Og

Yeah.. That was intentional... I thought it fit the obtuse tone of this thread

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GrandmasterTheGameOfLife

[quote=Og;17974]So survival is a purpose. It is a purpose of life for the simple fact that if you don't try to survive, you don't survive and can't demonstrate a purpose.

I don't, however, see any reason why this makes it a "meaning to life"... There's nothing that says "because all life before me has been driven to survive and replicate, I must do the same." There is no necessity for survival in any organism. There is no cosmic reason to propagate.

You have life. Life eventually ends. What you do in between is entirely up to you. There's no reason that survival should be a purpose. That other organisms have chosen to appear this way for all of the history of life says nothing to our purpose right now at this moment and in our own lives.

This sounds like the bull arguing with the lion. The human arguing with the divine. The image of the moon (the crescent shown in his horns) and the sun (the lion's solar face) illustrate the distinction. The purpose you illustrate speaks to the lunar consciousness of rebirth and a grasping of life for the sake of life and for nothing else. The alternative is the christ/buddha path to the solar consciousness into the sun. The sun does not go through phases of birth and death as the moon does. The sun is the source.

If you think that survival is your purpose, that's great! Follow your bliss! But it need not be "THE" purpose to "ALL" life. There is no such imperative.[/QUOT

You don't know and Neither do I...

Og

What is it that I don't know?

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The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Jesse

Chemicals didn't have a purpose in mind when they bonded together and began replicating. Survival is a goal that life generally has in common but it is not the purpose of it.

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langy

i disagree that lifes meaning is only to live. A fear of death drives us to want to live longer, so most creatures try to olive longer. But this does not mean it is the only meaning and purpose. Many people have gone to war knowing they would die, not for their children, but for ideas and principles, such as freedom. This shows that a part of lifes meaning is to have a good society where all creatures will prosper. People also often commit suicide because they are unhappy, which shows that happiness is a meaning of life for us. I am sure their are others i cant think of right now, but my point is that their is a lot of different meanings to life, and a lot of different things you need to fulfill for life to have meaning.

Skepticologist

I seem to come back again and again to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs: safety (analagous to survival in the context of this discussion, security, socialization, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

If you live in a primitive country with scarce food supplies, and you're worried about being eaten by other predators while you're out hunting and gathering, you'll have neither the time or energy to attend to any higher order needs.

On the other hand, if you're a member of the lower middle class or above in a developed society with robust social services, plenty of food, and reliable housing, the amount of time and energy demanded of you for simple survival is virtually nil.

In my opinion, the higher you ascend up Maslow's hierarchy, the happier and more fulfilled you're apt to be.

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Geshtinnanna

Well I don't think the meaning of life is to survive, since no one does. I think it's simply to live. And in that word is your own choice on how to do it.

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romansh

Questioning the purpose of life?....the perfect moment ... a sunrise, a sunset a still and serene moment when we think there has to be more to life than this? I'm sure we all have had these moments.

Well there are at least two possibilities, just shake it off and carry on or accept it for what it is and carry on.

all the best

Vinterland

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And on we walked. Suddenly we heard a voice crying, "This is the sea. This is the deep sea. This is the vast and mighty sea." And when we reached the voice it was a man whose back was turned to the sea, and at his ear he held a shell, listening to its murmur.
And my soul said, "Let us pass on. He is the realist, who turns his back on the whole he cannot grasp, and busies himself with a fragment."
—Gibran Khalil Gibran, “The Greater Sea.”

romansh

Thanks ..... nice story

I can relate to the American

all the best