purpose
Posted on: June 4, 2009 - 10:32am
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purpose
what do ya'll feel your purpose is here on earth?
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Without wishing to speak for the others, I'll say that life in itself has no purpose but to exist and proliferate. What purpose I see in my own life is defined by my experiences and desires; when I am gone, the purpose of my life will be open for debate among my survivors, I suppose, at least to some extent. I await some sort of statement from the OP that I am therefore sad or empty in some way. I hope that I am wrong. If I'm right, you really ought not be posting here, as per forum rules.
"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell
The scope of my existence is not limited to some arbitrary purpose, only the time I have to live it.
Sounds made up...
Agnostic Atheist
No, I am not angry at your imaginary friends or enemies.
There is no purpose we're supposed to be fulfilling.
We exist.
Like weeds and every other animal on this planet, reproducing is our primary function.
Because we have brains capable of making up shit, we do.
But it still doesn't get us to having a purpose aside from reproducing.
Respectfully,
Lenny
"The righteous rise, With burning eyes, Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies, To beat and burn and kill"
Witch Hunt from the album Moving Pictures. Neal Pert, Rush
Well, I am on vacation right now so I know what my purpose in life is. At the moment, it involves doing whatever I fucking feel like doing. Too bad the Dropkick Murphys are not on the east coast right now, I am sure that that would be part of my purpose in life if I could go see them.
At some point soon, my purpose in life will involve buying more vodka, as I only have enough left for a few more drinks. Some food would be nice in the next couple of hours. Possibly a hooker.
Did you have a more specific question in mind?
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My purpose in life seems to be to irritate the living crap out of theists, a pastime I enjoy.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
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Happiness.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
Everyone's purpose is to maximize pleasure sensations in the pleasure centers of one's brain while minimizing pain and discomfort sensations. All other 'purposes' are indirect steps to ultimately achieve the primary purpose. But we often experience the delusion that the secondary goals are our primary goal. The brain is selfish and only concerned with getting pleasant sensations and avoiding unpleasant ones. We have no free will to choose any other purpose:
See this link
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
So i gather that the intent or purpose is to increase happiness by seaking pleasure and minimizing pain while passing on your genes to the next generation. how successfull have you been? have you been able to experience more happiness than sadness/pain? Are your genes spreading throughout the population? Is existing worth it in your opinion if your life doesnt matter except to yourself.
We're the wrong people to ask that last question, as our lives generally matter to other people.
If I may ask you a question, are you a theist? If you are, please refrain from posting in this forum. I'm sure the mods would be happy to move this one to GenCon or AvT if that's the case.
"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell
I would call them goals, not purpose. Not everyone has those goals.
I don't want to pass on my genes. Might be a flaw in my genetic make up or just a preference. My genes are not spreading, but the common gene's I share with my siblings and the human race are. I help society therefore I help to keep the human genetics going.
People care about me, guess that means my life matter to more than just myself.
Sounds made up...
Agnostic Atheist
No, I am not angry at your imaginary friends or enemies.
Well, my genes are quite successful at getting around. The last time that I checked, there were about seven billion people who were at least 98% the same as me genetically. You see, “my genes” are not something that I happen to own. They are a subset of human genes in general.
=
My purpose?... uh, superficially...
Kill, Maim, Burn
(all those who i deem inferior)
'Purpose' is an inherently personal thing. If we feel we have some purpose to our life, some goal, that's it.
If someone in a position of authority decides they want us to serve them, use us as tools for their personal aggrandizement, and they have the power, then we have little choice. We may either decide to submit and adopt what they claim is what we exist for, but that is still a personal decision, just as a decision to object and try to take charge of our own lives would be.
Personally, if I can help other people in some way, have more friends, help each other get through difficult life situations, participate in enjoyable activities, have others express appreciation for my contributions, that is the sort of thing that makes life worth while to me. If I manage to make a more lasting positive contribution to the wider society, that would be great, but not so likely.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
I spend a great deal of my waking time trying to run a successful business, trying to rid the world of theism, trying to get better (and win money) at darts, trying to write a book, and spending time with my friends.
Lately, I find that I have more purpose than time.
I have chosen not to proliferate my genes, so I guess you could either say I don't have the purpose of reproducing, or I have the purpose of not reproducing. Whatever floats your boat.
So far, I've been pretty successful at happiness. I'd say that I'm happy much more often than sad, and I haven't really experienced a lot of pain, either physical or emotional, in the last few years. I expect that as I age, the amount of pain will increase. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
Since ridding myself of the trappings of theism, I can honestly say that I've discovered a new level of personal fulfilment and happiness, and have developed a much stronger and more profound respect for life -- my own, and others', and particularly non-human life. There's something humbling and profoundly freeing about realizing that you're really not special.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
Is there a moderator in the house that can do something about the WIDTH of THIS OP? This one is even wider then the other oversized posts. Why does this happen to some but not all other posts?
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
I second this. That would be a very nice purpose.
Yeah. I'm the only that matters, and if you don't like it, to damn bad.
Wonderboy, you are quite obviously a theist.
Why is it that you feel you do not need to obey the one rule that you may not post in this forum? Are our rules not worthy of being followed because we are simply heathens, barely worth speaking to anyway? If we were posting in you jesus forums wouldn't you want us to follow your rules? Or is it like killing doctors that provide abortions, the ends justify the means? If you believe you'll only get our attention in this forum I assure you, you are mistaken.
Stand upright man and have a little more respect for our rules. Post your very silly questions in the Atheist vs theist area and you will get your responses while following the one simple rule we have for this area.
Respectfully,
Lenny
"The righteous rise, With burning eyes, Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies, To beat and burn and kill"
Witch Hunt from the album Moving Pictures. Neal Pert, Rush
We don't have a set purpose, outside of surviving as a species. Everything else is added by us, including the concept of purpose as it pertains to human existence.
No, we don't need to have some kind of identified purpose to be happy. Lots of folks live out every day of their lives and never think about it. They just play with their dog, kids, wife... go to work... eat tasty foods, and that's their life. Do they have a purpose? If they haven't identified one for themselves I think it's safe to assume that they don't (past the biological).
Done.
EXC, I attached your incredibly long URL to a smaller phrase. It still seems to work.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
Sodomy is a good purpose.
a) Live fast. Love well. Have a glorious end.
b) Scatter my enemies before me. Hear the lamentations of their women.
c) Wonder about what my purpose is.
I choose a. Actors choose b. Believers choose c.
Jews stole the land. The owners want it back. That is all anyone needs to know about Israel. That is all there is to know about Israel.
www.ussliberty.org
www.giwersworld.org/made-in-alexandria/index.html
www.giwersworld.org/00_files/zion-hit-points.phtml
So how do I convince my girlfriend of this great truth?
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I don't agree that "spreading one's genes" is a purpose for anyone. That is sometimes a biproduct of of obtaining pleasure because our genetics produce pleasure from sexual activity. But that does not explain people that are gay, use birth control, etc... We can sometimes obtain pleasure for activities that can lead to procreation. But procreation itself is not a direct source of pleasure.
I also claim that "seeking pleasure and minimizing pain" is the only thing that has or ever will motivate you. What have you ever done that was not about seeking pleasure or minimizing pain, wonderboy?
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
You've got me on that. Guys are a lot easier to deal with than girls.
Does she romanticize things? If so, find a good novel or movie that has good characters and sodomy.
Most of the time I've noticed girls are trained to think certain things by society early on as they are raised, like this or that isn't acceptable for a lady. This will push a bad stigma on it, so they will look at it unfavorably before it ever happens, and if it does happen they will not attempt to embrace it and only look at the negative side.
Take her to a gay bar? Can't hurt!
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
'Procreation' would be the nearest thing to an objective, external reason for our existence, it is not a conscious overriding motivation (I think that is a better way to describe what seems to be meant by 'purpose') for people, at least in general - some individuals may see it that way.
"Seeking pleasure and minimizing pain", in the broadest sense, is a reasonable summation of our motivation. We apply our reasoning skills to recognize that engaging in other activities that don't bring the maximum immediate pleasure may often allow for more pleasure in the future.
This the prime motivation for Christians of course, taken to an extreme. They believe that not indulging in 'earthly' pleasures now will maximize their chances of an extreme and eternal 'high' after death. Those who believe in Hell are similarly motivated by 'minimizing pain'.
So Christians expressing contempt for the basic idea of "seeking pleasure and minimizing pain" as a fundamental 'purpose' in life are being extremely hypocritical, something they specialize in.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
Ha...........
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
Hahaha, didn't know deadpan was possible to achieve in type.
"Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, show me the steep and thorny way to heaven. Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine, himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. And recks not his own rede."
.....to be born ....live for a while......die.....and be forgotten.