What is the point of living?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by rin4et, Oct 27, 2017.

  1. rin4et

    rin4et

    What is the real point of living?
    I don't really subscribe to the hedonistic lifestyle of enjoying life and having fun because I am constantly aware of the pollution my actions and existence are causing.
    Think of all the plastic bottles /containers I will use over my entire life, all the fuel my cars would consume over my lifetime or all the poop I will poop over my lifetime. All the enjoyment in the world is not worth the destruction this pollution will cause to our beautiful planet.
    Also whatever fun /enjoyable memories I make by living will all fade away and be wiped out by death. So there is no point in destroying the planet with pollution in exchange for something which is temporary.
    Yet people continue to reproduce and bring more humans into existence knowing full well that their lives will cause even greater pollution in exchange for their existence which is brief, temporary and fleeting. When does this all end? What is the whole point of this cycle of birth and death from generation to the next when all it is causing is for pollution to go up and the planet to deteriorate at an exponential rate!
     
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  2. tomorton

    tomorton

    Nobody brings a child into the world to help the planet and through history nobody ever did.

    The planet and the world's population are too big to be affected by what any one person does in terms of personal resource consumption, either positive or negative. It is fatuous and self-absorbed to the n'th degree to put a value your own life according to the impact it has on an indigenous community's quality of life in northern Australia.

    Surely the value of your life is better measured by the impact you have on the people close to you. There's your family right away. Then your friends. There are neighbours, work colleagues, people you interact with in businesses and public offices across your community. There might even be people local to you who you could actually materially help.

    You obviously have concerns beyond your own immediate pleasure and gratification. This is good but don't let it become a negative simply because the global goals are so far away. A great way to feel better about your situation is to do something to help someone close by who is in a worse situation. What do you think?
     
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  3. Being able to ask questions like that seems like a good enough start to me.

    Despite the horrors humans are capable of, the saving grace of human nature is our ability to question ourselves and our intent. To turn inward, analyse and change course should we deem it appropriate. To measure our actions against the optimal as we see it. Then act on those higher principles we have found within.

    You could read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, Montaigne's Essays, Seneca's letters, Epictetus' Discourse etc. Or for the cliff notes version watch Monty Python's Meaning of Life ;)

    What struck me in reading the above, was the fact that they were questioning the same things we do in modern/contemporary times. Humans have always asked questions like this. The fact that we still question provides the very reason to go on does it not?
     
  4. I am reminded of a quote from Peter Ustinov: "The point of living and of being an optimist is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come."

    The culture of vast and vapid consumption in the US is atypical. America is just 4.6% of the global population and it produces a staggeringly disproportionate amount of waste.

    While we all share the same air and seas other countries do far better and technology separates us from bacteria in a agar petri dish, multiplying until we run out of resources. It is not pretty on Earth right now however we are a unique species and I imagine still young in our development.
     
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  5. No point or sense in life, only your interests.
     
  6. Remember, guys, for those who seeks the meaning of life.There aint!!!

    There are only YOUR INTERESTS.Don`t look any further.The only reason you are here is to realize your interests to the fullest.God`s created for us an INTERESTING life!
     
  7. Baby boomer?
     
  8. да иди ты нахуй, пёс...
     
  9. "yes you go f***, dog"

    Yep. Boomers are a garbage barge of a generation. They ruined everything they've passed through. But 95.6% of the world is not American and only a % of the Americans are boomers. Escape their influence and the world will seem a far better place.
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2017
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  10. this is about the sense of life, dickhead.what do you know about you fucking idjet?
     
    #10     Nov 8, 2017