Replies, incoming!
@GTR12@Jacanuk I knew Monty Python references were coming. I did not suspect they would arrive so soon. XD
The sort of nod to "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas also has its place in this discussion.
@ArchoNils2 I've never seen Equilibrium, but I think the scene makes a good point. However important or minor our feelings are in the grand scheme of life, they are a large part of the experience of life to us.
Last year I had some deep discussions with a buddy about men and women, and about the differences between them. One thing he noticed, that maybe I didn't realize all of these years, is that one of the things women in our world are raised to value are feelings - to seek out different feelings, even sad ones. I consider myself to be a fairly emotional guy, so I can't help wondering if women are a lot better at feeling subtle feelings than men are even capable of noticing. But that's just a random though, I digress.
@Stranger_36 It's not a bad way to be, either. Of course, I don't think I can be entirely honest and say I don't still question and wonder about things.
@pinkanimal I try my best to do this. It's difficult though, because I have had a really difficult time connecting with other people for most of my life. I actually had a conversation with my sister today, and that was nice - she opened up a lot more than usual, when over the past few years she would usually cut short our phone calls and explain that our parents were off somewhere and to try calling them on their cellphones. I think it takes two people many years and lots of effort to really get to know one another. And even then, most people don't give the same amount of effort as you do.
Up until a good 4 years ago I couldn't really say that I had friends, but now I think I can say for sure that I've found some worthwhile friendships in my life. I just think that approaching 30, it is going to remain difficult to cultivate meaningful relationships in my life because most people around my age group have started families and begun careers.
@korvus Potential is a good thought. I wish I were more motivated and had better life-management skills sometimes. I know my one friend is better at maintaining a pleasing lifestyle than myself, so maybe you need to really have a good job before you can think about improving your potential? Maybe my outlook or something isn't really as great as it should be, either. Maybe I'm just lazy, lol.
I've had a lot of big dreams and ideas about things I'd like to do in my life over the years. It just seems like they aren't really possible or practical. Something as simple as going on a trip to some other state becomes difficult, because you have to know what you will do when you get there, find out how long everything will take and what time you need to arrive at places, know where you will be staying, have money saved up for the trip, and prepare for it well in advance. It's a shame because you can't just hop in a car and go somewhere and meet the kind of people you'd like to meet, and feel the way you want to feel the entire trip. There are always real-world complications to things.
@nepu7supastar7 I don't think it is quite what you want it to be though. Life is full of uncontrollable variables. Just because you want something for yourself doesn't mean you can get it. I get that the point is doing the most you can, and making the best of what you have. And I guess that goes along with potential, making things better and pushing things further. But it's not like I can manage every aspect of my life and keep them all doing well. I can't just wear my hair how I want or dress how I want and have everyone like it because of societal opinions. I can't always get the girl I want because she might be hard to come by and even if I do find someone like her, she might not feel the same way as I do, or even find me the least bit attractive! I think ourselves, others and our environments are already restrictions on what is possible for us in our lives.
@uninspiredcup@indzman@skipper847 Lol, well yeah I guess those things all do make life much more worth living. For all the things that can get so screwed up in life - by the cosmos or by other people - it's amazing how so much about this world still works and connects us.
@comp_atkins Sometimes I think natural selection is skewed in some way. I guess it's comforting to know that I could maybe offer to be a surrogate, and help out a couple who is unable to reproduce otherwise. I don't know if I could do it, but it's a thought. I guess it wasn't until within the last 3 or 4 years I realized a part of me kind of wants to have children, but for me I think it's important to have the right mother. Is it wrong that I always cared more about romantic love than family though? I mean, what's the point of everything if the only part that matters is creating new life? Isn't the love part just as important?
@weebdragon So meta! XD
Yeah sometimes I think about if the point is to live longest, or live healthiest, or to live until the particular moment where things begin to go downhill and then to go away before the hard times set in. What if we are all desperately needed in the afterlife to turn the tides of some ongoing war, and those who die younger will be first to the front-lines? And does that mean this is important, for ensuring all souls get the chance to be born and die into the afterlife? Or are all souls already there and just get pulled aside here? Maybe this is some sideways world, a distraction by the Evil One to keep us away from the ongoing war! O.O;
But yeah, I would have to say living is something we want to do. Nobody easily wants to leave behind sentience, and this world we spend a lifetime in. The unknown of what awaits us after this is unnerving. We don't want to lose everything.
@thehig1 I just can't really buy the idea that this is all there will ever be, and everything ends at death. I know this discussion isn't so much about the afterlife, but I'm nevertheless at a loss if we cease all existence once we die here. We've kept living, I think we've decided that continuing to live is what we should do as a society, and I think every one of us can find at least one good thing to say about life. But to me life having zero point is odd, I don't get why life has thrived if that's the case.
@SamusFreak Our ancestors certainly did love conquering. It makes you wonder why, if we all came from the same place, we all ended up separating and eventually reuniting as bitter enemies for many ages. Perhaps violence and war is as necessary as everything else for us?
@davillain- Is it all just fun and games? And is life more like the board game LIFE than any other board game? lol
@mrbojangles25@Byshop Maybe that is the point, or maybe it helps not to. Either way, I guess I'm losing? : P
@LexLas Well said. I'm happy to hear you're one of those people who has topped their parents' successes in some way.
I think the complicated thing about making the world a better place is, we don't 100% know which choices better and worsen things for us. : D But at any rate, trying to better things is good for us here, the thought counts.
@foxhound_fox "The purpose of life is to enjoy life to it is fullest." Now I will spend eternity questioning what that would mean lol.
@xdude85 Hopefully it doesn't all suck. Try to be thankful for things, and to appreciate all that is amazing in this world. We are able to communicate with symbols, on electronic devices, from just about any place in the world - those things alone are quite a feat!
@hrt_rulz01 We completely changed this planet. We turned swamps and forests into cultivated farmlands, clusters of buildings and an intricate interstate system. We built bridges and found ways to explore areas few creatures can. We managed to escape the atmosphere. We've synthesized countless elements and have warped and modified natural resources in countless ways. We have contributed for sure. Maybe we have destroyed more than any other living thing here, but we've also created more than many of them.
@Zensword I've noticed a few of you here have mentioned once being religious, but now no longer are. You must have believed pretty strongly to have wanted to be a Saint. Can I ask what changed that? Either way, yeah, trying to help others and improve yourself is good. Which do you suspect is more important - improving or helping others?
@thegerg Have you thought about trying to give your own meaning to life, then?
@skipper847 I realize you're a few years older than me yet, but I can relate. I realize that you get out of life what you put into it, and maybe I need to take more action to find that next step. But at the same time, I just get the impression that success comes more easily to some of us than to others. Hopefully we can all find our calling in this world.
Thanks for the discussion thus far, everyone!
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