Why do we exist?

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Bebelle
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Bebelle »

Pelegrin_1 wrote: November 27th, 2017, 9:57 pm We exist because one evolutionary path led to us, led to the existence of what we call ourselves: humans/Homo sapiens sapiens. That's the simplest and most direct answer. Anything more would have to deal with the mechanisms of evolution or more specifically the elements/details of the evolutionary path that resulted with humans coming into existence. But then, is that really a philosophical question, or is it an evolutionary science question?

"Why do we exist?" is not a philosophical question!
Well, it is you that apparently is not seeing the depth of the question, ok, we evolution, so what? Why the heck are we here for? My question can not be simply answered with a "We exist because our mothers gave birth to us". If we were simply born just to be born, without a real purpose, then we are just living empty lives with empty reasons, therefore there is no reason to our existence since whether we live or not is irrelevant. So I made my question to see if anyone had the answer to this question because I want to find out a reason for my existence so then I can truly exist, if that is important to you is for you to decide.
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Freudian Monkey
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Freudian Monkey »

The realization that life has no meaning can also be the most liberating experience you can have. You can decide yourself what you want to do with your life. Seeing everyone you meet and everything you do as an endless stream of opportunities makes life incredibly rewarding.
Pelegrin_1
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Pelegrin_1 »

Bebelle wrote: December 7th, 2017, 12:33 am
Well, it is you that apparently is not seeing the depth of the question, ok, we evolution, so what? Why the heck are we here for? My question can not be simply answered with a "We exist because our mothers gave birth to us". If we were simply born just to be born, without a real purpose, then we are just living empty lives with empty reasons, therefore there is no reason to our existence since whether we live or not is irrelevant. So I made my question to see if anyone had the answer to this question because I want to find out a reason for my existence so then I can truly exist, if that is important to you is for you to decide.
Even though we haven't been born with a reason to exist, other than the fact that our parents and ancestors generally wished to further their genetic line, we can, on the other hand, each give our own life meaning by establishing our own personal reasons to make our lives meaningful or purposeful. The problem many seem to have with that is that you want there to be some grander reason for your existence, something beyond you, some transcendent reason, something that brings us in someway at least fractionally closer to godlike creatures rather than merely being the highest evolved animal on this planet where we live.

After the human species conjured up Gods to worship, it was the next logical step that we would then imagine that we have some distinct connect with those Gods or that God, and less of a connection with the natural world from which we came. This effort to place some extra meaning or significance to our existence is simply an effort to inch us more closer to the God side of a line that has godliness at one end and the natural world at the other. Think about it! Isn't that correct?
Pelegrin_1
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Pelegrin_1 »

Freudian Monkey wrote: December 7th, 2017, 4:52 am The realization that life has no meaning can also be the most liberating experience you can have. You can decide yourself what you want to do with your life. Seeing everyone you meet and everything you do as an endless stream of opportunities makes life incredibly rewarding.
That almost sounds like something I could imagine Richard Dawkins saying, in the same way he speaks of the marvels of scientific discovery, the universe and the natural world, as having so much to take wonder from without thinking that some Holy book has the answers to all and imagining some God creator.

So yes, I'm very much in agreement with your post, though I hadn't previously thought about extending my opinion to the point that you've made here.
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Freudian Monkey
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Freudian Monkey »

In my view our lives evolve around the concept of power, which I define and discuss further in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15226

I'm still pondering about how the concept of power relates to the meaning of life and I make some suggestions in the aforementioned thread. Please join the discussion there!
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Count Lucanor
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Count Lucanor »

Chili wrote: December 6th, 2017, 11:34 pm
Count Lucanor wrote: December 5th, 2017, 11:24 pm

Excuse me, where was that when I supposedly said that "things are in practice too complex to comprehend"? When did I say "agency is justified (or caused) by complexity"?
What else could your objections mean? Why else would it be significant that processes are "non linear" ?
A couple of good reasons will be:

1) To correct your impression that a person can only think scientifically in terms of mechanistic processes.
2) To correct your claim that physical interactions occur only in linear, unidirectional processes, "like dominoes falling over in a cascade / avalanche which began with the big bang if not before."

What else could they mean.
The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
Chili
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Chili »

Count Lucanor wrote: December 7th, 2017, 9:38 pm
Chili wrote: December 6th, 2017, 11:34 pm

What else could your objections mean? Why else would it be significant that processes are "non linear" ?
A couple of good reasons will be:

1) To correct your impression that a person can only think scientifically in terms of mechanistic processes.
2) To correct your claim that physical interactions occur only in linear, unidirectional processes, "like dominoes falling over in a cascade / avalanche which began with the big bang if not before."

What else could they mean.
Certainly you would have given some examples if you could think of some.
Chili
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Chili »

The way that a computer simulation works is by breaking things down into individual interactions. The dominoes. The fact that so many chains of cause-and-effect - so many waves on the ocean - are all meeting at a given point in space doesn't make something so complex as to be intrinsically "more than" or "other than" linear interactions. I think if you really had any acquaintance with science this would not come as much of a surprise.
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Count Lucanor
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Count Lucanor »

Chili wrote: December 7th, 2017, 9:56 pm The way that a computer simulation works is by breaking things down into individual interactions. The dominoes. The fact that so many chains of cause-and-effect - so many waves on the ocean - are all meeting at a given point in space doesn't make something so complex as to be intrinsically "more than" or "other than" linear interactions. I think if you really had any acquaintance with science this would not come as much of a surprise.
You obviously don't know what you talk about. Anyone with basic knowledge of computers knows that they operate with algorithms, which are sequential and rigorously predetermined in order for the instructions to flow, step by step, from the initial input to the final output, otherwise they'll crash. That's why they can only simulate events and can't be autonomous. Unlike the reality of nature, open and contingent.

Surely I never had acquaintance with the poor version of science that you handle.
The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.
― Marcus Tullius Cicero
Chili
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Chili »

Count Lucanor wrote: December 7th, 2017, 11:39 pm That's why they can only simulate events and can't be autonomous. Unlike the reality of nature, open and contingent.
Well, it's poetic. I'll give it that.
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A_Seagull
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by A_Seagull »

Perhaps at the most fundamental level the reason that organisms, such as we humans, exist is to garner energy from a source such as the Sun, albeit perhaps indirectly, that then allows the endothermic reaction of genetic reproduction to proceed.

:)
The Pattern Paradigm - yer can't beat it!
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A_Seagull
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by A_Seagull »

Perhaps at the most fundamental level the reason that organisms, such as we humans, exist is to garner energy from a source such as the Sun, albeit perhaps indirectly, that then allows the endothermic reaction of genetic reproduction to proceed.

:)
The Pattern Paradigm - yer can't beat it!
Judaka
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Judaka »

If we were simply born just to be born, without a real purpose, then we are just living empty lives with empty reasons, therefore there is no reason to our existence since whether we live or not is irrelevant. So I made my question to see if anyone had the answer to this question because I want to find out a reason for my existence so then I can truly exist, if that is important to you is for you to decide
You speak in terms such as "empty lives" and "empty reasons" which speaks to the reader that you believe you are capable of determining such things. Isn't the problem then, that your interpretation of the question: "why do we exist" the true root of your problem? You have decided a life without objective purpose is "empty" and devoid of meaning, regardless of whether it is objectively true that we have no objective meaning, it is not objectively true that this results in our lives being empty and meaningless. Hence, amend this interpretation and your problems are resolved, there is no need for an answer to your question.
Pelegrin_1
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by Pelegrin_1 »

Judaka wrote: December 22nd, 2017, 8:28 am You speak in terms such as "empty lives" and "empty reasons" which speaks to the reader that you believe you are capable of determining such things. Isn't the problem then, that your interpretation of the question: "why do we exist" the true root of your problem? You have decided a life without objective purpose is "empty" and devoid of meaning, regardless of whether it is objectively true that we have no objective meaning, it is not objectively true that this results in our lives being empty and meaningless. Hence, amend this interpretation and your problems are resolved, there is no need for an answer to your question.
I so much completely agree with all of the above. In one of my previous posts above, I just took what you've said here a bit further... There is all kinds of meaning for humans to derive from life if we choose to do so, and not view life as something too mundane to appreciate. For many people, who hold in their minds the concept of some God being, if they, as humans, can't in some way associate themselves with that God then mere human existence, or their human life, isn't enough for them.
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JamesOfSeattle
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Re: Why do we exist?

Post by JamesOfSeattle »

A_Seagull wrote: December 9th, 2017, 5:30 am Perhaps at the most fundamental level the reason that organisms, such as we humans, exist is to garner energy from a source such as the Sun [...]
Actually, not so much garnering energy for its own sake, but using the energy to increase entropy in the universe. That's what life does.

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