"Why does anything matter?" is a question that I find myself struggling with answering, and it's not like I'm going into any massive theological or philosophical tirade to seek the answer. I'm not expecting some grand epiphany to strike me in the brain like a brick through a window, and I'm not hoping even that that will ever happen. In fact, some part of me doesn't want to find some answer to that question for two reasons:
1: There's an immense chance that there is no specific answer to the question of purpose and intent, which means if I never learn that that's true, I can still "pretend" that there is an answer, and therefore a purpose.
2: Even though I'm young and will be infinitely inexperienced to the ways of the universe, I have come to terms with the search for the answer as an important part of life, and that that is a pretty darn good answer to the question.
For a majority of human history, the purpose of life has been maintaining a caloric intake large enough to sustain life, and produce more life to take the place of your life when you die, as well as a general idea of making the world a better place for that next generation, but what then is the over-arching purpose to that existence? One day, the universe will die, and all of the existence of this universe will one day be no more, and there will no longer be a world left to make better for the next generation, and what then?
It would be foolish to say that there must be something more to life than just eating and skoodilypooping, but it is despairing to think that that's all there is to life, and this conflict of ideas, this potentially life-shattering train of thought brings into question other things about life, such as love, or sacrifice, or morals. Not to get all nihilistic about it, but could it be possible that none of these things holds any real meaning, because they will one day no longer exist at all, or does the fact that they are finite and mortal in their existence what makes them so profound?
In the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Eru (the over-god, for simplicities sake) made both Elves and Men, but he loved Men more, and gave them the gift of short, mortal lives, while the Elves would travel to Valinor (Elf heaven) upon their death, living forever under the stars and moon and sun. To you and I, the gift of mortality and a final death seems like a really cruddy gift, but if you can figure out why it's actually a blessing, then you're really liking outside the box.
DFTBA
JD G.
1: There's an immense chance that there is no specific answer to the question of purpose and intent, which means if I never learn that that's true, I can still "pretend" that there is an answer, and therefore a purpose.
2: Even though I'm young and will be infinitely inexperienced to the ways of the universe, I have come to terms with the search for the answer as an important part of life, and that that is a pretty darn good answer to the question.
For a majority of human history, the purpose of life has been maintaining a caloric intake large enough to sustain life, and produce more life to take the place of your life when you die, as well as a general idea of making the world a better place for that next generation, but what then is the over-arching purpose to that existence? One day, the universe will die, and all of the existence of this universe will one day be no more, and there will no longer be a world left to make better for the next generation, and what then?
It would be foolish to say that there must be something more to life than just eating and skoodilypooping, but it is despairing to think that that's all there is to life, and this conflict of ideas, this potentially life-shattering train of thought brings into question other things about life, such as love, or sacrifice, or morals. Not to get all nihilistic about it, but could it be possible that none of these things holds any real meaning, because they will one day no longer exist at all, or does the fact that they are finite and mortal in their existence what makes them so profound?
In the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Eru (the over-god, for simplicities sake) made both Elves and Men, but he loved Men more, and gave them the gift of short, mortal lives, while the Elves would travel to Valinor (Elf heaven) upon their death, living forever under the stars and moon and sun. To you and I, the gift of mortality and a final death seems like a really cruddy gift, but if you can figure out why it's actually a blessing, then you're really liking outside the box.
DFTBA
JD G.
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