OKay, all you "philosophers" : define life (Page 2) Awake335: virgin its not figuring out life, that's the simple part, if you do enough research, that is to find the origin of man and what laws govern the universe, quantum physics etc. Its controlling whats within because what you feel and think of most is what you attract. A human has over 20,000 thoughts, 80% of them are useless, meditation and finding your spirit, clearing out the chakras etc is whats the challenge.  Nonlucid: Life is defined as "Perception" and "Experience". Your brain understands each moment of life as an individual experience, kind of like a singe frame in a movie. Your thoughts are a network of these frames, categorized for content, then processed in much the same way that a computer does. Perception is the filters through which life is experienced, (i.e. senses, space, time etc...). without these filters, it would be impossible to experience the outside world in any way. If you are looking for a solid meaning to life, mastering these perceptions as well as possible, and having as many different experiences to catalog as possible seems like a good place to start.  virginkiss: oh, Awake- i'll give tht 100%, but see, i really have so many charchteristics of me- independent, yet submissive now; natural-born leader, but want to be a follower; want to be center-stage; happy, sweet innocent, pure, then demented, cruel...etc.- so, finding "myself", well, thats next-to-impossible... and, Nonlucid, great thoughts on how 2 find this definition i seek, but, truth be told ( ) it didn't register what you were trying 2 say... here my young ignorance is showing again, but i'm pretty sure i understood wat u said- it just isn't registering...don't know if tht made ny sense 2 u, tho... -VK Nonlucid: My apologies VK, I was trying to condense years of psychology into a short post. The overall Idea is that, if your brain works off of experiences, it seems logical that this would be the overall point of life. Perception is just the medium through which you gain those experiences. Practically, I love to talk with the elderly, they've had time to really process what's important in life. From what I've learned, the only things that last through your life are you experiences and your stories. Money, statuses, friends, posessions, all of these things fade away, in the end, all that you have left are your wisdom and your stories. In this respect, my overall approach to life is to have as many different experiences as possible... But this is only my opinion. virginkiss: no apologies needed, i usually understand things better, but not lately... but i get it now, nd ur opinion iz all i asked 4- nd i personally like ur opinion. -VK  catchV: It's all marketing. From the second you're born, someone is trying to sell you something. Religion tries to sell you on the benefits of their product as does education and volunteering and love and hate. The list goes on and on. Life is consumerism. Nonlucid: Consumerism is what we accept as the purpose of life, because we lack the initiative to find our own purpose. catchV: Our purpose is to consume. We consume plant and animal and air and ideas. The wilder and less tangible ideas have to be marketed to us in a palatable way so that we may decide to consume them also. virginkiss: hmm...i'm not going 2 break up this discussion w/ my opinion- i'm interested 2 c where this goes...then i'll comment -VK virginkiss: okay, thx Catch 2 Mulu: i CANNOT message! sorry, strictly forums, strictly forums... nd, i wazn't expecting this many ppl 2 reply, Mulu, i was simple unbearably lonely, so i posted- but, it seems 2 ppl wiser than i tht somewhere inside of me i waz searching 4 something...but if tht iz the case, then it remains unfound... -VK Nonlucid: Consumerism is our default purpose, just like reproduction is our default meaning for life; But that doesn't mean that it has to be. In a capitalist society, we're programmed to think that we need to buy these things, for good reason, they drive our economy. But the purpose for each person's life is theirs to decide. TheMemory: Consumerism is not our default purpose. It is the main stay of our society but it is not our default purpose nor the definition of life. the purpose of life is survival, it is the one constant link through all life forms. Consumerism is a subplot of that survival, much like evrything else. We live in a capitalist society, therefore we must consume to survive. Nonlucid: Exactly, we've moved past the point where survival is our primary concern. It has become relatively easy to survive in our society, so we have been forced to find some other means of preventing boredom and giving our lives purpose. The average person lacks either the capacity, or the concern to look at their life objectively (Aristotle's cave allegory, lower 75%) and decide for themselves what their purpose should be. So consumerism has graciously been provided as a default purpose. Nonlucid: VK, I truly respect your humility, and ambition, to ask for clarification on anything you don't understand. Capitalism: An economic system based on private ownership of capital. Which basically means that you earn what you own, and it belongs to you. It it what the American economy is based on (as opposed to communism, where you work to benefit the society, etc...) virginkiss: thx Nonlucid, but i just know i'm still young- nd in school- obviously u guyz r smarter/wiser/whatever than i am...so, i'm just tryna learn... nd, okay-i get it, thx Nonlucid...hmmm.......now i will express a thought: the definition of life seems 2 b based on what we do nd how we live, so, in light of this discussion u all have presented: do u think its better for a person 2 live 4 themselves, or for society? this is a discussion i've had 4 years w/ my teachers nd friends throughout middle nd highschool- can there be good forms of communism that actually benefit life? i'll tell u my opinion after i see what the majority rules: but, my opinion will not change, i'll merely comment until i reveal it...lol or mayb this should b a diff. post...*shrugs* -VK TheMemory: Communism, is and always was merely no more than idealistic, it can and never will be a possible or purposeful form of society (EDIT: as it was originally intended) because of the greed of humans. It reverts to survival, it reverts to consumerism having become the mainstay of our survival. Communism, as wriiten by Marx, was beneficial to society, and in theory is a wonderful idea. However, the version of communism that appeared was closer to fascism, it became an ultra-capitalism, if you will, where only the very rich and powerful would remain that way and everybody else of a lower class would remain in poverty, at least in comparison. So, in answer to your question, yes, communism in it's truest form would be wonderful and would benefit life. However, communism in its realistic form has been no more than a hidden form of capitalist fascism, for want of a better term. virginkiss: hmm...no comments yet, bcuz then it'd reveal my opinion nd what every teacher continually told me throughout middle nd high school- but, i will say 1 thing: i like how u use facts to support ur opinions- well, u all do this, which i like cuz then it actually has a foundation on it (nd thx 4 ur post btw) but, i'll get a few more opinions- then, i'll state mine -VK Nonlucid: I'd have to agree with Heymacrophallus, except that I'd replace the word "consumerism" with "greed and hoarding. If we could somehow change human nature, it might be workable. But given what we have to work with, it will always be exploited just like any other form of government. No matter ho a government tries to devalue it, the wealth and power still exist, communism just takes it out of reach for the average person. This only makes it easier for the people in power to take it all for themselves. On a side note, every system of government has this same flaw, thanks to human nature and the limited supply of wealth (yes, even our capitalism). Communism is just the easiest to exploit. virginkiss: hmmm...should i now? yeah, i'll tell u my opinon: the majority (of 2 ppl lol) ruled that communism i its natural state would be beneficial... I agree. my teachers whenever we wrote papers on making our own countries or w/e, they always said i had a communistic mind- nd me nd one of my best guy friendz would argue tht there r good forms of communism. but, yes, Nonlucid, it would eventually bcome corrupt- since even today we see that no one can make this proper adjustment without becoming greedy and power-hungry...so sad...and for this reason at one point i considered bcoming President of the US, but, tht wouldn't work 4 me- since i recently took(tried to take) the more submissive road... nywayz, i agree with both of u. nd congratualtions- i understood it lol -VK john1576: The true home of Communism is the U.S.A. (after all Karl Marks was a writer for an New York newspaper). Communist systems in America were usually micro-systems, where people (usually just a few hundred), got together and tried to live peaceful progressive lives. They all died out in the end, lack of interest. virginkiss: well, i would have interest. Considering communism was done it it's natural form w/ a non-abusive ruler... -VK | Philosophy Chat Room 10 People Chatting Similar Conversations |