(November 5, 2021 at 3:36 am)slartibartfast Wrote: [quote pid='2073857' dateline='1636097793']
Why is it so important for human beings (some more than others) to find an answer to the question of why we exist?
I can see all the usual responses:Theists fill the void with the concept of an omnipotent being that magically has all the answers.... apart from it doesn't.
- My life doesn't have meaning otherwise
- I won't feel fulfilled without having a purpose
- I need to know what happens when I die
To the best of my knowledge, Christianity does not provide a reason for our existence, other than saying God created us but his purpose is so unknowable and obscure that we shouldn't ask.
How is this any better than saying "I don't know"? Ie. instead elevating all provided answers to the important questions to vague "we cannot guess the will of God" bullshit.
The main criticism Theists have of science is that it can't / doesn't attempt to answer the ultimate question of "why" teleologically, which is correct. However nothing in religion answers anything either other than supposedly giving an answer to "How" we came to be.
Coming back to my original question - why is it so hard for most people to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity, that they would rather clutch at any explanation (no matter how vague, unfulfilling and unlikely under even modest logical scrutiny) than be truly comfortable with simply not knowing? Is this just plain and simple human nature?
[/quote]
Fear of death.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
