the breeze
blowing down the road
Absolutely, and thanks for the welcome.
A descussion on death and atheism
- Thread starter immortalitylost
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Absolutely, and thanks for the welcome.
Eudaimonist
In Galt We Trust
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Why do what? Have a job, pension, property? Why not? I see no inconsistency here.
eudaimonia,
Mark
immortalitylost
Say Meow.
...
I like, wasn't getting updates on this or something... I dunno, but hello breeze!
I agree with you, all around me I see people plugging away doing trivial things that they hate, all so that they can have a 'better future.'
"Someday, things will be different," they say. "Someday." And then they get hit by a bus and they have no someday, and all the drudgery of their lives was for naught.
It seems to me, that because people universally fear death, they either delude themselves into thinking that it won't happen to them, or they try to stay as healthy and safe as possible, trying to ward off the inevitable. I try to strike a fair balance. I fear death like everybody else does. Maybe more than everybody else does. But I know that it's gonna come for me one way or another, so I try to live as best I can now, (at the expense perhaps, of social norms, lol) and hope that this life I've lived had some purpose behind it. But, lol, that doesn't make me much different than the rest. I'm just living life while I have one to live, and hoping the next few moments, days, years, won't be my last.
We have no real answers. All we'll ever have in this life is hope.
I like, wasn't getting updates on this or something... I dunno, but hello breeze!
I agree with you, all around me I see people plugging away doing trivial things that they hate, all so that they can have a 'better future.'
"Someday, things will be different," they say. "Someday." And then they get hit by a bus and they have no someday, and all the drudgery of their lives was for naught.
It seems to me, that because people universally fear death, they either delude themselves into thinking that it won't happen to them, or they try to stay as healthy and safe as possible, trying to ward off the inevitable. I try to strike a fair balance. I fear death like everybody else does. Maybe more than everybody else does. But I know that it's gonna come for me one way or another, so I try to live as best I can now, (at the expense perhaps, of social norms, lol) and hope that this life I've lived had some purpose behind it. But, lol, that doesn't make me much different than the rest. I'm just living life while I have one to live, and hoping the next few moments, days, years, won't be my last.
We have no real answers. All we'll ever have in this life is hope.
the breeze
blowing down the road
You know you're going to die, that life is brief and you only get one chance, so what do you do? You get a job you hate and tie yourself down with debt thus restricting your possibilities to the maximum - it's an inconsistency.
Hello immortalitylost - yes, I agree with your latest post and that we'll have no real answers in this life. And possibly not in the next one - creation really is a mystery and it's unlikely that an individual can understand it as a whole be it in 'spirit' or 'physical' form but maybe that's a topic for another thread.
Eudaimonist
In Galt We Trust
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I love my job! It gives me a great oppotunity to self-actualize and earn self-esteem through personal accomplishments.
I do owe the bank for my car and apartment, but so what? I don't see what possibilities I am missing out on. Care to point them out?
eudaimonia,
Mark
Quite right, though I think when someone reaches a mid-life crisis, they suddenly realise they are actually in the process of dying, not living, and can see all the opportunities they wanted to indulge in with life but not yet taken.
Becoming quite aware of it myself.
the breeze
blowing down the road
When I wrote 'You know ...' etc. I was using the 'you' in a general rather than particular way. Since I don't know you I can hardly point out what possibilities you may or may not be missing out on. What a bizarre question. My comments weren't aimed at you personally. I said I had never met anyone who lived as though they truly believed in the brief, finite nature of their existence. I have never met you and perhaps you are the exception but even if you are my general point still holds - there's actually little difference in the way most Christians (for example) and most atheists live their lives. In the west people generally take and accept work that bores and alienates them and saddle themselves with debts that make it well nigh impossible to change their lifestyles.
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Eudaimonist
In Galt We Trust
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I'm simply trying to make the discussion less general and abstract.
Oh, I agree. However, I don't think this resemblance has anything to do with the belief that one will live forever. It's really just prudence that causes people to live as they do.
That may be so, but I don't see that they have much choice in the matter. Many may even embrace such a lifestyle, since it may be suitable for raising children and having family stability. Not everyone wants a changable lifestyle.
eudaimonia,
Mark
shawn
Well-Known Member
Hi Breeze, welcome.
You will find that it is the norm to have your comments taken personally or read far differently than you thought they would be interpreted when you wrote them.
Happens more times than not.
But it is a good mental exercise....patience...restraint..civility...etc.
the breeze
blowing down the road
Prudence or fear? I don't think anyone 'believes' they will live forever but most people live as though death were not rushing towards them with the speed of an express train. This should be a compelling notion for an atheist. Perhaps less so for a person who thinks they'll get another chance or two.
I've worked as a consultant in many multi-national companies in a number of different countries. I have rarely, if ever, met a person who would continue doing their job if they won the lottery. Most people are depressed about going into work on a Monday morning and live for the weekend when they have a modicum of freedom.
Not everyone wants a changeable lifestyle but who wants to be bored and frustrated? And if you are doing something you truly love you can be fulfilled and stable all at the same time.
My point is that almost nobody looks for fulfilment, atheists included although they apparently believe they only have one chance, and being atheists (not living a life in the shadow of a deity or an externally imposed set of divine rules) theoretically have license to do whatever they want.
Thanks Shawn, it is sometimes genuinely difficult to communicate via text so I'll take people to be innocent until proven otherwise
immortalitylost
Say Meow.
Lol, but can you imagine a world where everyone lived life to the fullest? Would such a thing even be possible? No one would want the insignificant boring everyday jobs that make civilization go round. No one would want to do the trivial, everyday things that keep life so peaceful. No one would give a fig about the status quo. Everyone would just go around doing whatever made them happiest at the moment. It would be chaos! Sweet, sweet, chaos! And ah, wouldn't it be grand...
the breeze
blowing down the road
I'm not sure that everyone would do what made them happiest at any moment but I do think there would be a sense of purpose about life, there would still be problems and difficulties but we'd feel a purpose in the suffering that we fail to connect with now.
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immortalitylost
Say Meow.
Hm, I was mostly kidding with that post, but you have a good point. After all, living life entails feeling pain. It's just another part of life, and if people realized that, they wouldn't feel so betrayed maybe every time something bad happened to them. It's just one more part of life. Lemonade wouldn't be lemonade without the lemons.