I am extraordinarily depressed right now and would like too know what the ultimate goal is in life? What are we trying to achieve and why? What is good in and of itself? Right now everything does seem terribly pointless; along the lines of “eat to live, live to eat”.
I can think of only two things that might be the answer.
A life of hedonistic pleasure. This strikes me as being a bit empty and most folks who were known for their hedonistic excesses are not really known for being very happy. However, that could be because of a puritanical historical bent.
A life of scientific and philosophic research and discovery. When you do not know what to do or why you should do anything, the only thing that is undeniably good is to try and figure out what to do and why you should do it. While this is undeniably true, it really seems to be avoiding the main problem at hand, but I still like that it seems to give some guidance and at least one really viable option.
In terms of human value constructs, I’m a nihilist. There’s no “goal” in life. People talk about building a better future. For whom and why? You come, you go. There’s only the present to contend with.
But then there are genuine bigger questions. Who are we and why are we in the first place? I think those are unanswerable, even by science but the only certainty so far is our uncertainty, so who knows.
Why is that? Sanity is just how closely a person’s behaviors and thought processes conform to cultural norms. I don’t see how life needs to have meaning in order for insanity to exist.
We live out our lives experiencing what it has to offer, learning new things all the time, and when it’s done it’s done and all that experience and learning was for nothing. All we can hope to do is try to enjoy every moment we have and leave something for others to remember us by.
There’s really not much I can say on the matter to combat depression. Sorry.
Kill your enemies…see them driven before you…and hear the lamentations of the women.
–Conan the Barbarian
There is no “point” in life other than what you make for yourself. Do you want to live your life just for yourself? Do you want to spend it serving something greater than yourself? Do you want to spend it pursueing a career? Or just doing nothing at all? The one certainty is that you are only here for a limited time so when you are 80, what do you want to look back and be able to say about your life?
Do you have children? If not, I think you will find that it is hard to state to children the concerns you expressed in your post. Children haven’t developed the ennui that you have, and if they are given love, support, and guidance, they may very well never contemplate the lack of purpose that you seem to be experiencing.
I joined a Big Brother type thing 12 years ago when I was feeling the same lack of purpose that you have expressed. A kid from a single mother who didn’t see any purpose in life beyond striving for NBA stardom or a gangsta kingpinship got to see that a white dork with no basketball skills or street cred could make his day.
No clue whether Dominic made it out of the projects, but I made it through my twenties because of him. Guess I’m selfish, but it got me past what you are describing.
Remember that scene in “Jaws,” where Richard Dreyfus’ character describes sharks as animals which do nothing but eat and make baby sharks? This holds true for sharks, mayflies, humans, and Republicans. Biologically, we exist solely to pass our genes onto our children, raise them until they can take care of themselves/make their own babies, and then die.
Since we now live well past our original lifespan, everything else is gravy. There is not “purpose,” only extra innings.
Oh, the Big Brother/Big Sister thing is pretty good, too.
And be sure to ignore the nihlists and have some life insurance for your kids. After paying for 3 in the last few years, I can tell you they add up.
You find yourself on a lonely rock as an organism which somehow survived the evolutionary gamble of growing an incredibly large and complex brain, rendering you capable of asking yourself the question “What is the point?” But take heart, Muad’Dib:
You are the most incredible thing in an incredible universe. You are a pattern of ever-changing atoms which somehow has the ability to think. Nothing like you existed for 13 billion years. You are borne of supernovae, you are Made of Stars. Every piece of sensory input you receive has an inexplicable quantum effect on the universe - you are the universe’s way of observing itself.
You are vastly more wealthy than almost anyone who has ever lived, or is alive now. You need not fear the diseases, famines or wars which have killed and still kill billions of people. You have access to all the knowledge, art and thoughts of the finest minds in history and could, one day, travel to the most amazing and beautiful places on the planet.
We all hope that that magnificent, incredible brain of yours attains a state you can call “happiness” soon, us being similarly wondrous organisms which make this rock less lonely. We call you “friend”, and hope you call us so in return.
Your life is a wonder, Muad’Dib; may you live your life in wonder.
Darn ! I knew someone would post that before I did !
Well back to Muadib. You might be surprised how many people feel just like you. Its just that some of them close themselves into their work (workaholics), others just waste away trying to get a “perfect” marriage… others try to compensate by having kids.
I am naturally a pessimist and therefore anything positive is an unexpected breakthrough… more recently I have seen that life shouldn’t suck. I like having friends, playing games and sex. So I concentrate in getting these 3 in reasonable amounts. I don’t let work or study get in the way. I could be richer if I worked my ass off… but I don’t.
Might I suggest you get some vacations and travel ? You'd be amazed how traveling is great. I can remember everything I did in Germany in 1997 and Peru in 2003.
Oh, that reminded me. Don’t rant about foreign leaders if it means keeping you from finding hapiness. Unless, of course, railing against allies makes you happy.
Otherwise, travel. Volunteer. Help the helpless.
Or play video games and get laid. Both can be rewarding. (Though the gaming and getting tail can be just as fun)
Muad’Dib Your life has no point unless you give it one. We are different from sharks, mayflies and the rest of the animal kingdom in that we can ask questions like ‘What is the point of life?’ There is no absolute answer to that question. What are you currently doing, not simply in terms of your job, but in all aspects of your life? Why don’t you feel it gives your life meaning?
And of course, the sleeper must awaken.
Way to put things in perspective SentientMeat. Rarely have I seen a more appropriate username next to a post, although overlyverbose is pretty close here.
Life is a lot like a pottery class. Some people work with the clay all class and are never satisfied. Others are satisfied just to talk and drink coffee while their clay sits virtually untouched. Still others create three and four different jars because they can and are always looking for another design. Few will plan and plan only to realize that there is no time left to put those plans into practice. Others, well, you get the point.
The only thing that matters when class is over is that each person can look back on the time spent and say that it was good.
Sanity is just how closely a person’s behaviors and thought processes conform to cultural norms. I don’t see how life needs to have meaning in order for insanity to exist.