Why are we alive?

[thepillar]

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die. Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it? Why did bring forth life on this planet?

[Rhythmdvl]

Why are we alive?
To procreate and to make Rhythmdvl very, very happy. I’ve already taken care of the first; you all should get busy with the rest.

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die.
See “why are we alive.” You only have a couple decades to decide how you are going to make me happy. Get cracking.

Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it?
It was like that when I got here, honest. All lifey and such. There was a note though, apologizing for a few things and firm instructions to make me happy.

Why did bring forth life on this planet?
The answer is hidden within the subject of that question. If you diagram it (everyone remembers diagraming, right?), you’ll see it translates to a map that is almost like the Kabala, almost like a secret code, but is much more complete. The issue, though, is properly identifying the subject.

[Esox Lucius]

Originally Posted by thepillar

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die.

To buy stuff.

Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth...

Wal-Mart.

...and who/what is it?

A giant chain of megastores so vast it's hard to comprehend.

Why did bring forth life on this planet?

To justify its existence.

All seriousness aside, we're born into a meaningless existence in an uncaring universe and then we die, without having any say in either. The time in between is what matters, and it's up to each of us ourselves to determine what "the point" of it is. It could be to raise a family, or build a giant chain of megastores, or become a drug addict. It's a combination of whatever your heart desires and whatever is within your capabilities.

And nobody's responsible for life. It's just the way physics works on this little ball of dirt.

[DrFidelius]

Originally Posted by thepillar

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die. Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it? Why did bring forth life on this planet?

Why not? It seemed like a good idea at the time. Might still work out for the best.

[Candyman74]

A couple of decades? Has life expectancy suddenly suffered some kind of precipitous drop I was not aware of?

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Originally Posted by Candyman74

A couple of decades? Has life expectancy suddenly suffered some kind of precipitous drop I was not aware of?

Check the crystal embedded in your hand- has it turned red yet?

[glee]

Assume somebody is responsible for starting life on planet earth.
Who created them?

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Esox Lucius

All seriousness aside, we're born into a meaningless existence in an uncaring universe and then we die, without having any say in either. The time in between is what matters, and it's up to each of us ourselves to determine what "the point" of it is. It could be to raise a family, or build a giant chain of megastores, or become a drug addict. It's a combination of whatever your heart desires and whatever is within your capabilities.

And nobody's responsible for life. It's just the way physics works on this little ball of dirt.

This.

Which is sometimes sad as I know I could have used an instruction guide.

[kanicbird]

Originally Posted by thepillar

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die. Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it? Why did bring forth life on this planet?

King Solomon asked the first question in Lamentations (Old Testament), his conclusion is it's pointless.

My take on it, which involved a belief that God will save us, is we are not 'living' in the true godly sense of the word, but actually we are in eternal death, a cycle of continuously dieing over and over in a 'soul sense' sometimes called reincarnation.

And it is all pointless, as Solomen concluded, IMHO. There is nothing to be gained, except for one thing, to realize this is not what we want, we want more then this cycle of eternal death and suffering. So in that it prompts the soul to look for more which is when God shows up in our life and we know that we now live eternally and are taken out of this cycle of eternal death.

The reason for it, well that is super-open to debate, but it's to give a alternative to eternal life, to try out to see if we can become our own 'god' and establish our own way. Until we realize that we can not, God is willing to have us stay here till and try to make it on our own, till we realize that we can't.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

Originally Posted by thepillar

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die.

Do you think there'd be a point to being alive if we lived a heck of a lot longer?

[Paul in Qatar]

1, Why are we alive? ALl of the brand-name religions agree, we are here to produce something nobody and nothing else can produce, love.

2. Who started the entire ball rolling? Obviously, someone who wanted love.

3.Why did he do it? To produce love.

Obviously.

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by thepillar

Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it?

The Old Ones. You lack the abilities necessary to comprehend our purposes.

[tomndebb]

Originally Posted by kanicbird

King Solomon asked the first question in Lamentations (Old Testament), his conclusion is it's pointless.

Setting aside the question of authorship as a hijack, I will note that the book to which you refer is Qoheleth or Ecclesiastes, not Lamentations.

[Lobohan]

We are here because the laws of physics allow the evolution of sentient life.

Of all the matter in the universe, only some small, truly infinitesimal quantity ends up being able to think and feel. The vast, vast majority of matter is in stars, rock, gasses or dust. Unthinking, insensate, simply existing.

But you, and I and everyone else here, of all that insensate matter, have been lucky enough to have consciousness. We exist. We know we exist. And we get to see the rest of the universe and have some level of joy.

The point of living is that you, of all the matter in the universe has been gifted with consciousness. It's only for a small window of time. It's subject to a lot of conditions. But it's yours. You get to have a blip of reality and understanding before going back to oblivion. You get to love someone. You get to raise children. You get to stain the deck in your back yard.

To suggest that life has no point if it ends is utterly missing the point. It does end, so use what you have.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by DrFidelius

Why not? It seemed like a good idea at the time.

According to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it has made a lot of people mad and been widely regarded as a bad idea

[Smeghead]

Beats the alternative.

[Gagundathar]

Personally, I'm here for the pretty girls.
And the beer.

Did I mention pretty girls, yet?

[Lemur866]

I'm alive because my Dad fucked my Mom, and got her pregnant, and thus I was born. Why were my Mom and Dad born? Same reason. Why do I want to continue living? Because that's the sort of creature I am, because creatures that didn't want to continue living didn't leave many descendents, and therefore I come from a long line of creatures that did want to live and procreate.

Some people don't want to live, don't want to procreate. That's fine. They don't have to. I realize that my desires to live and procreate are urges implanted in my by evolution, not by some cosmic imperitive.

[Scumpup]

Alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives.



and boobs.

[FriarTed]

Originally Posted by Scumpup

Alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives.



and boobs.

Hence the B in BATF.

[dngnb8]

Why are we alive?
Because 2 people of the opposite gender's hips slammed together

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die.
Because the above is fun even if something isnt alive because of it.

Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it?
Me.

Why did bring forth life on this planet?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind..... Pull my finger?

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by thepillar

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die.

Who says there needs to be a point? Do animals care whether there is any "point" to their living? No, they simply live.

"Why are we alive?" "Why" is a confusing word because it conflates two very different questions into one package that therefore sounds more profound than it is: "From what cause?" and "For what purpose?" Every observable event or phenomenon has a cause, but not every one has a purpose. So far as we know, living things exist because (very primitive) living things can emerge out of certain environmental conditions, and then they can reproduce and evolve. That does not imply any overall purpose to the whole business, nor to the life of any individual organism. Biological evolution, certainly, has no teleologies; it happens like water running downhill, and finding its channel this way or that. If a species finds a stable niche, it might continue virtually unchanged for millions of years like the horseshoe crab; there is no impetus for it to evolve "upward." There are no Evolutionary Levels.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Candyman74

A couple of decades? Has life expectancy suddenly suffered some kind of precipitous drop I was not aware of?

One hour, 100 years, it's all the same sub specie aeternatis.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by kanicbird

King Solomon asked the first question in Lamentations (Old Testament), his conclusion is it's pointless.

My take on it, which involved a belief that God will save us, is we are not 'living' in the true godly sense of the word, but actually we are in eternal death, a cycle of continuously dieing over and over in a 'soul sense' sometimes called reincarnation.

Do you have any Scriptural (i.e., Biblical) authority for reincarnation?

[BrainGlutton]

"I s'pect I just growed. Don't think nobody never made me."

-- Topsy, Uncle Tom's Cabin

[Buck Godot]

The purpose of life is to live. Life is the end not the means.

[Lobohan]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

Do you have any Scriptural (i.e., Biblical) authority for reincarnation?

When a person has Archangels come down and fix traffic tickets for them, they don't need scriptural authority.

[Nars Glinley]

Originally Posted by Candyman74

A couple of decades? Has life expectancy suddenly suffered some kind of precipitous drop I was not aware of?

For very large values of couple.

[Lightlystarched]

Actually, we are just the vehicles created by our masters, the bacteria.

[Czarcasm]

Originally Posted by thepillar

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die. Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it? Why did bring forth life on this planet?

1. Every day you decide for yourself whether to continue or not.
2-a. Best educated guess? A chemical reaction.
2-b. Best uneducated guess? Pick the myth that fits you.
3-a. When it comes to chemical reactions, thems the breaks.
3-b. When it comes to mythological entities...whatever the myth says it is.

[Darth Panda]

Why presume a point? What need is there for one?

[Esox Lucius]

Originally Posted by Foggy

This.

Which is sometimes sad as I know I could have used an instruction guide.

I hear you, brother, and I would guess that it's more common than we think. My grandmother used to have a saying hanging on the wall (in mock German for some reason): "We are too soon oldt, and too late schmart."

[Imasquare]

Originally Posted by Lobohan

We are here because the laws of physics allow the evolution of sentient life.

Of all the matter in the universe, only some small, truly infinitesimal quantity ends up being able to think and feel. The vast, vast majority of matter is in stars, rock, gasses or dust. Unthinking, insensate, simply existing.

But you, and I and everyone else here, of all that insensate matter, have been lucky enough to have consciousness. We exist. We know we exist. And we get to see the rest of the universe and have some level of joy.

The point of living is that you, of all the matter in the universe has been gifted with consciousness. It's only for a small window of time. It's subject to a lot of conditions. But it's yours. You get to have a blip of reality and understanding before going back to oblivion. You get to love someone. You get to raise children. You get to stain the deck in your back yard.

To suggest that life has no point if it ends is utterly missing the point. It does end, so use what you have.

Yes but why do the laws of physics exist? Is it because of God? Then why does God exist?

What's the point of anything existing? And how did it come to exist. Did the universe just create itself because the laws of physics allow that to happen? Then why do the laws of physics exist?

I don't know that anyone will ever know the answers to these questions.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Imasquare

Yes but why do the laws of physics exist? Is it because of God? Then why does God exist?

What's the point of anything existing? And how did it come to exist. Did the universe just create itself because the laws of physics allow that to happen? Then why do the laws of physics exist?

I don't know that anyone will ever know the answers to these questions.

The most basic unanswered question of cosmology is, "Why is there something instead of nothing?"

[Latro]

Originally Posted by Imasquare

1) Yes but why do the laws of physics exist?
2)Is it because of God? Then why does God exist?

1) There is no point.

I'll just repost a bit from Brainglutton who, I think, said it best

"Why" is a confusing word because it conflates two very different questions into one package that therefore sounds more profound than it is: "From what cause?" and "For what purpose?" ....That does not imply any overall purpose to the whole business.....

iow: stuff happens.


2) See how adding a God doesn't add a purpose either.

Indeed the next question is: What's the purpose of an afterlife? what's the purpose of God?

[thepillar]

Originally Posted by kayaker

The Old Ones. You lack the abilities necessary to comprehend our purposes.

Would you care to elaborate who these Old Ones are?

[rat avatar]

Originally Posted by thepillar

Would you care to elaborate who these Old Ones are?

Wait here, I'll go grab the Necronomicon.

[thepillar]

Originally Posted by The Other Waldo Pepper

Do you think there'd be a point to being alive if we lived a heck of a lot longer?

I think that the generally- allotted 5 to 7 decades is too short for one to finally figure out what the hell one is doing on a sphere that spins on its axis and around the sun.

[thepillar]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

Who says there needs to be a point?

A human being has organs which have specific functions: hands, the brain, blood capillaries, the heart, mouth, nose, digestive system etc. Each organ has its own “point” and works harmoniously with the rest. Just like a motor vehicle’s point, which consists of different parts fulfilling a specific task, is generally transportation, there should likewise be a general “point” for humans who like the vehicle have many parts carrying out different functions.

[Nars Glinley]

Originally Posted by thepillar

I think that the generally- allotted 5 to 7 decades is too short for one to finally figure out what the hell one is doing on a sphere that spins on its axis and around the sun.

But you're not the only one trying to figure it out. Billions of people have for thousands of years. The total man/hours put into it is staggering and it still hasn't been answered. Face it, it probably never will be.

[Latro]

Originally Posted by Nars Glinley

But you're not the only one trying to figure it out. Billions of people have for thousands of years. The total man/hours put into it is staggering and it still hasn't been answered. Face it, it probably never will be.

But it has been answered.

Several times in this very thread.

But if you prefer to ignore it, you are welcome to ponder 'the question' for another 4 decades.
Be sure to wear a frown, so people can see how deep your thoughts on the subject are. Maybe grow a beard as well.

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by thepillar

Would you care to elaborate who these Old Ones are?

The Old Ones are the pillars upon which um, n/m. Could a mod please close this thread before more damage is done?

[Nars Glinley]

Originally Posted by Latro

But it has been answered.

Several times in this very thread.

But if you prefer to ignore it, you are welcome to ponder 'the question' for another 4 decades.
Be sure to wear a frown, so people can see how deep your thoughts on the subject are. Maybe grow a beard as well.

I was referring to the more general question of why there is something instead of nothing but I left out that part. My bad.

I've thought about growing a beard but I think it would itch too much.

[Mijin]

Originally Posted by Lobohan

Of all the matter in the universe, only some small, truly infinitesimal quantity ends up being able to think and feel. The vast, vast majority of matter is in stars, rock, gasses or dust. Unthinking, insensate, simply existing.

But you, and I and everyone else here, of all that insensate matter, have been lucky enough to have consciousness. We exist. We know we exist. And we get to see the rest of the universe and have some level of joy.

...and experience misery, pain and despair.

Call me ungrateful if you like, but it's not a great gift because it is not all great. You just have to make the best of it...

[Latro]

Originally Posted by Nars Glinley

I was referring to the more general question of why there is something instead of nothing but I left out that part. My bad.

I've thought about growing a beard but I think it would itch too much.

Ah, ok, I thought you were agreeing with thepillar that there has to be a point. There just has to be.

I've never gotten further than a week in growing a beard before the itch grew too much.

[Czarcasm]

Originally Posted by thepillar

I think that the generally- allotted 5 to 7 decades is too short for one to finally figure out what the hell one is doing on a sphere that spins on its axis and around the sun.

You woke up this morning and went to do whatever it is you do in the morning, instead of giving up and stepping out into traffic. Why?
There is no such thing as "The Point" that is assigned to you-there are only reasons to do things based on reasons you did previous things based on reasons you did things before that.
If you really need a "Point", make one up.

[Esox Lucius]

Originally Posted by thepillar

A human being has organs which have specific functions: hands, the brain, blood capillaries, the heart, mouth, nose, digestive system etc. Each organ has its own “point” and works harmoniously with the rest. Just like a motor vehicle’s point, which consists of different parts fulfilling a specific task, is generally transportation, there should likewise be a general “point” for humans who like the vehicle have many parts carrying out different functions.

The purpose of a human is to survive long enough to make more of its own, but that isn't a very satisfying answer for a creature programmed to think it's special. If vehicles were conscious and realized that their only purpose was to transport people, nothing more, they'd probably feel the same way.

If you want a higher purpose, you have to create it for yourself because you weren't born with one. And when you think about it, isn't that preferable? Being born with an inherent higher purpose would lock us in to a particular path and give us less freedom to do what we want with our lives.

[Mijin]

Originally Posted by Esox Lucius

The purpose of a human is to survive long enough to make more of its own

That's a popular position, but I think it's better to just say nature has no sense of purpose at all.

Survival of the fittest means that most organisms around do all they can to survive and reproduce. But behaviour and purpose are not quite the same thing. To say that it is better for a species to be around rather than extinct say, requires a value judgement.

[Blaster Master]

Originally Posted by thepillar

What's the point of being alive when after a couple of decades we die.

To put it succinctly, we're here because we're here. People say that that makes our existence meaningless, but I've come to the opposite conclusion, that the meaning of life is to give life meaning. That is, our existence is only meaningless if we make no effort to imbue our existence with meaning.

Consider random sounds, there's no inherent purpose. But outside of the context that we've created, language, music have no meaning either.

Who/what is responsible for starting life on planet earth and who/what is it?

While I am a Christian, and I have an answer for that that works well with that question, I don't think that question is really all that interesting. The who isn't nearly as important as the meaning we extract from it.

Consider you're in your car and you turn on the radio and you hear the most moving song you've ever heard. Does that change if you miss the name of the artist? All the name does is let you connect the works of the artist together, but whether God created us all or he doesn't exist, what good does that do us? Instead, all that matters is the experience that the song created in you, just as all that really matters is the experience that existence creates in us. The same here, all that matters is what we learn and draw from our experience.

Why did bring forth life on this planet?

Why do artists make art? Why do musicians compose music? Why do dancers dance or actors act? Why isn't the really the question to ask because it implies that creation is a means to an end. Creation is an end in and of itself. The greatest joy in creation is simply in creating. The joy of a parent seeing their child exist and experience life. The experience that art or music creates in the creator and in those who enjoy it as well.

[Esox Lucius]

Originally Posted by Mijin

That's a popular position, but I think it's better to just say nature has no sense of purpose at all.

Survival of the fittest means that most organisms around do all they can to survive and reproduce. But behaviour and purpose are not quite the same thing. To say that it is better for a species to be around rather than extinct say, requires a value judgement.

Interesting point, that I'm only partly grasping. From nature's POV, I can see there's no purpose, but from an individual's, the desire for survival and sex are instinctive. When everyone is born with those inherent drives, doesn't that suggest a purpose behind them?