The search for meaning - Page 3

Amnesiac42 · 11-03-2005, 10:26 AM

hey, first post, don't eat me. to return to the first question, what gives other people's lives meaning? or something to that tune.

personally, and this may sound a bit corny, but i was at a wedding not too long ago, and i got bored one of these nights and went out on the beach. the sky was perfectly clear, very little light pollution. in fact, it's the clearest sky that i've ever seen. i saw a shooting star every 15 minutes on average (or per 3 songs on my mp3 player). and looking up at the stars, i was just thinking about how mind boggling the size of the universe is. and so i started thinking about conscienceness as perhaps an extension of things (you could think of the blanket in I (heart) Huckabees). And I thought, well, even if my conscienceness may be a biological adaptation or just an indenture of some sort in reality, then it really doesn't matter because it's still what i have.

so I guess what gives my life some meaning, or reason not to just up and kill myself, is that i have (as we all do) this gift of conscienceness. And even though there may be suffering at times, i still have the ability to recognize it, and that alone opens a lot of options for me for any given situation. and even if one dies and conscienceness follows, then it still isn't a big deal because i'm aware of what's happening and i have what a tree doesn't. if that makes any sense at all.

oh, and also someone said -
there is no "right" side to be on, whether its good or evil. they are both just as necessary as each other. the main thing that is important is the balance between the two. true understanding can only be reached from seeing life from both sides.

i don't think good and evil are necessary at all. i think that good and evil are really just concepts imposed upon reality by people. i know i'm not alone there. i think a lot of people try to argue that there are universal goods and evils. for example, killing another human is evil. well, i would argue that killing another human is simply unethical and pointless, therefor would naturally seem to one to be a perverse behavior. yes, it's "evil" but that's because we make it so. animals kill each other all of the time. but to them, it's good because they have to survive. it's a survival issue, killing, duh. but what is good?

lumberpoet · 11-03-2005, 10:34 AM

A grain of dust I may be
Yet, still my eyes, the beauty see
And, so, awareness comes to me
I think I'm smarter than a tree

Amnesiac42 · 11-03-2005, 10:43 AM

wow, i like that poem.

glatt · 11-03-2005, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumberjim

just 49 posts to go to reach 5,000. I may retire the username. i think i might have used up all of my spare email addresses with frivolous psuedonyms, tho. gaddamn BigMcLargeHuge.

lumberpoet, huh?

Nice poem, by the way.

Sundae · 11-03-2005, 11:15 AM

It may be shallow, but one thing that reminds me why I suffer the slings & arrows etc is when someone makes me laugh

I mean really being blindsided in that I-wouldn't-have-thought-of-that-if-I'd-tried-all-day laugh out loud way.
Emotions fade over time, partners cheat, the new gym body you earned yourself blurs once you go back to pizza & beer. But somewhere, on a random forum, an intelligent person exists who can surprise you into snorting tea down your nose.

And making someone else laugh of course. I went home with a glowing nimbus the other day because of a stupid (though literate) joke I played on a friend at work. She discovered it when she got home & sent me a text that made me smile at everyone on the bus.

Granola Goddess · 11-09-2005, 09:57 AM

The Wayne Dyer books are interesting if any of you want to read more about consciousness. The Power of Intention. There's a show on PBS that has been airing for quite awhile now. It's a real eye opener.

11-03-2005, 10:26 AM	#31
Amnesiac42 just a guy Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: SC Posts: 20	hey, first post, don't eat me. to return to the first question, what gives other people's lives meaning? or something to that tune. personally, and this may sound a bit corny, but i was at a wedding not too long ago, and i got bored one of these nights and went out on the beach. the sky was perfectly clear, very little light pollution. in fact, it's the clearest sky that i've ever seen. i saw a shooting star every 15 minutes on average (or per 3 songs on my mp3 player). and looking up at the stars, i was just thinking about how mind boggling the size of the universe is. and so i started thinking about conscienceness as perhaps an extension of things (you could think of the blanket in I (heart) Huckabees). And I thought, well, even if my conscienceness may be a biological adaptation or just an indenture of some sort in reality, then it really doesn't matter because it's still what i have. so I guess what gives my life some meaning, or reason not to just up and kill myself, is that i have (as we all do) this gift of conscienceness. And even though there may be suffering at times, i still have the ability to recognize it, and that alone opens a lot of options for me for any given situation. and even if one dies and conscienceness follows, then it still isn't a big deal because i'm aware of what's happening and i have what a tree doesn't. if that makes any sense at all. oh, and also someone said - there is no "right" side to be on, whether its good or evil. they are both just as necessary as each other. the main thing that is important is the balance between the two. true understanding can only be reached from seeing life from both sides. i don't think good and evil are necessary at all. i think that good and evil are really just concepts imposed upon reality by people. i know i'm not alone there. i think a lot of people try to argue that there are universal goods and evils. for example, killing another human is evil. well, i would argue that killing another human is simply unethical and pointless, therefor would naturally seem to one to be a perverse behavior. yes, it's "evil" but that's because we make it so. animals kill each other all of the time. but to them, it's good because they have to survive. it's a survival issue, killing, duh. but what is good? Last edited by Amnesiac42; 11-03-2005 at 10:42 AM.

11-03-2005, 10:34 AM	#32
lumberpoet forsooth Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 37	A grain of dust I may be Yet, still my eyes, the beauty see And, so, awareness comes to me I think I'm smarter than a tree __________________ "Have more than thou showest, speak less than thou knowest, lend less than thou owest". -William Shakespeare

11-03-2005, 10:43 AM	#33
Amnesiac42 just a guy Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: SC Posts: 20	wow, i like that poem.

11-03-2005, 11:15 AM	#35
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	It may be shallow, but one thing that reminds me why I suffer the slings & arrows etc is when someone makes me laugh I mean really being blindsided in that I-wouldn't-have-thought-of-that-if-I'd-tried-all-day laugh out loud way. Emotions fade over time, partners cheat, the new gym body you earned yourself blurs once you go back to pizza & beer. But somewhere, on a random forum, an intelligent person exists who can surprise you into snorting tea down your nose. And making someone else laugh of course. I went home with a glowing nimbus the other day because of a stupid (though literate) joke I played on a friend at work. She discovered it when she got home & sent me a text that made me smile at everyone on the bus.

11-09-2005, 09:57 AM	#36
Granola Goddess I'll Have Sprouts With That Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: North of You Guyz Posts: 61	The Wayne Dyer books are interesting if any of you want to read more about consciousness. The Power of Intention. There's a show on PBS that has been airing for quite awhile now. It's a real eye opener.

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