Thread: Meaning of life

Life is a trifle. It can be nice, but if you take too much, you will throw up.

Let me tell you a story: There was a great house, with many, many rooms. And in each of these rooms was a great many things. One day, the owner of the house said to himself, "this house is to messy. and there are too many rooms." So one by one, over many days, the owner tore down the rooms, until there was just one room, and the owner lived out the remainder of his days peacefully.

then the owner had a son. and the son said to himself, this house is too plain and boring. I am lonely. so he began to add more rooms to the one room. this continued over many days.

and??????and?and??????

Does life need some purpose or other to make it worthwhile? I enjoy mine, and yet I accept that life is just the product of - and indeed is - random stuff happening. It's only from certain perspectives that it acquires meaning. I wonder if those who believe purpose and meaning derive from something nonphysical can accept that I am happy, and that's all there is to it (for me)?

"He who laughs at others is a fool wasting a life: he who acknowledges his faults and laughs at himself has discovered the secret of living a meaningful life." --Waldo Waldo

Instead of asking for the "meaning of life", try a more specific question: "what is the meaning of my life?". Life could exist "just because" for what we know, and even if it wasn't, you can't just ask God, for he will not answer you.

So, as the only objective existence in your universe, the only one who has authority over your perception of the world. What do you think your life is worth? What should you be doing, to be satisfied with yourself? Is this the life you want to lead?

I think you most likely already have your answer, you just have not asked the right person yet.

Originally Posted by elite

Instead of asking for the "meaning of life", try a more specific question: "what is the meaning of my life?". Life could exist "just because" for what we know, and even if it wasn't, you can't just ask God, for he will not answer you.

So, as the only objective existence in your universe, the only one who has authority over your perception of the world. What do you think your life is worth? What should you be doing, to be satisfied with yourself? Is this the life you want to lead?

I think you most likely already have your answer, you just have not asked the right person yet.

Dennis Rader - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945) is an American serial killer who murdered ten people in Sedgwick County (in and around Wichita, Kansas), between 1974 and 1991.[1]
He was known as the BTK killer (or the BTK strangler). "BTK" stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill", which was his famous signature. He sent letters describing the details of the killings to police and to local news outlets during the period of time in which the murders took place.
After a long hiatus in the 1990s through early 2000s, Rader resumed sending letters in 2004, leading to his 2005 arrest and subsequent conviction. He is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences at El Dorado Correctional Facility, with an earliest possible release date of February 26, 2180.

I guess everyone has their different path to satisfaction.

Whether those dead, murdered women of Rader's had objective existence or not, the U.S. courts sure felt they dead. So did their loved ones I'll hazard a guess.

Of course, we have human rights violating Brazil, so utterly disgraceful and pathetic I'm ready to petition that the prisons systems and even the education throughout the favelas be turned over fully to the Jesuits and or Dominicans and Franciscans, while the federal government of Brazil foots the entire bill. Evidently the corruption and inefficiency of the local, state, and federal governments are so pronounced that lack the capability for change. To make matters worse the average voting citizen of Brazil is so lacking in moral fiber that they perceive little the extent of immorality they support in having prisons that make the jails of the European Inquisition seem like the Hilton in comparison.

Originally Posted by Writ-with-Hand

Dennis Rader - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess everyone has their different path to satisfaction.

Whether those dead, murdered women of Rader's had objective existence or not, the U.S. courts sure felt they dead. So did their loved ones I'll hazard a guess.

Of course, we have human rights violating Brazil, so utterly disgraceful and pathetic I'm ready to petition that the prisons systems and even the education throughout the favelas be turned over fully to the Jesuits and or Dominicans and Franciscans, while the federal government of Brazil foots the entire bill. Evidently the corruption and inefficiency of the local, state, and federal governments are so pronounced that lack the capability for change. To make matters worse the average voting citizen of Brazil is so lacking in moral fiber that they perceive little the extent of immorality they support in having prisons that make the jails of the European Inquisition seem like the Hilton in comparison.

Wether or not something is right or not in our point of view does not automatically make it the "wrong" way to live. I'll be honest, I want those serial killer lunatics far, far away from humanity, confined inside a cell for the rest of their days. But that has nothing to do with self-satisfaction. There is one thing that is expected from us, however: we must face the consequences of our actions, for everyone else will judge us for what we have done. Retribution does not always come, but at the very least we have systems that try (sometimes they punish the wrong people, therefore I'm against the ultimate punishments).

And Writ, you do not have to look so far to find injustice. Just look at what you guys have been doing out there for the past ten years. Can you say your incessant war is good for the American citizens? have things improved at all in the middle east? How many lives just "ended" when a stray bomb fell upon them? And in the name of what is this war going? Anti-terrorism? Since when an entire country has to pay for the action of a few dozen?

There is "something wrong" everywhere. Life is not an utopia, and it is understandable that things like these do happen. It's wrong, yes. Does it have to be corrected? Yes. Does anyone has the right to take away human's freedom of choice because it? Absolutely not.

I think the meaning of life (why we are here) is because God is producing offspring. Our human form is like the embryonic stage of growing into a full fledged superbeing just like the Being who created us.

Originally Posted by elite

And Writ, you do not have to look so far to find injustice. Just look at what you guys have been doing out there for the past ten years. Can you say your incessant war is good for the American citizens? have things improved at all in the middle east? How many lives just "ended" when a stray bomb fell upon them? And in the name of what is this war going? Anti-terrorism? Since when an entire country has to pay for the action of a few dozen?

Okay, fine.

But the prison system in Brazil - in many parts of Latin America actually - is despicable. It's not just a matter of a lack of money but the scale of the problem points to much deeper problems in the culture of the nation(s) itself.

Latin America is the most violent region on earth - if I recall correctly - accounting for most mankind's homicides. And Brazil is one of the most violent nations on earth with essentially a low-intensity war going on in most the cities of Brazil.

There is a reason for this and it does not take rocket science to figure out. The conditions of your prisons will foretell the future conditions of your streets. It's bad enough you have wide spread squatter camps that developed into slums abandoned by the city government and all the resources that come with that.

You people have billions of dollars of untapped real estate development and potential property taxes that your governments are largely not exploiting. That goes for much of your business community that could be making investments into these slums and favelas. But that also requires the local government invest in the infrastructure of those communities.

You combine that scale of abandonment and absolute poverty with the depraved and disease ridden state of your prisons and it should be no surprised Brazil and other Latin American nations find themselves trapped in a cycle of violence.

Then your right wingers recite rhetoric about the U.S. which is absolutely false. You'd think the U.S. Government never spends a nickle on unwed impoverished woman or an inmate incarcerated for 5 or more years. Entirely wrong. The U.S. is a giant welfare state compared to the nations of Latin America. Our poor don't live in tin shacks cooking over a metal barrel filled with scrap wood.

I have a lot of hope for Brazil, so, it infuriates me when I see the states of certain things. I feel like coming down to Brazil and putting my foot up somebody's....

So, if the Brazilian Government is too incompetent to adequately take care of the Brazilian prison system in a humane and civilized way, turn the administration of the prison system over to the Jesuits or Dominicans. They can't do a worse job. That would be humanly impossible.

Originally Posted by obi_have

I think the meaning of life (why we are here) is because God is producing offspring. Our human form is like the embryonic stage of growing into a full fledged superbeing just like the Being who created us.

That would mean we would have no bodies.

To me the meaning of life is to find meaning in life.

Life has whatever meaning the individual assigns to it. I don't think it really needs to be explored much deeper than that...

But the prison system in Brazil - in many parts of Latin America actually - is despicable. It's not just a matter of a lack of money but the scale of the problem points to much deeper problems in the culture of the nation(s) itself.

Prisons are not supposed to be a nice place to drink tea at, anyways. That is probably why it's often overlooked. It is wrong, yet there are far bigger problems in these countries.

Latin America is the most violent region on earth - if I recall correctly - accounting for most mankind's homicides. And Brazil is one of the most violent nations on earth with essentially a low-intensity war going on in most the cities of Brazil.

That's pretty much downright delusional. I lived on the latin-american country with highest crime rates, Venezuela. To be quite honest, I lived just fine, and so did a lot of people. Far worse things happen of the middle east. Your numbers are crime rates, which is indeed very high, but the actual deaths are not even close to the death toll of your little war (that's counting both sides, considering none of them are guilty of anything to begin with)

There is a reason for this and it does not take rocket science to figure out. The conditions of your prisons will foretell the future conditions of your streets. It's bad enough you have wide spread squatter camps that developed into slums abandoned by the city government and all the resources that come with that.

Venezuela is in a political mayhem, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that prisons are a minor concern compared to that. Brazil is growing pretty fast, but it's a pretty quirky country, lots of small issues. This might be addressed in the future as a part of some political campaign.

You people have billions of dollars of untapped real estate development and potential property taxes that your governments are largely not exploiting. That goes for much of your business community that could be making investments into these slums and favelas. But that also requires the local government invest in the infrastructure of those communities.

Not denying that, taxes here are draconian and beyond reason. Gas is also awfully expensive (compared to Venezuela anyways, where it costs roughly one dollar to fill a SUV's fuel tank)

You combine that scale of abandonment and absolute poverty with the depraved and disease ridden state of your prisons and it should be no surprised Brazil and other Latin American nations find themselves trapped in a cycle of violence.

It could be worse, at least we are not in recession. Where I live the crime rates are not very high anyways, the fancy crimes happen mostly in the north region. I can tell you things here are pretty peaceful, in small towns no one bothers to check the locks, and in our larger cities people walk freely and unconcerned.

Then your right wingers recite rhetoric about the U.S. which is absolutely false. You'd think the U.S. Government never spends a nickle on unwed impoverished woman or an inmate incarcerated for 5 or more years. Entirely wrong. The U.S. is a giant welfare state compared to the nations of Latin America. Our poor don't live in tin shacks cooking over a metal barrel filled with scrap wood.

I could not care less about what politicians say, half of it are blatant lies anyways. And I'm sure your end has said something similar to some other country at some point.

I have a lot of hope for Brazil, so, it infuriates me when I see the states of certain things. I feel like coming down to Brazil and putting my foot up somebody's....

Good luck on that! better practice your Portuguese!

So, if the Brazilian Government is too incompetent to adequately take care of the Brazilian prison system in a humane and civilized way, turn the administration of the prison system over to the Jesuits or Dominicans. They can't do a worse job. That would be humanly impossible.

When we have nothing else to worry about but the inhumane conditions people we don't even know live in, things will change. But Brazil is a restless country (you'd be surprised at how fast they walk!), I don't think anyone thinks about anything other than their immediate situation and surroundings. There is little room for philosophy and morals, and this won't change until the economy settles down. Not precisely right, but that's the current situation.

I'm not religious, so I don't tend to believe that there is some all encompassing reason that covers all of humanity. Make your own meaning until you die and the atoms you borrowed go into someone/something else. That is all we can do.