Comments on Secular Planet: Life is Meaningful Here and Now

My current problem is not about no God but how do ...

2012-02-22T17:15:10.003-05:00

My current problem is not about no God but how do I conduct my (non-existent) conscious life aware that free will is impossible. I feel how a formere believer must.

There is nothing at all delusional to say that I a...

2012-01-02T16:21:42.447-05:00

There is nothing at all delusional to say that I am happy here and now, or that the people in my life are important to me. That my life is astoundingly small and brief doesn't mean that it's without value. Of course my life don't mean anything to the universe, but it means literally everything to me.

It's you, not I, who are stuck in a theistic framework, thinking the non-permanence of life entails that it's meaningless and not worth living.

Tell me one thing in my post that isn't true or I will assume your claim that I'm deluded is completely baseless.

Perfect summary: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index...

2012-01-02T13:41:42.296-05:00

Perfect summary:

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2223#comic

Of course I do? In fact, 'concept' describ...

2012-01-02T13:39:33.809-05:00

Of course I do? In fact, 'concept' describes it perfectly. It's intangible and ephemeral. I would bet any sum that your definition of 'meaning' falls squarely under a) It's an integral piece of the delusional framework you have built for yourself.

Anon: Life is without meaning… To say such...

2012-01-02T13:16:56.151-05:00

Anon: Life is without meaning…

To say such a thing indicates that you don't even understand the concept of meaning in the first place.

Life is without meaning, and I am sick of atheist ...

2012-01-02T13:00:13.043-05:00

Life is without meaning, and I am sick of atheist apologists trying to square the theists' circle. No, you don't find 'other meaning' by replacing 'God's plan' with 'your plan'. You use that bit of casuistry to delude yourself into carrying on with your head high. Life consists of two choices, and you'll notice your faith is immaterial. You either a)delude and distract yourself b)check yourself out c)struggle to choose between a and b (but this is a derivative of a)
That's it. Period. Now get to it.

GSM: There is no larger purpose… I never s...

2011-12-22T13:39:13.065-05:00

GSM: There is no larger purpose…

I never said anything about a "larger" purpose. To say that life is not meaningful—referring to the title of your reply—is to think and speak like a theist. You're limiting yourself to a single notion of meaning, and a really terrible one at at that.

No, it's not. There is no larger purpose tha...

2011-12-22T13:15:46.060-05:00

No, it's not.

There is no larger purpose that the evil that befalls you, me, or us serves.

Or the good, for that matter.

It was not meant to be.

There is nothing higher that our lives are about, whether we think so or not.

As folks nowadays say so tautologically, "It is what it is," and that's all that it is.

And as for Laurance whose "here and now existence is glorious enough," we and he can hope his luck holds for a while.

It won't forever.

At best, there is the shipwreck of old age to look forward to.

Or, for those who prefer it, a quiet death before things get really bad, with or without dignity.

When I was young - late teens, twenties, I bought ...

2011-12-12T12:51:05.712-05:00

When I was young - late teens, twenties, I bought the myth that life has Meaning and Purpose, and that our quest is to discover the Meaning and Purpose of Life.

But I was seriously depressed. Everything was postponed for me. I went to kindergarten in order to get ready for grade school, to grade school in order to be ready for high school. High school was preparation for college, and college was preparation for adult life, and adult life was once again for some purpose in the future. Everything was somewhere else, sometime else. I had no life HERE and NOW. I felt badly alienated and dislocated.

By the time I was in my thirties I'd figured out that when something means something else, that something else is somewhere else. If there's a purpose, it's off in the future, it's not now.

I never believed in god to begin with, or thought that this illusory meaning and purpose had anything to do with a deity. I'm glad for that. For me it was a matter of thinking it through and seeing that there was no reason to believe in any sort of meaning or purpose.

Far from being impoverished, I find my life extraordinarily rich. Without any meaning somewhere else or any purpose in some distant future, I have this amazing Here and Now.

Lately I've been realizing how vanishingly improbable it is that I happen to be alive at all, and conscious. But I am, and I feel such awe and respect for that fact. As Mr. Natural said, long ago, "Don't mean sheeit...", and for me this meaningless, purposeless world is far lovelier than anything created by any god.

There's a video that brings tears to my eyes. It's appeared on several sites, and it warms my heart.

http://io9.com/5867092/david-attenboroughs-rendition-of-its-a-wonderful-world-is-a-decidedly-excellent-way-to-start-your-week

If this link doesn't work, google David Attenboro It's a Wonderful World for this youtube vid.

Don't need no meaning. Don't need no purpose. Here and now exisitance is glorious enough.