Thoughts
godinshackles will find this to be of interest I hope. So will the rest of you. I could and will, in time, write fully on the topic but for now enjoy.
There is much to be said for the utility of religion, specifically supernatural religions which assert the existence of a life beyond this one. Religions like these, such as Christianity, offer people comfort and refuge from being confronted with the possibility of utter oblivion not only of themselves but, in time, the entire human race. This possibility is, admittedly, depressing. While the idea that eventually humanity will be extinguished through natural means or by our own ignorance is unpalatable, I cannot see why it necessarily has to detract from the meaning of life. When I speak of "meaning", I do not mean what the end of life is, but rather life's intrinsic value.
I believe that life's value or meaning consists mainly in experiencing what greatness life has to offer. This is certainly no novel idea of course, but I believe it to be true nonetheless. The fact that all things in this realm must come to an end has no bearing upon the value of what is received in the duration of existence. Entropy ensures that nothing in this universe can escape the inevitable doom yet we as human beings ought not be discouraged by such a fact. Bertrand Russell put it very well,
"Happiness is none the less true happiness because it must come to an end, nor do thought and love lose their value because they are not everlasting."
There is no reason why we should abandon our dreams, our hopes, our aspirations and wallow in self-pity and contemptible feelings of worthlessness just because we cannot find any evidence in favor that we are the supreme and miraculous creation of God. We can and ought not let the idea of oblivion dispel our humanity and send us astray to wander listlessly in subjection to an the imaginary tyrant of time. We as human beings are not as powerless or worthless as we may be led to believe upon rejection the notion of God and immortality. The fact that life was not of some grand design, that it was very well perhaps the result of a myriad of random factors, a pure stroke of luck and probability, does not negate any value attached to life itself. In fact, the very contrary is true. Would it not be more valuable to know that who we are, what we are, is something beyond description, something with such grandiose and unimaginable meaning that our life is to be treasured like nothing else? In the lottery of the multiverse we came out grand prize winners.
Are all human accomplishments and activity in vain? Most certainly not. Even under Christian theology there will be the rapture in which all the accomplishments of humanity will be washed away in a cosmic conflagration. Science may assert differently that should humanity survive to the end of the universe all matter will slowly become inert, but both claim that there is no such thing as eternity for humanity in this sphere at least. However, has this stopped civilization in its tracks? Of course not and nor should it. Life is valuable it and of itself for experience; to love is to live fully, to be inspired by love is divine and will lead to the best that life has to offer.
We as human beings, as the collective humanity of which we are, ought to strive to do whatever is within our ability to do when it comes to the promotion of love and knowledge and the mitigation of suffering and ignorance. To afford the future generations the greatest possibility of happiness and success is society's ultimate goal and in pursuing this goal itself will achieve happiness. It is not the case that each generation will live solely upon the sufferings and hardships of the previous generation, but each generation when being driven by love and guided by knowledge will effectively attain a peace, a harmony, a happiness during its own stay in this world which we can, with enough work, make into our own heaven.
What I have been saying sounds very mystical in nature and, in a sense it is, because all great and profound philosophies and ideologies have an element of mysticism in them which is vital to their very success and truth. Love can show us what ends we must pursue if we are to live harmoniously and happily and knowledge will provide us the the means to our ends. There is no need for lofty fictitious deities or some spiritual order to the universe to provide us meaning and value to our lives.
There is much to be said for the utility of religion, specifically supernatural religions which assert the existence of a life beyond this one. Religions like these, such as Christianity, offer people comfort and refuge from being confronted with the possibility of utter oblivion not only of themselves but, in time, the entire human race. This possibility is, admittedly, depressing. While the idea that eventually humanity will be extinguished through natural means or by our own ignorance is unpalatable, I cannot see why it necessarily has to detract from the meaning of life. When I speak of "meaning", I do not mean what the end of life is, but rather life's intrinsic value.
I believe that life's value or meaning consists mainly in experiencing what greatness life has to offer. This is certainly no novel idea of course, but I believe it to be true nonetheless. The fact that all things in this realm must come to an end has no bearing upon the value of what is received in the duration of existence. Entropy ensures that nothing in this universe can escape the inevitable doom yet we as human beings ought not be discouraged by such a fact. Bertrand Russell put it very well,
"Happiness is none the less true happiness because it must come to an end, nor do thought and love lose their value because they are not everlasting."
There is no reason why we should abandon our dreams, our hopes, our aspirations and wallow in self-pity and contemptible feelings of worthlessness just because we cannot find any evidence in favor that we are the supreme and miraculous creation of God. We can and ought not let the idea of oblivion dispel our humanity and send us astray to wander listlessly in subjection to an the imaginary tyrant of time. We as human beings are not as powerless or worthless as we may be led to believe upon rejection the notion of God and immortality. The fact that life was not of some grand design, that it was very well perhaps the result of a myriad of random factors, a pure stroke of luck and probability, does not negate any value attached to life itself. In fact, the very contrary is true. Would it not be more valuable to know that who we are, what we are, is something beyond description, something with such grandiose and unimaginable meaning that our life is to be treasured like nothing else? In the lottery of the multiverse we came out grand prize winners.
Are all human accomplishments and activity in vain? Most certainly not. Even under Christian theology there will be the rapture in which all the accomplishments of humanity will be washed away in a cosmic conflagration. Science may assert differently that should humanity survive to the end of the universe all matter will slowly become inert, but both claim that there is no such thing as eternity for humanity in this sphere at least. However, has this stopped civilization in its tracks? Of course not and nor should it. Life is valuable it and of itself for experience; to love is to live fully, to be inspired by love is divine and will lead to the best that life has to offer.
We as human beings, as the collective humanity of which we are, ought to strive to do whatever is within our ability to do when it comes to the promotion of love and knowledge and the mitigation of suffering and ignorance. To afford the future generations the greatest possibility of happiness and success is society's ultimate goal and in pursuing this goal itself will achieve happiness. It is not the case that each generation will live solely upon the sufferings and hardships of the previous generation, but each generation when being driven by love and guided by knowledge will effectively attain a peace, a harmony, a happiness during its own stay in this world which we can, with enough work, make into our own heaven.
What I have been saying sounds very mystical in nature and, in a sense it is, because all great and profound philosophies and ideologies have an element of mysticism in them which is vital to their very success and truth. Love can show us what ends we must pursue if we are to live harmoniously and happily and knowledge will provide us the the means to our ends. There is no need for lofty fictitious deities or some spiritual order to the universe to provide us meaning and value to our lives.