What Are You Living For?

[RCSaunders]

Life is not a default condition, death is.

You have no choice about being born but once you are an adult your continued existence depends on what you choose and do. If you do nothing to sustain your own life, unless someone else hooks you up to some machines, returning you to your pre-adult state, you will die.

Like it or not, the ultimate choice is always, "to be or not to be." If one does not choose to be, and makes no effort to sustain their own life, death is assured. The question is never about suicide, "why die?" The question that must answered is, "why live?"

Most people mistake a fear of death for a love of life. Their only reason for laboring to stay alive is because the are terrified of dying. Why they fear death is a bit of a mystery. Before they were born they were not living and there was nothing painful or terrifying about it. Before birth and after death are exactly the same, you simply do not exist. Fear of death is nothing but a superstitious fear, like the fear of dragons or ghosts.

Unless one guides their life by whim, one makes their choices based on some objective or purpose they believe their choices will achieve. Since to live means one must choose to live, unless you are one of those who chooses to live only to evade death, what is your objective or purpose in pursuing your life. In other words, "what are you living for?"

What Is Your Life?

You life consists of what you do, not what happens to you. Things happen to a rock. The difference between a non-living entity and a living organism is that an organism's living behavior is what makes it the organism it is. The moment that living behavior ceases, the organism ceases to exist as an organism and becomes just another non-living entity.

What you are, the kind of being you are, is also determined by what you choose and do. Your life is yours to make of it whatever you choose, but you will not choose anything if you do not aspire to anything. If you have no desire to achieve anything or ambition to accomplish anything, if you don't want to be the best you can be in all things and make yourself all you possibly can, you won't.

It's Your Life

There is no duty or obligation to do anything with your life, and most don't do much with their lives. If your own life is not worth doing everything in your power to be all you can be, there really is not much point in living. You can just be another of the mass of ignorant humanity complaining about there being no purpose to your life. "What is it all about?" "What is the purpose of my life?" "What is my identity?" They spend their life and their time seeking answers from their philosophers, psychologists, and academic authorities, when the answer is, "your purpose has to come from you." No one else can tell you what the purpose of your life is, you have to decide what you want to live for, and what there is for you that makes your life worth living.

What it is all about is living your life as well as you possibly can as a human being. The purpose of your life is whatever you have chosen to pursue and accomplish. Your identity is the person you have made of yourself, whatever your profession or work is.

What are you living for?

[bahman]

To know the truth and tell the truth.

[Age]

Life is not a default condition, death is.

I KNOW ones who can be alive. I do NOT know ones who can be dead. So, how exactly is death a supposed 'default condition'?

You have no choice about being born but once you are an adult your continued existence depends on what you choose and do.

Not necessarily so.

There are adult human beings continually existing in a coma, or in well progressed dementia, who can not or do not choose.

Their continued existence, therefore, does NOT depend on what they choose nor do.

If you do nothing to sustain your own life, unless someone else hooks you up to some machines, returning you to your pre-adult state, you will die.

How many actual human beings were hooked up to machines, before their pre-adult state?

I have already above explained how adult human beings will not die, but who can not or do not sustain their own life, and without being hooked up to some machine.

The very elderly who are in constant need of care from "others", and who are also NOT hooked up to some machines, is also another example of how adult human beings can keep existing without necessarily choosing to do any thing. Unless, of course, you would like to counter this, which I hope you will.

Like it or not, the ultimate choice is always, "to be or not to be." If one does not choose to be, and makes no effort to sustain their own life, death is assured.

This is in regards to human beings only, correct?

The question is never about suicide, "why die?" The question that must answered is, "why live?"

But if you, also, were to find the answer to the question, "Why die", from 'suicide'?, then you will, also, have the necessary tool to prevent human beings from committing suicide, like I do.

As for the question, 'Why live?', which you say, supposedly, 'must be answered', has ALREADY been answered.

Most people mistake a fear of death for a love of life.

Is it not possible for the two to go together, 'hand-in-hand', as they say?

Their only reason for laboring to stay alive is because the are terrified of dying.

Is there NO other possible reasons at all to "others", for them to stay alive, to you?

Why they fear death is a bit of a mystery.

Not to me it is NOT.

Before they were born they were not living and there was nothing painful or terrifying about it.

Do you really believe that this NEEDS to be said, or explained?

Before birth and after death are exactly the same, you simply do not exist.

Who and/or what, exactly, is the 'you', which is being purported to not exist 'after death', by 'you'?

Fear of death is nothing but a superstitious fear, like the fear of dragons or ghosts.

Fear of absolutely ANY thing is completely unnecessary ALSO. But the one known as "rcsaunders" has this, so called, "superstitious fear", like the fear of dragons or ghosts, as well.

Unless one guides their life by whim, one makes their choices based on some objective or purpose they believe their choices will achieve. Since to live means one must choose to live, unless you are one of those who chooses to live only to evade death, what is your objective or purpose in pursuing your life. In other words, "what are you living for?"

For 'me', to make Life, Itself, better for EVERY one.

What is the one known as "rcsaunders" living for, exactly?

What Is Your Life?

You life consists of what you do, not what happens to you.

Firstly what are 'you', "rcsaunders", proposing is the actual 'thing', which you say here has " 'Its' Life "?

Things happen to a rock.

Like 'what', for example?

The difference between a non-living entity and a living organism is that an organism's living behavior is what makes it the organism it is.

Are you 'trying to' suggest here that earth is a non-living entity?

The moment that living behavior ceases, the organism ceases to exist as an organism and becomes just another non-living entity.

Will you provide any examples?

What you are, the kind of being you are, is also determined by what you choose and do. [/quote]

So, if you choose to eat breakfast, and do do that, then 'you' are, and the kind of being 'you' are, is "eating breakfast", right?

Or, have I mistaken what 'you' are proposing here?

Your life is yours to make of it whatever you choose, but you will not choose anything if you do not aspire to anything.

What 'thing' do 'you' aspire to?

And, what is the 'thing', which EVERY one is aspiring to? As further up this post of yours you were 'trying to' argue that 'your continued existence' DEPENDS on 'what you choose'. Therefore, if one is still continuing to exist, then this MUST mean that they are choosing. And, if as you now 'try to' argue and say that 'you will NOT choose ANY thing if you do NOT aspire to ANY thing', then this MUST mean that EVERY continually existing being MUST BE aspiring to SOME 'thing'. So, what 'thing' do 'you' aspire to, AND, is 'it' the EXACT SAME 'thing' for EVERY one?

If you have no desire to achieve anything or ambition to accomplish anything, if you don't want to be the best you can be in all things and make yourself all you possibly can, you won't.

Correct me if I am wrong here, but what you are essentially saying, and "arguing for here is:
"If you do not want to accomplish nor achieve some thing, then you will not". Is this correct?

It's Your Life

There is no duty or obligation to do anything with your life, and most don't do much with their lives.

So, to you, there is NO duty NOR obligation to NOT abuse children, and/nor "others", correct?

If your own life is not worth doing everything in your power to be all you can be, there really is not much point in living.

When 'you', "rcsaunders" say, "to be all 'you' can be", then what is the 'all', which 'you' can be?

You can just be another of the mass of ignorant humanity complaining about there being no purpose to your life.

But how could ANY one accurately or logically 'complain' about there being NO purpose to their life?

If there is NO purpose to one's life, then there is NO purpose at all to one's life. And, therefore, absolutely NOTHING at all to complain about.

Do 'you', "rcsaunders", have purpose to "your" 'life'?

If yes, then what is that purpose?

"What is it all about?" "What is the purpose of my life?" "What is my identity?" They spend their life and their time seeking answers from their philosophers, psychologists, and academic authorities, when the answer is, "your purpose has to come from you."

Okay. So, what is "your" 'purpose'?

No one else can tell you what the purpose of your life is,

Yet here you are above, in this post, seemingly telling 'us' that there IS 'purpose' to "our" 'lives'.

you have to decide what you want to live for, and what there is for you that makes your life worth living.

So, what does the one known as "rcsaunders" 'want to live for'?

And, what is there that makes "rcsaunders" 'life', 'worth living', for?

What it is all about is living your life as well as you possibly can as a human being.

Besides this being just ANOTHER essentially obvious fact, what is the 'it' EXACTLY, which you propose 'is all about' living "your" life as well as 'you' possibly can as a human being.

Saying what you did just now does NOT tell us what the 'it' ACTUALLY IS.

The purpose of your life is whatever you have chosen to pursue and accomplish.

So, if one tells you that they have chosen to pursue and accomplish ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL, and/or that the NO actual purpose at all of their life, then will you just let them be, and STOP telling, or implying, that their MUST BE purpose to their life?

Or, will you keep on saying and writing what you have done here?

Your identity is the person you have made of yourself, whatever your profession or work is.

LOL OKAY.

What are you living for?

To make Life, Itself, BETTER.

What are 'you', the one known as "rcsaunders", living for?

[Age]

To know the truth and tell the truth.

If you ONLY speak or ONLY tell the truth, then, thee truth, you can ONLY KNOW.

By the way, if you are living for 'telling the truth', then you NOT doing a very good job at all at what you are living for.

[Systematic]

What you are, the kind of being you are, is also determined by what you choose and do. Your life is yours to make of it whatever you choose, but you will not choose anything if you do not aspire to anything. If you have no desire to achieve anything or ambition to accomplish anything, if you don't want to be the best you can be in all things and make yourself all you possibly can, you won't.

Agency sounds like a great idea on paper (or actually, on this post, on the internet). It doesn't really exist for humans though. We are very limited.

What if we took the agency that we had and with that agency, added to our own agency?

Genetic and learned skills could be amplified. Assets could be increased. Coherence of effort could be accomplished. Wisdom could be passed down and amended.

If we could do that without killing ourselves or each other, I think it would be worthy of our time.

[Veritas Aequitas]

Life is not a default condition, death is.

It's Your Life

There is no duty or obligation to do anything with your life, and most don't do much with their lives. If your own life is not worth doing everything in your power to be all you can be, there really is not much point in living. You can just be another of the mass of ignorant humanity complaining about there being no purpose to your life. "What is it all about?" "What is the purpose of my life?" "What is my identity?" They spend their life and their time seeking answers from their philosophers, psychologists, and academic authorities, when the answer is, "your purpose has to come from you." No one else can tell you what the purpose of your life is, you have to decide what you want to live for, and what there is for you that makes your life worth living.

What it is all about is living your life as well as you possibly can as a human being. The purpose of your life is whatever you have chosen to pursue and accomplish. Your identity is the person you have made of yourself, whatever your profession or work is.

What are you living for?

I don't agree with the above.
Life is the primary default and death is merely a later inevitability.
To be born is to live; all humans are programmed to live till the inevitable.
Humans don't choose to be born so don't consciously choose to live rather they are spontaneously driven to live by Nature.

Humans [normally] only choose to die when they have sufficient self-consciousness - mostly in their teens. The majority of humans do not choose to die due to the default which drive one to live at least till one's active reproductive potential is over.

Thus the default is to live.
I agree being alive is [as you stated] "all about is living your life as well as you possibly can as a human being."
But to live optimally as a human being, one has to know, understand what is being-human.

Being-Human means the human being is encumbered with various inherent conditions, i.e. the inherent core of human nature with its limits and its potentiality. It is because of these inherent conditions that all human beings cannot freely and simply choose their purpose in life.
They must first give consideration to these inherent conditions, i.e. the inherent duties and obligations as being human before making the personal choice to be what they want to be.

This is why Socrates' maxim "Know Thyself" is very critical.
If this maxim is not mastered, then one life will not be optimal and efficient.

[RCSaunders]

To know the truth and tell the truth.

To know it and live by it is enough.

[RCSaunders]

What are you living for?

To make Life, Itself, BETTER.

What are 'you', the one known as "rcsaunders", living for?

I'm living to enjoy my life to the fullest and be the best I can possibly be as a human being.

[RCSaunders]

To know the truth and tell the truth.

If you ONLY speak or ONLY tell the truth, then, thee truth, you can ONLY KNOW.

By the way, if you are living for 'telling the truth', then you NOT doing a very good job at all at what you are living for.

As if you would know.

I don't do it to please you, I do it to please me, and because I love implacable ruthless reality. I always conform to reality and it always treats me well.

[RCSaunders]

Life is not a default condition, death is.

It's Your Life

There is no duty or obligation to do anything with your life, and most don't do much with their lives. If your own life is not worth doing everything in your power to be all you can be, there really is not much point in living. You can just be another of the mass of ignorant humanity complaining about there being no purpose to your life. "What is it all about?" "What is the purpose of my life?" "What is my identity?" They spend their life and their time seeking answers from their philosophers, psychologists, and academic authorities, when the answer is, "your purpose has to come from you." No one else can tell you what the purpose of your life is, you have to decide what you want to live for, and what there is for you that makes your life worth living.

What it is all about is living your life as well as you possibly can as a human being. The purpose of your life is whatever you have chosen to pursue and accomplish. Your identity is the person you have made of yourself, whatever your profession or work is.

What are you living for?

I don't agree with the above.
Life is the primary default and death is merely a later inevitability.
To be born is to live; all humans are programmed to live till the inevitable.
Humans don't choose to be born so don't consciously choose to live rather they are spontaneously driven to live by Nature.

Humans [normally] only choose to die when they have sufficient self-consciousness - mostly in their teens. The majority of humans do not choose to die due to the default which drive one to live at least till one's active reproductive potential is over.

Thus the default is to live.
I agree being alive is [as you stated] "all about is living your life as well as you possibly can as a human being."
But to live optimally as a human being, one has to know, understand what is being-human.

Being-Human means the human being is encumbered with various inherent conditions, i.e. the inherent core of human nature with its limits and its potentiality. It is because of these inherent conditions that all human beings cannot freely and simply choose their purpose in life.
They must first give consideration to these inherent conditions, i.e. the inherent duties and obligations as being human before making the personal choice to be what they want to be.

This is why Socrates' maxim "Know Thyself" is very critical.
If this maxim is not mastered, then one life will not be optimal and efficient.

Talk about a slave mentality. You think life itself is something imposed on human beings against their will, that they have no choice about the kind of life they live or even if they live. What a wonderful way to live, believing your life is determined by causes and forces you have no way of understanding the cause or purpose of, because they are not your causes or purposes.

I hope you do not suffer to much from this demented view of life.

[Impenitent]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58bT2GWLX-Y

-Imp

[Nick_A]

"The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment." ― Malcolm Muggeridge

At one time the quest for meaning defined what we were living for. A person tried to understand and experience the full significance of the Cross. Man gradually becoming more educated concluded with the help of many experts that the need for meaning was satisfied by experiencing the ultimate orgasm. The quest for the ultimate orgasm replaced the Cross in the human need for fulfillment. That is why so much of advertising caters to this need in one way or another.

[Dubious]

What are you living for?

To make Life, Itself, BETTER.

What are 'you', the one known as "rcsaunders", living for?

I'm living to enjoy my life to the fullest and be the best I can possibly be as a human being.

That's what everybody wants to do; question answered. What else is new?

[Veritas Aequitas]

I don't agree with the above.
Life is the primary default and death is merely a later inevitability.
To be born is to live; all humans are programmed to live till the inevitable.
Humans don't choose to be born so don't consciously choose to live rather they are spontaneously driven to live by Nature.

Humans [normally] only choose to die when they have sufficient self-consciousness - mostly in their teens. The majority of humans do not choose to die due to the default which drive one to live at least till one's active reproductive potential is over.

Thus the default is to live.
I agree being alive is [as you stated] "all about is living your life as well as you possibly can as a human being."
But to live optimally as a human being, one has to know, understand what is being-human.

Being-Human means the human being is encumbered with various inherent conditions, i.e. the inherent core of human nature with its limits and its potentiality. It is because of these inherent conditions that all human beings cannot freely and simply choose their purpose in life.
They must first give consideration to these inherent conditions, i.e. the inherent duties and obligations as being human before making the personal choice to be what they want to be.

This is why Socrates' maxim "Know Thyself" is very critical.
If this maxim is not mastered, then one life will not be optimal and efficient.

Talk about a slave mentality. You think life itself is something imposed on human beings against their will, that they have no choice about the kind of life they live or even if they live. What a wonderful way to live, believing your life is determined by causes and forces you have no way of understanding the cause or purpose of, because they are not your causes or purposes.

I hope you do not suffer to much from this demented view of life.

Point is you did not read my post properly.
You are way off tangent.
Where did I state we do not have a choice about the kind of life we want to live?

All humans are imposed with the restricted and limited conditions of human nature and also given the freewill [not absolute] to use discretion to live within the boundaries of the human conditions.

Note I stated above,

"They must first give consideration to these inherent conditions, i.e. the inherent duties and obligations as being human before making the personal choice to be what they want to be."

That means you must adopt Socrates' "Know Thyself" before using your freewill to do what you want.
Do you even understand what "Know Thyself" means.

[Veritas Aequitas]

What are you living for?

To make Life, Itself, BETTER.

What are 'you', the one known as "rcsaunders", living for?

I'm living to enjoy my life to the fullest and be the best I can possibly be as a human being.

How can you achieve the above efficiently if you do not understand what is like to be being-human.

Hitler would definitely thought he had done his best and lived life to the fullest and committed suicide before the impending sufferings.