What questions are essential to understanding life, the universe and everything?

Question

What questions, if they were answered, would help you understand life, the universe and everything?

Answer 1

Interestingly, a colleague of mine had several sessions of religious and philosophical deep discussions about life, God etc with me and other guys, just last week. The sessions have not concluded, by the way. We have a long way to go .

To date, after several hours, he's still not convinced. A few more guys joined in but couldn't satisfy his intellectual curiosity.

Finally he asked me "What do you think is REALLY stopping me from believing in God, the meaning of life and so on....."

I told him , " Friend, you're suffering from "paralysis of analysis" "
You are so complicated in your analysis of things that you get paralysed intellectually and somewhat "muddled". You know the type who would ask "Can God create an object so heavy that He Himself cannot carry ?" Can God create a force so powerful that He cannot stop it Himself, even with His omnipotent power ? ..the
list goes on.

I've said in detail elsewhere that these are unfair and not really logical questions. It's just to tease your brain but it's "muddled " thinking , though.

My conclusion is that even if we can give a very intellectually satisfactory answer to these questions, you may still turn around and say " Life sucks ! Life has no meaning."

Einstein understood a lot about the universe. He chose to believe in God, though he never claimed to have understood everything. Many of us ,who are so far behind intellectually from Einstein (don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence ), don't even care if God exists.

Finally I gave my friend a little booklet called "What on earth am I here for" by Rev Rick Warren. The issues Rick Warren brought up seemed to make a lot of sense to him. You may want to read it yourself. He wrote other books like "Purpose Driven Life" and so on.

It's not just asking any question about the universe etc. You have to ask the right questions, approach things from the correct angle, or you'll get very confused.

Thanks anyway, if you had the patience to read my loooooooong reply.

Answer 2

I dunno, but I like the following questions:

(1) Can the mind of man ever encompass the principles on which the universe operates?

(2) If so, can our minds ever do so to the point that the "light of knowledge" penetrates fog of apparent "chaos"? Is there really chaos, or does it just seem that way?

(3) If we do understand "the mind of God" or the principles on which the universe operates, will that emerging enlightenment give fine enough resolution to our vision, that we can trace all the complex links and causes, becoming less confused?

(4)And, seeing the details that clearly, will our minds also become large enough to see as a whole what we have discovered in such detail?

Fifth, yet of first importance, what can and should a human being be, and how to become that?

The chaos that now exists in international human affairs is infinitely worse than other chaotic systems, such as weather. The physical elements are mindless hence unaccountable for their real or apparent chaos. But man, in contrast, has a mind and the capability to organize, to follow positive and productive impulses.

And yet mankind lives in a world of political and economic chaos and insanity, and we will never find the time to discover the true meaning of our existence, until we get human affairs in order, eliminate war, starvation, gross irresponsibility and senseless cruelty!

We must address ourselves not so much on what we should know as how we should live, but, thus far, we have focused our human wisdom writing on the should nots and shalt nots. A good "how to" manual for curbing human evil would go into details not of past mistakes, but on workable procedures for making the present and future safe and secure for the children who, at some point, will govern the world. As we teach them, so they will be, and so will the world of their own children be.

If we succeed in making a better world, other points to understanding the Douglas Adams formulation, "Life, the universe and everything" will simultaneously emerge more quickly and will become less important. Compared with the musical harmony of a rational world of humans working together for the common good, the apparent chaos and putative meaningless of the universe, and all the talk about it, will become background noise.

Answer 3

A question like "what" is limited in scope; it can be answered with a category of a thing. Questions like "who" and "when" are at least as limited, only they talk about specific categories only (people and time repectively).

"Why" could be an important question, but it assumes that the topic of discussion has a reason. It's not impossible that somethings have no reason, so "why" is inherently limited. Other times, it's simply useless. Asking "Why do birds fly?" doesn't help one fly, and might be confusing if the answer is "To escape predators," or "To catch prey."

"How" is probably the best question, because it not only gives a reason if there is one, but it's effects, and more importantly how reality can be used. Additionally, knowing how something works allows one practice making it work. Asking "How do birds fly?" is going to yield the mechanics of flight, which can allow one to replicate it; also, the reason behind flight (or anything else) usually becomes obvious as it's used.

So, I conclude that "How?" questions are essential. "Why"s are superfluous and impractical, while "what"s, "who"s, and "when"s are at times utterly meaningless.

Answer 4

No question will be able to help you with that - and the more we ask and seek to know, the less we will know about the universe.
From Aristotle to Kepler to Copernicus to Galileo, Newton and to Einstein, each tried to find more revelations about the Universe. You can try to understand Einstein's both General and Special Theory of Relativity.
On life, I am not a philosopher, but there is contentment to simplicity. Contentment with being, and cherishing what you have. Goodness begets goodness. Do not conform yourself to the ways of the world, but transform yourself to the renewal of your spirit. Do not compare - for in this world, there will be always others greater or lesser than yourself (quote from Desiderata).

Answer 5

Study the art of life science will help you to understand the purpose of life. To the certain point, you will come to realize life is actually a series of thinking from your brain that define the "life".
The evolution is the way to construct new "life".

To answer your question, i am not going to give you ambivalent question.
I would ask this question:
Will the evolution occure in azoic?

Answer 6

Thre are no questions that will help you better understand life...only answers. The answer is life is...you fill in the blank. Life is different for everyone. Life is a garden with many varieties. Life is a garbage pail and everyone's junk is thrown into it. We live life to observe life and learn from it.

Answer 7

You question, as phrased, cries out for the answer, "What is six times seven?"

But if you really want to know the essential questions to ask, they all start with "Why?"

Answer 8

Who, When, Where, What, Why, How?
The root question to every question there is to ask.

Answer 9

1. What could be represented?
Just try answering this question

Answer 10

How did everything begin?
Why are we here?