Many philosophers, sociologists, intellectuals argue life has no meaning and purpose. I for myself agree to this statement. For example, the aged often live alone, forgotten, in their homes. The sick live in their beds or strapped in a wheelchair. The addicted live for the meaning of the next puff on a cigarette, the next drink of wine, the next joint, the next roll of the dice, the next fleeting few moments of intimacy. The homeless live in the garbage on the street or under a bridge by the polluted river. The mentally ill, such as the depressed, live in their minds, a private hell, without meaning. Far too many people feel powerless to make change in their own lives. They don’t believe that they can take action to change their current state of existence. For instance, young adults go to university, graduate with degrees—but cannot find work in their fields of study, and many cannot find work at all, unless they want to work in menial jobs, survival jobs that pay poverty wages. Many people live meaningless lives—without faith or religion. Many live without a job, just the prospect of poverty or living on the street. Many live without hope, just the prospect of struggling to survive. Many live without their physical and mental health—just the prospect of death staring them in the face, breathing on them, reminding them that tomorrow might be the end of life—and nonexistence. In my mind, many people live in a state of automatism, and I am not any better. They never think of their choices and potential consequences of their actions, always seeking pleasurable pursuits, hedonistic activities that result in temporary happiness. Another example is we live in a secular society, a separation of church and state, a non-religious society. Organized religion no longer provides the meaning and purpose most people seek in life. Furthermore, many people claim to be religious but don’t go to church, don’t pray to their God, don’t follow the morality of their faith. They live their lives as sinners out of control. Another example is many people are atheist. Atheist believing that religion is a social construct, imagined, manufactured by man, created to sooth man’s obsessive fears of death—and answer the question of whether there’s an afterlife or nothing at all. They believe, and rightfully so, that religion is the root cause of much evil in the world. And for the agnostic, they cannot deny or prove the existence of God. They don’t support the traditional doctrines of the church. Yet we are spiritual-seekers who refuse to take the blind leap of faith. They search for meaning and purpose and bring it into our lives. They believe that man can be moral and ethical without organized religion.Many don’t believe in God. So faith does doesn’t teach them what is “right and wrong.” In my mind many see the religious person has a hypocrite and perpetual sinner. For instance, many believe most church goers sin on a regular basis, and don’t even question their sin. This implies that religion is not sacred. Furthermore, in our society, nothing is sacred. In fact, for many people, the only thing sacred is “personal choice”, the ability to live one’s life any way they want, the need to think and feel and conduct themselves any way they want, without regard to the morality of their actions, thoughts, or lifestyle. Another thing is that many people focus on building their careers, even becoming workaholics, sacrificing their health, time with their children, even their marriages—all for the food to feed their “super ego” that the corporation provides, the power and prestige and wealth that employment can provide. The career becomes the meaning of life. Without it, they have no meaning or purpose in living. In my mind far too many people in our society find meaning only by acquiring material wealth, fancy possessions, which satisfy their craving, an insatiable need for immediate pleasure and gratification. Yet Positive Psychology, which focuses on the science of happiness—has proven that money and power don’t make people happy. They are not the ingredients of a happy life. Moreover, many people who are viewed as successful are in fact “nihilistic”–Bernie Madoff, Conrad Black, Garth Drabinsky. Even the terrorist Osama Bin Laden, who was successful until he was killed, was a nihilist. So in conclusion, a meaningful life implies a state of happiness–which suggests we have meaning and purpose in our lives. According to positive psychologists, we find meaning a purpose through meaningful work, loving relationships, strong family ties, close, supportive friendships, spirituality (not necessarily religion), and the pursuit of leisure pursuits that engage us, move us into a state of “flow”, a mental state that allows us to forget the passage of time, enables us to focus on what we are doing in the present moment, such as writing, reading, photography, playing a musical instrument. Finding meaning in life is a “conscious choice” each of us must make. Living one’s life in a state of automatism is not living a meaningful life. Essentially, you’re just going through life not questioning, not seeking answers to your curiosity. You are accepting what is given as truth. Quotes are points from this post were pulled from this: https://writingcreativenonfiction.wordp ... e-meaning/ TLDR; Life is meaningless unless if you make the conscious decision to make it have meaning. Also, no we're not some special species with great meaning.
I don't believe or disbelieve we exist & the best philosophical theories i like to think about are based in methodological solipsism. What can we prove when perception is a limit on existence...not a damned thing lol
Re: Why Are We Here? To survive? And then die,if life has no meaning then you should end it. Why bother fighting the inevitable? We are not immortal, this is why religion exists, it is all for our benefit. To do better for ourselves
The most preposterous notion that Humans have ever dreamt up, is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all of history.
Aren't humans the exact same way? Could it be that our arrogance has gotten out of hand that people realized it and knew that man needs to be put in checked? As a matter of fact we still need it, mankind has become decadent and has forsaken a lot