# IS life a curse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040 "2016-10-29T18:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/1 "2016-10-29T18:40:10Z")
To live is to suffer, or so the buddhists say with the first noble truth. But it seems like we go through much pain and suffering to keep on going with our lives. Sometimes that is met with little reward and yet we keep going. So might say life is pointless and that we are just degrading bags of flesh who feel short changes when life is less than what we want it to so we make it out to be more than what it is. Is there little more to what life offers than breathing, reproduction, death. Is it a curse of the advanced mind to find purpose and meaning in the life that we live even though we live in a universe absent of it? Is that why we create such complicated structures, rules, and rituals in order to feel like our lives have meaning (which is because of our advanced intellect)? Is there any meaning to the things that we do when the methods by which we judge such acts are rather arbitrary as are our judgments about the quality of the acts themselves? It seems like we live in a world of our own design to make life just be more than a struggle and more than simply reproducing. Are we hiding from some truth that living is a curse? Why do we continue to struggle and stay alive? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/2 "2016-10-29T18:53:10Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Why do we continue to struggle and stay alive? Because the alternative is to not exist at all. Make the best of the cards you’re dealt, because there is no other game. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/3 "2016-10-29T18:59:59Z")
The very concept of “curse” only makes sense in the context of life. But then, the same is true of the concept of “blessing”. Woe and joy are woven fine, indeed, and you have to accept both if you’re to accept either. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/4 "2016-10-29T19:00:56Z")
Or as I’ve heard it, “Life may suck, but the alternative is unimaginable.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/5 "2016-10-29T19:06:57Z")
Everybody’s life has problems all the time. It’s a small price to pay for being alive. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/6 "2016-10-29T20:21:07Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > **IS life a curse?** Oh God, yes. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/7 "2016-10-29T20:27:52Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Sometimes that is met with little reward and yet we keep going. People are mentally well are able to find reward in the smallest of things. So they keep going because they’ve got an invisible carrot dangling in front of their faces, prodding them along. People who are severely depressed don’t see the point because they lack the ability to feel pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/8 "2016-10-29T20:44:39Z")
Didn’t you ask this question [previously](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800906)? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/9 "2016-10-29T20:52:41Z")
Yes I’m sure it is a course. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/10 "2016-10-29T20:58:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Didn’t you ask this question [previously](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800906)? Pretty much off of his threads boil down to the same question. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/11 "2016-10-29T21:02:52Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Is there any meaning to the things that we do when the methods by which we judge such acts are rather arbitrary as are our judgments about the quality of the acts themselves? It seems like we live in a world of our own design to make life just be more than a struggle and more than simply reproducing. Are we hiding from some truth that living is a curse? Why do we continue to struggle and stay alive? Strawberries. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/12 "2016-10-29T21:22:56Z")
I haven’t gone through much pain and suffering in my life. Oh, sure, there have been bad moments, but things always went back to a positive experience. My life, overall, has been a lot of fun. There certainly are people who have led difficult and depressing lives, but I don’t think they’re the majority. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/13 "2016-10-29T21:30:05Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Strawberries. Ahh, but the strawberries that’s… that’s where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with… geometric logic… that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and I’d have produced that key if they hadn’t of pulled the Caine out of action. I, I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officers… ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/14 "2016-10-29T21:37:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Didn’t you ask this question [previously](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800906)? This is more like the nature of the world that we live in. This creation of ours full of arbitrary rules and accomplishments. It’s like we made it to feel like life is more than just breeding and dying. And we syphon from the world around us to maintain this “illusion”. What good is accomplishment if the measurement for it is arbitrary? Why use that method of judging worth? Why use any for that matter? Is it just a distraction from the fact that we are fleshbags with sensory impulses. Isn’t that what it boils down to, being flesh driven by mere impulses that we make out to be more than what they are. Why does life continue to exist even though to exist is to suffer? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/15 "2016-10-29T21:41:11Z")
Us “fleshbags”, as you put it, are driven by evolution to survive and to reproduce, as is all other life on Earth. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes the surviving and reproducing is fun. Try it sometime; you might like it. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/16 "2016-10-29T22:45:10Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Isn’t that what it boils down to, being flesh driven by mere impulses that we make out to be more than what they are. Why does life continue to exist even though to exist is to suffer? New season asparagus. Tempranillo. Winning the occasional raffle. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/17 "2016-10-29T23:28:32Z")
How many of these threads are you going to start? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/18 "2016-10-30T00:11:29Z")
Instead of posting these threads wouldn’t your time be better spent putting on black eyeliner, blasting My Chemical Romance, and pouting into the mirror? ---
**Author:** ![PrimalEnvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/85f322/32.png) [@PrimalEnvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrimalEnvy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/19 "2016-10-30T00:44:06Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > To live is to suffer, or so the buddhists say with the first noble truth. > > But it seems like we go through much pain and suffering to keep on going with our lives. Sometimes that is met with little reward and yet we keep going. So might say life is pointless and that we are just degrading bags of flesh who feel short changes when life is less than what we want it to so we make it out to be more than what it is. Is there little more to what life offers than breathing, reproduction, death. Is it a curse of the advanced mind to find purpose and meaning in the life that we live even though we live in a universe absent of it? Is that why we create such complicated structures, rules, and rituals in order to feel like our lives have meaning (which is because of our advanced intellect)? Is there any meaning to the things that we do when the methods by which we judge such acts are rather arbitrary as are our judgments about the quality of the acts themselves? It seems like we live in a world of our own design to make life just be more than a struggle and more than simply reproducing. Are we hiding from some truth that living is a curse? Why do we continue to struggle and stay alive? Have you ever done anything other than breathe or reproduce (as you obviously aren’t dead yet)? Since you’ve typed this up, and are capable of using language at all, then obviously you have. In and of itself, that means that life is more than just reproducing and dying. As for meaning, does it truly matter? Meaning, as you have said, is arbitrary. What is meaningful to one is not important to another. How else would they be judged, if not by us? As it stands, we have no proof of intelligent life other than ours. We are the only things able to give meaning. Consider this: if we were to encounter an advanced alien species, and they told us that every we have accomplished is meaningful, would your opinion change at all? Or if an actual deity said the same thing? Would an outsider’s judgement be enough to give intrinsic meaning? Why do you think giving meaning to things at all is a bad thing? As for why we stay alive, it’s generally because we _want_ to. Is there anything forcing every single human being to keep living? No. Yet we do it anyways. The fact that billions upon billions of living creatures do keep on living should be enough to tell you that life is not a curse. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/20 "2016-10-30T02:44:10Z")
They told you life is hard It’s misery from the start It’s dull and slow and painful I tell you life is sweet In spite of the misery There’s so much more Be grateful Who do you believe? Who will you listen to Who will it be? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040.md?page=2)