I think not. It's best to find out what the heck is really going on, how it affects you and endeavour your very best to use the creative abilities (yes we are creators) to change your reality from the one programmed into you by society (as far as we can detect, the main culprits being the Freemasons) to a life that is more meaningful, hopefully more joyful and try as much as possible to have heaven here on earth.

Don't get sucked into that depressing Gnosis philopsophy trying to take you away from now into wicked astral planes and nihilistic ideas. After all the force/energy is aiming to make us all ONE. Yeah the ONESS relegion. Notice in the bibile they asked the name of the demon and it said we are many and the name was LEGION. Get it RE-LEGION. Be careful my friend, be very careful who you give your mind to.

Life came forward to life joyfully, something (what???) went awry. Let's get back on track and not only dream but live lucid in order to hopefully change the sufferation going on internally and in the world.

Originally Posted by Spamtek

I would ask you why being involved with a porn thread makes you degenerate and your opinion worthless, but that would derail this topic.

Here's why. Degenerate to the core: http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=65799