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Originally Posted by Betrade  I mean, if we just stop existing, then we don't have much to look forward in the long run to do we?? |
I have much to look forward to. I work in the hopes that the world will be a better place in a couple thousand years, as a result of what I do. My participation on this forum is a small part of that work.
I am not bothered that I will be dead within a thousand years, my name likely forgotten, my children and all the people I could have known also dead; I am just one and not a terribly important one, and I don't have enough ego to be concerned about my memory: just my legacy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betrade I'll likely be dead within the next 30- 40 years max (if I last that long and don't have a fatal accident today or whenever), and if that's it, then it just seems pointless in a way IMO. |
How long would your life need to be for it to not seem pointless? A hundred years? A thousand? A trillion?
The first time I asked you about scale, you said, "Not particularly." But then you went and delivered the same sentiment from a different angle: that something external has to
give you purpose and meaning for you to
have purpose and meaning. Is this what you believe?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betrade I mean, who wants to atop existing?? I'm sure that many do; but I believe that most do not and I know that I don't. I like being conscious and aware. |
Non-existence isn't something we aspire for, no. If it were, then the human race ought to lie themselves down and die now, or to never have arisen in the first place. Why bother ourselves with existence when we seek its opposite?
So why exist? Why do you exist? Why do you live? The essence of conscious living begins with a confrontation with death. Why not death? Why shouldn't you kill yourself now? Because society says you shouldn't? Because it would be sorrowful and inconvenient to your family and friends? Or because you want to live?
Not that you
like to live: you seem to like living mostly because it means you're not dead. That's not choosing to live; that's choosing not to die. It is a vague, lethargic decision.
What, Betrade, is your
raison d'etre? Do you have a
joie de vivre? What makes you conscious and aware? What do you see around you? What wisdom do you grasp? What is your passion?