a higher purpose?
 

Some threads beg the question about people's views on a "higher purpose." And so, a poll...

Mostly the climate change threads make me wonder, but there are others as well. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, but I'd like to get a feel for whether or not people think that humans have a "higher purpose" beyond just living day to day.

We are as insignificant as the universe is vast.

Well, the first thing that jumps to mind is the instinctual drive to reproduce. I'm not sure if that's what you mean but it's obviously a drive that, if satisfied, has little if any direct effect on the individual.

Well, everyday we create history for others to read and experience in the future. I think that means we inherently have a higher purpose. To each other.

Chalk me up on the "higher purpose" ledger.

We are placed here for a reason. Each of our lives has a purpose in the grander scheme.

I think it's very important for most to feel that they are contributing to/working toward a greater purpose.

My ambitions are very small. I only want $1.00 from every American.

I try to live by that camping motto of leaving the place a little nicer than how it was when I found it.

Be good, do good.

No deity required.

+1 on Kurt's be good do good. Not because you feel obligated to, but because you want to. I voted for the karma option because I think people get what they put out. No deity required.

I agree with the assertion that we are as insignificant as the universe is vast. However, I believe it is our "calling" to become significant in our given place; it is our calling to become more than human . . . rise above the flesh and the beings that we are: hotwired to consume, reproduce and watch out for number one. I'd like to think it's possible . . . and we'll stop there before I write a book.

Yep. I picked #2, although #2 & #3 both seem to apply.

Ya need to look out for #1 but past the point of ensuring your own survival and reasonable level of comfort, it is inherently noble to look past ourselves and try to leave the world better than when we found it.

Maslow got it right:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217737913.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Hi! SmileWavy


KT

Wow. The hierarchy of needs. I thought I left that back in psych class YEARS ago . . .

How is it I that I just realized I'm watching "Biker Boyz" and have likely been doing so for over an hour . . .

Ironic. The fact that a humans can even SAY that...meaning, they have some appreciation of the vastness of the Universe and our part in it...means that we are NOT insignificant, because something that truly IS insignificant cannot properly comprehend what is larger than it.

Therefore, by you stating that, you have negated your own statement.

i don't see karma as a higher purpose
i just see it as a way of life

and sometimes it works out , sometimes it doesn't
sometimes i screw up my end of it, and sometimes the karma end screws up

I just try

Hardly. That's some A-1 grade nonsense you be talkin' bro.

Probably the first time I have agreed with sniper. (Maybe not the last).

Tom

You're a strange mess of conflicting ideas, depending on which thread you're in.

Either we're insignificant useless gnats wasting space on this planet...or we're strong evolutionary predators who deserve to use the environment as we feel fit, because it's adapt or die dude...or you're saying that government funding is good as long as it's military and not NASA...or you're saying that government only funds welfare and destroys the country because of socialism.

Quite the interesting character you are.

Both of his personalities are interesting.

I would think that any honest person has a "strange mess of conflicting ideas" running around in his head.

Just because we are apex predators here doesn't mean that we don't exist on an utterly insignificant little ball of iron and mud in an utterly insiginicant far flung reach of an insignificant galaxy, thereby making us insignificant...does it?

Well the military actually PROTECTS US from other apex predators of our insignificant species (and drives technology), whereas NASA just blows money into space(literally).

Seems a no-brainer which one returns more for the investment.

Not sure what point you're trying to enunciate here.

Oh you have no idea...

I can totally picture Keanu Reeves delivering this line in a cheesy action flick. Beautiful gibberish my man:D

Depends what galaxy your from. In the grand scheme of things, the earth, our solar system, even our galaxy couldn't give a rats whether we're here or not. It would all still continue on its merry way without us.

Quiz: Looking at the following picture, (1) identify our solar system, (2) identify Earth, (3) identify your location on the Earth. Show your work...

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/un...1b7a60b1e2.jpg

So true...

While I do not belong to an organized religion, I believe in deity...not a deity, but the concept.

I truly do not believe any single religion has the corner on the deity market. What has always struck me is, at their best, how most religions subscribe to the same basic principles and tenants: family, honesty, temperance, work ethics, etc.

It seems only when man attempts to interpret religion for selfish ends does the fabric of good begin to fray.

My higher purpose within my belief system has been to live an honest, introspective life, do my best, honor my wife and raise excellent kids.:)

Well said! :)

I'm going to say we don't have a shot like that of the Milky Way galaxy.
Nice pic though...



KT

For those of you who speak of the vastness of the universe, I will leave this 1.5m GIF file on my server for a few days. (Please D/L rather than stream.)
http://www.performanceaeromotive.com/vast.gif


My philosophy is based on something Kirk said to Picard. As he was dying, he looked up at Picard and asked, "Did we make a difference?"

When I am dead, I want my eulogist to think about that.

Here's an actual infra-red image of the core of the Milky Way Galaxy, taken by the Spritzer Space telescope.

Our galaxy is but one of hundreds of billions of galaxies, and yes, that is a guess. :D

Our footprint in the universe is unimaginably tiny.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217865611.jpg

You've got it! :D


KT

Your significance in life is entirely up to you. want to be insignificant? done.

Want to be significant in the lives of people around you, around the world?

Act.


this "we're insignificant" is a whiner, apologist lazya$$ bull***** excuse for being an underachiever.

Making a difference in someone else's life/lives is all you need to do to be significant while you are here, even(especially) if no one else knows.

Of course. :)

I don't make too big of an issue whether the number of galaxies is 112,234,456,789 or 454,342,876,395, or some amount between or around these numbers.

I agree with you, especially the even(especially) if no one else knows. part! But there's no argument that we are physically insignificant in the Universe.

Along with "Be good, do good" I would add that "Good begets good" - that's my simplified, demystified version of Karma.

Bingo. It was a trick question. :D

yes, and I believe that be good do good, and it's intangible benefits for all involved transcends physicality.

I should add that along the lines of the physics laws of conservation of mass and conservation of energy, I believe in conservation of soul. whether expressed scientifically as the conscience or some religious theorem, the soul is what makes humans unique in our physical world, but also what creates the concept of Love, which is far beyond our physical experience. Where does this "energy" go when you die? I don't know, but I believe it must be conserved and expressed in another time/place.

Are humans really that unique? Based on what . . . the concept of love?

Granted, we are from an intelligence standpoint far ahead of any other animal, no doubt. No animal has come even close to humans as far as controlling our environment, etc.

But that means we have souls that are going to somehow be conserved, and every other species of animal does not?

That's where I thought all dogs went, but now I'm not so sure. Damn things can't even invent a wheel.

Love is only one manifestation of the soul. Art and music are 2 others. Humans are unique in that they can create an abstract world beyond the physical. Other animals can't do this, so no, I don't believe they have souls in the same was as we do.

I'm trying to understand that. Humans have a soul that survives death because we can write a song or paint a painting, and every other creature does not?

What does "create an abstract world beyond the physical" mean, and how do you know other animals can't or don't do that?

There's a documentary I remember from a while ago, which followed a pack (or whatever it would be called) of gorillas, very sad, one of the babies dies and the mother cries and carries the dead body around for days, you could see the wracking pain, grief and anguish on the mother's face for weeks. But until it can paint a picture, no soul?