What should be our GOAL of life ?

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by hansda, Feb 1, 2012.

  1. D Shojj Registered Member

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    Ah, just finished reading this whole thread...

    I would say that as humans, we cannot properly fathom that which exists outside our provable reality. However, contemporary evidence purports that more exists in the universe than what we as a society or as individuals can prove. Thus, we are, in a sense, confined to a life of ignorance no matter what conclusions we draw about life.

    With that said, I would not say this justifies flat-out disregarding philosophy and questioning/thinking in general. If this was the case it would be our distaste for philosophy, pit-up against the span of human historical achievements in reasoning, questioning, and cultural advancement.


    What type of realization would that be?
     
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  3. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, I deleted it because I wasnt happy with the wording.
     
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  5. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

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    I think the goal in life is to get away from assholes, but seriously umm spiritual goal? I guess to learn to deal with any kind of human being in order to bring them to a peaceful contented level where communication can take place?!
     
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  7. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Ummm...better stick with the 'getting away' option.

    You cant change someone else's karma.

    There is a story in Asia about how a disciple came to Buddha and asked him to stop a civil war brewing in the monk's home city. The Buddha refused to help but the monk kept insisting. Finally, Buddha shrank the city into the palm of his hand and put it into a stone vessel, which was then sealed and taken to the heavenly realms, where all is peace and contentment.

    After a month, the container was retrieved and opened to reveal a miniature city that had been destroyed by a miniature war.

    The monk was horrified and complained bitterly to the great sage...and Buddha replied:

    "I told you...I cant make merited karma disappear."
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2012
  8. Balerion Banned Banned

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    There is but one answer, and many.

    I'm not trying to be clever here. If we're talking strictly in terms of what life's general directive seems to be, the answer is "to multiply."

    But if you're talking about the goal of life as we experience it as conscious, intelligent beings, then there are almost as many answers as there are people. You can't narrow it down to cliches like happiness, because happiness isn't what the single mom with two jobs is chasing, or the working dad putting in 14 hour shifts at the warehouse so his six kids can eat and play sports and get a quality education. You could say that we too are simply here to multiply, and on a biological level you'd be right, but reducing human life to the world's most intricate mating ritual is to deny the weight of our experiences.
     
  9. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    Do you know of any fictional or mythological character who is immortal and who has no goals? What about those who are immortal and who do have goals, what are those goals?

    Immortality is indeed often presented as a boring, undesirable state. I remember a line from a film with William Hurt where he plays an immortal character, and he says there, with frustration "We just are" and how their lives seem to be going nowhere.


    Why would immortality necessarily have to make life boring and meaningless?
     
  10. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    If the single mom and 14 hr shift worker aren't working for the next door neighbor's kids then mere multiplication certainly isn't floating the boat
     
  11. Balerion Banned Banned

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    Care to put that in a less torturous sentence?
     
  12. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    If the next-door neighbor is also multiplying but not drawing the same labor base then something else is clearly afoot
     
  13. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    EDIT : What to speak of the contemporary trend of many people to go to extreme lengths to avoid multiplication or even depicts it as an unfortunate consequence
     
  14. D Shojj Registered Member

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    As of now, I plan to avoid having children throughout my entire life.
     
  15. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Not going anywhere doesnt have to be boring. I derive ultimate pleasure from the beauty of nature, from my relations, from music, art, etc, etc, etc...just as I am.

    The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer believed that true enlightenment is only attained when the WILL towards all goals is realized as futile and narrow.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_as_Will_and_Representation
     
  16. Balerion Banned Banned

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    Your first post still makes no sense ("not drawing the same labor base"?) so I'll reply to this one instead.

    On a biological level, the aim of all life is to reproduce. My argument was that humanity can be technically reduced to that, but doing so would really discount all that makes us human. Our intellect enables us to exercise this procreative impulse without actually having to make da baby, as well as opening to us concepts not available to other primates, such as art and music, culture, cuisine.

    Also, birth control has been around for millennia, so I don't know why you say it's a "contemporary" phenomenon. And pregnancy can be an unfortunate consequence.
     
  17. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    If your parents worked to feed your mouth and not your next door neighbour's children, then there is a different labour base, no?

    hence multiplication doesn't float the boat
    :shrug:

    guess you are missing few more keywords in the sentence

    :shrug:
     
  18. aaqucnaona This sentence is a lie Valued Senior Member

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    You are biologically avoiding replication only if all sexual activity is totally and permanently stopped. Otherwise, you are simply stopping the birth, not the impulse or the activity.
     
  19. Balerion Banned Banned

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    1) Why would they work to feed my neighbor's kids?
    2) What the hell is a "labor base" in this context?

    That was my point from the start. On an intellectual level, we are not simply here to spread our seed (though most people--even those who don't want children--will tell you that they do feel the absence. Clearly our biological motivation is to reproduce).

    How do those words change the meaning of what you said?
     
  20. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    But is that your choice?
    Did you ever, as an act of will, decide "I am going to derive ultimate pleasure from the beauty of nature, from my relations, from music, art, etc, etc, etc...just as I am" - and it happened?


    Old Artie lived off of a trust fund and never worked a day in his life to earn a living.
    So he's hardly someone to turn to for advice on the meaning of life.
     
  21. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    Why?

    If having sex is part of our true nature, then why would any consequences of having sex be unfortunate?
     
  22. wellwisher Banned Banned

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    The primary goal of sexuality is reproduction. In other words, reproduction is the only aspect of sexuality critical to species evolution and survival. Pleasure and all other reasons for sexuality, if removed, would make things boring, but would have little long term impact on survival. These are all secondary.

    All our instincts have a primary goal and a carrot on the string that helps lead us to the primary goal. All the secondaries are connected to the carrot on the string since the carrot tends to be more conscious. For example, the primary purpose of eating is for fuel and nutrients. Without food the body would die.

    The carrot on the string is the pleasure of eating, which can have endless variations in culture. If we lost the carrot on the string, so food had no flavor or gave no pleasure, that would be boring, but not critical to life. Instinct would eventually ignore the loss secondary and still urge us to eat.

    If you place the secondary as the goal, even ahead of the primary, things become unnatural. The carrot on the string becomes the goal, while the real goal, further down the line of sight, is out of sight; unconsciousness.

    For example, If we eat only for the pleasure, you will get fat, because your appetites will exceed the natural limits of the primary. This secondary loop was called bestial behavior, since it is not exactly animal or human but a beast that exceeds the limits of natural instinct.

    Picture using a carrot on a string being used to lead a horse to water. The real goal of the rider is to get the horse to water. The horse is not smart enough to anticipate this need, so you use a carrot as an incentive, to lead him. While the rider is getting supplies, the horse gets loose and starts to chase the carrot. As far as the horse is concerned, the carrot is the only goal in sight. The horse never reaches the water, but moves in random ways trying to get the carrot; subjectivity. He has no long term direction and loses sight of the real goal.
     
  23. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Not a choice no...just a disposition that evolved over time.
     

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