The Ultimate Meaning of Life

reply to post by randyvs

You said that got had to evolve. Why? How do you know that? What evidence do have of this? You've gone from child like to childish.

I was trying to get across a concept that a sentient being as complex as God would have to be, can't just mysteriously pop out of no where, let alone be the fabric of reality without any sort of rational explanation...it's completely absurd and has no logic what so ever...if you want to explain it better to me, than go ahead.

reply to post by MagesticEsoteric

umm go ahead and play that game to the end. who created that who created this. NO you can;t do that. There has to be a point of origin.

reply to post by WhizPhiz


I follow your thoughts completely.

My next question......


Where does existence begin for you???

reply to post by MagesticEsoteric

Where does existence begin for you???

The only obvious conclusion IMO is that there was no start to existence, time is infinite, always has been and always will be. But saying the foundation of that infinite reality is God, is a step in logic IMO.

reply to post by American-philosopher


cheers my friend

That was my exact point!

When I say infinite, I don't mean the big bang never happened, I mean there are an infinite amount of big bangs that have happened before ours. This universe will probably collapse back in on its self and create another big bang, it's inevitable that this universe wont remain as it is in any case, it's expanding at rapid rates, I think it's small minded to believe the big bang we know of was the start of time.

reuuuply to post by WhizPhiz
[muore]
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I agree with you

I never said that I remotely believe that existence begins with God.....My sole point has been that NO ONE can absolutely say with 100% certainty that they KNOW

WHERE LIFE/EXISTENCE

Began

reply to post by WhizPhiz


Obviously none of us have the answers to life's big questions.

That is why I love visiting sites like this. I gives us a chance to look at existence from sooo many perspectives and make our life decisions accordingly.

Originally posted by WhizPhiz
So, breaking that down, JOY or HAPPINESS would be what it really comes down to right? Now explain to me how joy and happiness would not exist if God didn't exist. To me he/she/it doesn't exist, yet I can experience joy and happiness.

You can exist without God?

If you believe that, that's fine by me. I do not believe it is possible. I believe that God is everywhere and is the source of all existence.

I am kinda curious to know, since God is ruled out, where do your thoughts originate from in your consciousness?

With Love,

Your Brother

P.S. God is just a word. It is the concept behind the word that is mysterious.

I have no clue what the meaning of life is. But I do definitely believe our souls are eternal, and that yes, we all have a purpose. As for what that purpose is, I don't know.

Something I've always wondered, from a religous upbringing, which I have since thrown to the side, is the fact that a lot of religions believe you can be judged for all of eternity by what you do with your time here on earth. That never made sense to me. How can an infant who dies 2 weeks after birth be judged on anything? How can someone who's brain hasn't developed enough to know right from wrong, and lets say hypothetically dies in a car accident at age 4, be judged for all eternity? The bible says "thou shall not kill". Well, what if it was self defense? What if it is retaliation for someone murdering your mother? If you're flying a plane for the military, and are ordered to drop a bomb on Baghdad, which ends up killing 30 people, who's more at fault, you for dropping the bomb, or the person who ordered it? There or obviously many more examples, and I would start a thread on it if I had the 20 required posts.

Point being, I'm not sure what our purpose is for this life, but I can't believe it's our only life. I never believed for a second you can be judged for eternity when so many people on this planet are born into horrific situations out of their control. I tend to believe we all slowly gravitate towards enlightenment, and that it happens over numerous lifetimes. But how can this life have a purpose, and be the only life you have with a purpose, while some never get a chance to discover what that purpose is?

But that's one of the reasons I hate organised religion. Ask a few questions and it all falls apart. You would think if there is a god, like the one in the christian bible, he would at least judge everyone on equal ground when it comes to where you'll end up spending your entire eternity. But life isn't fair, many have it better than others, some live much longer than others,a few are born with a silver spoon while others might never have a chance to eat at a 3 star restaurant, yet I'm to believe we're all judged fairly for all of eternity by our actions in this lifetime, which is just a miniscule fraction of time compared to the life of our own planet, let alone all of eternity.If there was a god who created all this, like the bible suggests, which I don't beleive, I'd think he could come up with a system where everyone is judged fairly.

Sorry if this doesn't belong in this thread. I'll be able to start my own soon!

reply to post by WhizPhiz


Time is not infinite. It is bound to space & energy. Time, without the existence of space and energy, is a meaningless concept.

The way gravitation affects space and time (which now has several proofs) identifies their interdependence.

Originally posted by lonegurkha

Originally posted by jhnsmth
I always thought the answer to the ultimate meaning of life was 42, but maybe these jehosephats are on to something here....


Naw, it's 42.

I thought that 42 was proven

42 has been replaced. The number is now 137.

reply to post by IAMIAM

If you believe that, that's fine by me. I do not believe it is possible. I believe that God is everywhere and is the source of all existence.

So you think it's completely impossible for things to "just happen" unless there is some sort of higher power involved? Everything needs to be directed? How and why on Earth would it be impossible? I say it's impossible for God to exist without some sort of rational explanation as to how "he" got there.

I am kinda curious to know, since God is ruled out, where do your thoughts originate from in your consciousness?

Well since I am my own sentient being and apparently have free will just like you, my thoughts are generated from the heart of my consciousness/soul, which is housed in the brain, probably strongly linked to the pineal gland. Whether my soul can exist without the housing of my brain is another question all together. But I don't believe my thoughts are Gods thoughts, though if God exists he has surely though every though I've had and ever will have.

reply to post by chr0naut

Time, without the existence of space and energy, is a meaningless concept.

Let me ask a question: assume our Universe is the only one in existence, and it collapses back in on it's self, but doesn't create another big bang, something happens and the energy ends up neutralizing back into completely void space. There is now nothing at all in existence, just a big void of nothingness. Does time still pass? And if it doesn't, how will anything ever happen again (like the formation of a Universe)?

reply to post by Abovo


Oops, it just got replaced again. It is now the square root of negative one and no longer exists as a real number.

The ultimate meaning of life ?

Does not need one. Very arrogant of us to think we are chosen for anything. The meaning your life has is personal to you as an individual. Do with it as you will, for it is all you have.
As for life after death..no thanks...bad idea...I much prefer the concept of life BEFORE death, not in it for the prize. I'll enjoy it while I have it.

reply to post by chr0naut


137

What if, I mean is it possible that there is no "meaning" to life, as it is just a by-product of cosmic circumstances? second line.

so long, and thanks for all the fish

reply to post by G.A.G.


"What if", it just so happens we weren't designed by a creator, but did actually just evolve due to the right circumstances over billions of years...than there is no inherent meaning in life, it's that simple...even if we were designed by God the situation isn't much different in reality, that's what I'm trying to get at...there is no one set meaning or purpose for why we are here and what we should be doing...but I know I'm ridiculously lucky to be able to experience what sentient life is like and explore reality as a self-aware conscious observer. I don't need a creator to appreciate life, if someone deigned it - good on that someone - but it could still all happen naturally. It's like that saying about the monkeys on the type writers, after a certain amount of time structure and order will randomly appear in what they write. Someone could have intentionally wrote those things, but those things can also just so happen to write themselves with enough time.