What is the nature of existence?

Question

What is the nature of existence? What is truth? What is human purpose? What is the point? Don't answer if you aren't actively contemplating such questions on a regular basis, you won't be chosen. Thank you.

Answer 1

The nature of existence depends on one's own perception.
Truth has many dimentions.

Perception:

Mathematically speaking, perception is the integration of pieces information
provided by the senses.

http://www.gibson-design.com/philosophy/Concepts/$_PERCEPTION_1.html

The process of organizing information received through the senses and interpreting it. This is done by the conscious, mentally aware (faculty of) brain.

http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/search/dict-search2.html?bo1=AND&word=perception&search_type=normal&def=

Perception goes beyond plain sensation in that it includes the results of further processing of the sensed stimuli, either conceously or inconceously.

http://www.schorsch.com/kbase/glossary/perception.html

Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory.
The neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are effected.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/perception

In psychology. and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. It is a task far more complex than was imagined in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was proclaimed that building perceiving machines would take about a decade, but, needless to say, that is still very far from reality. The word perception comes from the Latin perception-, percepio, , meaning "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses." (every moment).

Methods of studying perception range from essentially biological or physiological approaches, through psychological approaches through the philosophy of mind and in empiricist epistemology, such as that of David Hume, John Locke, George Berkeley, or as in Merleau Ponty's affirmation of perception as the basis of all science and knowledge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception_%28psychology%29

The faculty of perceiving; the faculty, or peculiar part, of man's constitution by which he has knowledge through the medium or instrumentality of the bodily organs; the act of apperhending material objects or qualities through the senses; - distinguished from conception. (Sir W. Hamilton.)

in psychology, mental organization and interpretation of sensory information. The Gestalt psychologists studied extensively the ways in which people organize and select from the vast array of stimuli that are presented to them.

Perception is influenced by a variety of factors, including the intensity and physical dimensions of the stimulus; such activities of the sense organs as effects of preceding stimulation; the subject’s past experience; attention factors such as readiness to respond to a stimulus; and motivation and emotional state of the subject. Stimulus elements in visual organization form perceived patterns according to their nearness to each other, their similarity, the tendency for the subject to perceive complete figures, and the ability of the subject to distinguish important figures from background. Perceptual constancy is the tendency of a subject to interpret one object in the same manner, regardless of such variations as distance, angle of sight, or brightness. Through selective attention, the subject focuses on a limited number of stimuli, and ignores those that are considered less important.

http://www.bartleby.com/65/pe/percepti.html

Perception (psychology), process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world. Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or skin. Perception, on the other hand, better describes one’s ultimate experience of the world and typically involves further processing of sensory input.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761571997

The 'how it is' to cognitive systems in the world. A means of distinguishing how things are from how a cognizer thinks they are.

http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MindDict/P.html

Awareness of an object of thought, especially that of apparently external objects through use of the senses. Since things don't always turn out actually to be as they seem to us, there is ample reason to wonder about the epistemological reliability of sense perception, and theories of perception offer a variety of responses. The skeptical challenge to direct realism is often answered by representative realism, phenomenalism, or idealism.

http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/p2.htm#perc

Our minds are as different as our finger prints -
no two are alike. The perception of one person is
bound to be different from that of another person
- the process used is designated by the word "conception".
Still, all those perceptions are interpretations of
the same reality.

"Our two minds .... One is an act of the emotional
mind, the other of the rational mind. In a very
real sense we have two minds, one that thinks and
one that feels" (Daniel Goleman, Emotional
Intelligence, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 1996,
page 8). This rational mind is also called the
faculty of logic and reason. The rational mind
handles the conscious perceptions. However, the
logic used by the rational mind has a drawback.

In the 1930s, Austrian mathematician Godel proved a
theorem which became the "Godel theorem" in cognition
theory. It states that any formalized 'logical' system
in principle cannot be complete in itself. It means
that a statement can always be found that can be
neither disproved nor proved using the means of that
particular system. To discuss about such a statement,
one must go beyond that very logic system; otherwise
nothing but a vicious circle will result. Psychologist
say that any experience is contingent - it's opposite
is logically possible and hence should not be treated
as contradictory.

http://www.search.com/search?q=godel+incompleteness+theorem

The arguments permitted by the theorem gives rise to
many interpretations of the same reality.

The Upanishads say that even a the smallest thing
in creation, say a one cell organism, is a microcosm.
The more you try to know about it, you will understand
that there is more to know. Reality has infinite
dimensions. Perception is an approximate interpretation
of reality.

Answer 2

Hmm.... I will give you the Big or rather the Fundamental Problem that can be "answered" by Philosophy, Science, Art, or Religion.

When a society or an individual ask the question Who am I? The answer cannot on the same subject order as the asker of there would be just circularity. You cannot explain
Who am I in terms of personhood because you started with personhood? You need an impersonal discourse that answers who am I in conceptual or objective terms. So, the second question that arises is What is that?

The result objectification can lead to religious, philosophical, or scientific predicates. But there is a price to be paid for knowledge.

Again, the law of explanation requires that and a phenomenon in experience must explain by terms unlike itself. For, instance Scientist explain heat by the activity of unobservable (to the everyday experience) structures called molecules its molecular motion that cause the everyday phenomenon called heat. So, heat is explained by athermal phenomenon.

Without commenting on the truth of a discipline of knowledge all of the bodies of knowledge answer the spiritual question of Who am I with explanation that are different from the everyday experience and refer to intangible structures atoms, sprits , Abosolutes, that exist in a different counterintuitive order of existence.
However the positions from which humaninty asked the questions Who am I ? What is that? Cannot be on the same order as the "explanations" because the idea of an external nature is itself part of the two questions. The ontology division between subjective and objective reality is a fiction created by asking the questions Who am I and What is that?. So, the desire to understand the world has the character of a wish or a dream. There is no proving that life is intelligible without dreaming

Socrates in the West was the first according to philosopher Stanley Rosen to distinguish between the two intangible realms. The Whole is the position where humanity and the world are objects for their selves. The second realm is the reconstruction of the everyday into a world of explanatory unobservable structures.


Sooner or later these reductive strategies become so social useful the temptation become very seduction to reduce humanity to it technical instruments and definitions to claim that the everyday world is unreal and the technical, scientific, religious, or philosophical reconstruction is the truth reality which not only undermines the function of explanation but represents a forgetting of the dream like nature of truth.

According the Stanley Rosen “The task of philosophy is to preserve the delicate balance between man and the cosmos”.

Answer 3

What is the nature of existence?
The "nature"? That's rather vague. Typically the "nature" of something means what makes it up, what it's made out of. Or what it comes from. The dictionary says "The particular combination of qualities...". So the nature of existence is an easy one - it is this water and lipid chemical combination that makes up our bodies, the day to day busy bodying of work, school, home life, social life, it's this thing we call "physical" and "world" and "universe" and all that makes it up. It's curiosity, wonder, surprise, amazement, awe. It's Monday mornings and Friday nights. It's birth days, birthdays, death days, and funerals. It's you, it's me, it's him, it's she. It is.

What is truth?
Truth? Now THAT's a hard one.Truth is harmony. Truth is when two "natures" of existence coincide. Truth is agreement on an elemental level. When this electron agrees with that electron, there is truth (but electrons never agree, which is why quantum relativity is proving so much trouble). When the nature of my existence agrees with the nature of your existence, there is truth (I'm not talking about opinions and ideas and thoughts - these are the nature of my personality, not the nature of my existence); love could also be described this way - perhaps love is a truth?

What is human purpose?
Bioligically it comes down to the synthesis and replication of DNA molecules; procreation. Beyond that, purpose is something uniquely human because it's intentional. Where all (living) things follow the biological principle of procreation, humans have this way of projecting additional ideas onto their existence. For something human to have a purpose, a human must intend for that thing to be and/or to do. Otherwise it simply is. This concept of intention leads to a very old (yet somehow revolutionary) concept - that human purpose (being intentional) is a result of conscious will. Human purpose exists by choice, not by chance, and thus the purpose of any human is up to that human. So the question should be "What is MY human purpose?". My answer: to love (to find truth or to find harmony in the nature of my existence).

What is the point?
Well. There is no point. Who was the babbling philosphical apologist sophist who told you there was a point? And now that you've realized the cold hard truth (is my statement harmonious with universal natures of existence?) what are you going to do? Kill yourself because there's no reason to live - or will you choose your own purpose and thus find truth which will lead you into a harmony with the nature of your own existence?

Or you could just find religion. Same dif, really.

:edit:
To Loving Embrace...
"whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
False.
Whatever doesn't kill you usually makes you wish it had ;)

:edit2:
One more thing...
"You want the truth? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" :)

Answer 4

Who really knows what is the truth?
what we call truth might be only a dream.. reality might not even exist.
i mean have you ever thought about your dreams.. what if that's the real life & what we're in now is just a dream.
the colours around you you might be seing yellow as pink from the day you were born but taught that it's called green while someone else sees it as blue and calls it pink .. it's a crazy thign if you think about it
if you wanna know the human porpuse you'll get to a depressing stage like i did once. think about your hobbies and try doing them.
they say the purpose is to be a good person for the hereafter .. so i decide to believe it afterall things that were mentioned in the book thousands of years ago seem to occur in our era.
It is amazing to think about nature existance.. i mean look at everything around you
have you ever wondered how it all occured, it cant happen just suddenly.. a power was involved
most probably god
but when did life start existing on earth?
and when will it end?
i advise you to search these tyoes of questions it migth help you with what you are after to understand

Answer 5

what is the nature of existence? what is the nature of reality? ~~~ Existence = the complete Universe = Reality = Consciousness = Truth = 'Self!' = God = Brahman = Tao = ... etc.... ALL INCLUSIVE!! 'One'! Everything Exists! All inclusive! Everything is Real! All inclusive! Truth is all inclusive! Everything is True! All inclusive! Existence/Reality/Truth is all inclusive! 'One'! That which is perceived exists. All inclusive! That which exists is perceived. All inclusive! Not a thing exists (notice that I didn't say that 'nothing' exists, 'cause it don't! *__- ) that is not perceived. All inclusive! Not a thing is perceived that does not exist. All inclusive! There is no, nor can there be, any evidence to the contrary! Every Perspective is unique, by definition/nature. The First Law of Soul Dynamics; "For every Perspective, there is an equal and opposite Perspective!" - Book of Fudd "The complete Universe (Reality/Truth/God/'Self!'/Tao/Brahman..... or any feature herein...) can be defined/described as the synchronous sum-total of all Perspectives!" - Book of Fudd ALL INCLUSIVE!!! The nature of existence/Reality''Self!'... etc... is that it'we are all One! It's ALL True!

Answer 6

Existence IS nature. Truth is what it is. Human purpose is what we make of it. The point is relevant to the direction. I wonder about all of this a lot. Somethings I feel are better left unanswered. Other things I feel are sure to be answered in time, and I guess it is usually at the end of ones time when their curiosities are fulfilled. Answers are hidden in the truth and the truths are hidden in the questions.

Answer 7

Try reading "Climb the Highest Mountain," Mark Prophet, "Men in White Apparel," Ann Ree Colton, "The Reincarnation of Edgar Cayce?", Free, and "Expecting Adam," Martha Beck, Ph.D., for some profound insights.

Answer 8

The nature of existence is non-existence within existence. Her account was suspended, but someday look for "adversity", "exousia skotos", or "darklight" here on Q & A. She knows a lot.

To make it more fun, "we don't exist, and yet we do in non-existence". The proof is all around us, a make-believe world. Value it or not, it's all we have as humans. For all it worth, it's worth nothing. No matter what we do, we might as well not exist, "nothing is, nothing does" and for all we know, we aren't doing anything but walking in a circle.

Answer 9

That's more than 1 question
A. I don;t even know what you mean by "nature of existence", you need to be more specific.. what is the universe made of? why is it here? what are u asking?

b. truth is a word that humans invented that has no solid meaning that can be pinned down

c. Easy, none. Humans and all life forms have no purpose whatsoever There is no point.

Answer 10

Birth is beautiful, death can be peaceful but what drives me to madness is the transition from one to the other. I see no point of being me when i remain another face in the crowd........ If i knew my purpose I don't think i wouldn't be in this pensive state of mind. Truth? well I've figure that truth only eats away what ever hope anyone has left.

Answer 11

Live, love, laugh, learn. And pwn noobs on Halo 3 if you have this gift.
Seriously, I think we're surrounded by the ghosts of everyone who ever died. This, to me implies that with them bearing witness I should make them proud of me, rather than ashamed. This governs my right and wrong, since I shall be among them soon and for a long time. This is why I don't eat babies.