What is the point of doing anything?

Forums: Philosophy, Philosophical Questions
Email this Topic • Print this Page

A strange question, who can answer it? I have pangs of doubt. Achievement, creating a life for oneself, accomplishing things, these things for some people require something to exist beyond themselves in order to make sense and have some sort of meaning. The feeling of emptiness, feeling pointless, as if everyone else has something in themselves that allows them to see the world in a certain way, and I, I have a blur, an ever changing view on things. I sometimes reproach myself for being too sure, in that I suddenly realize that I’m getting carried away with my certainty, and so I respond with doubt, because it seems to be the least foolish thought in existence.

How can you be a fool if you doubt?

Foolishness is the result of overconfidence, sure-footedness, conviction, but if you doubt then you avoid all possible stumbling blocks. I know how ridiculous that sounds, how faithless such a mentality is, because everyone who acts has faith in his or her choice of action. People believe what they are doing is right, that there isn’t anything better they could be doing in their situation, but doubt questions that, it says “how can you know?”, and obviously you can’t know, but its still there in my mind, bugging me.

I’m not even entirely sure why I wrote this, maybe it was simply to feel a little more substantial in myself, or maybe its because I actually doubt. That is the only thing in myself that I am certain of, that I doubt. I find this ridiculous.

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 14 • Views: 8,532 • Replies: 37

No top replies

@existential potential,

There is no point.
And that's the whole point.

0 Replies

@existential potential,

The point of doing anything?:
You might achieve something?

0 Replies

I disagree, I think foolishness is a sign of ignorance.
But why worry, just be.

0 Replies

@existential potential,

The "I" that asks the question is just one facet of a constantly shifting "self". Each facet has needs which may be satisfied by different activities.

2 Replies

@fresco,

there is almost a need to doubt sometimes, to feel cautious, in order to prick ones' awareness, to keep one' perspective in check.

0 Replies

@fresco,

“There is a certain delusion in action, in the foundation and justification of one’s action in the light of reality. Ignorance lies in all action, in that to act at all, one must feel undoubtedly certain about everything, which is impossible for man to achieve, and so in order to act, one must forget about this impossibility, to make it possible. We bury our heads in the sand, put on our blinkers, when we go out into the world to “achieve”. If we were deprived of our blinkers we would be positively paralysed by the blinding light of reality, which would on contact burn our sight, blur our vision on life.”

2 Replies

@existential potential,

But "reality" may be a construction as far as "self" (or "selves") is concerned. Beyond physiological needs, "self" implies that we are essentially social beings insofar as we "think" using a socially acquired language. The fact that we spend time on forums such as this underscores our "need" for interaction. Even if material reality points in the one pessimistic direction of decay and death, social reality can involve constructions more persitent than the individuals who contribute to it, hence concepts of "art", "culture" and "technological and scientific progress". In such constructions it is never "self" alone which benefits.

0 Replies

The point of doing anything is to be better off (happier)
than u were b4 u did it.

David

0 Replies

@existential potential,

Quote:

“There is a certain delusion in action, in the foundation and justification of one’s action in the light of reality. Ignorance lies in all action, in that to act at all, one must feel undoubtedly certain about everything,

Who said you need to feel certain to act? In fact, whether or not you 'do' anything, you are are creating something.

We in fact, create our lives, and everything in it...just as everyone else does. The balance seems very much like the Ying & Yang symbol...but in the end, we must realise that we do in fact, create our lives. Every friend we have, the job we have, the skills we have, the degree of spirituality, our fitness...it is all something we create (this of course, isn't an absolute truth - but I'm sure you can see that for most times, it is essentially correct). We can create passively which isn't a conscious creation and so doesn't likely have great results, or we can consciously (& unconcsciously) make our world what it is to be.

Quote:

which is impossible for man to achieve, and so in order to act, one must forget about this impossibility, to make it possible. We bury our heads in the sand, put on our blinkers, when we go out into the world to “achieve”. If we were deprived of our blinkers we would be positively paralysed by the blinding light of reality, which would on contact burn our sight, blur our vision on life.”

Again, I disagree - we aren't responsible for other peoples creations - just our own.

Where two creations entangle, we have a relationship, and what is created there is usually within the sphere of influence of the most conscious creator.

Life, by the way, has the meaning we give it. "Happiness" is one such, "Genuine Friendship" may be another, "entertainment & enjoyment" is a common adolescent one. Making a meal may have the meaning of 'tantalising the tastebuds' or be given as mundane a meaning as 'just nourishing the body so it will function' (and so the same goes for all activities)

0 Replies

@existential potential,

If your talking about a meaning of life then it's entirely subjective and nobody outside of yourself can answer that question, you need to find your own meaning.

If it's a question of whether you can know anything, then a typically Cartesian answer is that you know that you can think. As long as you know that you are then I think that there is at least one point, that is, you.

0 Replies

@existential potential,

The point of doing anything, as far as I'm concerned, is feeling good right now.
And when you get to that point, you may realize that you have energy to spare, and a little planning ahead can make the good feeling last longer.

But then you plan too far or too much ahead, and you run ahead of the moment and the good feeling. So you stop and let the moment catch up, but you stand idle for too long, and suddenly the good times are spent, and you need to start working just to feel good right now again.

It's tricky. But alot of it comes down to finding out who you are. Your own identity, defined in such a way that you can feel good about it. Defined by you, not by those around you. And finding who you are may at first seem to be a matter of sitting silently, eyes turned inward and pondering the less illuminated aspects of your soul. But that may be a false trail. In my experience, the best way to get to know yourself is by expressing yourself. Do it in such a way that it makes you feel good right now. And when you have some energy to spare, you may even plan ahead a little, so that the good times may last... Wink

1 Reply

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative… " Oscar Wilde

Enjoy the spice of life. Don't be afrai of doubting or believing. You can always change your mind.

1 Reply

@sullyfish6,

Yes. But a crab who's lost enough legs on one side can only walk in circles. Fortunately for the crab, they walk sideways to begin with, so maybe it isn't so bad....

0 Replies

@Cyracuz,

Quote:

The point of doing anything, as far as I'm concerned, is feeling good right now.

What happens when what felt good right now :
- ends up stuffing your body up (eg, doing drugs)
- getting you addicted
- losing your best mate (eg having sex with his girl)
- makes you enemies (you vent at them without thought, cause 'it feels good right now')
- etc, etc.

Perhaps you didn't quite mean it that way?

1 Reply

@vikorr,

Vikorr, if any of those things happen... then you didn't know yourself and what you want quite as well as you maybe ought to.

I ment it as i wrote it, but hearing your take on it I don't think I would recommend this advice to you without further admonitions. Wink

1 Reply

@existential potential,

I find myself wondering this same thing all the time. Iv'e found that honestly there is no purpose for anything we do. As kids were forced to go to school this leads us to a basic understanding of the world around us which is good. Then when we mature into adulthood we get thrown into what i call Life's Circle of Despair. Everything we do in life leads right back around to its self.....let me explain. We work to make money, this money is spent on keeping us alive and healthy, but also for extra material things. If it's a new car or a nice vacation we spend the money we earn and create bills. We must then make more money to pay these bills, but then theres always something else we don't mind going in debt for so we spend more money. It's just a big cycle of work, spend, work, spend. Then in the end we all die. So truly the point of doing anything is to keep us occupied and sufficed till we're freed from these circles of despair through death. It's frightening and well frankly scary, but then comes the realization that because of this we must live our lives to the fullest. Make more of life than just something to do till we die. Make it enjoyable and fun. So truly the only things worth doing are those that make you and those you love happy.

0 Replies

@Cyracuz,

Vikorr wrote:

What happens when what felt good right now :
- ends up stuffing your body up (eg, doing drugs)
- getting you addicted
- losing your best mate (eg having sex with his girl)
- makes you enemies (you vent at them without thought, cause 'it feels good right now')
- etc, etc.Perhaps you didn't quite mean it that way?

Cyracuz wrote:

Vikorr, if any of those things happen... then you didn't know yourself and what you want quite as well as you maybe ought to.

In relation to psychosis from certain drugs, there’s a genetic lottery that has nothing to do with ‘knowing yourself as well as you ought to’. To a lesser degree, the same goes for addictions " some people are more genetically prone to addictions than others.
As for the others - see below.

Cyracuz wrote:

I ment it as i wrote it, but hearing your take on it I don't think I would recommend this advice to you without further admonitions.

Perhaps you need to try understanding your use of the English language. You have said one thing, the literal interpretation of which, has natural consequences / forseeable and unforseeable...which don't come into the equation of making a decision based on 'feeling good right now'.

Now, you may interpret 'feeling good right now' one way...and it can mean a completely different thing to other people (again, as an example, drugs). The problem is - you are missing something in your explanation that you apparently believe is there for all to see.

1 Reply

@existential potential,

Life is a game of risks and learning from your mistakes.As you sit and consider what mistakes could happen,time passes you by and you learn,experience and accomplish nothing.Honestly this game of risks is what gives you experience for the risks or mistakes of the future.In life you need something to aim at because without nothing to aim you have nothing to work with and without nothing to work with, you wont know were to go.Another funny thing about life is that there isnt any point to anything, its what point you give a pointless life =P.What is the point in doing anything and what is the point of doing nothing?When you ask youself these questions you soon realize that its not whats the point of doing anything that matters, its why you would not want to do anything.The primary reason for doing nothing is fear of failure or even change.So in this phase of doing nothing you may think your comfortable but as time passes and your time of death becomes apparent you begin to regret the time/life you have wasted.I think its good to realize that you and life are one in the same.Without life there wouldn't be indentity,inspiration,ideas thoughts, you name it.So its moving with life and learning from life is how you can move forward in life.So in life you got to be a fool to move forward and wise to learn from your foolish mistakes (I am not saying to be reckless, alittle cautiouness is good).

0 Replies

@existential potential,

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:"
-Shakespere

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.”
-Sarte

”There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” "Camus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus

You are responsible for creating your own meaning because there is none. Human life is redundant. Ignorance is bliss, stupid people do not have this problem but because you are a thinker you have screwed yourself by finding out life is meaningless (or redundent) and now you must find one, or commit suicide or be a very unhappy person.

1 Reply

What is the point of doing anything?

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know