Is life worth living

Tin Man

Tin Man

"a respectable amount of screaming"
MBTI
INTJ
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I was having a discussion with two friends, one Alan, an ISTP and the other Alister, an INFP about the meaning of life.

Basically, Alan's viewpoint was that there's no inherent meaning in life and hence no point in living. The only reason he doesn't kill himself is because it would be stupid since there's really no difference between being alive and dead.

Alister, on the other hand, believed that even the briefest moment of life is vastly superior to an eternity of nothingness. His argument was that even without destiny or a divine creator, you can find so much meaning in life. Even a life of extreme poverty and suffering is better compared to the alternative

Of course being Ps, the lazy bastards never came to a conclusion and just left the entire argument at "meh". That is not acceptable to me so since I can't legally restrain them and force them to come to a decision, I decided to bring their discussion here.
 
Just dance! Dance and dance and dance until it feels good! :m202:


That is the summary of my thoughts on this subject.
 
That a dead out question..........ders too many factors to consider wheneva u use da word *life*...............but,,,,ermmeee,....I would say MINE IS......Yeah
 
And it depends how u look at it........perception is selection......generally, it would depend what you have in stock, and what your accustomed to.
 
This is one of the question I do not want to try to answer, because I have the tendency to dig way to deep and try to give an answer, witch cannot be argued at, witch philosophically speaking, is not possible.

I will try to give an answer soon though, since YOU give me a philosophical question, and I love philosophy.
 
I'm with Alister. Life is worth living, even when you are suffering.
 
Jacobi said:
................ that there's no inherent meaning in life and hence no point in living. The only reason he doesn't kill himself is because it would be stupid since there's really no difference between being alive and dead.
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This is the nagging, underlying position that most of us in the western world are subjected to. It is fed by an over reliance on "directed thought" that kind of thinking which is necessary for mastery of intellectual arts like mathematics, physics, law, theology, etc.
Since our world is heavily influenced by the benefits of science, influences such as extended and healthier lives, greater access to positive stimulation through travel and media, it is only reasonable that the more extreme views of materialism takes hold. That extreme view is that we live in a dead world.

Jacobi said:
...................... even without destiny or a divine creator, you can find so much meaning in life.
Click to expand...

This is a whimpering protest to the opposing position, I think Ms Asarya presents a more full throated response and presents a different way of thinking, one which is more mystical and just as important to humanity's understanding of the "world" in which we find ourselves.

Asarya said:
I believe that we create our own reality. So eveything that happens to me and us is because we individually and collectively create our reality. Every thought, feeling, motivation and attitude is manifested into the physical world. Our external environment, our bodies and our lives reflect the created manifestation of our inner worlds. The unconsious is made consious and tangible so that we can percieve and learn. Through this process of externalisation and creation, we can observe, experience, understand and learn. All our actions have a consequence. i do not see that is spiritual or metaphysical. It seems logical and rational.
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How could one decide without experiencing all of it? ;)
 
I cant remember what it was like before I lived so its hard to say.
 
Yes. The question I, however, ask myself often is: are we capable of living it?
 
The point of living is to live.. regardless of meaning, or getting what you want.
Why, if there is no such thing as meaning in all the universe, should we exist at all?
Does meaning make existing possible? Does meaning necessitate existence... and visa versa?

It just doesn't seem like a reasonable position to me.

Well, if there truly is no meaning and Alan can determine that life is "not worth" living as a result... isn't that a form of determining meaning?
And where does his idea of meaning come from if there is no meaning to be found in the universe?

Why not just determine his own meaning throughout life? Take the existential approach. That seems a much more satisfying option.

I suppose I agree more with your friend Alister regarding discovering meaning for yourself.. Though I differ from both people in that I am not able to make any definitive statements about being dead.
I don't know if it's better or worse or the same as living. I prefer to just be..
 
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"Is life worth living?"

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes a little of both. It all depends on my perspective at a particular moment in time.
 
Jacobi said:
Basically, Alan's viewpoint was that there's no inherent meaning in life and hence no point in living. The only reason he doesn't kill himself is because it would be stupid since there's really no difference between being alive and dead.
Click to expand...

Haha, it's funny 'cuz ISTPs don't know anything...but seriously, of course it's worth living. Even if it's fleeting and irrelevant, you can still get enjoyment out of it and give enjoyment to others. That's basically the best thing anyone can do.
 
I don't see how "inherent meaning" changes whether or not life is "worth" living. Maybe it does to this guy, but I still don't see how he makes the connection, or why he leaves it up to a force greater than himself to decide on his life's script and worth.
 
your friend alan is correct. there is no meaning in life. you have to put it there yourself.
 
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