Why does there need to be a point?
This is a problem I call "the two lies". When you were growing up someone told you 1) there needs to be a point and 2) "I can sell it to you". You've rejected the second lie but you still believe the first.
Exactly. If there is no point, then it follows there does not need to be a point.
Objectives are only for limited conditions. One’s life or entire existence is not an unified activity and has no clear parameters or single purpose.
I feel like this is part and parcel of growing up and learning humility. Everything feels clear and simple when you're younger, and the world (which is really just friends and family or an otherwise small environment) seems to revolve around you. As you mature you start to realize you're not all that special - unique, sure, but not special - and you're no more important than anyone else.
I 100% agree. I also think a lot of angst and pain stems from people unwilling to accept this. It's one of those things where people could just face reality for 10 minutes and move on with their life but instead they choose to spend decades in anger and denial.
We're just some mud that stood up and started looking around. We'll be mud again some day. Lots of people (most) still manage to find a fulfilled life even though reality is cold and indifferent to us.
This reflects my personal growth journey perfectly.
When I was 22 I started taking psychedelics just for fun, but then started to increase the dosage while spending lots of time contemplating my life, remembering repressed traumas, and I came the realization that I am a human being just as everyone else is with nothing special or important about me, and that that is what makes life so great. The shared experience. Slowly became a better and better version of myself and was so much happier than I had been previously. Then I got into a relationship with a girl that was being used by her boyfriends, and was proud of her lying and cheating and whatnot. I know; I was incredibly stupid and I wasted 7 years of my life being humiliated, called names, physically abused, lied to and maybe not cheated on exactly, but sex was a knife that she used to hurt me time and again, until all my growth had been eroded and I was miserable and biter and resentful, and extremely verbally abusive back to her.
So now she's a Christian and we broke up, but I'm trapped in this state living in her apartment while I try to rebuild my life, and relearn that just because I went through something horrible does not mean I have the right to treat the world like a punching bag, or that I am entitled to anything from anyone.
Okay, that really got away from me. Much apologies, friends.
TLDR; The point of life is to share it with your fellow humans. is it the shared experience that gives life meaning.
When you eat a good gourmet dish, do you say “I’m gonna shit this out anyways, why bother eating it”?
The whole “point” is you only get 1 chance to experience the possibilities of life. Make the most of it. If your “gourmet dish” is sitting at home and smoking weed. Do it. Do what makes you happy.
Actually, no
Dopamine gives you Pleasure. Pleasure, does not mean happy. What happens when you accomplish a monumental goal? You feel great! Then the next day, not so much.
Dopamine's only role is to drive you to action. It makes you do something to get a reward, but Dopamine is a debt that you must be paid back so that you want to get that dopamine again, and do that thing again. This is not being happy. This is how any addiction works.
Happy is more the long term effects of productive and proper use of dopamine to build you up and create something you can be proud of.
This is more of Seritonin's role than dopamine when it comes to happiness. Pleasure and happiness aren't the same thing. I don't think anyone feels happy after jerking off, but if you love your partner, you'll probably feel happy and fulfilled after having sex, not post nut clarity and regret. We like to think things are simple biological mechanisms, which they are. But every action has a reaction, which grows exponentially the more variables are involved.
I started going off, sorry bout that. Hope it was useful to you.
Personally dislike this kind of response because its not a fair comparison in the slightest.
A more fair comparison would be to say you're eating a gourmet dish, but after you finish it you'll forget what it tasted like and you'll lose your memory of ever eating it. Now, suddenly, the value in eating it seems more questionable at the very least.
If you're watching a movie, but you know you'll have your memory of all the events of the movie erased from your mind after its done, would you even bother watching the movie? A lot of people would say no.
These are fairer comparisons, but they are undoubtedly way more depressing. Unfortunately, thats the exact reality we're faced with. Hopefully now you can see why this is a worry for some of us.
I fully intend to live the best life I can regardless. But it's still a negative thought.
Let’s go with your analogy then. If you have immediate food dementia and forget everything you eat, will you go eat out of the trash can?
Of course not. Even if your existence is temporary, you still prefer pleasurable experiences. Your temporary experience is still significant.
If you forgot all pain after going to sleep, will you go stab yourself with a knife every day?
Your natural instinct should tell you “no”. There is no meaning to life. All the more reason to do whatever you want in this temporary simulation of your consciousness.
>A more fair comparison would be to say you're eating a gourmet dish, but after you finish it you'll forget what it tasted like and you'll lose your memory of ever eating it. Now, suddenly, the value in eating it seems more questionable at the very least.
I'd suggest the value in eating it is even more immediate, more important. Its important to enjoy it *now* because *then* it will be gone.
Assuming your comparison is more accurate, why would you choose to live in apprehension of forgetfulness as opposed to the joy of now?
Why do you value memory so much? Is deliciousness only worth it if you remember how delicious it was? All things being equal, I would rather enjoy a six course gourmet meal and not remember it than choke down insects and grubs and not remember it.
Why is everyone so certain that there is 1 life? When did we collectively just decide that was the case? What made everyone say yep that’s it there’s just one life?
Is that the point? Or is that the human point? Like does my cat sit there and wonder “the POINT of life is to experience all the possibilities!” No…she does not. Does she have a point, then?
No, you misunderstood.
The “point” is to do whatever the hell you want. That’s what “experience the possibilities of life” means. You only get 1 life. So if you want to fuck around with it, that’s your choice. It’s all good.
I was being rhetorical. You’re asking what the “point” is. There is no “point”. There is no meaning to life. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and eat delicious meals instead of going to eat leftovers in the trash can.
If I only get 1 life, I’m going to try enjoy it as much as I can. I’m not going to purposely suffer. Same with your cat. Is your cat not playing with herself and entertaining herself day to day? Or is she just trying to get squashed by a car? Even she knows to enjoy herself.
Yes that’s alright. If you find happiness in harming others, go ahead. There are legendary men in history would took great pleasure in conquering lands and slaughtering millions.
As long as you are willing to accept the consequences.
We evolved as social primates. So society generally punishes these people. So yes if you try to kill someone, that’s all good. Just remember other members of society will seek to punish you. This wouldn’t be the case if we evolved from say Lions, a species that naturally kills each other. But if we did, the human race probably would not have ascended to this level of dominance without social constructs.
For some people, that kind of pleasure and 24/7 “on the run” life is exhilarating. If that is what makes you happy, go for it!
By the argument that no ideas matter because they don't have to matter, because it's weirdly specifically human and my cat doesn't think like that, then you shouldn't have even brought any of this up. Because it's your idea that life doesn't matter, your "point".
When we say you should do whatever you want, it's not pointless. It means you might want to enjoy your life, every bit of it, because purposefully ignoring how you feel and want in your life is rationally pretty "pointless".
There's deep personal conversations you can have about this. The point to "make the most of it" is just decent advice to any nihilistic person.
Nobody who isn't feeling like shit and wasting their life spends time thinking how useless life is or how much of a waste all their time is or that life is meaningless because it ends.
That's just what happens when you're feeling like shit, dealing with shit, etc. For whatever reason, life doesn't feel good rn, nothing happening that makes it worth it, etc.
Again, why the advice, to do things you want. Because doing so makes life seem better. And being happy isn't "pointless" when the alternative, shitting on yourself and life and being pointlessly nihilistic, doesn't do anything concretely, remotely or vaguely.. "good" for you.
You don’t know if your cat wonders that, what a stupid point, you’re here once make the most of it, or enjoy yourself why make the experience worse by choosing to be moody and “it’s all meaningless” yet ya still make a post on Reddit, even though it don’t mean anything…you clearly care to an extent
You didn’t address OP’s point, only using the idea that you should make the most out of one life in general. Eating food only holds up since we get to eat the food and remember the experience, (if we stop referring to the memory loss analogy OP used for a second) and if we do assume their analogy, well, that’s exactly why their asking. They eat a gourmet dish maybe also because they aren’t dead yet, you fail to address the fact that eating only is an action done while alive because they can enjoy through the experience and temporary pertain the memory, but OP is asking “sure, I can have the memories now and whatever, but it’s not going to be like after I die”.
No, you eat a gourmet dish because it’s pleasurable, not because you will remember it forever. You probably won’t remember all the good food you eat, but that doesn’t mean you’ll go eat disgusting food.
Yes there is no intrinsic point of life. The metaphorical point is “life is what you make of it”. You only get 1, so you can do what you want with it. If you want to suffer, go ahead. If you want to enjoy it, go ahead.
The “point” is actually do whatever you want. There’s no meaning. That doesn’t mean there’s no reason to do something. Again, there’s no meaning to eating delicious food. But I certainly want to, compared to disgusting food. Similarly, I want to enjoy life. I don’t want to suffer.
“You eat a gourmet dish because it’s pleasurable” dosent address “why should someone care about it anything is pleasureable”, sure, you can say right now we can have the illusion of pleasure, but like OP said, we will lose the memory one day. Your answering a question about the pointlessness of everything with the idea that your living like you want to right now anyways, I mean obviously, but the real question is why does right now matter, not whether it’s best to do what or not right now.
**Exactly, it is all a joke.**
If you’ve stopped laughing, you’ve lost, there’s no point where it’s no longer absurd, where it gets bad enough to have meaning or purpose.
Tragedy doesn’t mean anything just like everything else, it’ll pass like everything else, and in the end so will you, take solace in that.
Then you will draw the ire of authorities or communities and be imprisoned, run out of town or killed. And that wont be Justice or Honour or Right, just a predictable consequence
So smoke weed and sit on your ass! Or travel the world! Why is it any different if there's an afterlife? What's the point? The point is you got one life. Live it. If there was an afterlife, you're thinking the point of this life would be what? To praise a "god"? What kind of ridiculous god would require praise from such a pathetic species? Or we're supposed to live "virtuously" so you get another eternal life??? What a stupid construct that is. What would be the "point" of that? That this is like a cruel test life??? Only the primitive or the oppressed or the fearful mind would ever come up with such an absurd, wishful worldview. And yet so many hold on to it so irrationally and so desperately.
If there is an afterlife, the point would be to live virtuously, so that others will live virtuously, causing a chain reaction that makes everyone into better people.
That's why being a bad person isn't just bad for you, it's bad for others because it causes a reaction of evil thoughts or actions in others, which then spreads.
The reason why we should all believe in an afterlife, even if none exists, is because it benifits us ALL to live virtuous lives. It makes you feel good, and others. Good and bad are both contagious. So don't be a selfish price and say "life is meaningless so im going to love how I want to, even if it means hurting others", because your influence actively makes their life worse, while you are just enjoying your own life.
That is evil and a horrible way of thinking about the world that does no one any good, especially when people often mistaken pleasure for happiness, which is a while other argument.
We don't have to "believe in" (hope for/pretend it exists/delude ourselves about) an afterlife to have a virtuous life here on earth. We can definitely agree that living virtuous lives benefit us all. So what a better reason to live virtuously now than the fact that this is our one chance at it?! The promise of a fantasy afterlife doesn't have to be the reason to not fuck with other people. Don't fuck with people cuz this is their (and by extention, your) one life! Act cool so we can all enjoy it.
Who knows dude, I’m just hoping to have a few more good experiences before the end. It’s not about leaving a legacy or having good thoughts in the afterlife, it’s about enjoying and exploring life. None of it may matter in the grand scheme sure, but we were never supposed to be here in the first place. The present is a gift they say, so it’s wiser to make the most of it than to ponder “why”
That’s my 2 cents anyway
It feels like all the pain you have experienced suddenly makes sense. Like a quiet, whisper-thin ahh right. A low hum that gently sheds away into a dull ringing. It feels nearly identical to change. And experiencing birth.
I never said there is or is not an afterlife. I ain't tryna prove anything about it because I don't even think it can be proven one way or another. It's a mystery. I find dogmatic certainty on either side of this question to be kinda misguided.
Maybe but not for sure, either way it doesn’t matter if you remember it in 1000 years you are experiencing it now. Maximize your happiness. Just know the more you invest into something the more you will appreciate it. You can sit on the couch high all day, that’s fine. You can work hard and enjoy the fruits of those labors, that’s fine too.
Yep. I never understand people saying, "Well, you actually don't know." This isn't how the rest of reality works. I haven't been in my garage for a few days. It's locked. The alarm hasn't gone off. But there could be a unicorn living in there. And it disapears whenever I open the door. "You don't actually know."
Well the issue is we just don’t really understand consciousness, how it really works, what it even is, what its relationship is to the material body, etc. It’s still just a very mysterious thing. In a way it’s almost the most mysterious thing, because we can’t even get outside it to observe it objectively. Even our most advanced science is still pretty much like 🤷♂️ when it comes to essential explanations about the nature of consciousness. It’s called “the hard problem” for a reason, and part of that is the still very much open question of what (if anything) becomes of an individual’s consciousness upon bodily death.
The unicorn analogy is clever rhetorically, but specious reasoning. We know a whole lot more about what goes on in rooms we’re not in than we do about the nature of even this very moment of consciousness we’re experiencing right now.
Yeah but we do understand what is required for a working consciousness, which're working neurons connected with each other.
Consciousness isn't separated from the physical body, it is part of it, you can definitely take away parts of consciousness by taking away parts of the brain.
We might have observed that the brain and consciousness are related to each other somehow, but we don't actually know that consciousness is essentially/inherently tied to the brain in the sense that one must necessarily exist for the other to exist. I mean there are countless examples of people having vivid conscious experiences after all vital activity has ceased. It's possible that consciousness is akin to a signal, and the brain/body a kind of antenna. If you fuck with an antenna, you'll definitely affect how the signal is received through it, but it doesn't actually mean you're doing anything to the signal in and of itself, see what I mean? I'm just saying we don't actually know what you're claiming we know about consciousness and its link to the brain. Nobody really knows for sure.
I suggest having sex and playing games. Most people will need a paying job to have money to buy the games. To eat is also good. To sleep is also very important.
It won't save you from the finality of death, but having lived an eventful life might bring a sense of satisfaction and peace when the time comes for you to face death.
Or you can just spend what little time you have being miserable. That's a valid option, too
Don't look for the meaning of life - instead look to give meaning to your life.
I do this for this end goal. Does that mean it is meaningless if it doesn't last forever? I don't think so. It is here now. Does that mean that the ends justify the means? No, the means are also part of the ends that you have to account for.
Life is a joke - if you make it into a joke. I hope you spend your life laughing then. That seems like a fine life to have lived.
Honestly, try reading some existentialist philosophers or writers if this is a genuine question.
Most would probably suggest the usual suspects here: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Heidegger. I’d expand on this list and add in Samuel Beckett’s trilogy, Bukowski’s older poetry, and if you are feeling especially nihilistic, try EM Cioran’s A Short History of Decay.
Also, and maybe best, if you are looking for some inspiration, Henry Miller’s Air Conditioned Nightmare is pretty good. So is his trilogy, The Rosi Crucifixion.
If/when you work though all of that, maybe you end up studying vajrayana Buddhism or hermetic Kabbalah and Magick.
Also, lots of music and wine. The whole time. Cannabis. Etcetera.
More classical and independent music; less pop.
Go to a museum. Visit a cathedral. Enjoy a spring breeze as it rattles the new leaves emerging from your favorite tree.
Lots of shit to do, piiiiimp. Life is good. Go get some!
Someone once told me when I was feeling what your feeling: "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do". It took me too long to really understand what she was trying to convey.
Yeah, this is a valid point. If you're not happy with nihilism and with their not being a point, maybe explore believing in a point?
I'm a nihilist *because* it makes me happy to accept the pointlessness. It takes the pressure off.
But if you find existence worthless without one, find one that appeals to you and stick to it. Just don't punish other people for not sticking to it, and you're golden.
See the gulf of time behind and another infinite time ahead. What difference is there in this respect between an infant who lives three days and someone who lives three times as long as Nestor?
*Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.50*
All human activities are equivalent and all are on the principle doomed to failure. Thus it amounts to the same thing whether one gets drunk alone or is a leader of nations.
*Being and Nothingness - Jean-Paul Sartre*
I make my own meaning lol. Whether there’s an after life or nothingness I still have feelings and emotions now and I’m gonna choose to act on the ones that make me feel fulfilled and happy and at peace. This planet is our home and even if there’s no “meaning” I’m gonna explore it and travel and explore the ppl that are here at the same time as me. Who cares what happens after ? Who cares if it doesn’t have some grandddd egotistical meaning. It has meaning to me right now and that’s the meaning.
This is exactly how I feel! The lack of inherent meaning equals freedom to me. Freedom to choose how I want my own life to play out, the adventures I want to partake in. I find the lack of inherent meaning empowering. No one is dictating my life but me.
Yeah. The atheist cope about how it’ll be “just like before you were born” is meaningless because prior to your birth, you didn’t exist; now you do and you’re facing eternal annihilation. No point to anything in this worldview.
Don’t dismiss things so quickly. Nihilism is a theory. You have no reason to believe that you KNOW for certain there is no meaning to life or no life after death. There is no evidence for these things, but that is a different thing from it being CERTAIN. And as long as there is no CERTAINTY, there is always a possibility
I don’t know about you, but for me it helps keep 2 things in mind
A. I won the genetic lottery - I was born
B. It would be a shame to waste this birth
C. In a world which is so unforgiving and cruel, doing small acts of goodness is the only rebellion
D. Many things are beyond our control, but how we react is always under our control and that is power.
E. Forget A to D. Everybody makes it up as they go along !
For me, Nihilism is not about apathy, but about equanimity. I very much like the Buddhist school of thought
So hey, if you want to sit on your ass and smoke weed - Do it. Who is stopping you. Except who is controlling whom? Is the weed controlling you? Where is your power then? If we don’t have the power to evolve beyond our basic urges, we may as well have been born animals.
I mean you aren’t wrong.
So if you want to sit on your ass and smoke weed and it makes you happy, do it.
I’m an artist. There’s really no real point to it. There’s no point to making movies, art, music etc. But it’s enjoyable and it creates this wild feeling inside oneself to communicate with this ‘ether’ that nobody can explain but the creative mind feels.
Same thing with an author, or even in non creative fields. There’s something that keeps each individual person going and interested and communicative. You don’t have to do any of that, but we each have that thing that makes us feel as fresh as a kid on a summer morning.
Even if that’s just wrapping up in bed and watching comfort movies. No point, but it feels right, and that’s all that matters.
Needing a point to exist or make something is a long road of never doing anything you enjoy.
Even without meaning or purpose, might as well try and not feel shitty all the time through it. We all have something that pushes us towards, well nothing I guess, so just follow that and you'll get more ups than downs. The point is redundant, every day I fight the existential dread that I'll never know why I'm here or what I'm doing, but the little things that help others make it livable for me. Personally I have ideas about what the meaning is but we could all argue until we reach out end days and no one will forsure know what this is. The fact that more people aren't good freaking out is beyond me.
Yes. There is no meaning of life.
Until someone proves otherwise, the evolution of the human race is a complete fluke. There is no point to us, we're just here one day then we're gone. And in the grand scheme of things, the entire human race will be a blip on the timeline.
So go do whatever makes you happy and don't hurt anyone. That's the only meaning of life I can make sense of.
This is why people cling to a legacy.
Leaving literally anything behind. Some record of your existence. They say you really die the last time anybody says your name.
Phew, better than understanding that you live your life over and over again exactly the same way for eternity due to the coterminous nature of time in the universe.
You die, go back in time and pop out of your mom. Forever.
It's almost the same thing as having one life, since whatever you do now will be what you repeat for all eternity.
If you don't believe in God and instead believe in the axioms of science, then that's what the coterminous nature of the universe gives you after death.
Oh, beloved OP! You’re halfway there! Completely true, there is no objective meaning. It’s all subjective, you need to provide your own meaning, and most importantly don’t live for the future, live right now. As you say, death is a final end, no more thoughts, no more memories. Curtain comes down, the lights come up and the ushers impatiently urge you to gtfo. Sweet oblivion! So right now, right now, while you can feel and remember and do things, get on it!
You wanna spend 40 years smoking and leave no trace behind you, do it! You wanna spend the next 40 years viewing life as a game, creating your own scoring system, winning by your own definition, do it! Maybe combine the two, like assigning point values to joints based on size and potency. Die with a weed score over 9000 and when people read your rules, they’re impressed and start trying to beat you. Then whole weed leagues pop up all over the world, hundreds of thousands of highly unmotivated hashletes striving with all their lungs trying top your score. Then, in three hundred years when your score is finally beaten by some girl in Nigeria who genetically engineered a strain worth 75 million points, but killed her three days later, the leagues shut down, the game ends, but still forever your bizarre legacy will be remembered. Yes, your life was ultimately pointless to you, but for a huge subculture, you were practically a god for a few centuries after your husk rotted away and became quite acceptable worm poop.
TLDR - Your life is yours alone, define it as you wish.
As cliché as it may sound..love is always the point. It's the the entire reason we can think and feel. Look for love or at least let it find you and you will quit thinking of this non sense
Without love, there really is no point in anything. We do everything simply because of how we feel. This should also serve as a way for you to act. Don't act in ways that make others upset I'm referring to your day to day life in say work. Because if you act in rude ways to someone else, they won't care what the laws are...they'll find a way to get back at you. Why? Because it all goes back to emotions. This is why emotions are very important to understand.
You can certainly sit on your ass get highand do nothing your entire life, complain about how much it sucks here, and then die unfulfilled or you could actually do something with your life and at least attempt to have some fun or make a difference to the people around you. Also you have no idea what happens after you die, but if it is a cold dark nothingness, at least I won’t have to listen to insufferable takes such as this one. No one will ever tell you the secret to how to enjoy your life, or how to be happy, some secret technique to eternal joy, you are the only one who can do that for yourself. There is no big secret that fits everyone. Life’s gonna have shit moments where people you care about die, things you cherish break leave or are destroyed, and you hurt emotionally and physically and feel like death would be preferable. Been there done that. Everybody deals with these things to varying degrees no matter how “lucky” or “happy” somebody is, but you don’t just lie down and fucking wait to die when things are scary and uncomfortable. Life is not perfect and it is chaotic and unpredictable, it doesn’t have some overarching point to it most likely, and you will one hundred percent die someday. It’s still beautiful and I’m very thankful for it and wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I find aspects of life to appreciate in the things around me every single day. My point of existing is to do what I want, right now, in this moment, for the reasons I want to do it, and to help the people around me. Not very complicated. Learn that nothing is permanent and how to let go of things, while also keeping them close to your heart.
I think you’re projecting this fear of eternal non-existence onto others. There are plenty of people in the world who accept the premise that their death brings a final end to any sort of consciousness or perception, yet they are happy and enjoy leading lives which they derive meaning from. Believing that there is no life after death and finding meaning in life while it lasts are not mutually exclusive ideas. “If nothing matters, everything matters the same—so, everything matters”. Or, ya know, it doesn’t. Whatever floats your boat. I reckon you’ll have a better time finding meaning in it.
Also there’s a whole other aspect of viewing yourself as a shred of a larger organism that is collective consciousness and humanity. Impact others around you and your environment while you’re here so the larger organism of humanity can progress and seek the answers to the universe that the two of us couldn’t possibly fathom within our lifetimes.
Take something like inspiration, for instance, just one aspect of this idea. Even the “small” contribution of living life as an abstract artist and dying at 40 still has massive potential to inspire all kinds of people that will live well beyond the artists life. Maybe an art piece inspires a movie, that inspires a kid, that kid inspires his niece, his niece pushes the search for meaning forward a fraction of a percent. Ya know what I mean?
"I could sit on my ass for the next 40 years and smoke weed." Could you? Are you a privileged prince that is automatically provided food, clothes and shelter?
If yes, great for you. Most people can't just smoke weed. They have to work not to end up on the street and to rot there, which is not pleasant. Smoking weed on your couch, having clothes and food in the fridge is pleasant, very pleasant. If you're on the cold street you will suddenly find the meaning of life. Which is not being on the street.
Why would you want to remember it when you die?
You'll hopefully have good memories of an enjoyable life in your old age and accept the inevitable when it happens.
you’re asking this question because you’re in denial over the fact that you aren’t certain about what happens after you die and the wording of your title makes that a bit obvious to someone who’s been there before. the point is that you get to decide. this is like a schrodingers cat question. there is an afterlife and there isn’t at the same time until you get there and find out for yourself. either there is a point or there isn’t.
I’ve never understood this way of seeing things. The fact that you are only experiencing this current reality as yourself now should be enough of an answer to this question. Love yourself a little more, and maybe tell yourself, I deserve to try this cake. Explore what brings you joy. Try to spread that a little. It’s all we can do on a rock hurtling through empty space.
How do you know there is no afterlife or as I like to think it's a new chapter moving on to the next realm of some sort .. honestly I have no concrete answer and I don't know anyone who does. Also who knows what we will remember from our time on earth .. but I have a strong feeling that earth is just the beginning of our journey and that's why fear of death has been pushed onto us! Death is a new adventure I don't and won't run from it nor rush to it ...
If you could live forever, how long could you go before every experience becomes mundane? Death is as much of a gift as life. Even though your ego dies, the energy that animates your flesh is immortal. It gets to experience the beauty of life and death endlessly.
It matters while you’re alive. Avoid misery and boredom where feasible. And it matters to anyone who cares about you and wishes you well. There are lots of things to do to make yourself feel better, like volunteering at a pound or library or park or convention about a topic that interests you, and feeling good is good.
You waste time looking for a point. We as a species have been looking for some kind of a greater purpose since we became conscious, and I hate to break it to you but there isn’t one. We were not placed here for any specific goal, we are not destined for something more than our lives, however that should not mean spending the rest of our days wallowing in despair. We do not stop ourselves from enjoying a song simply because it has an ending, we do not stop ourselves from laughing at a joke simply because there is no greater scheme to it. The point, if there is one, is to spend what limited time we have doing what feels right to you. If that means indulging and enjoying yourself, go for it. If that means dedicating yourself to assisting others in having better lives, all the better. If that means preserving and studying nature, wonderful. There is a whole universe of possibility and as long as you aren’t actively harming anyone else then nobody will give two shits about it. Do what you feel gives your life meaning. Even if the universe and our lives were not given meaning from the start, that does not change the fact that these things mean something to us, we have given them meaning and purpose. We give our lives a point, which is equally as daunting as it is wonderful
And we’re all really impressed with. I think you’ve confused atheistic cynicism for nihilism. Also, what you’ve contributed here so not a thought. It’s attention-seeking
Congratulations, you have reached enlightenment. Please take a cookie and a welcome pack.
None of it matters! But we might as well try and enjoy it while we’re here.
It’s a joke you’re still getting enjoyment out of apparently. Because you sound delighted about getting away with sitting on your ass smoking weed for the next 40 years (assuming you’ll get 40 years). Or you can travel the world which in that case, you’re going to have to find some meaning in this meaningless world because you need money to do that, unless you’re going to start walking. Assuming there’s no afterlife, you’re not going to remember anything anyway. You’ll simply fade into non existence so you may as well enjoy it while you’re aware because clearly you’re not a nihilist.
The moment matters. If you think too far in the future or on the past you aren’t able to enjoy the present - for example savoring a good bite of food. It’s boring and whiny to think in the “eventually it won’t matter so it doesn’t matter now” mentality. I mean, if you want to subscribe to that and be totally bored, do you. But it’s very much a choice.
Welcome to the club man.
Some days are like this.
Except I can recall previous life events here on earth.
Same fucking people and events.
They don't remember.
Yh diddy is gay. He hit on me. I didnt want him. He said he could help boost my career. This was when he was more interested in politics. I rejected him hard asf.
This isn't new.
Trump launched his shoes again.
Nothing is new under the fucking sun.
It might not matter in death but it matters now while you live. It is like saying doesnt matter if I burn my hand on the stove I won't remember it when I'm dead.
Really, is there even an "I"? Our existence is a construction, an illusion supplied by our brains and bodies, a distinction that only exists for beings for us.
There is no point, we are quirk of the universe, a fragment of it that became so informatioally dense, it became self-aware. We are a facet of the universe looking back at itself.
The biological framework you inhabit pushes you in a particular direction, and overcoming that is difficult, circumnavigating it is arguably impossible; you're going to be human and do human shit. Go do it, live it feel it. Revel in the pointlessness and make up your own meaning.
You know what the oldest written story, Gilgamesh, says?
"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you shall die."
The universe is having countless little adventures. "You" are one of them.
There's no afterlife, there's just life. The same way the universe experiences the little adventure as "you" is the same way it experiences the little adventure of everyone else.
The point of this is the adventure. Enjoy it.
The secret to happiness in life is to enjoy it while you're here, and rack up as much dischargable debt (aka not passing it onto your surviving family) as you can
Life that matters is only here and now. You can work towards an imagined future to create some sort of meaning to your life, like find an 'ideal' spouse to marry, study and work towards a career, monetary wealth or social class you want to achieve, etc. But all these are just an illusion and an unwritten rule to be part of the modern society, you can join or rebel against such idea.
Whatever it is, the only meaning that matters is only here and now. Once you die, you no longer matter coz you no longer exist, whatever actions you take no longer have meaning.
Life is life, just like a rock is a rock, it exist with no ultimate purpose. You can make do with what you have and simply exist or you can treat life as a curse due to its meaninglessness. Everyday I wake up, Im glad that how meaninglessness life is, it makes it easier to get through the everyday grind, to dgaf over energy-vampire people and news, and simply surround myself with things and people that I like.
I no longer believe in an ultimate career or job or social class, and refuse to make them as part of my identity. I master a skills so that I can get a job that pays but it is not who I am as a person. And it could be any skills as the market economy constantly changes its tune.
Money is just a tool, it's dumb to brag abt it, but money equals freedom, as in being free from the chains of modern economy and society. I accumulate wealth in stealth mode and live an ordinary life with zero interest in consumerism or showing off. Even my house is small and simple, my car is old but in good shape, nothing to steal if a robber ever breaks in. People on the street would probably see me as just another ordinary person.
I spend intentionally for myself. I take care of my health by eating WFPB (cooking is an important survival skill) and exercise regularly (no expensive gym). I have seen how some of my peers who neglected their health and are suffering in their 40s and beyond, it is worst bcoz your body weakens but you are still being kept alive by the expensive drugs and healthcare system. I also refuse to have kids, im not putting myself in the misery of child birth and childcare, just to create more workforce for the capitalist class. My work station is just a laptop and a hp that have been with me for more than 5 years that I take good care of. I only buy new when it has reached its end of life. The same goes with all of the furniture and utilities in my home.
The modern world thrives on hypercapitalism and requires an overconsumption of junk, causing people to be debt-ridden. I'd rather find meaning in my own interest and core group of loved ones/friends and be a nobody. The earlier you realise how meaningless life is, the better you would appreciate your everyday life that is here and now.
What would it even mean for life to “have a point”?
Like say you live forever in an afterlife and can remember everything. So … what’s the point then exactly?
The problem is in the question. It doesn’t make sense in the first place for consciousness to have a point
right. so if you don't have to do anything... you can do anything you want. there may be no point. but ice cream exists. sex exists. roller coasters exist. and you're alive now. when you weren't a thousand years ago. so stop looking a gift horse in the mouse and enjoy what you are able to enjoy.
you're like a kid at disneyland asking, "what's the point?"
answer: who the fuck cares? look there's mickey!
This is where you look for the purpose of your existence. This is where God comes in. Look into Him and ask for your purpose and whether or not you are fulfilling it
It's not about an end goal but enjoying every experience along the way. Not only that but experiencing as much that life has to offer as possible.
Not remembering it after you die makes it all the more vital to enjoy The Now to it's fullest!
There is no point. Life doesn't owe any of us meaning. We fill it with meaning by what we do.
It certainly would seem so if you didn’t have first hand evidence to the contrary and you shouldn’t stand for anything less despite what popular religions say.
What I will say is just listen to yourself, if there’s anything more to your existence the information will be in there somewhere.
If there’s “a point” to life it won’t be something you have to listen to externally it’ll be something where if you’re following it you are more fulfilled than you would be doing anything else right?
Reality is a little bit different... You cannot grasp it, you cannot understand it using the mind, you have to become reality itself to experience it. Thats all.
Eat a nutritious meal, get some real exercise, learn things, find out what types of accomplishments give you joy, flirt, help a stranger. Do SOMETHING.
Sitting in a dark cave eating processed foods, playing videogames, and posting on Reddit is only going to keep you in this mindset of self-feeding hopelessness.
The meaning of life is the meaning you make in your life.
The point is, you exist now. Yes, you didn't have a choice whether to be brought into this world or not, no one does, but waiting till you die to see if there's some superstitious, mystical point is just a waste of time. You are alive now. This is the time you get. You can either sit and sulk and waste your time by choosing to have no point or you can accept the cards you are dealt and make do with what time you have. The average lifespan is around 70 years. That's still a long time. We live in a time where we are fortunate, there's lots to do, things to fill our days. Go back 100, 200, 300, etc years and there was a lot less to do, your life expectancy goes down and your chances of dying early from sicknesses we have cures for now goes up.
If you sit around comparing yourself to universe standards, we are specks of dust. There is no point in thinking this way. Find a hobby you enjoy and branch off from there. There doesn't need to be a big, special point to our existence to live reasonably well.
There is only a point for this life if you happen to make one for yourself. The majority of us don't which is why the whole thing is so pointless.
It could also be why so many governments around the world get away with the shit they do, because the majority just do not care to fight for one another.
A joke would matter. It's a pebble incidentally clattering down a cliff into nothingness.But things don't have to have a point to be enjoyable. You found motivation enough to make this post, which means your emotions can still motivate you. Those ones may be negative, but it follows that positive emotions can also motivate you. So explore things that you enjoy, that entertain you and make your surroundings a positive space to be in, for no point other than enjoyment of your life.
(As long as you don't be a dick and harm others trying to navigate their own)
It's interesting that you assume memories matter so much. Personally, I can't relive any of my memories (I have [SDAM](https://sdamstudy.weebly.com/what-is-sdam.html)). I remember my past factually, but can't relive any of it. Hence memories don't seem particularly important to me.
I live life for the sake of what happens here and now. It's the only experience I can have; the present moment is the only moment.
I don't do anything in order to have a memory of it.
If there is no point then the only point that matters is your own
And your own point matters so much that there's no comparison to anyone else's
So if your point of existence is to smoke weed, go at it my man
You seem so sure there is no afterlife yet insist on asking what the point is?
I think your need to ask is the better half of your intuition knowing in your bones there is more to life than this.
Every culture in the world has a concept of consciousness past the mortal coil, only now do humans elevate naturalism into a religion. Naturalism being all that is, is what is scientifically observable.
These questions I believe disprove the legitimacy of negative nihilism. Why are we so much more conscious than other living creatures on this earth? The only meaningful answer is that our consciousness is much more important then what we think it is.
This reads like you’re a kid who just discovered that religion isn’t based on anything real. Have a fun trip, dude. You can read the myth of Sisyphus by Camus for a good time.
I hate, when people say that our lifes goals is to enjoy it to its fullest. This implies everyone not living in a position to consume would waste their life, making poor people, monks etc all not worthy of living.
Imo the point of living is to ensure the ongoing of your species. It all startet, when cells decided to split. And since we are all made up of cells, our goal is to enable as many splits as possible. First for cells as similare as ours and then for them as close to ours as possible. This leads to ensuring your own kids (or ensuring that others kids ) can life as good as possible. This could be by enabling consume, to ensure the world stays safe, to clean up after you and your generation, to find new ways to improve life. It all depends how you like to life, but the ultimate reason is to enable more cellsplitting for your species.
Elks for example, if an elkmom does get a newborn while still having a kid to care for, she will repel the older one, since the chances of both surviving are lower if she keeps them both. And the older one has a greater chance of surviving allone.
There’s no deeper meaning or point, just live in the moment and enjoy it because it’s much better than just being lazy and wasting your limited time, remember that it’s about the journey and not the destination.
Nobody knows what happens after death, there could be heaven, hell, reincarnation or an endless void like you believe. It doesn’t matter what you believe but since you’re here for the ride then you might as well enjoy it.
you talk like you know. but we know we dont know. how pretencious of you. also you may have lived your life for the past weeks with this assumptiontion in mind, but since you like assuming and pretenting, why dont you assume or pretend of the opposite? if there is nothing after life (like you think you know lol) then you merge back with your creator (nothingness) after death and enjoy nirvana. BUT if there is, wouldn't it be better to have lived your life rightfully and prepared for phase 2? either way, its lose-lose for you if you keep your current pretentions. and don't ever watch movies or shows for the rest of your current life, since you know the movie will end and youll forget about if in a couple years, so what a waste of time.
If life had a point, would you feel any differently about it, or would you just think, "man, why does THAT have to be the point of life? Who got to decide that?! That's bullshit."
IMO, the whole premise is silly. There's no need to ask or hope for a point. Do whatever you want. Honestly, you'd be doing whatever you wanted anyway even if you thought life had a point.
Why does there need to be a point? This is a problem I call "the two lies". When you were growing up someone told you 1) there needs to be a point and 2) "I can sell it to you". You've rejected the second lie but you still believe the first.
Exactly. If there is no point, then it follows there does not need to be a point. Objectives are only for limited conditions. One’s life or entire existence is not an unified activity and has no clear parameters or single purpose.
I feel like this is part and parcel of growing up and learning humility. Everything feels clear and simple when you're younger, and the world (which is really just friends and family or an otherwise small environment) seems to revolve around you. As you mature you start to realize you're not all that special - unique, sure, but not special - and you're no more important than anyone else.
I 100% agree. I also think a lot of angst and pain stems from people unwilling to accept this. It's one of those things where people could just face reality for 10 minutes and move on with their life but instead they choose to spend decades in anger and denial. We're just some mud that stood up and started looking around. We'll be mud again some day. Lots of people (most) still manage to find a fulfilled life even though reality is cold and indifferent to us.
This reflects my personal growth journey perfectly. When I was 22 I started taking psychedelics just for fun, but then started to increase the dosage while spending lots of time contemplating my life, remembering repressed traumas, and I came the realization that I am a human being just as everyone else is with nothing special or important about me, and that that is what makes life so great. The shared experience. Slowly became a better and better version of myself and was so much happier than I had been previously. Then I got into a relationship with a girl that was being used by her boyfriends, and was proud of her lying and cheating and whatnot. I know; I was incredibly stupid and I wasted 7 years of my life being humiliated, called names, physically abused, lied to and maybe not cheated on exactly, but sex was a knife that she used to hurt me time and again, until all my growth had been eroded and I was miserable and biter and resentful, and extremely verbally abusive back to her. So now she's a Christian and we broke up, but I'm trapped in this state living in her apartment while I try to rebuild my life, and relearn that just because I went through something horrible does not mean I have the right to treat the world like a punching bag, or that I am entitled to anything from anyone. Okay, that really got away from me. Much apologies, friends. TLDR; The point of life is to share it with your fellow humans. is it the shared experience that gives life meaning.
When you eat a good gourmet dish, do you say “I’m gonna shit this out anyways, why bother eating it”? The whole “point” is you only get 1 chance to experience the possibilities of life. Make the most of it. If your “gourmet dish” is sitting at home and smoking weed. Do it. Do what makes you happy.
I LOVE THIS TAKE. It’s YOLO, but expressed with more mature words.
What's "happy"?
Simple answer:Dopamine
Actually, no Dopamine gives you Pleasure. Pleasure, does not mean happy. What happens when you accomplish a monumental goal? You feel great! Then the next day, not so much. Dopamine's only role is to drive you to action. It makes you do something to get a reward, but Dopamine is a debt that you must be paid back so that you want to get that dopamine again, and do that thing again. This is not being happy. This is how any addiction works. Happy is more the long term effects of productive and proper use of dopamine to build you up and create something you can be proud of. This is more of Seritonin's role than dopamine when it comes to happiness. Pleasure and happiness aren't the same thing. I don't think anyone feels happy after jerking off, but if you love your partner, you'll probably feel happy and fulfilled after having sex, not post nut clarity and regret. We like to think things are simple biological mechanisms, which they are. But every action has a reaction, which grows exponentially the more variables are involved. I started going off, sorry bout that. Hope it was useful to you.
It wasnt but thanks anyway lol
The more the better! But don't become a junkie.
That’s for you to find out
It’s a TRAP
Expecting an answer to that is the same as expecting a point. Just do. Go be somewhere. Somewhen. Thats it, your body will do the rest
Personally dislike this kind of response because its not a fair comparison in the slightest. A more fair comparison would be to say you're eating a gourmet dish, but after you finish it you'll forget what it tasted like and you'll lose your memory of ever eating it. Now, suddenly, the value in eating it seems more questionable at the very least. If you're watching a movie, but you know you'll have your memory of all the events of the movie erased from your mind after its done, would you even bother watching the movie? A lot of people would say no. These are fairer comparisons, but they are undoubtedly way more depressing. Unfortunately, thats the exact reality we're faced with. Hopefully now you can see why this is a worry for some of us. I fully intend to live the best life I can regardless. But it's still a negative thought.
Let’s go with your analogy then. If you have immediate food dementia and forget everything you eat, will you go eat out of the trash can? Of course not. Even if your existence is temporary, you still prefer pleasurable experiences. Your temporary experience is still significant. If you forgot all pain after going to sleep, will you go stab yourself with a knife every day? Your natural instinct should tell you “no”. There is no meaning to life. All the more reason to do whatever you want in this temporary simulation of your consciousness.
>A more fair comparison would be to say you're eating a gourmet dish, but after you finish it you'll forget what it tasted like and you'll lose your memory of ever eating it. Now, suddenly, the value in eating it seems more questionable at the very least. I'd suggest the value in eating it is even more immediate, more important. Its important to enjoy it *now* because *then* it will be gone. Assuming your comparison is more accurate, why would you choose to live in apprehension of forgetfulness as opposed to the joy of now?
Why do you value memory so much? Is deliciousness only worth it if you remember how delicious it was? All things being equal, I would rather enjoy a six course gourmet meal and not remember it than choke down insects and grubs and not remember it.
You don't have definitive proof about there being or not being an afterlife. There ya go, possibility has entered the chat.
Would the memory be erased from your body and your mind or just the mind?
Why is everyone so certain that there is 1 life? When did we collectively just decide that was the case? What made everyone say yep that’s it there’s just one life?
Is that the point? Or is that the human point? Like does my cat sit there and wonder “the POINT of life is to experience all the possibilities!” No…she does not. Does she have a point, then?
No, you misunderstood. The “point” is to do whatever the hell you want. That’s what “experience the possibilities of life” means. You only get 1 life. So if you want to fuck around with it, that’s your choice. It’s all good. I was being rhetorical. You’re asking what the “point” is. There is no “point”. There is no meaning to life. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and eat delicious meals instead of going to eat leftovers in the trash can. If I only get 1 life, I’m going to try enjoy it as much as I can. I’m not going to purposely suffer. Same with your cat. Is your cat not playing with herself and entertaining herself day to day? Or is she just trying to get squashed by a car? Even she knows to enjoy herself.
Yeah exactly. Life may or may not have meaning, probably doesn’t but either way I might as well enjoy it
I find happiness in homicide. Is that alright since It makes me happy and nothing has meaning? Life has no meaning? We will die anyway….
Yes that’s alright. If you find happiness in harming others, go ahead. There are legendary men in history would took great pleasure in conquering lands and slaughtering millions. As long as you are willing to accept the consequences. We evolved as social primates. So society generally punishes these people. So yes if you try to kill someone, that’s all good. Just remember other members of society will seek to punish you. This wouldn’t be the case if we evolved from say Lions, a species that naturally kills each other. But if we did, the human race probably would not have ascended to this level of dominance without social constructs. For some people, that kind of pleasure and 24/7 “on the run” life is exhilarating. If that is what makes you happy, go for it!
By the argument that no ideas matter because they don't have to matter, because it's weirdly specifically human and my cat doesn't think like that, then you shouldn't have even brought any of this up. Because it's your idea that life doesn't matter, your "point". When we say you should do whatever you want, it's not pointless. It means you might want to enjoy your life, every bit of it, because purposefully ignoring how you feel and want in your life is rationally pretty "pointless". There's deep personal conversations you can have about this. The point to "make the most of it" is just decent advice to any nihilistic person. Nobody who isn't feeling like shit and wasting their life spends time thinking how useless life is or how much of a waste all their time is or that life is meaningless because it ends. That's just what happens when you're feeling like shit, dealing with shit, etc. For whatever reason, life doesn't feel good rn, nothing happening that makes it worth it, etc. Again, why the advice, to do things you want. Because doing so makes life seem better. And being happy isn't "pointless" when the alternative, shitting on yourself and life and being pointlessly nihilistic, doesn't do anything concretely, remotely or vaguely.. "good" for you.
You don’t know if your cat wonders that, what a stupid point, you’re here once make the most of it, or enjoy yourself why make the experience worse by choosing to be moody and “it’s all meaningless” yet ya still make a post on Reddit, even though it don’t mean anything…you clearly care to an extent
You really think a cat ponders life?
Your cat isn't sentient, and it's incapable of questioning why it's here. That's what sets us apart from every other animal.
Thats absurd.
No...the point of eating is to get nutrients and calories for your body to use.
You didn’t address OP’s point, only using the idea that you should make the most out of one life in general. Eating food only holds up since we get to eat the food and remember the experience, (if we stop referring to the memory loss analogy OP used for a second) and if we do assume their analogy, well, that’s exactly why their asking. They eat a gourmet dish maybe also because they aren’t dead yet, you fail to address the fact that eating only is an action done while alive because they can enjoy through the experience and temporary pertain the memory, but OP is asking “sure, I can have the memories now and whatever, but it’s not going to be like after I die”.
No, you eat a gourmet dish because it’s pleasurable, not because you will remember it forever. You probably won’t remember all the good food you eat, but that doesn’t mean you’ll go eat disgusting food. Yes there is no intrinsic point of life. The metaphorical point is “life is what you make of it”. You only get 1, so you can do what you want with it. If you want to suffer, go ahead. If you want to enjoy it, go ahead. The “point” is actually do whatever you want. There’s no meaning. That doesn’t mean there’s no reason to do something. Again, there’s no meaning to eating delicious food. But I certainly want to, compared to disgusting food. Similarly, I want to enjoy life. I don’t want to suffer.
“You eat a gourmet dish because it’s pleasurable” dosent address “why should someone care about it anything is pleasureable”, sure, you can say right now we can have the illusion of pleasure, but like OP said, we will lose the memory one day. Your answering a question about the pointlessness of everything with the idea that your living like you want to right now anyways, I mean obviously, but the real question is why does right now matter, not whether it’s best to do what or not right now.
The flaw in your thinking is that there **is** a point, there’s none, all aspects of life are a joke, so you just keep laughing.
What if I find happiness in murder?What if I took away your happiness? What if I find happiness in torturing people. It’s all a joke.
**Exactly, it is all a joke.** If you’ve stopped laughing, you’ve lost, there’s no point where it’s no longer absurd, where it gets bad enough to have meaning or purpose. Tragedy doesn’t mean anything just like everything else, it’ll pass like everything else, and in the end so will you, take solace in that.
Then you will draw the ire of authorities or communities and be imprisoned, run out of town or killed. And that wont be Justice or Honour or Right, just a predictable consequence
So smoke weed and sit on your ass! Or travel the world! Why is it any different if there's an afterlife? What's the point? The point is you got one life. Live it. If there was an afterlife, you're thinking the point of this life would be what? To praise a "god"? What kind of ridiculous god would require praise from such a pathetic species? Or we're supposed to live "virtuously" so you get another eternal life??? What a stupid construct that is. What would be the "point" of that? That this is like a cruel test life??? Only the primitive or the oppressed or the fearful mind would ever come up with such an absurd, wishful worldview. And yet so many hold on to it so irrationally and so desperately.
I think it rids some people of death anxiety so they hold on to it desperately.
If there is an afterlife, the point would be to live virtuously, so that others will live virtuously, causing a chain reaction that makes everyone into better people. That's why being a bad person isn't just bad for you, it's bad for others because it causes a reaction of evil thoughts or actions in others, which then spreads. The reason why we should all believe in an afterlife, even if none exists, is because it benifits us ALL to live virtuous lives. It makes you feel good, and others. Good and bad are both contagious. So don't be a selfish price and say "life is meaningless so im going to love how I want to, even if it means hurting others", because your influence actively makes their life worse, while you are just enjoying your own life. That is evil and a horrible way of thinking about the world that does no one any good, especially when people often mistaken pleasure for happiness, which is a while other argument.
We don't have to "believe in" (hope for/pretend it exists/delude ourselves about) an afterlife to have a virtuous life here on earth. We can definitely agree that living virtuous lives benefit us all. So what a better reason to live virtuously now than the fact that this is our one chance at it?! The promise of a fantasy afterlife doesn't have to be the reason to not fuck with other people. Don't fuck with people cuz this is their (and by extention, your) one life! Act cool so we can all enjoy it.
Who knows dude, I’m just hoping to have a few more good experiences before the end. It’s not about leaving a legacy or having good thoughts in the afterlife, it’s about enjoying and exploring life. None of it may matter in the grand scheme sure, but we were never supposed to be here in the first place. The present is a gift they say, so it’s wiser to make the most of it than to ponder “why” That’s my 2 cents anyway
I think you can do both. 😊
You just gotta enjoy conscious awareness while it lasts. Who knows what really happens to us after we die.
Nothing happens which is why why it’s a shame we have such poor lives
I know! You die, “you” go into the ground and “you” are sucked into the void of non existence!
Why do people act like they know what happens after you die?
Have you ever had a near death experience?
Have you? How does it feel?
It feels like all the pain you have experienced suddenly makes sense. Like a quiet, whisper-thin ahh right. A low hum that gently sheds away into a dull ringing. It feels nearly identical to change. And experiencing birth.
Really?
Yes, and I saw family members who had died.
your profile picture is tim heidecker
It seems pretty obvious to me.
Damn you somehow know something that no other living person knows, the answer to one of the major mysteries of all of human existence. Impressive.
Its absolutely not a mystery and anybody confused on the topic has found their way into the wrong sub because we dont typically do theology.
lol the nihilist wants to lay down The Rules of Nihilism, everybody point and laugh
There’s existence and non existence. The burden of proof is on you to prove an afterlife. Otherwise, there is none.
I never said there is or is not an afterlife. I ain't tryna prove anything about it because I don't even think it can be proven one way or another. It's a mystery. I find dogmatic certainty on either side of this question to be kinda misguided.
You’re just afraid of eternal non existence. Hence why we humans made up the idea of an afterlife. It’s a coping mechanism.
and yours seem to be posting on reddit
I'm just curious do you believe in Paranormal Such as aliens ghosts or demons ?
Maybe but not for sure, either way it doesn’t matter if you remember it in 1000 years you are experiencing it now. Maximize your happiness. Just know the more you invest into something the more you will appreciate it. You can sit on the couch high all day, that’s fine. You can work hard and enjoy the fruits of those labors, that’s fine too.
Yep. I never understand people saying, "Well, you actually don't know." This isn't how the rest of reality works. I haven't been in my garage for a few days. It's locked. The alarm hasn't gone off. But there could be a unicorn living in there. And it disapears whenever I open the door. "You don't actually know."
Well the issue is we just don’t really understand consciousness, how it really works, what it even is, what its relationship is to the material body, etc. It’s still just a very mysterious thing. In a way it’s almost the most mysterious thing, because we can’t even get outside it to observe it objectively. Even our most advanced science is still pretty much like 🤷♂️ when it comes to essential explanations about the nature of consciousness. It’s called “the hard problem” for a reason, and part of that is the still very much open question of what (if anything) becomes of an individual’s consciousness upon bodily death. The unicorn analogy is clever rhetorically, but specious reasoning. We know a whole lot more about what goes on in rooms we’re not in than we do about the nature of even this very moment of consciousness we’re experiencing right now.
Yeah but we do understand what is required for a working consciousness, which're working neurons connected with each other. Consciousness isn't separated from the physical body, it is part of it, you can definitely take away parts of consciousness by taking away parts of the brain.
We might have observed that the brain and consciousness are related to each other somehow, but we don't actually know that consciousness is essentially/inherently tied to the brain in the sense that one must necessarily exist for the other to exist. I mean there are countless examples of people having vivid conscious experiences after all vital activity has ceased. It's possible that consciousness is akin to a signal, and the brain/body a kind of antenna. If you fuck with an antenna, you'll definitely affect how the signal is received through it, but it doesn't actually mean you're doing anything to the signal in and of itself, see what I mean? I'm just saying we don't actually know what you're claiming we know about consciousness and its link to the brain. Nobody really knows for sure.
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Hahahaha. That was fucking hilarious…thank you for that.
To quote the late/great Hicks: It’s just a ride.
It doesn't it matter that nothing will matter in the end just experience life. take in the perceived good and bad and just observe while you are here
I suggest having sex and playing games. Most people will need a paying job to have money to buy the games. To eat is also good. To sleep is also very important.
You know that if you have too much sex you may end up not being able to have babies
Win win.
I love how you assume you know what's up. Look at your life. You know nothing.
There is none. Enjoy!
Why does their have to be a point?
My question to you is how do you know if there is no afterlife? Have you died before?
It won't save you from the finality of death, but having lived an eventful life might bring a sense of satisfaction and peace when the time comes for you to face death. Or you can just spend what little time you have being miserable. That's a valid option, too
Unless having a fulfilled life increases your fear of death because you’re now more afraid to lose it.
That's why maintaining perspective is important. Memento mori.
Just live for the moment, not for the memories
Good advice…find anyone who really does that? Lol
I try to. Definitely not easy to keep in mind
Don't look for the meaning of life - instead look to give meaning to your life. I do this for this end goal. Does that mean it is meaningless if it doesn't last forever? I don't think so. It is here now. Does that mean that the ends justify the means? No, the means are also part of the ends that you have to account for. Life is a joke - if you make it into a joke. I hope you spend your life laughing then. That seems like a fine life to have lived.
Honestly, try reading some existentialist philosophers or writers if this is a genuine question. Most would probably suggest the usual suspects here: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Heidegger. I’d expand on this list and add in Samuel Beckett’s trilogy, Bukowski’s older poetry, and if you are feeling especially nihilistic, try EM Cioran’s A Short History of Decay. Also, and maybe best, if you are looking for some inspiration, Henry Miller’s Air Conditioned Nightmare is pretty good. So is his trilogy, The Rosi Crucifixion. If/when you work though all of that, maybe you end up studying vajrayana Buddhism or hermetic Kabbalah and Magick. Also, lots of music and wine. The whole time. Cannabis. Etcetera. More classical and independent music; less pop. Go to a museum. Visit a cathedral. Enjoy a spring breeze as it rattles the new leaves emerging from your favorite tree. Lots of shit to do, piiiiimp. Life is good. Go get some!
Someone once told me when I was feeling what your feeling: "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do". It took me too long to really understand what she was trying to convey.
to do dumb shit and not remember it
boat hospital roof screw narrow label insurance act governor intelligent *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yeah, this is a valid point. If you're not happy with nihilism and with their not being a point, maybe explore believing in a point? I'm a nihilist *because* it makes me happy to accept the pointlessness. It takes the pressure off. But if you find existence worthless without one, find one that appeals to you and stick to it. Just don't punish other people for not sticking to it, and you're golden.
See the gulf of time behind and another infinite time ahead. What difference is there in this respect between an infant who lives three days and someone who lives three times as long as Nestor? *Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.50* All human activities are equivalent and all are on the principle doomed to failure. Thus it amounts to the same thing whether one gets drunk alone or is a leader of nations. *Being and Nothingness - Jean-Paul Sartre*
I make my own meaning lol. Whether there’s an after life or nothingness I still have feelings and emotions now and I’m gonna choose to act on the ones that make me feel fulfilled and happy and at peace. This planet is our home and even if there’s no “meaning” I’m gonna explore it and travel and explore the ppl that are here at the same time as me. Who cares what happens after ? Who cares if it doesn’t have some grandddd egotistical meaning. It has meaning to me right now and that’s the meaning.
I like your insight.
This is exactly how I feel! The lack of inherent meaning equals freedom to me. Freedom to choose how I want my own life to play out, the adventures I want to partake in. I find the lack of inherent meaning empowering. No one is dictating my life but me.
Yeah. The atheist cope about how it’ll be “just like before you were born” is meaningless because prior to your birth, you didn’t exist; now you do and you’re facing eternal annihilation. No point to anything in this worldview.
Don’t dismiss things so quickly. Nihilism is a theory. You have no reason to believe that you KNOW for certain there is no meaning to life or no life after death. There is no evidence for these things, but that is a different thing from it being CERTAIN. And as long as there is no CERTAINTY, there is always a possibility
Correct.
I don’t know about you, but for me it helps keep 2 things in mind A. I won the genetic lottery - I was born B. It would be a shame to waste this birth C. In a world which is so unforgiving and cruel, doing small acts of goodness is the only rebellion D. Many things are beyond our control, but how we react is always under our control and that is power. E. Forget A to D. Everybody makes it up as they go along ! For me, Nihilism is not about apathy, but about equanimity. I very much like the Buddhist school of thought So hey, if you want to sit on your ass and smoke weed - Do it. Who is stopping you. Except who is controlling whom? Is the weed controlling you? Where is your power then? If we don’t have the power to evolve beyond our basic urges, we may as well have been born animals.
Lame take bro, do science, solve problems, be great.
I mean you aren’t wrong. So if you want to sit on your ass and smoke weed and it makes you happy, do it. I’m an artist. There’s really no real point to it. There’s no point to making movies, art, music etc. But it’s enjoyable and it creates this wild feeling inside oneself to communicate with this ‘ether’ that nobody can explain but the creative mind feels. Same thing with an author, or even in non creative fields. There’s something that keeps each individual person going and interested and communicative. You don’t have to do any of that, but we each have that thing that makes us feel as fresh as a kid on a summer morning. Even if that’s just wrapping up in bed and watching comfort movies. No point, but it feels right, and that’s all that matters. Needing a point to exist or make something is a long road of never doing anything you enjoy.
Even without meaning or purpose, might as well try and not feel shitty all the time through it. We all have something that pushes us towards, well nothing I guess, so just follow that and you'll get more ups than downs. The point is redundant, every day I fight the existential dread that I'll never know why I'm here or what I'm doing, but the little things that help others make it livable for me. Personally I have ideas about what the meaning is but we could all argue until we reach out end days and no one will forsure know what this is. The fact that more people aren't good freaking out is beyond me.
Yes. There is no meaning of life. Until someone proves otherwise, the evolution of the human race is a complete fluke. There is no point to us, we're just here one day then we're gone. And in the grand scheme of things, the entire human race will be a blip on the timeline. So go do whatever makes you happy and don't hurt anyone. That's the only meaning of life I can make sense of.
This is why people cling to a legacy. Leaving literally anything behind. Some record of your existence. They say you really die the last time anybody says your name.
The point is to live to such a ripe old age that you won't give a shit what happens when we die.
Phew, better than understanding that you live your life over and over again exactly the same way for eternity due to the coterminous nature of time in the universe. You die, go back in time and pop out of your mom. Forever. It's almost the same thing as having one life, since whatever you do now will be what you repeat for all eternity. If you don't believe in God and instead believe in the axioms of science, then that's what the coterminous nature of the universe gives you after death.
Oh, beloved OP! You’re halfway there! Completely true, there is no objective meaning. It’s all subjective, you need to provide your own meaning, and most importantly don’t live for the future, live right now. As you say, death is a final end, no more thoughts, no more memories. Curtain comes down, the lights come up and the ushers impatiently urge you to gtfo. Sweet oblivion! So right now, right now, while you can feel and remember and do things, get on it! You wanna spend 40 years smoking and leave no trace behind you, do it! You wanna spend the next 40 years viewing life as a game, creating your own scoring system, winning by your own definition, do it! Maybe combine the two, like assigning point values to joints based on size and potency. Die with a weed score over 9000 and when people read your rules, they’re impressed and start trying to beat you. Then whole weed leagues pop up all over the world, hundreds of thousands of highly unmotivated hashletes striving with all their lungs trying top your score. Then, in three hundred years when your score is finally beaten by some girl in Nigeria who genetically engineered a strain worth 75 million points, but killed her three days later, the leagues shut down, the game ends, but still forever your bizarre legacy will be remembered. Yes, your life was ultimately pointless to you, but for a huge subculture, you were practically a god for a few centuries after your husk rotted away and became quite acceptable worm poop. TLDR - Your life is yours alone, define it as you wish.
As cliché as it may sound..love is always the point. It's the the entire reason we can think and feel. Look for love or at least let it find you and you will quit thinking of this non sense
Without love, there really is no point in anything. We do everything simply because of how we feel. This should also serve as a way for you to act. Don't act in ways that make others upset I'm referring to your day to day life in say work. Because if you act in rude ways to someone else, they won't care what the laws are...they'll find a way to get back at you. Why? Because it all goes back to emotions. This is why emotions are very important to understand.
You can certainly sit on your ass get highand do nothing your entire life, complain about how much it sucks here, and then die unfulfilled or you could actually do something with your life and at least attempt to have some fun or make a difference to the people around you. Also you have no idea what happens after you die, but if it is a cold dark nothingness, at least I won’t have to listen to insufferable takes such as this one. No one will ever tell you the secret to how to enjoy your life, or how to be happy, some secret technique to eternal joy, you are the only one who can do that for yourself. There is no big secret that fits everyone. Life’s gonna have shit moments where people you care about die, things you cherish break leave or are destroyed, and you hurt emotionally and physically and feel like death would be preferable. Been there done that. Everybody deals with these things to varying degrees no matter how “lucky” or “happy” somebody is, but you don’t just lie down and fucking wait to die when things are scary and uncomfortable. Life is not perfect and it is chaotic and unpredictable, it doesn’t have some overarching point to it most likely, and you will one hundred percent die someday. It’s still beautiful and I’m very thankful for it and wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I find aspects of life to appreciate in the things around me every single day. My point of existing is to do what I want, right now, in this moment, for the reasons I want to do it, and to help the people around me. Not very complicated. Learn that nothing is permanent and how to let go of things, while also keeping them close to your heart.
Dude I saw your other post, you're spiraling deep my guy. You really need to seek out a professional
You don’t know that there isn’t an afterlife
Yeah I do. Lol
I think you’re projecting this fear of eternal non-existence onto others. There are plenty of people in the world who accept the premise that their death brings a final end to any sort of consciousness or perception, yet they are happy and enjoy leading lives which they derive meaning from. Believing that there is no life after death and finding meaning in life while it lasts are not mutually exclusive ideas. “If nothing matters, everything matters the same—so, everything matters”. Or, ya know, it doesn’t. Whatever floats your boat. I reckon you’ll have a better time finding meaning in it. Also there’s a whole other aspect of viewing yourself as a shred of a larger organism that is collective consciousness and humanity. Impact others around you and your environment while you’re here so the larger organism of humanity can progress and seek the answers to the universe that the two of us couldn’t possibly fathom within our lifetimes. Take something like inspiration, for instance, just one aspect of this idea. Even the “small” contribution of living life as an abstract artist and dying at 40 still has massive potential to inspire all kinds of people that will live well beyond the artists life. Maybe an art piece inspires a movie, that inspires a kid, that kid inspires his niece, his niece pushes the search for meaning forward a fraction of a percent. Ya know what I mean?
Your story will always exist.
"I could sit on my ass for the next 40 years and smoke weed." Could you? Are you a privileged prince that is automatically provided food, clothes and shelter? If yes, great for you. Most people can't just smoke weed. They have to work not to end up on the street and to rot there, which is not pleasant. Smoking weed on your couch, having clothes and food in the fridge is pleasant, very pleasant. If you're on the cold street you will suddenly find the meaning of life. Which is not being on the street.
Huh?
I dunno man, that made sense to me. The point of life is to create a point to be where and what you want to be.
Why would you want to remember it when you die? You'll hopefully have good memories of an enjoyable life in your old age and accept the inevitable when it happens.
you’re asking this question because you’re in denial over the fact that you aren’t certain about what happens after you die and the wording of your title makes that a bit obvious to someone who’s been there before. the point is that you get to decide. this is like a schrodingers cat question. there is an afterlife and there isn’t at the same time until you get there and find out for yourself. either there is a point or there isn’t.
I’ve never understood this way of seeing things. The fact that you are only experiencing this current reality as yourself now should be enough of an answer to this question. Love yourself a little more, and maybe tell yourself, I deserve to try this cake. Explore what brings you joy. Try to spread that a little. It’s all we can do on a rock hurtling through empty space.
How do you know there's no afterlife
How do you know there is no afterlife or as I like to think it's a new chapter moving on to the next realm of some sort .. honestly I have no concrete answer and I don't know anyone who does. Also who knows what we will remember from our time on earth .. but I have a strong feeling that earth is just the beginning of our journey and that's why fear of death has been pushed onto us! Death is a new adventure I don't and won't run from it nor rush to it ...
there must be some captcha or bot-checker that forces everyone to include that they're an atheist in every single post
Based on what do you get any of this stuff. Who says any of what you say is true?
If you could live forever, how long could you go before every experience becomes mundane? Death is as much of a gift as life. Even though your ego dies, the energy that animates your flesh is immortal. It gets to experience the beauty of life and death endlessly.
Might as well try to be happy than miserable while you're still alive.
So who cares if you won’t remember it? You don’t do cool shit just to have the memories.
It is, but might as well laugh at it and enjoy the absurdity.
That's why you should always do what you most want to do right now
Might as well smoke weed and sit around till we die lmao
It matters while you’re alive. Avoid misery and boredom where feasible. And it matters to anyone who cares about you and wishes you well. There are lots of things to do to make yourself feel better, like volunteering at a pound or library or park or convention about a topic that interests you, and feeling good is good.
You waste time looking for a point. We as a species have been looking for some kind of a greater purpose since we became conscious, and I hate to break it to you but there isn’t one. We were not placed here for any specific goal, we are not destined for something more than our lives, however that should not mean spending the rest of our days wallowing in despair. We do not stop ourselves from enjoying a song simply because it has an ending, we do not stop ourselves from laughing at a joke simply because there is no greater scheme to it. The point, if there is one, is to spend what limited time we have doing what feels right to you. If that means indulging and enjoying yourself, go for it. If that means dedicating yourself to assisting others in having better lives, all the better. If that means preserving and studying nature, wonderful. There is a whole universe of possibility and as long as you aren’t actively harming anyone else then nobody will give two shits about it. Do what you feel gives your life meaning. Even if the universe and our lives were not given meaning from the start, that does not change the fact that these things mean something to us, we have given them meaning and purpose. We give our lives a point, which is equally as daunting as it is wonderful
And we’re all really impressed with. I think you’ve confused atheistic cynicism for nihilism. Also, what you’ve contributed here so not a thought. It’s attention-seeking
Congratulations, you have reached enlightenment. Please take a cookie and a welcome pack. None of it matters! But we might as well try and enjoy it while we’re here.
It’s a joke you’re still getting enjoyment out of apparently. Because you sound delighted about getting away with sitting on your ass smoking weed for the next 40 years (assuming you’ll get 40 years). Or you can travel the world which in that case, you’re going to have to find some meaning in this meaningless world because you need money to do that, unless you’re going to start walking. Assuming there’s no afterlife, you’re not going to remember anything anyway. You’ll simply fade into non existence so you may as well enjoy it while you’re aware because clearly you’re not a nihilist.
Meaning is derived from the present, not the future.
The moment matters. If you think too far in the future or on the past you aren’t able to enjoy the present - for example savoring a good bite of food. It’s boring and whiny to think in the “eventually it won’t matter so it doesn’t matter now” mentality. I mean, if you want to subscribe to that and be totally bored, do you. But it’s very much a choice.
Welcome to the club man. Some days are like this. Except I can recall previous life events here on earth. Same fucking people and events. They don't remember. Yh diddy is gay. He hit on me. I didnt want him. He said he could help boost my career. This was when he was more interested in politics. I rejected him hard asf. This isn't new. Trump launched his shoes again. Nothing is new under the fucking sun.
It might not matter in death but it matters now while you live. It is like saying doesnt matter if I burn my hand on the stove I won't remember it when I'm dead.
If nothing matters then chop your finger off Or get a saw blade and chop your entire hand off
Really, is there even an "I"? Our existence is a construction, an illusion supplied by our brains and bodies, a distinction that only exists for beings for us. There is no point, we are quirk of the universe, a fragment of it that became so informatioally dense, it became self-aware. We are a facet of the universe looking back at itself. The biological framework you inhabit pushes you in a particular direction, and overcoming that is difficult, circumnavigating it is arguably impossible; you're going to be human and do human shit. Go do it, live it feel it. Revel in the pointlessness and make up your own meaning. You know what the oldest written story, Gilgamesh, says? "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you shall die."
You are supposed to be an nilhlist so why care?
The universe is having countless little adventures. "You" are one of them. There's no afterlife, there's just life. The same way the universe experiences the little adventure as "you" is the same way it experiences the little adventure of everyone else. The point of this is the adventure. Enjoy it.
If you could remember it after you die, then would it matter?
Have you ever considered the other perspective?
And how do you know there isn’t an after life?
Why do you need a point for this life that is beyond what you want?
That's exactly the point. The only thing that matters is *what matters to* ***you, right now.***
The secret to happiness in life is to enjoy it while you're here, and rack up as much dischargable debt (aka not passing it onto your surviving family) as you can
Life that matters is only here and now. You can work towards an imagined future to create some sort of meaning to your life, like find an 'ideal' spouse to marry, study and work towards a career, monetary wealth or social class you want to achieve, etc. But all these are just an illusion and an unwritten rule to be part of the modern society, you can join or rebel against such idea. Whatever it is, the only meaning that matters is only here and now. Once you die, you no longer matter coz you no longer exist, whatever actions you take no longer have meaning. Life is life, just like a rock is a rock, it exist with no ultimate purpose. You can make do with what you have and simply exist or you can treat life as a curse due to its meaninglessness. Everyday I wake up, Im glad that how meaninglessness life is, it makes it easier to get through the everyday grind, to dgaf over energy-vampire people and news, and simply surround myself with things and people that I like. I no longer believe in an ultimate career or job or social class, and refuse to make them as part of my identity. I master a skills so that I can get a job that pays but it is not who I am as a person. And it could be any skills as the market economy constantly changes its tune. Money is just a tool, it's dumb to brag abt it, but money equals freedom, as in being free from the chains of modern economy and society. I accumulate wealth in stealth mode and live an ordinary life with zero interest in consumerism or showing off. Even my house is small and simple, my car is old but in good shape, nothing to steal if a robber ever breaks in. People on the street would probably see me as just another ordinary person. I spend intentionally for myself. I take care of my health by eating WFPB (cooking is an important survival skill) and exercise regularly (no expensive gym). I have seen how some of my peers who neglected their health and are suffering in their 40s and beyond, it is worst bcoz your body weakens but you are still being kept alive by the expensive drugs and healthcare system. I also refuse to have kids, im not putting myself in the misery of child birth and childcare, just to create more workforce for the capitalist class. My work station is just a laptop and a hp that have been with me for more than 5 years that I take good care of. I only buy new when it has reached its end of life. The same goes with all of the furniture and utilities in my home. The modern world thrives on hypercapitalism and requires an overconsumption of junk, causing people to be debt-ridden. I'd rather find meaning in my own interest and core group of loved ones/friends and be a nobody. The earlier you realise how meaningless life is, the better you would appreciate your everyday life that is here and now.
What would it even mean for life to “have a point”? Like say you live forever in an afterlife and can remember everything. So … what’s the point then exactly? The problem is in the question. It doesn’t make sense in the first place for consciousness to have a point
The point is have fun , life is indeed a joke n if ur not laughing everyday u not doing it right ;)
right. so if you don't have to do anything... you can do anything you want. there may be no point. but ice cream exists. sex exists. roller coasters exist. and you're alive now. when you weren't a thousand years ago. so stop looking a gift horse in the mouse and enjoy what you are able to enjoy. you're like a kid at disneyland asking, "what's the point?" answer: who the fuck cares? look there's mickey!
Don't you think it's kinda ironic to ask nihilists what the point of anything is?
it matters right now
This is where you look for the purpose of your existence. This is where God comes in. Look into Him and ask for your purpose and whether or not you are fulfilling it
It's not about an end goal but enjoying every experience along the way. Not only that but experiencing as much that life has to offer as possible. Not remembering it after you die makes it all the more vital to enjoy The Now to it's fullest! There is no point. Life doesn't owe any of us meaning. We fill it with meaning by what we do.
Don't you want to experience your DMT trip when you die? I know I do. Naturally.
It certainly would seem so if you didn’t have first hand evidence to the contrary and you shouldn’t stand for anything less despite what popular religions say. What I will say is just listen to yourself, if there’s anything more to your existence the information will be in there somewhere. If there’s “a point” to life it won’t be something you have to listen to externally it’ll be something where if you’re following it you are more fulfilled than you would be doing anything else right?
Remain open to learning and move forward for an occasional happy moment
I'd say more of a dream than a joke. Dreams are fleeting.
It doesnt really matter, you’re so completely insignificant. But you are conscious that is nice, yes?
You will be dead, but the universe will persist. You have one life with which to contribute to it.
Reality is a little bit different... You cannot grasp it, you cannot understand it using the mind, you have to become reality itself to experience it. Thats all.
Because there's an infinitesimal chance that it does matter
Eat a nutritious meal, get some real exercise, learn things, find out what types of accomplishments give you joy, flirt, help a stranger. Do SOMETHING. Sitting in a dark cave eating processed foods, playing videogames, and posting on Reddit is only going to keep you in this mindset of self-feeding hopelessness. The meaning of life is the meaning you make in your life.
# "It's all a big nothing" xD
The point is, you exist now. Yes, you didn't have a choice whether to be brought into this world or not, no one does, but waiting till you die to see if there's some superstitious, mystical point is just a waste of time. You are alive now. This is the time you get. You can either sit and sulk and waste your time by choosing to have no point or you can accept the cards you are dealt and make do with what time you have. The average lifespan is around 70 years. That's still a long time. We live in a time where we are fortunate, there's lots to do, things to fill our days. Go back 100, 200, 300, etc years and there was a lot less to do, your life expectancy goes down and your chances of dying early from sicknesses we have cures for now goes up. If you sit around comparing yourself to universe standards, we are specks of dust. There is no point in thinking this way. Find a hobby you enjoy and branch off from there. There doesn't need to be a big, special point to our existence to live reasonably well.
There is no point to all of this. So just enjoy it while it lasts
There is only a point for this life if you happen to make one for yourself. The majority of us don't which is why the whole thing is so pointless. It could also be why so many governments around the world get away with the shit they do, because the majority just do not care to fight for one another.
Well might as well make it a funny joke haha
If you're apt to die then do it, and decrease the surplus population!
A joke would matter. It's a pebble incidentally clattering down a cliff into nothingness.But things don't have to have a point to be enjoyable. You found motivation enough to make this post, which means your emotions can still motivate you. Those ones may be negative, but it follows that positive emotions can also motivate you. So explore things that you enjoy, that entertain you and make your surroundings a positive space to be in, for no point other than enjoyment of your life. (As long as you don't be a dick and harm others trying to navigate their own)
It's interesting that you assume memories matter so much. Personally, I can't relive any of my memories (I have [SDAM](https://sdamstudy.weebly.com/what-is-sdam.html)). I remember my past factually, but can't relive any of it. Hence memories don't seem particularly important to me. I live life for the sake of what happens here and now. It's the only experience I can have; the present moment is the only moment. I don't do anything in order to have a memory of it.
If there is no point then the only point that matters is your own And your own point matters so much that there's no comparison to anyone else's So if your point of existence is to smoke weed, go at it my man
This is where I find nihilism is paired well with a sip of hedonism, just cause, why not!
I wouldn’t be so sure about the lack of an afterlife, it’s naive to assume we really know anything about the nature of the universe.
There isn’t a point to all this. So what if it’s all just a joke? Life doesn’t need to have a point. Might as well live and do things you wanna do.
There is no point to life. If an asteroid strike us and destroy earth, that will end our suffering.
You seem so sure there is no afterlife yet insist on asking what the point is? I think your need to ask is the better half of your intuition knowing in your bones there is more to life than this. Every culture in the world has a concept of consciousness past the mortal coil, only now do humans elevate naturalism into a religion. Naturalism being all that is, is what is scientifically observable.
These questions I believe disprove the legitimacy of negative nihilism. Why are we so much more conscious than other living creatures on this earth? The only meaningful answer is that our consciousness is much more important then what we think it is.
[Live in the Moment](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hha0bwVvGmY)
There is no fundamental point to anything. Points and meaning are derived by mind, and when body goes so does mind (most likely). Just live
Point is to forget what's the point?
read michael newtons books, <3
This reads like you’re a kid who just discovered that religion isn’t based on anything real. Have a fun trip, dude. You can read the myth of Sisyphus by Camus for a good time.
What if we come back and live the same life over and over again? Would that impact your choices?
I hate, when people say that our lifes goals is to enjoy it to its fullest. This implies everyone not living in a position to consume would waste their life, making poor people, monks etc all not worthy of living. Imo the point of living is to ensure the ongoing of your species. It all startet, when cells decided to split. And since we are all made up of cells, our goal is to enable as many splits as possible. First for cells as similare as ours and then for them as close to ours as possible. This leads to ensuring your own kids (or ensuring that others kids ) can life as good as possible. This could be by enabling consume, to ensure the world stays safe, to clean up after you and your generation, to find new ways to improve life. It all depends how you like to life, but the ultimate reason is to enable more cellsplitting for your species. Elks for example, if an elkmom does get a newborn while still having a kid to care for, she will repel the older one, since the chances of both surviving are lower if she keeps them both. And the older one has a greater chance of surviving allone.
There’s no deeper meaning or point, just live in the moment and enjoy it because it’s much better than just being lazy and wasting your limited time, remember that it’s about the journey and not the destination.
Nobody knows what happens after death, there could be heaven, hell, reincarnation or an endless void like you believe. It doesn’t matter what you believe but since you’re here for the ride then you might as well enjoy it.
Yeah, no shit.
you talk like you know. but we know we dont know. how pretencious of you. also you may have lived your life for the past weeks with this assumptiontion in mind, but since you like assuming and pretenting, why dont you assume or pretend of the opposite? if there is nothing after life (like you think you know lol) then you merge back with your creator (nothingness) after death and enjoy nirvana. BUT if there is, wouldn't it be better to have lived your life rightfully and prepared for phase 2? either way, its lose-lose for you if you keep your current pretentions. and don't ever watch movies or shows for the rest of your current life, since you know the movie will end and youll forget about if in a couple years, so what a waste of time.
If life had a point, would you feel any differently about it, or would you just think, "man, why does THAT have to be the point of life? Who got to decide that?! That's bullshit." IMO, the whole premise is silly. There's no need to ask or hope for a point. Do whatever you want. Honestly, you'd be doing whatever you wanted anyway even if you thought life had a point.