What is the Purpose of Life ?

[Goude]

5 hours ago, dimreepr said:

 

Only to oneself...

What if you rely on the charity of other's? 

Having faith that tomorrow will provide...

We all need others in a modern society. It is the cosmic reason or purpose that is unknown. Maybe we just generate energy for the cosmos.

2 hours ago, zapatos said:

As there is no evidence of any of the thousands of gods proposed over the years, it seems safe to say that life is no more than just another possible configuration of matter in the universe, along with rocks, feldspar, and electrons. Meaning, if feldspar doesn't have a "purpose", then neither does life.

I am not convinced of no evidence for a God. I can see an intelligence in the world's makeup. Perhaps everything that exists is God having a greater presence than the sum of its parts.

[iNow]

17 minutes ago, Goude said:

Perhaps everything that exists is God having a greater presence than the sum of its parts.

And perhaps my computer is powered by unicorn farts and leprechaun laughs. We may never know 

[Goude]

1 hour ago, iNow said:

And perhaps my computer is powered by unicorn farts and leprechaun laughs. We may never know 

Could we not hear them? Great laugh I had. Yoda

[zapatos]

1 hour ago, Goude said:

I am not convinced of no evidence for a God.

You are on a science site. I am talking about scientific evidence, not the evidence of god you find through the love in a mother's eyes, or in the flight of a butterfly on a summer's evening.

[beecee]

On 6/7/2021 at 2:33 AM, Goude said:

I believe you have a great future ahead of you for an eternity.

My remark [along with the wink] was made due to the gradual thinning ranks of our annual [plus birthdays] old school boy reunions. The 11 has thinned to 9 with two deaths, the 9 has thinned to three of us left in good health, with one confined home with dementia, two others in nursing homes, one with broken hip, two with quadruple heart by pass surgery, and one with ALS [Lou Gehrig's/Stephen Hawking's disease] Out of the three left, one has "controlled" diabetes leaving two of us in good heath. We all have put in $100 each with last one standing to collect. 😅 I'm favourite to collect. 😉

3 hours ago, zapatos said:

You seem to be missing the distinction that Bufofrog made.

This thread is titled "What is the Purpose of Life?", not "What is the purpose of YOUR life?"

Precisely, all jokes aside.

8 hours ago, Goude said:

I think most people have a natural curiosity about things that urge them to learn. Many believe there is more to life than this physical state. That urges them to learn more. It depends on individual beliefs what the purpose of life may be. Not sure how one would prove anything about the purpose of life.

The ancients mistook the purposeless and awesome nature of Earth and the universe around them, as being unexplainable and divine in nature. They saw deities in the Sun, the Moon, mountains, rivers etc. Much of that awesomeness is now explained by natural means we all take for granted. Sure, we still have much to learn, but through the scientific discipline, we can and are doing that. The overwhelming evidence for such cosmic  "purposelessness" can be disheartening for some.

 

[dimreepr]

13 hours ago, Goude said:

We all need others in a modern society. It is the cosmic reason or purpose that is unknown. Maybe we just generate energy for the cosmos.

I'm not sure of your meaning, please elaborate.

As to the Nietzsche quote, I'm content with what I've found. 😉

13 hours ago, Goude said:

I am not convinced of no evidence for a God. I can see an intelligence in the world's makeup.

You can see intelligence in an ant hill too, we can explain why...

The hive's purpose is to make Bee's.

[Goude]

15 hours ago, zapatos said:

You are on a science site. I am talking about scientific evidence, not the evidence of god you find through the love in a mother's eyes, or in the flight of a butterfly on a summer's evening.

I don't believe science and a Mothers love are mutually exclusive. Is there no room for Love in science?

3 hours ago, dimreepr said:

I'm not sure of your meaning, please elaborate.

As to the Nietzsche quote, I'm content with what I've found. 😉

You can see intelligence in an ant hill too, we can explain why...

The hive's purpose is to make Bee's.

I don't understand your explanation of Ants making Bees. Nietzsche is not my favorite philosopher.

[dimreepr]

9 minutes ago, Goude said:

I don't believe science and a Mothers love are mutually exclusive. Is there no room for Love in science?

I don't understand your explanation of Ants making Bees. Nietzsche is not my favorite philosopher.

I didn't quote the philosopher, I quoted the question... 

You don't seem to know the difference between an Ant and a Bee; no wonder you don't understand.

[Goude]

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

I didn't quote the philosopher, I quoted the question... 

You don't seem to know the difference between an Ant and a Bee; no wonder you don't understand.

I'm not sure we are on the same page. with the same language. So I give up.

[dimreepr]

Just now, Goude said:

I'm not sure we are on the same page. with the same language. So I give up.

I only hope, you're content with that

[zapatos]

1 hour ago, Goude said:

I don't believe science and a Mothers love are mutually exclusive. Is there no room for Love in science?

What has that got to do with evidence for gods? Waxing poetic is fine on a poetry site but will not get you far on a science site.

[Goude]

15 minutes ago, zapatos said:

What has that got to do with evidence for gods? Waxing poetic is fine on a poetry site but will not get you far on a science site.

I do love poetry and write it. But I love science also. At the same time I believe in a greater spiritual reality behind it all. That is why I believe the purpose of life is to learn all you possibly can in your lifetime. The more you learn the less you will know until like Socrates you will realize you know nothing. I don't expect others to believe as I do. No one has the same beliefs. I celebrate diversity of thought as long as it is not harmful to others.

[dimreepr]

2 minutes ago, Goude said:

The more you learn the less you will know until like Socrates you will realize you know nothing.

Socrates, understood that you know nothing and asked, why...

[Goude]

12 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Socrates, understood that you know nothing and asked, why...

I would say "good luck" with that. My humble answer would be: the interconnections between all living things (that is everything) are so profuse as to create complications far beyond our ability to assimilate them.

[dimreepr]

1 minute ago, Goude said:

I would say "good luck" with that. My humble answer would be: the interconnections between all living things (that is everything) are so profuse as to create complications far beyond our ability to assimilate them.

Humble, is part of the question; not the answer...

[zapatos]

53 minutes ago, Goude said:

I do love poetry and write it. But I love science also. At the same time I believe in a greater spiritual reality behind it all. That is why I believe the purpose of life is to learn all you possibly can in your lifetime. The more you learn the less you will know until like Socrates you will realize you know nothing. I don't expect others to believe as I do. No one has the same beliefs. I celebrate diversity of thought as long as it is not harmful to others.

Well said. But like all your other posts it is completely devoid of relevance to the topic at hand or even a relevant response to the post you are commenting on.

[Goude]

22 hours ago, zapatos said:

You are on a science site. I am talking about scientific evidence, not the evidence of god you find through the love in a mother's eyes, or in the flight of a butterfly on a summer's evening.

I have never thought of philosophy as a science, nor religion, nor psychology, nor any of the disciplines relating to the perception, beliefs, or behavior of humans.

[zapatos]

5 minutes ago, Goude said:

I have never thought of philosophy as a science, nor religion, nor psychology, nor any of the disciplines relating to the perception, beliefs, or behavior of humans.

Religion lends itself to scientific scrutiny, such as claims about the age of the earth, where lightening comes from, and whether or not Sam Cook understood the beginnings of love:

Cupid, draw back your bow 
And let your arrow go 
Straight to my lover's heart for me

Perception, beliefs, and human behavior are also subject to scientific scrutiny.

The supernatural does not lend itself to scientific scrutiny though.

[Goude]

16 hours ago, zapatos said:

Religion lends itself to scientific scrutiny, such as claims about the age of the earth, where lightening comes from, and whether or not Sam Cook understood the beginnings of love:

Cupid, draw back your bow 
And let your arrow go 
Straight to my lover's heart for me

Perception, beliefs, and human behavior are also subject to scientific scrutiny.

The supernatural does not lend itself to scientific scrutiny though.

I agree with you. I am not a religious person at all. But did have a NDE years ago that changed the course of my life. I am not sure if that falls under supernatural or not, thousands have experienced similar events. One thing that bothers me about the purpose of life. If life is without purpose doesn't that make things like religion and science also without purpose. Thinking logically.

[dimreepr]

1 hour ago, Goude said:

I agree with you. I am not a religious person at all. But did have a NDE years ago that changed the course of my life. I am not sure if that falls under supernatural or not, thousands have experienced similar events. One thing that bothers me about the purpose of life. If life is without purpose doesn't that make things like religion and science also without purpose. Thinking logically.

Are you sure, you are?

[Goude]

52 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Are you sure, you are?

Yes, I believe that would infer the correct conclusion. If the whole is tainted then the parts of the whole would also be tainted, or in this case purposeless.

[beecee]

8 hours ago, Goude said:

I agree with you. I am not a religious person at all. But did have a NDE years ago that changed the course of my life. I am not sure if that falls under supernatural or not, thousands have experienced similar events. One thing that bothers me about the purpose of life. If life is without purpose doesn't that make things like religion and science also without purpose. Thinking logically.

One [religion]  was invented/created to explain the natural wonders around him/her,   before  we had the accumulating scientific knowledge to explain it by thinking logically. The scientific methodology is thinking logically and may change as our knowledge through further observational and experimental data is extended. It is a result of our so called intelligence, and the general desire in how we evolved to our current stage of thinking.

[dimreepr]

14 hours ago, Goude said:

Yes, I believe that would infer the correct conclusion. If the whole is tainted then the parts of the whole would also be tainted, or in this case purposeless.

Then you'll never be content with what you find.

[Goude]

5 hours ago, dimreepr said:

Then you'll never be content with what you find.

I do believe life has a purpose, but it is not religion. I think there is a greater reality out there and our physical lives are only a small part of it. So I am excited about what I learn from life. On 60 minutes last week there was a segment on dementia with new findings that changed everything. I love knowledge and study it. I like to read about things I don't agree with or understand the most.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Goude

[Goude]

14 hours ago, beecee said:

One [religion]  was invented/created to explain the natural wonders around him/her,   before  we had the accumulating scientific knowledge to explain it by thinking logically. The scientific methodology is thinking logically and may change as our knowledge through further observational and experimental data is extended. It is a result of our so called intelligence, and the general desire in how we evolved to our current stage of thinking.

I agree, and believe the church is responsible for much of religious doctrine.