Thoughts on Life.

[your_adress_here 11]

What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What draws us to stay alive. What kinda of force does it take to twist our essence into wanting to stay alive?

It seems like the purpose of humanity is just to stay alive. That's all the human race does. We fall in love to procreate. We are attracted to the more intelligent, good looking, strongest amongst us so that the human race has the greatest potential to survive.

If you look at from further away, you can realize that the purpose of life itself - not our human lives, but life itself - is to keep going.

How long has life existed. Has life been around forever? Was it created? Did life evolve? For every creating there is a creator. That means that for life to be created, there already needs to be life. And if life evolved, well then that means there was life before. So that means that life has existed forever.

Is this the only way life can be interpreted? Are there other different ways to view life? Would we even know?

What if the whole point of life is just to live? But then, that's like making a machine who's sole function is to work. It doesn't do anything, it just works.

Hell, is that even possible? If a machines only purpose is to work, than is it actually accomplishing something? By working, it is accomplishing it goal to work.

People interpret life in many different ways. Some do not like life and leave it. Some love their life. Others are confused and don't know what to think.

I think life is what you make of it. Life won't tell us why we're alive. We need to decided for ourselves what we live for.

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

Interesting philosophical thread. 

Keep in mind I am writing this at 11 at night. 

I suppose your interpretation of life would depend on your beliefs/views, religious or otherwise

Some believe that there is a Creator and spend their lives magnifying him

Some believe science and reason are the explanations to life and dedicate their lives to discovering those explanations

Others believe that life is just for enjoying, to love and laugh, to make the most of

And then there are those that haven't given any thought to it before now

[yoded 0]

my friend , for the answers to all those questions ..

you have 2 options ...

1) die and let god explain why you lived .. (i know pretty useless to know that when you're dead .. but whatyagonnado ?)

Edited the drug stuff.  ~Zelgadis~

but if you ask me ..

life is but a dream and but a nightmare it's the small line between the 2 that gives us what we need to keep going

[The_Dalai_Llama 15]

Life is good, short, a highway, and worth living. That's all you need to know.

[coolotter88 2]

I love a good LCD trip.

[TV-VCR 14]

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

Since we have this 'life', why not make the best of it? Better than wasting your life philosophizing about why 'life' exists and what the point of it is. The point of it can be anything you choose. Enjoy it... hey, it's free.

[Goldfish4209 9]

Technically, we're here to reproduce. So our offspring can reproduce. So their offspring can reproduce. So their offspring can reproduce. So on and so forth.

Religion is a whole different story.

I personally don't really think there's some "higher meaning" to life (even though I'm slightly religious). As such, I don't really care if I accidentally get killed tomorrow. I often has the thought "you know, I'm happy, I wouldn't really mind if I got killed right now".

My 2 cents.

[panthersimcity4 162]

"We are spiritual beings on a human journey" I actually have no idea where I heard that But I remember that I liked that quote.

I think life is just a temporary and material thing, a kind of superficial reality. Or maybe a preparation for the afterlife, or a test to see if we are fit or deserving to go to Heaven or Hell. Perhaps our purpose in life is to mimick those who set an example for us, i.e. Jesus Christ or Siddharta Guatama.

Whatever it is, I don't like to think too deeply about it and waste time, when I can play Sc4

[Duke87 1,070]

A few random thoughts:

"Life's a witch, then you fly"

-random bumper sticker

"Life is like a box of ammo"

-Duke Nukem

"We're born to die"

-Leftover Crack

[DanWalker8 3]

Camus said the only real philosophical dilemma is suicide.

[Zelgadis 638]

Always be nice to the secretaries. More than anyone else, they can ruin your career.

Always be nice to the waiters/waitresses. You don't wanna know what they could potentially do back in that kitchen with your food.

ISF

[Hamish 1,369]

Ever seen the life cycle of some sort of insect.

Were the same. Were born, we mature, we breed, we die. Thats life, just a way to increase the population of your species, and if your lucky you will be remembered by others.

Who knows, there could be another reason that we are here, but I haven't found it yet...

[your_adress_here 11]

Originally posted by: coolotter88 I love a good LCD trip.quote>

Something along those lines.

[masochist 111]

I have a question: have you ever really thought about how lucky you are to even make it through the day to sleep another night?  I mean, think of how many different times you dodge death every day.  Your food happened to go down the right way, every driver around you was competent enough to stay in their lane, your house remained structurally sound and every rapist, thief and murderer kept their distance.  You weren't bitten by a spider, weren't targeted by a snake.  Malaria didn't take you.  AIDS didn't take you.  Streptococcus pyogenes hasn't affected you.  You didn't accidentally trip and fall on a knife, or slip in a shower, and your mind is sound enough for you to not take your own life yet.  The way I see it, the meaning of life is simply to make the perputal cycle of dodging death as enjoyable as possible, and perhaps have something to look forward to when our luck finally runs out.

Heh heh...yeah, it's 1:00 a.m. here.  I'm a psych student, not a philosopher.  I'll read that in the morning and wonder why the heck I stayed up so late.  But while I'm still typing...

From the rapper Nas:

"Life's a b****, and then you die.  That's why we get high: 'cause you never know when you're gonna go...."

Not that I endorse or condone the getting high part, but I think that's a poignant take on life.  You know, life can be easy or hard, but the best thing to do is keep on living in the moment, because for all you know, your roof could collapse on you as you sleep and that'd be it.  Sort of morbid, perhaps, but I think it has much truth to it.

My half-dead thoughts...

[yoded 0]

i'm liking goldfish his theory the most ^^

[Nerd_Guy 4]

I agree with masochist on how lucky we are to make it through the day. For example, I decided to ride my bike into to a friend's house in town. (I live a mile from the nearest town) Coming back from my ride, I took a less traveled rural route across an older train crossing (the gates don't work quite right). I was lost in my own world because I just found out my dog has cancer and I crossed the tracks withouth looking. My bike got caught on the tracks for a second and then I heard a blaring horn. I kept going and only at the time the freight train reached the crossing did the gates go down. Only later did I realize that if I had left my friend's house for home 30 seconds later, I might have been hit by that train.

I don't know what our purpose here is, but at least most of us are lucky enough to live long enough to make our own theories.

(Just to add an ironic note, I've also almost been hit by a state trooper and an ambulance lol)

[Explodingsims 3]

Masochist is right, with the world the way it is, you're lucky to be alive.

Frankly, I make make it through life being both as polite and friendly to people as I can, but also being as cynical as possible.

Frankly, If you just assume the worst of something, you'll be happy if its better than you expected, but you won't be disappointed if it is a failure.

To quote Yahtzee on this:

"To put it in another, less stupid way, if you just look at the last 10 years of Sonic Game and just assume the new one is going to be the usual punnet of snot then you won't get your heart re-broken"

Of course, this doesn't mean I'm really unhappy. I just don't have much hope for the future.

Also, I spend a lot of time absorbing as much knowledge as I can. It's just a drive I have to know as much as I can about something. I guess this goes back to, "You never know when you're going to die"

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I think it's conflict that keeps us alive, that keeps life worth living. All great art has come from conflict, all great literature, and all great histories as well. Without conflict, we are reduced, as was stated above, to mere procreation for the sake of procreation. That is pointless. So, instead, we have a number of different conflicts (man vs man, man vs nature, and man vs himself) that play out in a seemingly infinite number of scenarios, some so difficult they're almost cruel, some as easy as the first level of Super Mario Bros. I won't get into religion (not my strong suit), but I really think that if these conflicts vanish, we do, too. Survival just isn't a viable reason to keep going, but conquering conflict is. That way, we have goals (even if they don't look like goals) and we have direction (even if it doesn't look like direction).

I think this is why there is war, battling religions and philosophies, and it is DEFINITELY the reason their is art (not crappy modern art, but real, beautiful art and literature and now, movies). It's why we compete to win love or strive for greatness (well, some of us, haha). It gives us a reason to learn from failure (so as to win the conflict next time) and make us stronger, better people (again, some of us, haha!). So, just keep trying your best, it's the most anyone can ask of you, and try to understand that the guy next to you is also trying his best although his perspective may be a bit different from your own.

I hope that was coherent. If it's not, I may take another stab at it...

[Hamish 1,369]

Hey, Thats one day I survived.

But in all seriousness, I would have died plenty of times by now if I wasn't living in this day and age. So I agree with Nerd_Guy on how lucky most of us are.

[JanYpe 17]

For life is quite absurd,

And death's the final word.

You must always face the curtain with a bow!

Forget about your sin -- give the audience a grin,

Enjoy it, it's your last chance anyhow!

 Always look on the bright side of life.

[hamsterTK 93]

You know sometimes realizing that nature is indifferent is a liberating thing. Only we can care about each other.

I mean really, if we decided to hold up maximum reproduction and all as a universal truth, the result would be a wussy "utopian" society like Demolition Man. Lets ban caffiene, action figures, sex, cars, and meat, and everything they say is bad. But who would be happy then?

[masochist 111]

Originally posted by: hamsterTK  I mean really, if we decided to hold up maximum reproduction and all as a universal truth, the result would be a wussy "utopian" society like Demolition Man. Lets ban caffiene, action figures, [sex], cars, and meat, and everything they say is bad. But who would be happy then?

quote>

No one...we'd be waiting for our inevitable doom, wouldn't we?

Well...I suppose females could be artificially inseminated, but then that would require mast...male self-gratification, which would most certainly be banned, as well...

[futurearchitect 0]

For people with depression like me, the words, "the meaning of life" start a neurological chain reaction, sending my thought train through the tracks of a killer roller coaster, stopping just in time to let me catch my breath...that is, when I'm in a mood swing. Luckily for you, I'm not in one so you'll be spared my despairing, depressing remarks, maybe. But getting to it, I think the reason why we're all here will be one question which cannot be answered by a single statement. One day, be it December 21, 2012, in 2200 or 3500, the world as we know it may come to an end. Armageddon or the second coming may occur. Aliens may come to attack or develop relations with us. The meaning of life may be to live up to or through this day, to conquer evil or survive a catastrophe, but none shall know until that happens. So until then we wait. We wait for something we're not sure is ever going to happen. To many, including myself, living just to live seems wasteful. I have a very privileged life, and I'm sure the attention given to me could be applied to save dozens of homeless or diseased children from Africa or Asia. For me to live just to live, without purpose, is like boiling water, not knowing if you're ever going to cook anything with it (probably a bad analogy, but that's the first thing that popped into my head). The energy could be put to something I know I'm going to use. Some may say only people with low self esteem feel like they are wasted space, which I tend to agree with slightly. To be honest, I don't think I'm wasted space at all...But the point is that people need focus; they need a goal to reach. Religion offers the ultimate action plan for some. If you live a pure life, you will be rewarded in the end. People look to the future for gratification. Many, myself included, work best when under a deadline. In this instance, the deadline is death. Where many disagree, though, is what one must do to reach this deadline. For some it may be to investigate the science behind the universe, as BlondeTwiggy said. But I think there is no mathematical explanation. It is all determined by your values. If you value wealth, then you must become financially succesful. If you respect and find faith in mankind, then your destiny may be to have children and propel the race. Maybe you value others more than yourself and dedicate your life to service of the disadvantaged. For those who find no meaning in life, there is left the ultimate sacrifice.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that it is up to you, and you only to determine what the MOL is.

*Yawn* *Stretch* *Rub eyes* https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=148&threadid=83063&enterthread=y https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=148&threadid=83063&enterthread=y *Look at watch and read 3:15 A.M.* Well I hope I didn't bore you too much. G'night