Where is the point?

I have been trying to frame this subject for some time and can't seem to get it right so I will just throw it out there.I want to ask you what you think the point of life is. The problem is that I am supposed to frame it in such a way that demonstrates my position clearly. This is a problem because... it's a question... and I don't have a clear position and because my research is incomplete.Hopefully really incomplete but I guess it can't go on for ever. Although, I guess that it does as far as I am concerned.I suspect that you are in a similar situation and that some of you may have actually arrived at a conclusion. So I will frame it this way.What is the best that you can expect to get from or achieve with your life?Now that I have married and procreated and trying to get laid doesn't occupy my every waking moment, it occurs to me that there isn't much of a point to it at all. The only one that makes any sense to me is the pursuit of the answer to this very question.What is your answer to the absurdity of life? What guides your compass and where do you spend your time? Edited by Dogmafood, : Expand

Well that is a good question. We carry on as if there were a point to it. Just look at the freeway on a Monday morning. Up close there is a point to the things that we do. Further out the point seems to evaporate. I think that the benefit of this thread might be to expose some of our irrational behaviour. To highlight the larger insignificance of our actions or to identify some hidden importance. To point out that having the most stuff is probably not the point.When I examine the reasons behind any action that I might undertake, I always find that there is an expected result or a point to the action. Whenever I fail to find that point or when the point is exposed as being irrational I tend to discontinue the action. I am projecting this expectation of rationality outwards to include the totality of my existence. Is it wrong to do so and if so at what point does it become wrong?Don't mistake my position. I am in no way suicidal and there is lots of joy in my life to keep me wanting more. It is just that when I step back and look at the big picture it appears to have no point. There is a disconnect between the rationality of the near matrix of my existence and the irrationality of the matrix as a whole. This is the same disconnect that shows up at the edges of causality and the concept of the infinite.It sure doesn't look like there is a point and if the spot is empty then I suppose it is free for the taking. If you are free to choose your raison d'etre what would be your choice? We all carry on without actually identifying some all encompassing point as there are plenty of up close and personal reasons to do things. I guess my question is how far can we extend those threads of reason?

Yes, staring into the fire. How many billions of minds have contemplated the same? I don't know. That seems like a regression. We start out in blissful ignorance and get lots of joy from the little things. We mature to a state of deeper understanding and our joy (and misery) is felt to a much greater degree. Far deeper and with an exponential intensity.The joy found in the understanding of a thing is far greater than the joy that is built on ignorance. For me anyway. I feel compelled to reject the absurdity of life and I prefer to view it as an obstacle and not a parameter.There is a line from the movie 'The Kingdom of Heaven' that goes, 'What is a man that he does not make the world a better place?' So that seems like a fairly valid idea. This is not really in opposition to seeking your own pleasure but rather identifies the fact that we get pleasure from making the world a better place. That is a greater good than pleasure for my own sake but it comes from seeking my own pleasure. Why is life that way and what will it lead to? Is this a point?

Yeah I don't know. I always sort of looked at it as a recreational pursuit. I certainly never looked at it as a task that must be performed. Having children was a desire for me but only after many years of hedonistic indulgence (all hail the marvels of modern science!).I mentioned it so as to acknowledge the obviously hard wired purpose of life which seems to be to reproduce. This is not to suggest that my genetic lust matrix has withered in potency. Indeed it has become a finely tuned instrument of glorious orgasmic production for all concerned parties. The subtlety and nuance. The intricate and simultaneous manipulation of every pleasure centre known to the mind or body. A veritable cascade of... but I digress. It is between these wild and unbelievably fantastic voyages of discovery and joy that I wonder if there is any point to it all.The blinking light in my head is related to the fact that I have recognized that all of my pleasure seeking behaviour is a hardwired control mechanism that has evolved in order to direct my actions in a certain way. I see that the tendencies exist so as to ensure my survival and promote my reproduction. Any sense of joy that I get is a reward for following my instincts. This doesn't leave much room for me as a thinking individual but puts me well within the definition of an automaton. This may be an appropriate definition for a human or indeed any living thing but it doesn't feel quite right. It doesn't feel right because my instincts say so. Mindfuck. The thing is that I feel compelled to look for a point. It is an instinctive drive and, as Tangle points out, common to us all. Some of us find satisfaction in muting that drive and others indulge it.I think some of the main questions that need addressing are which instincts should we suppress and which should we indulge and what metric do those answers refer to.

That probably means that it is correct.

I have had the same thought and have yet to abandon it entirely. It seems almost obvious to me that our notions of God are what we aspire to. It seems to me that we are making some progress in that direction. When I imagine another 10k yrs of technology it seems that we might approach our definition of God.

Excellent post Stile. Really clear and thought provoking. Only after you run out of reason.I take your distinction that life does not exist in order to reproduce but rather exists because it reproduces. I also see the condition that any kind of an uberpoint must reside in the mind of a God of some sort which is a bit of a revelation to me.Can we even conceive of a point to it all without some greater consciousness?