Is that what life is?

[niceguy645]

contradiction....a butterfly is caught in a spiders web, you want to save the butterfly but if you do the spider dies due to starvation and you know that the butterfly will be simply eaten by other spiders. While you are contemplating this, the spider devours the butterfly, thus you fail in your purpose right? Your conclusion might be that there's no way you can save both, killing the spider is the simplest way.

Without life, there can be no death. Life would be meaningless without death. We can only continue to live if we kill. Looking at life in this sense, how much longer can any of us truly "live"? I used to belive life had meaning to it, purpose, but now, if were only going to die then why live? this statement is a paradox. If we only live to die then do we truly exist? maybe we dont exist.

[Goongasnootch]

We slaughter and eat animals, right? When you get down to the basics of it us eating beef, pork, and other such things is no different than the spider eating the butterfly.

In terms of humans versus humans, though, never let yourself find the world any less beautiful because someone refuses to see you with eyes that love.

[composer of requiems]

*shrug* Tofu butterflies for all spiders.

Anyway, if you take away the butterfly, and shut it away in a box somewhere, it won't get killed by any more spiders.

If you live to die... actually... life is just a way for genes to be replicated... so it's down to a very fine level... we're just carrying on the traits that allow us to survive, so that is the purpose of our life...

[Rurouni]

Life, in a sense, is the survival of the fittest. Something has to die in order for another to live. You can think of it as a game to see which species of beings can live the longest.

[malaujai]

Well, death is inevitable. However, that does not mean that we cannot "exist". Even if you die, you will leave behind things that you have changed in others' lives. I know this sounds like a cliche, but its true. What you do in life is what counts, even if your death is inevitable. As long as you can leave something behind, your existence is acknowledged.

[niceguy645]

Life has a flow to it not purpose. When you die, you leave behind various elements and chemicals and its returned to the earth from wence it came right? parts of you are ingested or inhaled by people, so in a sense, you are everyone and yet you are no one. In that case, isnt humanity just one gigantic gene pool?

[Ronin_Musashi]

The butterfly also provides nourishment to the spider. Who are we to determine that either are the malefactor in this scenario? Just as death is a part of life, so life is a part of death. Neither are good or evil; they simply are.

[onlyelliot]

Life has a flow to it not purpose. When you die, you leave behind various elements and chemicals and its returned to the earth from wence it came right? parts of you are ingested or inhaled by people, so in a sense, you are everyone and yet you are no one. In that case, isnt humanity just one gigantic gene pool?

You are attempting to look at the whole of humanity in time. There is really no point to contemplating man's purpose in this sense because we are not able to know all the details of what has transpired to our race and what yet awaits us. It is up to each individual to find purpose in thier own life, despite the knowledge that we will one day die. I believe that a limited life span is essential for the progression of the human race. If we never died, then reproduction would also be unecessary and our race would one day reach it's maximum potential. I find solice in the fact that everything good I have accomplished in my life will be carried on through my influence on my future children and family and anyone else who has been important to me.

Our lives may be limited, but at least we are born with the blessing of being part of something greater. We have the opportunity to contribute positively to the mankind's influence on this realm of existence.

Perhaps I am the Vash to your Knives, no?

[niceguy645]

hmm...perhaps you are but im afraid i cant change my opinion on the fact that mankind is obsolite....we are only human after all and we can cant change the fact that we do not know the true reasons for our existance, probably never will. We are all born with an expiration date and i suppose it is every generation's duty to pass on their burden to the next, pass on the torch if you will. Our children will read our sad and messy history by its light. Gentics is a fasinating thing really, it means salvation for all or a doomed existance. We somehow delude ourselves into beliving that we are god and teamper with this delecate process, eventually this will lead to our destruction. I belive i am beggining to see your point and i somewhat belive it. Every man (and woman) has an expiration date but he also has free will and time. It is what we do with that short amount of we are given that will have any significance to generations to come, correct?

[onlyelliot]

hmm...perhaps you are but im afraid i cant change my opinion on the fact that mankind is obsolite....we are only human after all and we can cant change the fact that we do not know the true reasons for our existance, probably never will. We are all born with an expiration date and i suppose it is every generation's duty to pass on their burden to the next, pass on the torch if you will. Our children will read our sad and messy history by its light. Gentics is a fasinating thing really, it means salvation for all or a doomed existance. We somehow delude ourselves into beliving that we are god and teamper with this delecate process, eventually this will lead to our destruction. I belive i am beggining to see your point and i somewhat belive it. Every man (and woman) has an expiration date but he also has free will and time. It is what we do with that short amount of we are given that will have any significance to generations to come, correct?

That is mostly it. Basically, I think that one of the most important obstacles in each human beings life is coming to terms with the fact they we are limited, that we are not perfect, or infinite, and we will never know everything. The most basic truth for every human is the truth of their own existence. I think therefore I am and that whole shpeel. You can argue that this isnt necessarily true, but what would be the point in that? We are our perceptions, so the most basic truth to our conciousness is the truth of our own existence.
Now it is true that I can percieve human existence as purposeless for the reasons you have previously stated, but in order to do that you have to elevate your perception to a more "godlike" level. I don't really see the purpose in doint that when I can find purpose through the few but beautiful things that I am able to appreciate and devote my ilfe to on my meager little normal human level of perception. I believe that there is a higher level of perception... well I have faith in a higher order I suppose and that really is my only faith, organized religions just don't do it for me. To me, the highest level is simply existence as a whole. I choose not to speculate into the existence of a devine being. I can never fully comprehend all the intricacies of existence, so to try and judge the worth of human existence by trying to emulate this perception seems futile to me. Yes, I can see that one day humans may very well become extent, but that doesn't bother me. I find beauty in the fact that all of my action that I am lucky enough to be aware of will have an infinite effect on existence as I know it. Long after humans are gone, long after Earth may be gone, the reprocutions of my actions may still be carried out. I find even more beauty in knowing that the positive conclusions and realizations ive come to in life will be carried on in a way that i can directly see and appreciate within my life time. To me, these things make life worth living, after all I am just a insignifican human, but there is beauty in being tiny part of the magnificant whole that is existence.

Also, under your thinking, what wouldnt be obsolete? It seems to me like you would only be satisfied with man's lot in life if we found out we were a race of gods or something. Can anything be not obsolete? If everything is obsolete, then what is the point to labeling them as obsolete, seeing as how it is the standard?

[niceguy645]

Also, under your thinking, what wouldnt be obsolete? It seems to me like you would only be satisfied with man's lot in life if we found out we were a race of gods or something. Can anything be not obsolete? If everything is obsolete, then what is the point to labeling them as obsolete, seeing as how it is the standard?
I never explained did I? If mankind was a race of gods then there would be nothing left....space or time. Im not an insane humanitarian, I'm a genocidal human.

[onlyelliot]

Haha awesome, but my question still remains: what would be your alternative?

[niceguy645]

Man is born a mortal being and no other. Everything is obsolite really but the greatest things in this world are either unessessary or useless. I am a mortal being with limited powers, the only thing I (or any of us) can do is continue my existance. I will live till tomarrow and the day after that and the day after at, enjoying each day as it comes, theres beauty in uselessness and we live in a beautiful world i suppose. When I finally move on, I can die with a smile, my footsteps would have dissappeared from the annals of history, but I am content knowing that I was part of a complex system of choices and circamstances called life. It would be futile for me to try anything else right?

[iroha haroto]

Not all animals die of natural causes. Some lobsters, crabs and deep sea fish can live indefinitely, as long as we and sharks don't kill them. And some organisms do not need to kill to live; some bacteria can feed exclusively on sulfur and the heat from deep sea vents.

However, to get to the "meat" of the argument here, there may not be a purpose to life when we're born, but we can give ourselves a reason to live. Life is what you make of it, and we can choose what to do with it. We can do well for others, ourselves, or no one. But personally, i don't want to have any regrets when it comes my time to go, so i'm going to live it up.

[General Shino]

I am dedicating my purpose to finding out more about life, Its a truly wondferful field waiting to be explored I dont know where to start...Life isnt useless nor is it to exist to die... we die eventually... life is the area between birth... death is the end of life.. birth is the beginning, and what is in between.... Thats is what I seek....

[vervex]

Well, it depends how you see it.
You said we lived to die. Alright. But we kill to live. So when we die, we give life to something else. For example : our body in decomposition creates food for the insects, earth for the plants, and so on. Life is a chain : we are only a part of it... getting born from death, and giving life again, like it had been given to us.

I'm very deep tonight lol

[General Shino]

The fact here is no matter what any of you say, and I stress any of you... there is no way you can fully explain life, you can make theories based of soul opinions but as can anyone else...

[imchemist]

I guess to kill and to be killed...contradictions...that's what makes life more exciting.