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Tue 3 Oct, 2006 09:52 pm
Here is a summary of how I feel about things right now. Basically, I see no purpose in living. I mean, we are all going to die in the end, so what's the point of living until 80. 80 years is not very long when compared to eternity. If I am going to be dead for eternity, than is 80 years really going to make a difference? The way I see it, nothing I do in my life will matter at all in the end, because I will be gone. Some people will say the affect you have on other people continues after you die, but eventually that affect dies too. Also, it does not matter at all to me after I die what affect I had on people.
I see no point in going on, or at least no point in trying. My performance in school has gone down also, mainly because I see no point in any of it. Besides, I really don't view schooling as being as beneficial as some make it out to be. To me, in school, you are for the majority of your time memorizing a set of facts, or a random set up meaningless information. Most people, in my opinion, never truly understand anything. Understanding, to me, is more of an intellectual matter. It takes curiosity to understand. A person's curiosity must be sparked in order to take the initiative to truly learn about something they find interesting, and come to a full understanding of it. Plus, if we are only living for 80 or so years any ways, what is the point of wasting so much time in schooling? Shouldn't we be out enjoying what we have for the amount of time we have it? Is it really going to matter if I get an extremely high-paying job? Having a high-paying job is not going to stop you from dying. And after you die, you wasted so many years on that high paying job, and now it doesn't matter at all. It was all just a waste.
By the way, I do not fear death, I just question the point of everything before death. Sometimes I question if it would really matter if I just ended it all right now. Would it matter? To me, at least at this time, it would not.
Anyone have anything to say about this? Can anyone suggest any reading or anything that addresses some of this?
Welcome to the forum, ricman. Come sit for a while. Have a burger and some fries. Maybe things will clear up after you fill your belly.
ricman you think too much dude. (hmmm this might be a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black... argh) Really you do. Life is a gift. Enjoy it while you can because there are no guarantee's of a tomorrow. All the things you think are pointless right now actually have value. As much value as you will allow them to have in your life anyway. School is more than memorizing useless facts. It is about learning disciple, purpose, growing, and maturing. Since the day you were born you have been learning. You have been in the school of life. Long after you get out of high school you will still have much to learn. Some will be beneficial for you in your own life, some will be beneficial for you to help others in their life. It's just how it goes.
The true waste of time would be for you to have lived a short time then killed yourself just because you saw no point to life since you were going to die anyway. You haven't even experienced life. Believe me. There are so many good things out there. Opportunities, people, places. So much to see. So much to do. Don't live your life in a dark little corner thinking you know all you need to know right now so lets just end it. You honestly don't know as much as you think you do probably and you (as well as me and everyone else) will always be far from knowing everything!
P.S. Welcome to A2K.
Your ideas find good company. As Shakespeare put it.....life is"a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing"(Macbeth)
However, more optimistically, you have a number of choices in reading but essentially the (a)The "I that sees no purpose" is only one aspect of what we call "consciousness" and (b) analysis of the word "purpose" gives some interesting directions about the meaning of "causality" and "reality". General reading on these topics in philosophy
is useful.
For a non-religious "comfort text" I recommend the writings of Krishnamurti. In particlar his conversations with David Bohm the celebrated physicist are of interesting intellectual content.
Self-justificatory religionists will of course be "eager to claim your soul" ! Being "born again" with "God's purpose" has always been a big seller.
We all might end up in the same place in the end, but we can have a lot of fun getting there...
Or we might be miserable all the way, I would not recommend it, though!
Re: I SEE NO POINT
In a way you're right, richman. Is there a purpose in life? Probably not.
Does that mean that life is not worth living? Not necessarily...
It may seem like a completely meaningless process, but why not simply lie back from time to time and admire the beauty of the universe and reality and keep wondering what it is.
Sometimes I enjoy looking at the universe as a beautiful piece of art, even though life itself may seem like pure BS that's not worth living 99% of the time.
ricman123 wrote:If I am going to be dead for eternity...
This is a tricky topic.
What if the concept of
you is only relevant
while alive and from your current
observation point? Saying that "you" will be dead for eternity may not be accurate.
life is God's gift to you, what you do with it is your gift to God
ricman
When you state that you see no purpose in living, are you assuming that you have seen all that life is? I used to share your view of life, and I have felt the crushing despair of meaninglessness. For me, a remedy was the realization that I don't neccesarily know everything. I might have the wrong idea altogether. The thoughts and writings that fresco speaks of have been a great inspiration to me.
But I cannot say that this would do the same for you. For me, the belief that "no one truly knows anything" is a great comfort. For others it is a source of great woe.
But no one does truly know anything. So all the talk about what can and cannot be done isn't always worth paying any heed. The ability to dream is often underestimated, and even more often scorned. But the dreams of today are the things that mold the future, so no one can really tell you that what is in your head is not right.
Realizing that your body and what you think of as yourself will not live forever is hard. Mortality.
I wonder how old you are? I think as a child, sometimes teenager we tend to have this illusion of invinsibility. It is sweet. Some have this illusion smashed earlier than others, some are full-grown adults still believing they are not going to die.
So your body will die after a certain amount of time, or maybe sooner. Everything you do here - perishable.
So what? How does that change the fact that you are alive now? And it can be sweet.
This is all in your head. If you think differently, you will experience differently. If you keep feeding these same thoughts you will simply live in accordance to them....and make your life meaningless to you. Each day choosing that.
As simplistic as this sounds, I think you just need a good cry and a smack on the side of the head. Rattle out those thoughts.
If someone gave you a cake - would you not eat it and enjoy it, or would you say "The cake will be gone soon anyways. It has no inherent meaning. Kill the cake!"
Yes, it is that silly.
Though I also wonder if you may be depressed. If that is the case, philosophy and talking about this here will not help. You should go to a doctor.
Krishnamurti is good food.
I like reading the Dalai Lama's writings when feeling like life is piss.
flushd
I like the cake example. Refreshingly simple.
But I am not sure I agree that talking cannot help remedy depression. Making the depression the object of conversation, simply spewing out all black thoughts, or lamenting the absence of them may be as effective as the medication a doctor can perscribe.
I do not really know much about this in psychological terms, I must confess, but someone once told me that a depression can be a result of a natural chain of thoughts that is particularly self-destructive. That it shows on scans of the brain doesn't determine wether the altered biological activity in the brain is the cause of the ailment, or an effect of it.
Cyracus,
What you say makes sense. From what I've learned (and my own experience), I'd agree that talking can sometimes help. And there is definetly a chain of negative thoughts which feed upon themselves.
The thing about depression is how multifaceted and individual it is. For one person with a mild depression - talking and having some support and maybe reading may bust them out of it.
For others it may not be enough, or it may make it worse.
That's what I based my suggestion to see a doctor on. To get a diagnosis, determine if it is indeed depression and if it is just how severe it is.
A good doctor should not be handing out antidepressants right away (not at all if you don't want them). They can be referral point and link a person up with suitable treatment.
I'm certainly no expert. Only want to encourage those who may be becoming depressed to see a doctor. 'Cause it is physical too.
When you put it like that a doctor doesn't seem like a bad idea.
I agree that it is physical too. I guess it's a case of the chicken and the egg.
Welcome to A2K ricman123.
What do you like doing? What do you really enjoy?
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