How do you know/Why do you think there is a purpose for anything aside from the purpose life gives itself.
Of course animals have their own dark side, people need to realise we are mammals, we are connected to them. They have brains so why not emotion. So the mass extinction this planet has face were planned. If anything the Big Bang was the biggest of coincidences, what are the chances of something causing that kind of explosion and the aftermath spawned life. Our evolution would never have happened if not for disaster and catastrophe. If not us, then any other animal could have ascended to our perch. Evolution is like that, unpredictable and full of surprises.
What are the chances of the Big Bang happening? This is way too mind-blowing. Was there a choice? Could it have been possible that nothing existed, ever? Was it Einstein who asked whether God had a choice when the world was created? I don't think this question will ever be answered and for us humans, it doesn't really matter. A lot of people here are Darwinists who only see value in evolution, like when they say the meaning of life is to exist and reproduce. I don't think people really believe that, it seems even more strange on a writing forum, where I'd assume people saw some meaning in their writing. Many people never have kids, some can't and some don't want to, but do you really think they're automatically missing out on something? They never fulfilled their purpose? Why would voluntary childlessness even be possible if genes are all that count? Or homosexuality? Lemex said an interesting thing. He pointed out we're not perfect. But from an evolutionary point of view, we are perfect. We exist and we breed and that's all that counts. Maybe that's why this meaning of life is so popular; it's the easiest one to fulfill. I liked what Charles Fort said about Darwinism; The fittest survive, but there's no way to determine the fittest. It can't mean the strongest or the smartest, because weakness and stupidity survive. We can only say the fittest are the ones who survive. In other words, Darwinism means "survivors survive". I can't really say if life has some true meaning, but people definitely should have some sort of goal in their life, just like we as a whole should strive for some universal goal. It's like religion or secular ethics; even if they don't have a real basis, it's better for the world to have them. I know too many people who just throw their lives away and rot their brains, some with computers or TV, some with alcohol and drugs, what difference does it make? Do you think you would be living the comfortable lives you do, if past generations would have focused just on breeding and existing?
Question: because something happened - doesn't that make the chance of it happening almost beside the point? Say I won the Lottery - I don't play it, but one day I decide on a whim to play and I win; the chance of that happening is impossibly small but it has happened. Something to ponder. With all due respect you clearly don't understand Evolution much. It's not about Survival of the Fittest, or even about Survival really, but adoption and adaptation - surviving goes only as far as being able to have a next generation so the species doesn't die out. Darwin wasn't even the first person to formulate a theory on observable changes in generations and evolution, he was one of the first to present it in the form of a solid argument though, but even then he wasn't the first to do so; so to call people who find Evolution convincing to be 'Darwinists' is erroneous. I say we are not perfect. We aren't. As members of the animal kingdom we can't be by definition. My philosophy is one of accepting limitations - and we must start by accepting the fact that we are not things divine.
because the way the human body is designed, each part of the body including the brain is designed to serve a purpose. If then the purpose for us is to survive then there is an ultimate reason to why we need to survive. It is a catch22 if you like one leads to another..it can't be just out of the blue. The environment we live in also designed for purpose,the sun,the sea the sky and animals all serve a purpose. Nature is such that it relies on exterior andinterior to keep the momentum of existing that because we humans need the environment to survive. So that is nature of the way. so by this obeservation I am led to think everything that we are has a purpose. My question over why we human think we have/must a darknature to us needs an answer hence my question. The only way for me to understand why we are if to start with me and my environment and then take it fromthere. If however a drak does not serve a particular purpose then I feel compelled to believe that this darkside is not necessarily true within us. so if I am here and myhuman instinct tells me to cling to life then it is because there is something else compelling me to do so hence the way my body is designed.
Think of this: we are built for the environment, not the environment built for us. We have a capacity for evil, and to enjoy violence because we needed it - it helped us to survive. Just like I wrote in my first post. Just as we have the capacity for good, and to enjoy altruism. Good and Evil are, however, very subjective things, and hereby completely arbitrary.
Ultimately the purpose of life is to continue to exist. What would matter if our species were to die out? Nothing. If there are no humans around to prescribe value to something then it has no value. Sure, writing has "value", but it is not the "meaning of life". When it comes down to it there is nothing that compares to the survival of our species. Reproduction is not necessarily always going to be a good thing. Overpopulation of a species could destroy their ecosystem and ultimately lead to their own extinction. If every woman on earth was to have 30 children each, we'd be in some serious trouble. We are most certainly not perfect from an "evolutionary point of view". There is no such thing as "perfect" when it comes to evolution. On your "Survivor's survive" paraphrasing of Darwin's theory of evolution:
Exactly. Morality is a human construct, where 'good' is helping your community or certain person, and 'bad' is being destructive to it. It came around because the humans in the village with the opposite idea never managed to work together and build giant armies. I wonder how morality would be in the world if war hadn't developed at all? But then again, they say that war is a big catalyst for technology and advance, so maybe we'd still be sitting on endless green forests. As far as I know, there is no purpose to anything other than the purpose we imagine into existence.
there's no proof that there is any 'purpose'... for you to assume there is, means you have to believe in 'intelligent design' rather than mere 'evolution'... probably true...
Ok let's put it another way, take the environment out of the man and there would be no humans. Take the man out of the enviromnet and there would be environment. Humans would not be without earth/environment/nature. nature however is,with or without humans. This leads me to conclude that humans are made/designed to fit in into an earth that came first. For an environment to fit the exact build and need of a human itneeded to now it was coming. take the moon for example it is part of earh but humans are not designed to fit around humans. this leads me to conclude that humans do not evolve around everything that planet earth has on offer, if humans were capable of adapating anywhere then they would have adapted in space too. this means that earthdoes not adapt aroundhumans, but the other way round only. killing is not survival. Killing is the opposite of survival. To survive you need to use your body to function think and go on to live. Dark sides hinder the process and goes agaisnt survival. self defense you mean..that is different because it is premeditated. everything your body is geared is from within and is instinctive. I do and think on instinct to stay alive. I don't kill on instinct because I think it will help me survive. It does not make sense.
By virtue of this response, I'd say you understood it better than most. Yes, yes and yes. Couldn't agree more.
Absolutely. These two concepts are not, in my opinion, mutually exclusive. I am athiest, yet believe that I am here for a purpose. Evolution might well bring about a system complex enough to enter the design phase. Even a simple model allows for this possibility though. The roots of a tree have a purpose, as does the bark and the leaves. If, as has been often suggested, humans are connected whether through Jungian model such as the superconsciousness or indiginous models, then each part would have a purpose as well. probably true...[/QUOTE]
"Oh, I' d forgotten," said Lawson. "Just after you left he sent round a present for you. I thought you'd be coming back and I didn't bother about it, and then I didn't think it worth sending on; but it'll come over to London with the rest of my things, and you can come to my studio one day and fetch it away if you want it." "You haven't told me what it is yet." "Oh, it's only a ragged little bit of carpet. I shouldn't think it's worth anything. I asked him one day what the devil he'd sent the filthy thing for. He told me he'd seen it in a shop in the Rue de Rennes and bought it for fifteen francs. It appears to be a Persian rug. He said you'd asked him the meaning of life and that was the answer. But he was very drunk." Philip laughed. "Oh yes, I know. I'll take it. It was a favourite wheeze of his. He said I must find out for myself, or else the answer meant nothing." Excerpted from Of Human Bondage, by W. Somerset Maugham
A thread exchanging ideas about the purpose of life is acceptable. A debate over those ideas is not. Several posts have been removed, in lieu of shutting this down cold. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
"A thread exchanging ideas about the purpose of life is acceptable. "A debate over those ideas is not... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." I have no idea as to the content of the removed posts, but the above quote is an astounding thing to see on the Internet. Evans
This is not a debating site. There are plenty of places on the Internet for brisk arguments. This is a writing site, and this area of the site is for socializing and getting to know each other in a friendly atmosphere. That is why we put a stop to inflammatroy discussions. Attacking one another's positioins is some people's idea of fun, but it does not belong here.
I'm still asking myself that question. Why am I here? Especially since 1. there seem to be any purpose to my life, and 2. It doesn't follow the same pattern as the lives of the people around me. In everybody's life there seem to be different stages, different roles you're supposed to play (child, student, worker, parent, caretaker etc but my life doesn't seem to follow the same logic. I always refused to follow the "rules", going my own way, even though I wasn't always successful doing so. I wonder if I'll ever understand this.
