Why do we exist? NOTE: Visit my 360 page. Don't be cruel. I'm not.?

Question

Visit my 360 page. View my most recent blog entry. It's long, but I promise it will get you to thinking. Give me 2 minutes to paste it in.

Answer 1

Hmmm....

Answer 2

I believe this is your actual question:

"What do you believe? Will there be nothing for you [when you die]? Will you just simply cease to exist? Or will God condemn you if you followed the wrong interpretation? If God is real, why does He allow so many separate interpretations in which each one condemns the other? If He is real, then why can’t He clearly communicate which way is right? If He is real and He doesn’t communicate with us at all, then are we just some experiment by Him? Are we a cruel experiment in which we must suffer the unknown?"

I do not believe in (a) God, so that takes care of all but your first three questions, which is actually one question.

I believe that, when you die, you will be born again. Not to a new life, not to a different life, but to the very life you just finished. Your last conscious moment will be followed by your very first. This is because, when you die, your consciousness ceases to exist (I don't believe there is such a thing as a spiritual soul; I believe the mind is a function of the brain and the brain is a part of the body). Your consciousness ceases to exist, but the world will go on without you. The world, however, has never begun to exist - it has always existed. The cosmic process is a great cycle, which endlessly repeats itself. Because you and your consciousness are gone after your death, the whole cosmic cycle will happen again exactly as it has happened endless times before, and, eventually, the cosmos will again be in the state it was in when you were born, and you will be born again. Everything will go exactly the same way. You will live exactly the same life you have lived these past 31 years again, and you will again put this question and I will again type this answer. And you will have forgotten this by then, so your reaction will be exactly the same. I wonder what it will be.

Answer 3

Jennifer;
You have posted the age old question. It implies that there is a purpose which, in turn, requires a willful force that causes us to be. This assumption is probably what launched the religions of the world -- a major cause of mankinds suffering.. However, in the absence of verifiable evidence the assumption is little more than an evasion of the question.

In fact, you are. That is all the evidence you have that is irrefutable. Trusting deductive logic, we are led to the conclusion that there is NO REASON why we exist. We just do.

This can make us feel useless and alone or, it can relieve us of the burden of guessing the purpose of our existence and how to justify it. The former is little more than self-flagellation while latter is liberating.

Accepting our existence as just fact, we can recognize that we have pleasure centers that can make this fact a treat. One such comes to mind. A poem by Leigh Hunt...

Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in.
Time, you thief! who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in.
Say I'm weary, say I'm cold;
Say that health and wealth have missed me;
Say I'm growing old, but add-
Jenny kissed me!

I hope this lightens your view of the universe and gives you the freedom to enjoy it.

I can be reached at [e-mail] for response. I look forward to it.

Answer 4

i am going to take an omelette.... carry the onions. And its no longer merely you. 2 of my closest acquaintances do those wonderful backgrounds and do not favor to cover them up, so the modules are set to "clear." in straightforward words difficulty is.... then i am going to't examine the words in any respect. I even ought to click on "without topic" anytime. i am going to't imagine how they examine their comments in the different case. fantastically at the same time as the colorations they chosen for the textual content are an similar that are contained in the historic past. ok i want smarter acquaintances for sure. *ducks and hides in the previous they examine this* lol

Answer 5

Dear Jennifer,

You and I seem to have the same frustration with God at the moment. He makes for a crappy penpal. I believe in God, specifically the Judeo-Christian God (I'll get into why later), but find his silence to be unreasonable. It's irritating to talk to a higher being who doesn't respond, and leaves me with the sense that I'm talking to myself. Whatever his reasons, he either chooses to answer us in enigmatic omens, or not at all. Fine, I have absolutely no power to change that, and my frustration is my problem more than his.

Here's why I specifically believe in the Christian-Judeo God. Hell. I know, I know, everybody says that a "good" god wouldn't send people to Hell, but I contend that if every decision had the same outcome, then we couldn't really be considered beings of free will. There has to be an alternative to heaven for the idea of free will to work, and He made the alternative so bad that no one would want it. It's how I account for my belief of predestination, the idea that God has always known everything that was, is, and will be. Just because he knew which choice we would make, doesn't make it any less our decision. In fact, I'd say he's a much better God for letting us decide to make our own mistakes, rather than preventing us from making any decisions at all. I also like the logical progression of events in Christianity. God started us as perfect, and we screwed it up. Then he laid out a method for how we could repay our own sins (blood sacrifice of the old testament), but nobody could keep up. Having firmly established to mankind that we could not do it alone, he then sent Jesus as a final sacrifice- so that all we have to do is choose. It's a religion entirely about the pitfalls of Free Will, but also about forgiveness. I firmly believe that the choices we make while we're here matter more than circumstances surrounding our arrival.

Speaking of Free Will, I sort of think we may have been set up from the beginning on that score. Snake or no snake, it was really only a matter of time. Adam and Eve were put on a perfect world with only one choice: Leave the world perfect, or change it. How long can anybody keep making the same choice over and over before they're compelled to try something different? Ah well, it's unreasonable to expect that I'll be able to learn and understand everything I want to in the 80 short years that I have to breathe. Just something to ponder I suppose.

Where I disagree with you is the theory that everyone is actually worshipping the same diety. I'd say that's far too convenient to be realistic. As with most things in the world, there are far more ways to be wrong than there are to be right, and it's entirely likely that everybody is wrong. That and the veggie thing. I don't judge others on that, but for me it would feel too arrogant to restrict my own chances for nutrition while so many others starve. I try to be grateful for every meal. Besides, I don't consider myself to be above any other animal, and they have no problems engaging themselves in the food chain and taking life. On the other side of that coin, I do cook my meat, but I suspect if other animals knew how, they might too. It tastes better that way.

Not every interpretation of Death is bad, and almost every religion that you could choose to follow has a "good" interpretation of death, some form of heaven. My personal favorite is Valhalla, where heaven is basically one big tavern. That's cool. The biggest exception to that I've found is Bhuddism, which calls it's heaven Nirvhana, and actually seeks out the state of non-existance that Athiests believe happens anyway, but Bhuddists work much harder at it.

I guess in short, I find the Idea of a God who would enslave us in disneyland with no hope of choosing our own fate to be far crueler than that of a God who invites us, and even provides a different alternative should we decline. At least we still have a choice that way.

On this next topic I agree with you, and not your psychiatrist. I find the whole practice of psychiatry suspect anyway, when compared to it's much more successful brother, psychology. You absolutely have the power to change the world. It's hard to do, and success is statistically unlikely, but it can be done. That is not a delusion of grandeur, it's a challenge.

I'm sure you've been told before, but just in case. Don't worry so much about death, because it will happen whether you worry about it or not. You have so much living to do before then, and so many things to worry about that you can actually fix. I say focus on those, and save off worrying about death until it happens, or maybe right after.

And in return, I apologize if any of this has given you my contradictions. I hope you can make the most of the high times, rest in the lows, and find a middle ground someday. And if you hear anything from God, could you let him know I'd appreciate it if he sent word? A post-card, an email, a phone call, or anything direct would be lovely.

Justin

Answer 6

What a wonderful philosophy question. To each their own I suppose. I have my own set of 'why' for myself. If we have a mind, then we should use it - and thus can decide the purpose of our existence? "I think, therefore I am" true?

I hope that part of our reason for being is to enlighten others, to help others and to see that our future is... well, that we have a future for those that come after us.

peace

Answer 7

I think we're here to give to others, love and happiness, I think it feels better to give these than receive them, although receiving is nice too. Live in the present moment. Don't worry about the future, it isn't even real. You can't change the past.

Answer 8

Because a bunch of atoms put together plus energy on the early earth turned into organic molecules which eventually evolved into higher lifeforms, one of which being humans.

Answer 9

It is vary hard, or even impossible, for us, people, to understand why we exist in this world.

I think creating our own purpose for being here is better than always thinking about the purpose of god creating us.

Good luck, Jennifer !

Answer 10

The Meaning of Life is the answer to this question:

God, what is Your purpose of Existence?

For God's purpose of Existence itself defines the purpose of all that exists.

I asked God that question...

God answered, "My purpose of Existence is To give life. Since you are made in My image after My likeness, then YOUR purpose of existence is to give life."

Everything that exists is an expression of God's thinking; thus, everything reflects God's thinking.

God gives life by His unique existence, and receives life when He gives life. All of existence gives life by its unique existence to that which receives life from its unique existence. This is Nature - the union of all living (eternal) things.

You are here to give life by your unique existence to that which receives life from your unique existence. So do what you love that nourishes those who love what you love.

This is your purpose.

Answer 11

for one reason, to serve others. once we get rid of our selfish life attitudes, life gets so much easier. i dont worry about myself or loved ones. i'm too busy living a clear conscious life filled with contentment and acceptance of others.

that and pot. i love weed.