Battling with existentialism

[swordpath]

The questions plague me and it doesn't bring me to a happy/fulfilling place.

I want answers. I need answers. I feel am nearly sure there are none and thus I see no peace for me.

What/where are your answers?

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

What existential questions do you have, my son?

 

[swordpath]

"What the fuck are we doing?" for starters.

 

[Mad Hatter]

You mean like posting?

Or do you mean why are we doing what we're doing, and why are we thinking about it?

 

[Nyx]

Kierkegaard, Thomas Aquinas, and G.K. Chesterton do a good job for me most of the time. Sorry, though, you're always going to have a bit of faith and trust. Either that or live in a agnostic soup ; ) which again is faith in your conclusion you cannot know anything

 

[Mad Hatter]

I highly recommend Camus' "The Stranger" for a start

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

The reason people are referring you to philosophers is because that one question could be discussed endlessly. Camus is good. I would also recommend steering clear of Heidegger and Sartre unless you want to get really in to it.

but.....
What we are doing here is existing. We have no other lifeforms to compare ourselves to.

The only meaning our lives have is the meaning we give it, in that sense, we are our own gods.

 

[Mad Hatter]

The only meaning our lives have is the meaning we give it, in that sense, we are our own gods.

Life is like a text we write ourselves onto a sheet of paper on which a few words are already present.

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

Life is like a text we write ourselves onto a sheet of paper on which a few words are already present.

If those few words are DNA, I agree.

 

[wank]

"What the fuck are we doing?" for starters.

Well, we are seeking after god(or at least that's the idea):

Act 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Act 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Act 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Act 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

Link back

 

[ajblaise]

We are here to reproduce (optional). Everything else is recess time.

 

[vince]

Existentialists are the only sane people.

 

[swordpath]

We are here to reproduce (optional). Everything else is recess time.

What's the point in reproducing? To birth more people battling the same questions? Exist just to exist?

 

[Oberon]

The questions plague me and it doesn't bring me to a happy/fulfilling place.

I want answers. I need answers. I feel am nearly sure there are none and thus I see no peace for me.

What/where are your answers?

"At the end of every hard-earned day, people find some reason to believe."

-Bruce Springsteen​

 

[Infidel]

Give up this search for answers if at all possible, it will only leave you feeling empty.

 

[ajblaise]

What's the point in reproducing? To birth more people battling the same questions? Exist just to exist?

Existence for its own sake. Some people can't deal with that concept, but the people who can are the most at peace with life.

You, as in individual, have the responsibility of giving your life meaning. That's what existentialism is, but many can't humble themselves to this realization. They have to attach special meaning, God ordained destiny.

 

[Gerbah]

Existence for its own sake. Some people can't deal with that concept, but the people who can are the most at peace with life.

You, as in individual, have the responsibility of giving your life meaning. That's what existentialism is, but many can't humble themselves to this realization. They have to attach special meaning, God ordained destiny.

For someone who says that others aren't able to be “humble” enough to think the same way as you, what you said sounds very arrogant. Or do I misunderstand?

 

[ajblaise]

For someone who says that others aren't able to be “humble” enough to think the same way as you, what you said sounds very arrogant. Or do I misunderstand?

It's very arrogant.

 

[Gerbah]

I wouldn't give up looking for answers. When someone says they're working on finding the formula to explain the universe or something like that, so-called "intelligent" people don't say they're foolish, they say they're visionary and wish them well. So if it's ok to have faith enough that there are answers to the hugest physical questions that you look for those answers, why isn't it ok to have faith that there are answers to the the hugest existential questions? Especially when the answers to those are probably even more important to positive human development as a species than are the answers to the physical questions.

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

If you need a god to find happiness, go for it. Some people need A/C while others can handle the weather just fine by themselves.