Purpose of Life

Discussion in 'About the Members' started by Hermann, Sep 14, 2005.

  1. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

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    How do you pronounce his name "Bull man"?
    He lies ... I have been to the afterlife for months on end, I know everyone there and no one has ever seen him.

    And to get there you need to wear my hand woven socks which I will never sell but I like you ...you remind me of someone I have not met...so if you give me a holding deposit I am prepared to rent my socks to you so you can visit the after life and ask for yourself...but a map which you get to keep is extra.

    Sadly when you die that is it mate...and believing bullshit only takes away from the way folk will remember you...do you want your grandkids to say of you...yes grand dad was a fruit cake convinced there was an after life.

    No one will challenge such a belief to your face so why give them reason to laugh behind your back.

    Get real and I bet you will feel proud that you manned up to reality.

    Dont waste the little time left fantasizing about bullshit and believing liars.

    Alex
     
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  3. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I should have qualified that except for humans living things have an imperative (purpose) to procreate.
    Humans can choose a different purpose due to our ability for abstract thought.
    True, but then again, after a war fertility rates always seem to increase.
     
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  5. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, designed to transcend the temptations of the flesh. Of course very few can actually transcend the natural imperative, but then homo-sexuality does not produce off-spring.
     
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  7. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Except that is a red herring. While true, it glaringly does not address the question being asked.
     
  8. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    As I suggested, reproduction is not just an individual biological thing; it's a social thing. Most of society cooperates to raise everybody's offspring, whether they have their own offspring or not. Those who do not participate are called sociopaths.
     
  9. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Religion is of the spirit and not of the flesh. It's really another tortured way to try and attain transcendence. With few exceptions, the result shows that the natural imperative of "movement in the direction of greatest satisfaction" transcends all other attemps to attain a false and wishful spiritual purity and "eternal life".

    If a God exists, it would exist for all living things and not just for humans. All living things must procreate to escape extinction. Just because some humans are able to occupy themselves with other pursuits, does not negate the cosmic imperative of procreation for survival.

    Abstinence is unnatural and does not make you immortal....just physically frustrated....

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    Last edited: Jun 10, 2018
  10. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    You say unnatural as if it's a bad thing, to be avoided.
    And yet mosquito netting, penicillin and the internet are also all unnatural.
    We are not merely animals. We should not be trying to be 'natural'.
     
  11. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Exactly my point.
     
  12. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Well not all animals procreate either. But without procreation there will be extinction.
    You cannot argue with that. Abstinence is not a solution to survival of the species.
     
  13. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Are you telling me humans are exempt from the effects of polluting the air and water, you know these indispensable commodities for life itself. In spite of these unnatural remedies you mentioned above, disease is on the increase from our unnatural contributions to the ecology.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology

    Interestingly, cicle cell anemia is a natural defense against malaria (spread by mosquitos) and is a natural advantage in the tropics. Many animals use the natural healing properties of plants and fungi.
    p.s. about 70 % of all medicine is or was derived from naturally occurring resources.

    Being "natural" is being part of and preserving the natural cycle, the natural balance established over millions of years. IMO, ignorance and destruction of the earth's natural processes is tantamount to sacrilege.

    And before we casually dismiss Natural processes, may I remind that insects had conquered flight, long distance communication, agriculture, husbandry, and air conditioning, hundreds of millions of years before man even appeared on the scene.

    What exactly have human endeavors contributed to the natural cycle and the health of the Earth and it's inhabitants? Cancer and trillions of tons of previously sequestered CO2?

    It seems our purpose is to destroy life, not to promote it. Actually, is that not described by the scriptural metaphor of Man eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge and thereby leaving the natural cycle of life? I always thought that the ability for abstract thought without the wisdom to contain it's potential detrimental effects is one of man's greatest shortcomings.
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2018
  14. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    No. Complete straw man there.

    You said abstinence was 'unnatural'. So what?
     
  15. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Your words;
    I say that is a disasterous path for humans to take. In the scope of universal creations we are merely intelligent animals and not the only ones . To think we are exempt from naturak law is hubris, IMO.
     
  16. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    I did not suggest we were exempt. I suggested that things being unnatural doesnot make them - in and of themselves - bad.

    You suggested abstinence from procreation is unnatural. I got the impression you think that makes it undesirable. So I'm asking: what about abstinence being unnatural makes it bad?

    I listed several things that are unnatural that are good. Do you think penicillin and mosquito netting are disastrous?
     
  17. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    OK, I'll meet you half way; abstinence to avoid overpopulation is not bad per se.
    However combined with medicine to extend our lifespan, the result will be disasterous.

    As Prof Emeritus Albert Bartlett demonstrates, everything we consider sacred such as motherhood and modern medicine makes over-population a greater threat to human civilization and everything such as war and disease lessens the problem of over-population.

    The natural "exponential function" poses the greatest dilemma mankind will ever face, zero population growth will inevitably happen, and we are faced with deciding who or what will enforce this mathematical certainty. Humans, by voluntarily restricting population growth (abstinence), or Nature by less desirable means, including war and disease.

     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
  18. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    How does abstinence lead to extended life span? How is abstinence bad for the world?

    You sure you don't want to stop digging?
     
  19. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    I already gave you abstinence ....

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    It is extending life by artificial means which will eventually create an unsustainable over-population.

    At 1% steady growth, the earth's population will double every 70 years.
    (today)-->8 billion --(70yrs)-->16 billion--(70yrs)-->32 billion....etc.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
  20. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Then what are you meeting me halfway with?
     
  21. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    If abstinence results in zero population growth, that would be a good thing in principle...

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    However, extending life expectancy by artificial means results in population growth and that would be a bad thing.....

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    I am sure you can see the growing dilemma over time.

    The movie "soylent green" comes to mind.
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070723/plotsummary
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018
  22. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    There are a lot more things to an individual's life than the long-term survival of one's descendants.
    Not everything has to be defined in terms of the survival of the species.

    OK, what does this have to do with the thread?
    Yes, overpopulation would be bad for the species and the planet.
    There are a lot of things that would be.
    Nuclear war for example.

    Dilemma? Are we still talking about the purpose of life?
     
  23. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, our main purpose is to stay alive as a species. When we disappear the world will belong to the insect. Their only purpose is to unquestioningly serve the hive.

    Their advantage is that they never ask the question.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2018

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