What is the meaning of life?

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RCSaunders
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by RCSaunders »

bahman wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:32 pm I have been discussing this with Catholics for a long time. Noone could convince me that there is a meaning in the relation with God. Could you?
What's a. "noone?"
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bahman
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by bahman »

RCSaunders wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 8:57 pm
bahman wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:32 pm I have been discussing this with Catholics for a long time. Noone could convince me that there is a meaning in the relation with God. Could you?
What's a. "noone?"
No one. Sorry for typo.
Veritas Aequitas
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

bahman wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 2:32 pm
Veritas Aequitas wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:40 am What you are stating is,
"I want to know something that is impossible to be known" :shock:
I didn't say so.
I don't mean literally but it is implied.

Your OP question imply you want to know [epistemologically] 'the meaning of life',
but then your posting imply the 'meaning of life' cannot be known via feelings or thought.

Point is, it is only something that can be felt [sensed] and thought that can be known or possible to be known and experienced.
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bahman
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by bahman »

Veritas Aequitas wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 3:41 am
bahman wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 2:32 pm
Veritas Aequitas wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:40 am What you are stating is,
"I want to know something that is impossible to be known" :shock:
I didn't say so.
I don't mean literally but it is implied.

Your OP question imply you want to know [epistemologically] 'the meaning of life',
but then your posting imply the 'meaning of life' cannot be known via feelings or thought.

Point is, it is only something that can be felt [sensed] and thought that can be known or possible to be known and experienced.
No, it does not imply that.
Veritas Aequitas
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

bahman wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 7:47 am
Veritas Aequitas wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 3:41 am
bahman wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 2:32 pm
I didn't say so.
I don't mean literally but it is implied.

Your OP question imply you want to know [epistemologically] 'the meaning of life',
but then your posting imply the 'meaning of life' cannot be known via feelings or thought.

Point is, it is only something that can be felt [sensed] and thought that can be known or possible to be known and experienced.
No, it does not imply that.
  • Whatever it is it cannot be in the thought and feeling category. Well, if there is such a thing as the meaning of life then one should be able to experience it.


As usual you do not define or establish the terms you refer to.
This is the point why you are able to deflect whatever solutions is presented to you.

If you are not contending whether there is life within supposedly 'non-living' things such as metals, minerals, gases, and the likes,
Then this is the GENERAL meaning of life;
  • Life is a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (they have died) or because they never had such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist, such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. Biology is the science that studies life.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life
  • One definition [what is life] seems to be favored by NASA: "a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution". More simply, life is, "matter that can reproduce itself and evolve as survival dictates".
The above are the primary meaning of life and whatever other meanings of life other than the above are its subset and secondary meaning.

It is likely you could be driven by some teleological impulse to think of some end-purpose like those invented by theists, then you are off tangent from the real meaning of life.
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RCSaunders
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by RCSaunders »

bahman wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 10:31 pm Whatever it is it cannot be in the thought and feeling category. Well, if there is such a thing as the meaning of life then one should be able to experience it.
It seems silly to be asking what the meaning of something is, when one has no idea that that thing is.

What is life?
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bahman
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by bahman »

RCSaunders wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 10:42 pm
bahman wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 10:31 pm Whatever it is it cannot be in the thought and feeling category. Well, if there is such a thing as the meaning of life then one should be able to experience it.
It seems silly to be asking what the meaning of something is, when one has no idea that that thing is.

What is life?
A state of affairs for a thing in which the thing experiences, reproduces, eats, etc.
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bahman
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by bahman »

Veritas Aequitas wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 6:36 am
bahman wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 7:47 am
Veritas Aequitas wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 3:41 am
I don't mean literally but it is implied.

Your OP question imply you want to know [epistemologically] 'the meaning of life',
but then your posting imply the 'meaning of life' cannot be known via feelings or thought.

Point is, it is only something that can be felt [sensed] and thought that can be known or possible to be known and experienced.
No, it does not imply that.
  • Whatever it is it cannot be in the thought and feeling category. Well, if there is such a thing as the meaning of life then one should be able to experience it.


As usual you do not define or establish the terms you refer to.
This is the point why you are able to deflect whatever solutions is presented to you.

If you are not contending whether there is life within supposedly 'non-living' things such as metals, minerals, gases, and the likes,
Then this is the GENERAL meaning of life;
  • Life is a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (they have died) or because they never had such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist, such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. Biology is the science that studies life.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life
  • One definition [what is life] seems to be favored by NASA: "a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution". More simply, life is, "matter that can reproduce itself and evolve as survival dictates".
The above are the primary meaning of life and whatever other meanings of life other than the above are its subset and secondary meaning.

It is likely you could be driven by some teleological impulse to think of some end-purpose like those invented by theists, then you are off tangent from the real meaning of life.
I don't mean that meaning of life that you mentioned. I am not a theist too.
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RCSaunders
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by RCSaunders »

bahman wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 10:54 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 10:42 pm
bahman wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 10:31 pm Whatever it is it cannot be in the thought and feeling category. Well, if there is such a thing as the meaning of life then one should be able to experience it.
It seems silly to be asking what the meaning of something is, when one has no idea that that thing is.

What is life?
A state of affairs for a thing in which the thing experiences, reproduces, eats, etc.
So trees and mushrooms aren't alive because they don't experience anything, turritopsis dohrnii, a small jellyfish found in the Mediterranean and in the waters of Japan, is "immortal," but since it does not have to reproduce it is not alive, most procaryotes simply absorb nutrition without eating, so they are not alive. I think somethng is missing from your definition.
Veritas Aequitas
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by Veritas Aequitas »

bahman wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 11:06 pm
Veritas Aequitas wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 6:36 am
  • Whatever it is it cannot be in the thought and feeling category. Well, if there is such a thing as the meaning of life then one should be able to experience it.


As usual you do not define or establish the terms you refer to.
This is the point why you are able to deflect whatever solutions is presented to you.

If you are not contending whether there is life within supposedly 'non-living' things such as metals, minerals, gases, and the likes,
Then this is the GENERAL meaning of life;
  • Life is a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (they have died) or because they never had such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist, such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. Biology is the science that studies life.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life
  • One definition [what is life] seems to be favored by NASA: "a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution". More simply, life is, "matter that can reproduce itself and evolve as survival dictates".
The above are the primary meaning of life and whatever other meanings of life other than the above are its subset and secondary meaning.

It is likely you could be driven by some teleological impulse to think of some end-purpose like those invented by theists, then you are off tangent from the real meaning of life.
I don't mean that meaning of life that you mentioned. I am not a theist too.
Your view is not efficient as a progressive human being.
You need to be more optimistic and explore deeper.

If you have a question, then to be effective you must first raise a hypothesis [as done with all scientific explorations] based on abductive inferences.
Therefrom you gather more empirical evidences with due diligence and rigor whence you can either support, revise or reject your hypothesis.

As I had presented, there is sufficient evidence to justify a hypothesis to 'what is the meaning of life' and one has to align and flow with it as much as possible.
When you dig deeper and wider, the evidences will be glaring to be theorized 'what is the meaning of life'.
But to live it efficiently on a practical basis will be another issue.

Note Buddhism's Meaning of Life,
i.e. "Managing One's Sufferings to Promote Peace" as expressed in the 4 Noble Truths.

Buddhism's 4NT-8FP is a Life Problem Solving Technique.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=25193

It also provide the effective strategies to manage the above meaning of life efficiently on a practical basis.
DPMartin
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by DPMartin »

bahman wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:32 pm
DPMartin wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:12 pm
bahman wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 4:41 pm
How relation with God can give meaning to life?
maybe you should look into that if you want to know, such info is available to gen public
I have been discussing this with Catholics for a long time. Noone could convince me that there is a meaning in the relation with God. Could you?
you're not that important. if you have an honest question fine, otherwise, again if you want to know, such info is available to gen public
trokanmariel
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by trokanmariel »

simplicity wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 9:10 pm Thought of as the central inquiry of philosophy [essentially the same as, "Who am I ?"], this question alone paints an accurate picture of the human ego.

When one considers the enormity of the Universe, how is it possible that some insignificant species on a planet out in the middle of nowhere could have, "a purpose," AND, if [by some miracle] there was some sort of purpose, that we have the cognitive ability to understand such?

I say we spend our time figuring out why the vast majority of humanity spends so much of its time attempting to procure something for nothing. Now that would be something worth figuring out! Imagine a world where the vast majority was involved in productive activity [like every other species] instead of sitting round and doing God-knows-what all day long.

Double possession ("a purpose" = cognitive), interfered with by the purpose word, a deity logic. This is in reference to the second sentence, of your answer.
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bahman
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by bahman »

RCSaunders wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 2:13 am
bahman wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 10:54 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 10:42 pm
It seems silly to be asking what the meaning of something is, when one has no idea that that thing is.

What is life?
A state of affairs for a thing in which the thing experiences, reproduces, eats, etc.
So trees and mushrooms aren't alive because they don't experience anything,
I think that trees and mushrooms experience. They have minds. But we can put this aside if you are not happy with it. That is relevant since we are dealing with human life when it comes to meaning.
RCSaunders wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 2:13 am turritopsis dohrnii, a small jellyfish found in the Mediterranean and in the waters of Japan, is "immortal," but since it does not have to reproduce it is not alive,
Strange. I have never heard about such a thing. How do they come to be if they don't reproduce?
RCSaunders wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 2:13 am most procaryotes simply absorb nutrition without eating, so they are not alive. I think somethng is missing from your definition.
Well, perhaps I should have said that they either eat or absorb nutrition.
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bahman
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by bahman »

Veritas Aequitas wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 5:07 am
bahman wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 11:06 pm
Veritas Aequitas wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 6:36 am
  • Whatever it is it cannot be in the thought and feeling category. Well, if there is such a thing as the meaning of life then one should be able to experience it.


As usual you do not define or establish the terms you refer to.
This is the point why you are able to deflect whatever solutions is presented to you.

If you are not contending whether there is life within supposedly 'non-living' things such as metals, minerals, gases, and the likes,
Then this is the GENERAL meaning of life;
  • Life is a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (they have died) or because they never had such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist, such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria. Biology is the science that studies life.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life
  • One definition [what is life] seems to be favored by NASA: "a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution". More simply, life is, "matter that can reproduce itself and evolve as survival dictates".
The above are the primary meaning of life and whatever other meanings of life other than the above are its subset and secondary meaning.

It is likely you could be driven by some teleological impulse to think of some end-purpose like those invented by theists, then you are off tangent from the real meaning of life.
I don't mean that meaning of life that you mentioned. I am not a theist too.
Your view is not efficient as a progressive human being.
You need to be more optimistic and explore deeper.

If you have a question, then to be effective you must first raise a hypothesis [as done with all scientific explorations] based on abductive inferences.
Therefrom you gather more empirical evidences with due diligence and rigor whence you can either support, revise or reject your hypothesis.

As I had presented, there is sufficient evidence to justify a hypothesis to 'what is the meaning of life' and one has to align and flow with it as much as possible.
When you dig deeper and wider, the evidences will be glaring to be theorized 'what is the meaning of life'.
But to live it efficiently on a practical basis will be another issue.

Note Buddhism's Meaning of Life,
i.e. "Managing One's Sufferings to Promote Peace" as expressed in the 4 Noble Truths.

Buddhism's 4NT-8FP is a Life Problem Solving Technique.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=25193

It also provide the effective strategies to manage the above meaning of life efficiently on a practical basis.
I am not talking about peace. You have to be indifferent in order to be in peace. I know that.
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RCSaunders
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Re: What is the meaning of life?

Post by RCSaunders »

bahman wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 8:08 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 2:13 am turritopsis dohrnii, a small jellyfish found in the Mediterranean and in the waters of Japan, is "immortal," but since it does not have to reproduce it is not alive,
Strange. I have never heard about such a thing. How do they come to be if they don't reproduce?
If evolution is correct every species originally came into existence without reproducing--there had to be a first.

The turritopisi dohrnil can reproduce sexually, but do not have to and could theoretically exist forever without reproducing.
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