The complete and utter pointlessness of life

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Well, I don't think people identify themselves with their sperm as strongly as Sand does, otherwise masturbation would be a major political issue due to outcry about how ejaculation is murder, and we would have had Ronald Reagan say "Masturbation is advocated by people who have themselves fertilized their mother's egg."

It makes them feel better.

"Billions upon Billions of potential life forms are non-existent due to fast wiggling tails of the Winners who later become whiners...and whoa to the sticky socks lurking underneath the mattresses of teenage boys all across the world who create refuse out of potential human beings for soon the mothers will find what has been concealed and all will sigh with dismay."

-Carl Sagan as channeled through Magnus




btw, Mr. Mark, glad to see you are still here.

I too have been down this road.



I think you're making some fairly significant assumptions here which significantly influence the position you've arrived at. firstly, you believe you know what is 'worthwhile' for humanity. it should be noted that what is not worthwhile to someone is extremely worthwhile to another!

secondly, you assume that you can predict the full extent of your actions (ie. that your life will not have a major effect on humanity). anyone with any concern for reality knows this is not the case. how can a butterfly predict that their actions would cause a hurricane on the other side of the planet? likewise your actions may initially seem insignificant but may end in significant effects at a later point.

thirdly, you're basing the value of your life on something that will or won't happen in the future, not in the present! it should be noted that the future never arrives, and we are perpetually in the present. If you can't find meaning in the present then good luck to you finding any solid meaning in your life.



What should you do? My advice would be to stop trying to get meaning out of life through ideas. get rid of all that stuff. eventually ideas are just ideas, and not reality! try to find meaning in the present. Have a chat with your dog about it. I'm not aware of any other animals that have this existential dilemma...

hope this helps. as i said i've been down this track too. its very easy to get stuck in these modes of thought, but in the end you have to realise thoughts are just thoughts. don't always listen to them. just get on with life.

Oh I look in from time to time. Found a girlfriend and broke up with her. Life is good.

umm...life is good because you broke up with a girlfriend? hmm...

Mr. Mark, That is why you left? You found a girlfriend? Are we chopped liver?

@ tonka

What is a meaningful life? If one claims that his/her life is meaningful because that person enjoys waking up and eating pancakes, feeding the pigeons, watching tv, and drinking whiskey before bed, does that in reality make that person's life meaningful? That person is in fact consuming resources and creating waste upon the planet, and for what do they return in exchange for their self proclaimed meaningful life?

In reality maybe just a handful of scientists, artists, and humanitarians actually live meaningful lives. The rest are replaceable in the larger, more realistic scheme of things.

Well, in the larger, more realistic scheme of things...maybe not even them either. There are a couple who might disagree with the notion I am replaceable. I would disagree concerning them. I would imagine you could name some too. Maybe that is the answer to the question of what is a meaningful life.

^Yes Indeed.

The concept that we are cogs in the human social machine and we must function to somehow be historically significant is bound to depress anyone who does not use all his or her senses to explore whatever universe is available. We are individuals, each with a unique outlook and opportunity. Engaging in human social efforts can be rewarding or not, very much depending upon the individual but life is an adventure with many fascinating rewards and many more very dangerous pitfalls. I do not evaluate my life in terms of the accomplishments of others. As someone with a personality that does not see humanity as the ultimate expression of everything of value but merely as one of the more interesting inventions of protoplasmic exploration and, at this moment, a somewhat disastrous one for life in general and probably something rather temporary, I am very satisfied to have had my peek into time and hope it continues for as long as it is not too painful to sustain.

I will agree, but must admit this is a difficult concept for me. Perhaps due to my current stage of life. In reality, I can only truly relate to me, but I am not an I; I am a we. I am a cog, part of a unit. My function is meaningful to the unit. I do not evaluate my life in this way either. I was saying my life is meaningful because it has meaning to others. I hope mine continues to your current stage of life.

To break up with your girlfriend you must have a girlfriend with which to break up.

Actually, I told her I felt like I didn't want to be in an exclusive relationship at this point in my life, I've only been divorced 4 years, only known about autism 3 years, only dated 1 person since then. She told me to go to hell.

It's okay, "I'll find another one, prettier too, skip to my loo my darlin'."



I left to find a girlfriend. http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp2048907 ... t=#2048907



What, you wanna go out?


You're still here, too.

I agree completely. Life is completely and utterly pointless. Nothing to do but relax and enjoy the ride. "Row, row, row you boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrliy, merrily, merrily life is but a dream."

so called 'waste' is a resource to other life forms. these are just interchangeable labels

What is a meaningful life for a cockroach, a raccoon, a strawberry plant or an octopus? Why do you think humans are privileged beyond these creatures to have any more meaning to their lives?

Plants, insects, and animals are most likely more meaningful than us. They all contribute something to their envioronment or ecosystem. They are interdependent and important cogs in the machine. I cannot say the same of humans. Their meaning is objective; our meaning is certainly subjective.

Like plants and other animals we breathe, eat, defecate, modify the environment and reproduce. That is all nature seems to require. All else is egotistical decoration.

Maybe at one time humans could have been viewed in the same light as plants and animals, thought I am not even convinced of that much, but we have become quite the destructive and festering blight.