The Meaning Of Life
Why not start the new and improved blog with a bang and talk about something everyone ponders over from time to time, especially when drunk or perhaps just when the subject comes up.
It is difficult to know where to begin a discussion about life and its meaning but I will just jump right in at the deep end.
Let’s face facts. We are all going to die at some point of that there is no escape. I use the word escape but for some death is not an escape but a passage to life (if another sort) after death (more of that later). So, given that fact we realise that we are here on this planet as a life form for a finite period of time. We are not alone. There are billions of others keeping us company albeit we will never get to meet the majority of these others. For a good 15 or 16 years we are looked after (if we are lucky) by our parents who feed us, clothe us and teach us how to behave in order for us to survive and flourish in the world when we flee the nest.
It is then primarily up to us to determine what we do from then on. Given that we live to the average age these days we have another 60 years or so in which to fill up our time. Now we all live in societies of some sort that are constructed of rules and laws and agreed sets of behaviour which pretty much stop us from doing whatever the hell we like and therefore keeping anarchy at bay. So we must conform to the society in which we are surrounded in order to fit in and keep out of jail.
For those of us in civilized societies that generally means we must work for a living. We then have to choose a type of work we are capable of and potentially plan a career that will allow us to live and prosper in our chosen (or given) society. Those who choose not to fit in are considered outcasts or layabouts or scum.
Most humans have a desire to be in a monogamous relationship with another person and to have children. Most will do this. Most will rent somewhere to live, move on to buy a place to live and take on a mortgage. Most will work hard to earn more money to live a more comfortable life and perhaps retire early in order to enjoy the rest of their life outside of the workplace and choose what they then want to do with their time (whatever is left of it).
This is what many capitalist societies consist of. This is what makes them tick. In fact over the years this has changed dramatically due to the rapid growth in consumerism which is a way of “feeding” the system. The more we spend our money the more the economy grows and the more we prosper and the more we spend etc. We consume stuff for no other reason than to make us feel better, happier, richer, stronger, prettier, healthier and many other ways of boosting our egos.
It’s not a bad way to spend our time really. It’s better than having to hunt for food all day or work in the fields day and night with the possibility of bad harvests forcing us to grow hungry. No, it’s a good way to live.
However, you have to ask yourself, why the fuck am I here?
There may not be a reason why you are here. Think about that. We always look for reasons and logic but there may be none behind our existence. That is hard to swallow as we all feel important to some degree. We must all be worth something else why don’t we just kill ourselves and be done with it? Why do you think you are important? Perhaps you belong to an organized religion and that religion has taught you that you are important, that your God loves you and cares for you and wants the best for you. If so then why do babies get killed? Why do innocent people die while other nasty bastards get to live lives of opulence and perceived joy? What about Karma?
The problem we have with our lives is that we are so focused on OUR lives that we have no idea of what is happening to humanity. We are after all a species on this planet that should look after itself for the purpose of preservation of the species. Is it not a fundamental purpose of us all to protect our species? Why are we so focused on doing our utmost to find a way to get the best for ourselves in the time we have on the planet? Is that not extremely selfish?
Surely our purpose, the primary reason we are here is to continue to be here, to continue to exist as a species on this planet? If not, then are we not doomed? If we don’t give a shit about surviving as a species then we must be doomed. So do we really give a shit about continuing to exist?
I think not. I think most of us are so focused on ourselves that we forget all about our primary goal.
Buddhists like many other faiths believe in a life after death and that is the main reason why they cope with the idea and reality of death so well. It is not really an end. If there is no end then we want to do what we can to continue in whatever life comes after this one. They also believe that if you do not believe in life after death then you do not care about anything but your own time on this planet. There is more to this but that is the quick and dirty summary.
I do not subscribe to this view. I do not believe that I will live on after I die but I do care about humanity. I don’t know why I do but I do. I guess it is in built in me to want the best for my species. I want the best for us now and after I am gone.
To get to where I am going with this…
Global warming is now a real threat to us all. Everybody knows it. Governments know it, scientists know it, Hollywood knows it. The problem with global warming is that to change the predicted climate change we must change the way we live dramatically. The thing is, people do not want to change. Life is too good. People are wealthy as a result of our industrialized and consumer societies and economies are strong. The problem is, we need to change how we live and get our priorities right or in a hundred years or perhaps even less, we will have caused a shift in climate that will effectively change the way we live on this planet, for good. You or I will not be around to see it perhaps and therefore we may not give a crap but your children and grandchildren will be around. That is, if they are not killed by hurricanes, tsunamis or floods or famine.
To sum up…
The meaning of life is to continue the species. If it isn’t then just go clubbing, get drunk and take drugs and shag anything that moves and just have a blast doing so. The meaning of life is to have a good time right? To be happy as best you can?
You can thank your lucky stars that you were born when you were because if you were born 30 years from now you may be in for a tough fucking time.
We must, must, must do what we can about this. Of all the problems that we face in our life and all the problems that face the next generations this has to be the most important issue of our time. Unless a nuclear war gets in there first this will possibly be the downfall of our species and human life on this planet. We must wake the fuck up and act now!
For an in depth view on this subject please read “Global Warning: The Last Chance for Change” by Paul Brown:
Tags: Spirituality
October 18th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Props to you Steve! Perhaps you will open a few eyes. Did you ever get to see the movie by Al Gore?? A must see. From what he says we don’t have 100 years, we need to act NOW! Thjank you for writing this, every word helps to spread awareness!!
Luv to you.
October 18th, 2006 at 8:16 am
Hi Laura.
Yes we need to act now. It appears that what damage we do today takes about 30 years before it has a profound effect on the climate so we have 30 more years of “built in” climate change to come.
If we continue to carry on as normal then we may be past the tipping point in the next 20 years or so. When that time comes we are too late to avoid massive climate shifts that will ensure that future generations have a much harder time with harsh weather, storms, hurricanes, tsunamis and sea level rise than we have had to endure.