Do you believe you were put on this earth for a reason?

[Butterland]

Whenever I question my existence, I come to the same arguments...

-The probability that I'm here today is so ridiculously small that I should do greater things than what I'm doing.
-Whatever I do has absolutely no effect (the whole human race has no effect either) in the end, so why try hard.

and conclusion...

-Whatever, let's make the best use of the 50-70 years left to me.

and actions...

-I open WoW.


***

What the hell am I doing... ?!

[Angella]

Do you believe there is something you need to fulfill in your short life time on earth? Perhaps, that you're an important figure? Is this a common human delusion, or am I really that special?

Does flaming this thread count?

Ask people if they're above average. Most of the time you'll get a 'yes' answer.

[schwarzkopf]

I'm a random occurrence that due to a series of other random occurrences has lost everything required to create a meaning, so the default nil meaning is all that is left.

---------- Post added 2012-02-09 at 04:49 AM ----------

Ask people if they're above average. Most of the time you'll get a 'yes' answer.

That is because everyone is above average at some things, and below at others.

[starlord]

maybe.. what it might be though idk.

[Duncanîdaho]

I am the product of thousands of years of gene and human social evolution, that would not have been possible if even one of my ancestors had died in this time span. From even before we were actual humans. Thinking about that makes me always feel the need to have children and carry on the legacy. Or cheers me up when I'm down.

That being said, purpose and reason is something one finds or creates on their own. To be put on this Earth for a specific reason would, I think, be dull to both us, and the entity that created us. I think we both would prefer a universe of surprises, if we were indeed put here.

In reality I'm just a cell in the giant organism that is the human race, seeking to multiply and support the body as a whole. To ensure it's survival, for it's all any of us really have that we can hang on too. Everything else we have dies or disappears eventually.

[Puck]

I was put on this earth to be miserable.

[Lysah]

Of course.

I'm going to save the world.

[Mormolyce]

If life had a purpose then it would be vapid. The value of life is that it's open-ended and you make your own meaning.

[Rexter2k5]

No. Let me have food, sleep and sex, that's all humans need for happiness.

[Deadvolcanoes]

If you really need to have the answer elaborated, then nothing I will say will change your perception, so I am not going to bother responding to your remark. The meaning of my words are there, if you don't like it or cant understand it tough shit.

I never asked for you to elaborate, and I most certainly understand the meaning of your words. The only thing I said regarding your original statement was that I hope you are wrong.

You are, after all, expressing your opinion, and not a statement of fact. You could be right. I just really hope you are wrong.

No need to get all aggro on me, unless of course its to test my will...

[muto]

Influence. Negative and Positive.

[mea]

What do you mean by reason in this case? If i don't do what the reason is, what would that imply anyway? If by reason you mean that the physical chain reactions i'm involved in cause their own results, then i guess yes. But i think i'm a result of physical chain reactions too, so that wouldn't mean anything. I mean, even a tiny rock would be 'put' there for a reason.

And something i need to do? What happens if i don't? I wouldn't NEED to do something if there's a choice.

Edit: i think many people define 'reason' and 'no reason' as the same thing. Many i've spoken to have the same opinions, but they call it opposite things.

I think of life as there being no reason, and nothing at all - but we perceive one for ourselves, so it's really the same no matter what you think. If you're completely certain of something, it doesn't matter if it's true.

[jotad4]

Not at all. Animals cycling through life and evolution, das all.

[herpecin]

things we KNOW. all hydrogen has been around since the big bang(minus the ridiculously minute amount made by human fission), and everything heavier than hydrogen was produced in a star that is now dead.

as far as we KNOW we are the only self-aware life on this planet(perhaps the universe but that is unlikely given the laws of probability).

so we are literally the universe become self aware.

so far as we can tell our evolution was an eventuality(or the evolution of some other self-aware beings)

if we are the universe become self-aware and our evolution was only a matter of time/environment, then the argument can be made that the universe exists so that intelligent life can be.

do we really need a reason to exist if our existence is the reason?

[Zardoz541]

as far as we KNOW we are the only self-aware life on this planet(perhaps the universe but that is unlikely given the laws of probability

I can think of no speaker for and of science that has made this claim.

[Duncanîdaho]

things we KNOW. all hydrogen has been around since the big bang(minus the ridiculously minute amount made by human fission), and everything heavier than hydrogen was produced in a star that is now dead.

as far as we KNOW we are the only self-aware life on this planet(perhaps the universe but that is unlikely given the laws of probability).

so we are literally the universe become self aware.

so far as we can tell our evolution was an eventuality(or the evolution of some other self-aware beings)

if we are the universe become self-aware and our evolution was only a matter of time/environment, then the argument can be made that the universe exists so that intelligent life can be.

do we really need a reason to exist if our existence is the reason?

I never thought it that way, the whole universe becoming self aware part. If indeed true, it's pretty inspiring.

[saberon]

I hope not.

Because then many people's only reason for being alive is so they can be used, abused, beaten, traumatized, hurt in a thousand different ways and killed. And why? So that it will affect someone who watches the 30 second segment on the news? So that that person's life will affect someone else in some insignificant way?

And if that is true, am I ten or twenty insignificant links away from insignificantly affecting someone whose "reason" is significant? Does it mean I matter? If my life did not occur would it significantly change the life of someone "significant"?


Whenever people talk about there being a greater power providing a reason for life... they always think they are the center of that reason, or close to it. There are 7 billion people on this planet, and chances are you mean nothing if there is indeed a greater power and a "reason".


So no, I believe that I wasn't put on this earth for a reason. I believe I merely am, and all reason is mine to make.

[Deleted]

Reason is an idea that exists nowhere outside of your mind.

You are a bunch of cells that have lumped together, forming a complex biological machine.
Part of that machine is a system that rewards you for doing things that further the continuation of the species (such as lust, orgasms and sugar-rush).
It simply turned out that biological entities that developed such reward systems had an evolutionary advantage over other biological entities.

[yeast]

I make up my own reasons.
The reason for my existence is to cut all the vowels out of newspapers!

[Ordrek]

Reason is an idea that exists nowhere outside of your mind.

You are a bunch of cells that have lumped together, forming a complex biological machine.
Part of that machine is a system that rewards you for doing things that further the continuation of the species (such as lust, orgasms and sugar-rush).
It simply turned out that biological entities that developed such reward systems had an evolutionary advantage over other biological entities.

Pretty much this. You remember that genealogical line of sea snails in early pre-history that had that gene that made it so they didn't bother to seek out mates? Neither does natural history, because they all died in the first generation.

Life is a series of self-perpetuating natural cycles that tends toward diversity (not necessarily complexity). That's it.

Despite this, I love being alive. I can't begin to describe my simple joy at being able to imagine things. My greatest frustration is not that I won't become a world shaker, but that I can't imagine better than I do due to the limits of my intellect. There are almost certainly species in this universe with far more capability in this realm than I (us), and I'm jealous of them. I've heard the "we are the universe awakened" sentiment before and I like it, but I don't attach any special metaphysical meaning to it. However, it is nice to think we are one of the nerve centers of imagination in what is largely a void.

No matter how much of a "big deal" someone becomes, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't amount to more than "cool story bro." Even still, cool stories are what makes life great=)