Atheism and the meaning of life - what drives you?

[The Grand Nudger]

Pragmatic? I cant even begin to imagine how much wasted time and effort would have to be involved for me to compel myself into daydreaming about pie and punch in the sky with the big man. And to what end..to remind me to take out the trash and be a generally decent guy? A righteous life, as you might put it? That being central to the meaning of life..again as you put it.

Yeah...why not spend that proposed effort into believing something I don't into...I don't know, taking out the trash and being a righteous dude? That, to my mind, would be the pragmatic solution.

[R00tKiT]

Pragmatic?  I cant even begin to imagine how much wasted time and effort would have to be involved for me to compel myself into daydreaming about pie and punch in the sky with the big man.  And to what end..to remind me to take out the trash and be a generally decent guy?  A righteous life, as you might put it?  That being central to the meaning of life..again as you put it.

Yeah...why not spend that proposed effort into believing something I don't into...I don't know, taking out the trash and being a righteous dude?  That, to my mind, would be the pragmatic solution.

Maybe you can manage to find an alternative meaning of life that doesn't include these beliefs. But what do you think would help us deal with the uncertainties of life better than the belief in a powerful entity that cares about us..?

[Silver]

The caring aspect is only believable with a great deal of mental gymnastics.

[R00tKiT]

The caring aspect is only believable with a great deal of mental gymnastics.

Why? The fact that we exist at all already involves caring.

[Silver]

That we exist is by any objective standard an accident that we only perceive as happy via an irrational emotional perspective.

[The Architect Of Fate]

There is nothing about existing that shows caring. Nothing at all.

[The Grand Nudger]

Pragmatic?  I cant even begin to imagine how much wasted time and effort would have to be involved for me to compel myself into daydreaming about pie and punch in the sky with the big man.  And to what end..to remind me to take out the trash and be a generally decent guy?  A righteous life, as you might put it?  That being central to the meaning of life..again as you put it.

Yeah...why not spend that proposed effort into believing something I don't into...I don't know, taking out the trash and being a righteous dude?  That, to my mind, would be the pragmatic solution.

Maybe you can manage to find an alternative meaning of life that doesn't include these beliefs.

OFC I can, and so can Ahri, to whom I asked the question.  Or, at least, he's stated as much previously in thread.

But what do you think would help us deal with the uncertainties of life better than the belief in a powerful entity that cares about us..?

Islam isn't a thing I'd point to and say was helping with the uncertainties of life..or, anything at all, really.  I think that most of the faithful, yourself included, haven't deeply considered the ramifications of their beliefs - too caught up in some doomed attempt to hold or prove that they're true.  A god who cares could be a nightmare for all of the reasons a person who cares can be.  

Remind me, what happens to people who reject your boyfriends advances?

[LadyForCamus]

Permanence. The ability to refer to those moments; to continue to be a subject who can apprehend events without an expiration date.

If you don't live forever, in short....life has no meaning?  Meaning can't be a thing that mortal creatures can only temporarily grasp for themselves?  It has to be different than everything else?  How is this different than the claim that without a heaven, there's no meaning to life?  

Lemme ask you this, if there's no meaning in life, how would living, forever, create it?

Apologies for the delay in responding; I was taking some time to seriously consider the very good questions you posed. I realized that I cannot think of a mechanism by which living forever could create some meaning that didn’t exist before permanence was added to the equation, which leads me to conclude that I am, in fact, wrong here, somehow. I just can’t pinpoint exactly where the disconnect is happening, and this might be because I’m having difficulty distinguishing between my thoughts and my feelings on the subject. But if my objection to meaning is finiteness, yet I can’t come up with a way by which infinite experience adds something extra, then I have to accept that my reasoning is likely flawed.

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Here, to me anyway, it seems like you're commenting not that life has no meaning, but that all of the meaning it does have that you do see is cheapened or deprived in some way by our inability to hold on to it forever.

Yeah. This hits me like an arrow to the chest every time I read it. I think it’s a more accurate description of what I’m trying (and failing) to articulate. Hey, have you ever tried your hand at counseling? You’d be good at it! 😉

Maybe what I think is, that that meaning borne from living a life, itself, feels meaningless, hollow, cheapened…or pointless to have if there will inevitably come a “time” when I cannot refer back to it and be cognizant of the very meaning I created. What is meaning that I can assign but, by virtue of reality, not sustain? What does it mean that living and dying is ultimately not really different from never having been born? I dunno. I’m not sure my time away in the corner to think has clarified much for me, I’m afraid; but I do know that I cause myself a lot of unnecessary existential grief perseverating on the issue, especially considering all the worry in the world isn’t going to change a damn thing, and it robs me of pleasurable, joyful thoughts; however fleeting they may ultimately be. 

As for passing on my genes as a form of bypassing mortality; I’ve never really come about it from that particular place, though I know others do and it brings them solace. That being said, your timing of mentioning it is funny because I got a positive pregnancy test the day after your reply. 🙂 Third and FINAL; holy shit, I’m getting too old for this, and if it’s twin boys I’m driving myself off a cliff. 😝 

Thanks for your infinite patience with my inane ramblings, btw. It’s much appreciated. I always welcome the challenge of your thought provocations.

[R00tKiT]

That we exist is by any objective standard an accident that we only perceive as happy via an irrational emotional perspective.

Well, if the goal is to be happy, then one would be content with this irrational perspective. I am not sure what "objective standard" you're referring to that makes our existence accidental. Maybe we understand a great deal of how we evolved, this doesn't negate a possible intention -you know, what us theists are arguing for.

Islam isn't a thing I'd point to and say was helping with the uncertainties of life..or, anything at all, really.  I think that most of the faithful, yourself included, haven't deeply considered the ramifications of their beliefs - too caught up in some doomed attempt to hold or prove that they're true.  A god who cares could be a nightmare for all of the reasons a person who cares can be.  

Remind me, what happens to people who reject your boyfriends advances?

Islam does contain faith elements that help one cope with uncertainty, like the belief in divine decree, which means that anything that happened to oneself couldn't have been otherwise, because everything is foreordained by God. Issues of free will aside, this belief helps alleviate any feeling of regret about what one did in their past. Your perspective creates your reality... as they say.. if one's perspective (even if deluded) makes them more resilient in the face of difficult circumstances, then why should they look for something else? 

I assume you're referring in your question to hell... well, simply put, Islam doesn't demand much, after all. Believing in one God and following the prophet in a few rituals and rules of conduct isn't challenging in any way. Avoiding to fall from the eighth floor of a building isn't challenging, but people who go ahead and do jump off it shouldn't complain afterwards........

[Angrboda]

Meaning is sometimes defined as connecting with something bigger than yourself. If that's meaning, infinite things are certainly bigger.