What is your source of hope & meaning?

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2002-10-18 03:10am

kheegan wrote:Great thread! I'm an atheist, and my motivation is....space. To look up at the sky at night on clear night, I'm just filled with awe. I want my great-great-great-great-great-great....kids up there some day! Read Carl Sagan. Much of his eloquence is geared towards more or less the same idea. I still get a tingle up my spine when I read his works. I'm in university doing Physics with Space Science, and yesterday we studied spacecraft design...way cool!

KG

That's one of my major motivations as well. I find words cannot describe, but Sagan sure does come damn close.

Lord_Xerxes · Post by **Lord_Xerxes** » 2002-10-18 03:58am

Darth Wong wrote:Who gives a shit about deeper spiritual meaning? You are allowing religious people to tell you that you need something which only they can provide. It's no different than salesmen telling you that you need a product which you really don't.

You want a goal? Life is short, so have a good time and spread some cheer while you're here. Anything deeper than that is either morose or bullshit.

My hope and meaning is that I hope Mike takes over the world, creating for himself a grand empire against the idiocy of society, and cleans up this mess of a world we've got going.

I can imagine it now...Mandatory intelligence, rationality, and logic tests. And if you fail...you're put to death.

Mwuahahahah!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2002-10-18 09:22am

My source of hope and motivation is knowing that in the end nothing really matters. Life started as a puddle of shit on the ground and i'll be going back there eventually, but in the mean time have a good time, try not to harm anyone but mostly to laugh.

Larz · Post by **Larz** » 2002-10-18 03:51pm

My source of hope and motivation would be... hmm, oh yes.. me... isn't that were everything about oneself comes from?... oh, philisophically... well... its still me. I do things and hold hope because I think I should due to my own values and morals. And hope... just something that comes up whenever there is a bad situation... nothing more.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2002-10-18 08:59pm

Chocolate.

And peanut butter.

And chocolate and peanut butter mixed together. Oh, yes.

Carcharodon · Post by **Carcharodon** » 2002-10-19 03:34am

The people in the first catagory have a problem. If the world as you see it is perfect, then you don't really have much to do. That's boring.

Any amount of imperfection is better than perfection, even if such a thing were possible. It's the work of striving for improvement that gives life its meaning–the notion of never reaching the limits of what can be done, but accomplishing more all the time. Infinity and zero are essentially the same.

This is why I have trouble with theology. It claims to offer everything and nothing at the same time.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » 2002-10-19 08:08am

Darth Wong wrote:Who gives a shit about deeper spiritual meaning? You are allowing religious people to tell you that you need something which only they can provide. It's no different than salesmen telling you that you need a product which you really don't.

I didn't intend to imply that it had to be deeper spiritual meaning (although, I will admit that a couple of my lists might have made it look like that was what I meant).

I was actually angling more for the line of "Why do you bother getting up in the morning?" And I think that is the sort of responses we've been getting

You want a goal? Life is short, so have a good time and spread some cheer while you're here.

Works for me!

Despite my tendency to wander off into the land of metaphysical philosophy, your attitude is much the same as my own - enjoy your own life first, and while you're at it, try to leave the world a little bit better than the way it was when you found it.

The stuff about 'helping humanity achieve its potential' is nothing more than an attempt to figure out what I actually mean by 'better' in the above sentence. . .

Anything deeper than that is either morose or bullshit.

Well, yes, I basically agree - I believe that was why I started the topic in the first place. "What's the point?" can be an extraordinarily morbid question - so it is a good idea to comes to terms with the question, rather than just avoiding it completely. The fact that it is also a possible fear for people who are reluctant to abandon their religious faith, means that understanding our own mechanisms for dealing with the question, is a useful way of helping to alleviate those fears.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » 2002-10-19 08:15am

XPViking wrote:Actually if I could just modify your "true believer" category, the "answer" to "what's the point" would be found within those things that you mentioned; their purpose in life and their faith (in whatever that is). In other words, the answer is provided, and then in a sense, the search is over.

That's not what my true believer category was about - the form of true belief I am talking about there is not a healthy thing. I was talking about the people who have never taken the time to question what they believe - if their faith tells them something is so, then they believe it. (Again, people can have this attitude towards things other than an organised religion - political parties, their nation, their skin colour, themselves, etc)

It is not that the answer is provided, so there is no need to search - it is that the question never even gets asked.

I'm a true believer, but honestly, I sometimes do have my doubts.

Eh? XPV, I'd put you somewhere between 'doubting believer' and 'deliberate believer'. You might have been a true believer once, but you actually have the courage to question your own faith, and figure out how much of it you personally are willing to agree with. And that's a very good thing

Nick · Post by **Nick** » 2002-10-19 08:16am

Darth Wong wrote:
Nick wrote:(Note to mods: yes this is on topic for S, L & M - trust me!)
Actually, on a completely off-topic tangent, the acronym for this forum would be SLAM. I guess nobody noticed my attempt at clever word placement

Dang, I missed it. . .

And I'm usually good at spotting that sort of thing

Nick · Post by **Nick** » 2002-10-19 08:23am

Icehawk wrote:I just officially dumped my faith earlier this year. I would actually like to thank Mike Wong personally because he was technically the final deciding factor which lead up to it. These last few years I had been kinda swinging back and forth and then his brilliant Science vs Creationism page and even just SD.net in general played a huge final deciding role for me.

You too, huh? I thought it was kind of interesting - move away from the youth group I'd previously been spending a lot of time with, and then spend a lot of time reading SD.net. . . you can see the result

This past year being an athiest has been pretty smooth and I find it funny to see that I used to be so blind in the past. However due to the fact I wasn't raised as an atheist I have had to work myself mentally from time to time to keep myself from getting depressed. Although I will say that one of the biggest things that keeps me going is simply that... There is just TO MUCH to live for in this world. However shitty it may seem at times I find that there is just to much to see, expierience, and to learn. I just find this existance so interesting to live in that I cannot even ponder the thought of giving it up prematurely.

No matter how many cheesy limitations we have as human beings, there is just so much that we are still capable of at the same time that makes life well worth living.

Ooh, I LIKE him. Can we keep him?

Nick · Post by **Nick** » 2002-10-19 08:34am

Carcharodon wrote:The people in the first catagory have a problem. If the world as you see it is perfect, then you don't really have much to do. That's boring.

If it appears to be perfect, you should look closer. On the other hand, "good enough" is frequently underrated. . .

Any amount of imperfection is better than perfection, even if such a thing were possible. It's the work of striving for improvement that gives life its meaning–the notion of never reaching the limits of what can be done, but accomplishing more all the time.

By that definition, perfection would be a state involving something to strive for - so the perfect state is one which is good, but always having room for improvement. Works for me!

(Completely off-topic example for this happening in real life: I was involved in solar car racing when I was at university - the mech engineers who did the original chassis did a really good job, so there was no way for undergrads to improve the body design. We'd got the electronics up to the point where the drive-train efficiency was something obscene like 95-97%. We had full support vehicle telemetry (drivers felt like big brother was watching them, because everything they did, aside from steering, showed up on the telemetry screen). Everything that could be done with SFA funding had been done - and the team basically fell apart. There was no appeal in racing anymore, because there was no way to make significant improvements without throwing massive amounts of money at the car. And, because all the easy improvements had been made, there weren't any interesting jobs to give to undergrads - so recruiting stalled, too.)

Infinity and zero are essentially the same.

This is why I have trouble with theology. It claims to offer everything and nothing at the same time.

Well, theology can offer a bit of emotional comfort. That's about it, though.

ReinnResauq · Post by **ReinnResauq** » 2002-10-19 10:11pm

I really don't think I'm in any of those categories. I find that we don't have a purpose but that it doesn't matter. Why should it? If you need a purpose, make one! Don't fuck around feeling sorry for yourself because you don't see any point since you might miss out on finding one.

Death is coming to us all, regardless of our outlook on life. It's coming and there's no way to stop it. All I can do is try to see why this world is the way it is and maybe make it a little better for those who've made it better for me.

Alan Bolte · Post by **Alan Bolte** » 2002-10-20 12:10am

I don't see any reason or purpose to life, but I just sort of end up doing whatever comes easiest. Whatever direction my emotions take me. Sort of a 'let the world continue on course, not that you have a choice in the matter' kind of a thing. Of course, for me that means being one of the best students at one of the best High Schools in the US (I can even qualify that with some info from the College Board), having a roaring good time with computers, humans, etc., and probably ending up at a good but relatively mundane job and making no mark on the history books whatsoever.
Don't give a damn. But I did find one thing interesting. Before making the conscious effort not to believe in anything, I had agreed to some extent with the idea that life would become boing and not worth living if you lived forever. But I just can't see that anymore. Something's always happening, and for now at least the future remains unpredictable. I want to see humanity leave this rock, I want to see whatever life may be out there, I want to read the May 3001 issue of whatever science journal is around then. Somewhere between ages 12 and 14 I went from depressed that there was no point to life to annoyed that I wouldn't live long.
Oh, and don't get up every morning. And drink your milk.
Especially you, Mr. Bean. Milk and cookies. I'm hungry.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2002-10-20 12:30am

Darth Wong wrote:You want a goal? Life is short, so have a good time and spread some cheer while you're here. Anything deeper than that is either morose or bullshit.

Just how I feel on the subject.

Setesh · Post by **Setesh** » 2002-10-20 03:32am

Off topic but I dated Hope for awhile, soft hands.

I do things mostly because I feel like doing them. I'm about to embark on a quest to learn Japanese. Why? I want to go there again and be able to speak more than 8 words.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2002-10-20 02:12pm

My reason for existance...video games. Shallow, but it's the truth. Also, I want to go into space at least once before I die.

SWPIGWANG · Post by **SWPIGWANG** » 2002-10-25 04:36pm

hope? meaning?

what are those?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-10-27 11:30am

My boys.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2002-10-27 11:45am

Is that one of those 'dirt' cakes made with Oreo crumbs and gummi worms?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-10-27 11:49am

Andrew J. wrote:Is that one of those 'dirt' cakes made with Oreo crumbs and gummi worms?

No, it's a regular cake with Oreo cookies on top. David picked it out at the grocery store.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2002-10-27 12:06pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Andrew J. wrote:Is that one of those 'dirt' cakes made with Oreo crumbs and gummi worms?
No, it's a regular cake with Oreo cookies on top. David picked it out at the grocery store.

Okay, it just looked like there was a gummi something right in the middle there...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-10-27 12:07pm

Andrew J. wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
Andrew J. wrote:Is that one of those 'dirt' cakes made with Oreo crumbs and gummi worms?
No, it's a regular cake with Oreo cookies on top. David picked it out at the grocery store.
Okay, it just looed like there was a gummi something right in the middle there...

Candles shaped like construction vehicles. The boys love 'em.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2002-10-27 08:13pm

What's my source of hope and meaning? Hmmm...

Yep! There it is!

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

What is your source of hope & meaning?

Paradox or no?

Re: What is your source of hope & meaning?

Re: Paradox or no?