A_Wanderer said:
Need to know thoughts about life having any meaning; I suppose that I hold a hard existentialist line on the subject (there is no meaning to life; but that doesn't matter) but I need to understand how or why people imbue meaning and purpose to existence.
It's one of the core philisophical problems that humans try to explain; thoughts?
For me, there is no meaning in life, which is not a big deal to me, it's just a fact, love it or hate it. I don't care if there could be meaning or not. It's probably good that there is no meaning, which allows me to do whatever the hell I want without some taskmaster (God?) whipping me into doing whatever he/she wants or expects me to do...
I will say that governments, cultures and religious movements probably do condition us into adopting particular meanings to our lives (because so many people accept what is expected of them in the society/culture/community that they are nurtured within), but they're never necesarily be-all-and-end-all "meanings of living."
The only meaning in my life is that I know what pleasures me and I know what pains me and I will do whatever it takes to immerse myself in pleasure and to avoid experiencing pain. Whatever makes me feel good...
If i accept that my life is a thoroughly pointless activity I have to go through, I suppose I am actually therefore giving meaning to my life by actually pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain, which will do for me.
But for me, there is no "purpose." I'm gonna cark it eventually, big deal, we all do. In keeping with the way I want to give meaning to my life, I just hope that my death is peaceful and devoid of any pain.
I'm getting sleepy now, and staring at computer screens doesn't make me feel good, it pains me in fact. So I'm gonna pleasure myself by going to bed...