What's the Meaning of Life?

The British Humanist Association, and Stephen Fry have this short video:

http://www.upworthy.com/what-the-hell-do-people-believe-in-if-they-dont-believe-in-god-this-guy-has-one-heck-of-an-answer?c=reccon1

Works for me.

Quote: TheCesspit

The British Humanist Association, and Stephen Fry have this short video:

http://www.upworthy.com/what-the-hell-do-people-believe-in-if-they-dont-believe-in-god-this-guy-has-one-heck-of-an-answer?c=reccon1

Works for me.

Boom. Done. All other arguments are rendered pointless.

Bravo.

Excellent. Thanx for sharing.

Very well done video, but there are grave problems to the idea that there are many meanings in a life.

- What happens when your meaning of life found in a certain political idea conflicts with my meaning found in its contrary position?

- Can we really find happiness or meaning in life through selfishness, such as ignoring a world full of needy people so we can watch our soap operas, care for our gardens, or collect stamps?

- In fact this happy little video seems to ignore the real problem for us as human beings, which is inevitable suffering and that despite our best efforts our collection will always be incomplete, our knowledge fall short, or race car comes in second, and our health eventually gets in the way to fulfilling what we think our meaning of life is.

- wouldn't it make more sense to look at some universal desires in humanity to discover a universal meaning for life instead of breaking up the meaning of life into an infinite number of possibilities based on a persons' temperament, skills, upbringing etc.? This would unify humanity towards a common goal rather than divide us into whatever it is we want or like to do and making this the be all, end all. Imagine what we could do if we said something like the meaning of life was to put our diverse gifts and talents towards service to those less fortunate. Then not only would we be utilizing our gifts, but we would be truly happy doing so with a purpose in mind bigger than just ourselves.

Quote: FrGamble

we really find happiness or meaning in life through selfishness, such as ignoring a world full of needy people so we can watch our soap operas, care for our gardens, or collect stamps?

This one makes me wonder.

While you have supplied relatively meaningless hobbies, what of the great discoveries? We use words like compulsion, obsession, selfishness, and always as a negative. But was there not an influence of obsession with someone like, say, Salk? What was it like to be his peer, his family, his wife? Could it not be imagined that his wife or three children have felt he was being "selfish", devoting so much of his life and time on something that might not even have existed - a cure? Without what we perceive as selfishness or obsession, could the great discoveries, the great thoughts, our great education,... could all of that exist? Could any of it?

Quote: FrGamble

- wouldn't it make more sense to look at some universal desires in humanity to discover a universal meaning for life instead of breaking up the meaning of life into an infinite number of possibilities based on a persons' temperament, skills, upbringing etc.? This would unify humanity towards a common goal rather than divide us into whatever it is we want or like to do and making this the be all, end all.

A noble thought. But it is, I think it is safe to say, impossible.

What is a universal desire? To be warm? There are plenty who beg for cold. To have food, a home, shelter? Some want more, some want less. Some want different kinds... there will never be a consensus on even these most basic needs and wants.

That's just life. Your personal desire to give your life to Christ and spread the word of God is not something I'd ever accept for myself. Your heaven is my hell. Just the same, my personal desire to raise my child appropriately isn't something you can even fathom. I don't mean that as a put down, but without actually experiencing the feelings of being a father, you cannot truly "get it". You cannot empathize with what it must feel like to almost have your child die, just as I cannot empathize with what it must be like to try to save someone and fail. You cannot experience the level of pride felt when your child "get's it", just as I cannot understand the feeling you get when someone is saved. We can imagine, we can come close, but we can't "know" it.

Life being split up into an infinite number of possibilities based on a person's self isn't a choice. It is simply a truth. Just as tree grows in an infinite number of configurations based on its habitat and influences, so, too, does the mind and life of a human. It just is.

And I think the thought, not that things might be better if we unified, but that things would definitely be better if we unified entirely, takes us back into dangerous territory. After all, haven't the biggest atrocities committed by man been caused by that same style of thinking? That people would be "better off" if they just looked like us, talked like us, believed what we believed, had cultures like ours?

In regards to the hobbies I was just using the ones presented on the video as possible meanings of life. I too thought they were too banal to come close to what anyone might reasonably consider as a meaning for life. Your example of Salk is intriguing. I don't know how obsessed he became in regards to finding that cure, to the detriment of his family perhaps. However, it made me think that everything we do should be somehow for others.

You mentioned being a father. That is a job that demands of you to put the other first. Your happiness and meaning for life is not found in yourself but rather in the other, to watch your kid "get it". This might be the biggest problem with what that video presents. We pretend that our meaning for life is all about us, what we want, what we are good at, etc. but in reality we only really find our happiness in helping others.

We might want to go so far as to say that this could be a universal desire - happiness or better yet peace and deep seated joy, which is only found in loving service to another. I believe you simply will never find that inner peace or true joy in just doing whatever you want to do and doing it just for you. No matter how well you do and how successful you are, it will leave you wanting more or empty, if it isn't done for something other than yourself.

Quote: TheCesspit

The British Humanist Association, and Stephen Fry have this short video:
http://www.upworthy.com/what-the-hell-do-people-believe-in-if-they-dont-believe-in-god-this-guy-has-one-heck-of-an-answer?c=reccon1
.

It's funny, listening to this so was so boring because
I've believed this way for so long it was all old news.
Of course life has no built in purpose or meaning,
just observe it for one day.

Is Kim Jong un selfish? I assume he is doing exactly what he wants.

Many serial killers appear to be selfish when they kidnap, torture and kill

OTOH, which is the following (below) You could probably argue selfishness and altruism go hand in hand, and neither is complete without the other.

Quote:

The team asked the soldiers the same question Stouffer asked soldiers in his 1949 study -- “Generally, in your combat experience, what was most important to you in making you want to keep going and do as well as you did.”

American soldiers in Iraq responded similarly to their ancestors about wanting to return home, but the most frequent response given for combat motivation was “fighting for my buddies,” Wong’s report said.

The report uncovered two roles for social cohesion in combat.

One role is that each soldier is responsible for group success and protecting the unit from harm. As one soldier put it, “That person means more to you than anybody. You will die if he dies. That is why I think that we protect each other in any situation. I know that if he dies, and it was my fault, it would be worse than death to me.”

.

I assume the Pope gets something out of selflessness. If you only get suffering from being selfless, I certainly admire the stamina of some people to do it.

Quote: FrGamble

We might want to go so far as to say that this could be a universal desire - happiness or better yet peace and deep seated joy, which is only found in loving service to another. I believe you simply will never find that inner peace or true joy in just doing whatever you want to do and doing it just for you. No matter how well you do and how successful you are, it will leave you wanting more or empty, if it isn't done for something other than yourself.

Is the an absolute, Father? I would contend it's not. But even if it is, it doesn't matter... the Humanist approach is to say to find that from within, that loving service for others will make you happy, and then do it.

But I would contend it does not for everyone, and of course there will be contention. But again, there's no rule that says it has to make sense for all. When you apply the ruler of an absolute answer and meaning for all in one size, every other answer just doesn't measure up. But the BHA is saying 'hey, through that ruler away, it's broken and doesn't work'.

Is the ruler really broken or we as humanists just want an excuse to do whatever makes us fleetingly happy based on our whims and our fancies? Do you think looking around at our culture today that the make up your own personal meaning of life based on what you want is really working?

I really like your point about finding that absolute from within and I think our salvation will lie in precisely that. It would be hard to prove that putting your gifts and talents towards the loving service of others is the universal meaning of life by argument alone. It is much more quickly and more convincingly discovered through our life experiences.

"I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer." - Jim Carrey