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The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

  1. #1
    Cro Mango Houston
    Today in trite platitudes
  2. #2
    aldra JIDF Controlled Opposition
    give a man a fist and he'll fist for a night
    teach him how to fist and
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  3. #3
    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    Originally posted by Cro Mango Today in trite platitudes

    All Goatse and anal streching aside, how is it a trite platitude?

    It's actually based on some profound philosophy that was built up over the course of hundreds of years.

    There was a time when even considering a meaning in life other than worshiping God, or "the gods", or whatever diety/dieties ruled your universe, was a thought-crime of the highest order.

    Then eventually, iconoclasts started positing their own meanings (altruism, beauty, hedonism, etc).

    Some were ridiculed; others burned at the stake.

    But then someone like Nietzsche comes along, following in the footsteps of the German Enlightenment philosophers like Hegel, Kant, and Schopenhauer, and he basically establishes that there is no inherent meaning to life.

    And ultimately, this gives way to his interpretation that meaning is to come from the individual.

    This individuality gave rise to all kinds of movements, including the Existentialist way of thinking (although the notion was already blossoming from Kierkegaard and the like).

    So at the end of the day, if stretching your anus as widely as you possibly can is your personal idea of meaning in a world of chaotic meaninglessness, then you have just discovered that Goatse man was a true Ubermensch, and an exemplar for all to follow when they find themselves in need of meaning in life.
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  4. #4
    Cro Mango Houston
    Originally posted by gadzooks All Goatse and anal streching aside, how is it a trite platitude?

    It's actually based on some profound philosophy that was built up over the course of hundreds of years.

    There was a time when even considering a meaning in life other than worshiping God, or "the gods", or whatever diety/dieties ruled your universe, was a thought-crime of the highest order.

    Then eventually, iconoclasts started positing their own meanings (altruism, beauty, hedonism, etc).

    Some were ridiculed; others burned at the stake.

    But then someone like Nietzsche comes along, following in the footsteps of the German Enlightenment philosophers like Hegel, Kant, and Schopenhauer, and he basically establishes that there is no inherent meaning to life.

    And ultimately, this gives way to his interpretation that meaning is to come from the individual.

    This individuality gave rise to all kinds of movements, including the Existentialist way of thinking (although the notion was already blossoming from Kierkegaard and the like).

    So at the end of the day, if stretching your anus as widely as you possibly can is your personal idea of meaning in a world of chaotic meaninglessness, then you have just discovered that Goatse man was a true Ubermensch, and an exemplar for all to follow when they find themselves in need of meaning in life.

    Meanings are an operational instrument that this grotesque meat monstrosity uses to parse its interactions with the world. The meaning of life... Is a vacuity. It fails its own tests.
  5. #5
    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    Originally posted by Cro Mango Meanings are an operational instrument that this grotesque meat monstrosity uses to parse its interactions with the world. The meaning of life… Is a vacuity. It fails its own tests.

    I think the whole idea is that you're allowed to fill that vacuous void with your own meaning.

    That's what makes it such a bold statement.

    It's the elevation of meanings as mere operational instruments (only of extrinsic value) to the status of intrinsic value, truly embedded in the framework of reality.

    You don't have to agree, but that's why it's philosophy.

    There is no definitive answer, only a series of dialogue leading to even more questions.

    And a whole lot of anal fisting.
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  6. #6
    Zanick motherfucker [my p.a. supernal goa]
    I tend to agree that it's a vacuum we impulsively fill with the sentiments of a meaning-obsessed organism.
  7. #7
    Why were we given meaningful emotions if life was meant to be meaningless?
  8. #8
    Cro Mango Houston
    Originally posted by gadzooks I think the whole idea is that you're allowed to fill that vacuous void with your own meaning.

    That's what makes it such a bold statement.

    It's the elevation of meanings as mere operational instruments (only of extrinsic value) to the status of intrinsic value, truly embedded in the framework of reality.

    You don't have to agree, but that's why it's philosophy.

    There is no definitive answer, only a series of dialogue leading to even more questions.

    And a whole lot of anal fisting.

    Well no, that defeats the point
  9. #9
    Zanick motherfucker [my p.a. supernal goa]
    Originally posted by ohfralala Why were we given meaningful emotions if life was meant to be meaningless?

    I think the first task for unpacking this thoughtful question is to decide what you mean by "given" because any proof concerning why we feel with regard to meaning will vary greatly if we do or don't presuppose a divine force behind that function.
  10. #10
    Ok let me rephrase and remove that variable.

    *Why do we have
  11. #11
    GGG victim of incest [my veinlike two-fold aepyornidae]
    Originally posted by ohfralala Ok let me rephrase and remove that variable.

    *Why do we have

    Do we ever truly have?
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  12. #12
    Zanick motherfucker [my p.a. supernal goa]
    Originally posted by ohfralala Ok let me rephrase and remove that variable.

    *Why do we have

    I'm not sure exactly, but I think it's helpful to start with the observation that they aren't useful currency outside the lens of subjectivity. If you believe in a divine reality, they can often be connected to that in purpose.
  13. #13
    larrylegend8383 Naturally Camouflaged
    My dick hurts
  14. #14
    Haxxor Space Nigga
    Originally posted by ohfralala Why were we given meaningful emotions if life was meant to be meaningless?

    Meaningful emotions give us good reason to use emoticons
  15. #15
    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    Originally posted by Zanick I tend to agree that it's a vacuum we impulsively fill with the sentiments of a meaning-obsessed organism.

    But if we don't fill that vacuum, reality can seem quite depressing and vapid.

    I'll take my impulsive, so-called 'artificial' intrinsic value over a vacuum any day.
  16. #16
    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    Originally posted by ohfralala Why were we given meaningful emotions if life was meant to be meaningless?

    Evolutionary byproduct, maybe?

    We need emotions to guide our behavior.

    But, much like viruses and other disease causing organisms, they are just a product of evolution.

    Consciousness may truly be vestigial.
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  17. #17
    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    Originally posted by Cro Mango Well no, that defeats the point.

    Who declared you official arbiter of what intrinsic meaning means?
  18. #18
    Cro Mango Houston
    Originally posted by gadzooks Who declared you official arbiter of what intrinsic meaning means?

    The fact that there is no set of all sets, basically.
  19. #19
    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    Originally posted by Cro Mango Because there is no set of all sets basically.

    Okay, if reality is such a chaotic and meaningless void, what motivates you to do what you do?

    Why post things on the Internet?

    Why eat, drink, be merry (assuming you experience any kind of joy at any time)?

    If you do experience joy, even intermittently, where does that come from?

    I'd really like to know what makes a true Nihilist tick...
  20. #20
    aldra JIDF Controlled Opposition
    because occupying yourself with nonsense stops you from realizing it's nonsense
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