(no subject)
As you may or may not be aware, I am not religious. I was raised Christian, but I have shunned Christianity long ago. So I am an existentialist. I don't know why we exist, or what qualifies as a meaningful existence, but it is something that I often contemplate. I can't say that I have arrived at any good conclusions, but there are some ideas I have tossed around.
There's this idea introduced by the Epic of Gilgamesh that there are two types of immortality, being that you can live forever in body (impossible), or you can technically live forever by being remembered forever. So the King Gilgamesh created the Epic of Gilgamesh, and 5000 years later, his memory persists. That is intriguing. So from this perspective, there is a need for us to leave a lasting impression on the world in whatever way.
I think that some form of mentoring might be existentially crucial. The act of spending your life accumulating wisdom and learing the wisdom of figures like John Lennon, and then passing it all on to some young people who can grow older and improve upon the greatest wisdoms yet. You can teach them everything you knoow about some skill in the hopes of creating the next Lance Armstrong or Bruce Lee. It is like Tupac says, "I won't change the world, but I gaurantee that I'll spark the brain does change the world."
Whenever I contemplate the fact that there's so many souls on this planet, humans and animals, I wonder what purpose there is for having so many. What I think is that being here is an opportunity to experience happiness and appreciate the beauty of nature. But it's not easy to think that for long, when you consider what life must be like for some wild animals. It must get pretty depressing living in the forest with various parasites, killing for food, being killed, etc.. So I dunno what to think about that. But either way, I think everybody has a responsibility to cultivate a life that makes them happy and make life pleasant for others.
My conclusion so far is that I still don't know. Suppose that I'm faced with a decision that on the one hand, my life could be easier (and thus happier), whereas on the other hand I could be more accomplished. Specifically, I can start using my bachelors degree right now to make substantial money and have a high standard of living, or I can delay happiness for another four years to ultimately end-up with a PhD. Also, I think that being poor and in school for another four years will prohibit me from ever ending-up with any females that I currently know. So the way I see it, it's a case of happiness from now until forever vs. the greater accomplishment.
There's this idea introduced by the Epic of Gilgamesh that there are two types of immortality, being that you can live forever in body (impossible), or you can technically live forever by being remembered forever. So the King Gilgamesh created the Epic of Gilgamesh, and 5000 years later, his memory persists. That is intriguing. So from this perspective, there is a need for us to leave a lasting impression on the world in whatever way.
I think that some form of mentoring might be existentially crucial. The act of spending your life accumulating wisdom and learing the wisdom of figures like John Lennon, and then passing it all on to some young people who can grow older and improve upon the greatest wisdoms yet. You can teach them everything you knoow about some skill in the hopes of creating the next Lance Armstrong or Bruce Lee. It is like Tupac says, "I won't change the world, but I gaurantee that I'll spark the brain does change the world."
Whenever I contemplate the fact that there's so many souls on this planet, humans and animals, I wonder what purpose there is for having so many. What I think is that being here is an opportunity to experience happiness and appreciate the beauty of nature. But it's not easy to think that for long, when you consider what life must be like for some wild animals. It must get pretty depressing living in the forest with various parasites, killing for food, being killed, etc.. So I dunno what to think about that. But either way, I think everybody has a responsibility to cultivate a life that makes them happy and make life pleasant for others.
My conclusion so far is that I still don't know. Suppose that I'm faced with a decision that on the one hand, my life could be easier (and thus happier), whereas on the other hand I could be more accomplished. Specifically, I can start using my bachelors degree right now to make substantial money and have a high standard of living, or I can delay happiness for another four years to ultimately end-up with a PhD. Also, I think that being poor and in school for another four years will prohibit me from ever ending-up with any females that I currently know. So the way I see it, it's a case of happiness from now until forever vs. the greater accomplishment.