Is life worth living?

by **pal** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:57 pm

ohk..now ...u got what lifes worth living???

by UB » Tue Jun 03, 2003 12:50 am

Ummm no! No one still has given me any acceptable reasons as to why life is worth living, but I understood why life goes on and why I continue living despite being convinced that it is all pointless!

by b. » Tue Jun 03, 2003 2:59 am

how about this, can you look at the opposite of life and tell what it is worth.

by UB » Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:17 am

Well, I don\'t know if it was the smile... but here\'s what happened - I was feeling really sad when I was first convinced existence was pointless. I still remain convinced about that, but on reflecting a little bit longer here\'s what I decided - if its all pointless, feeling sad about that is even more pointless!
I guess I should have remembered that the true spirit of scientific enquiry requires the pursuit of truth to be done dispassionately.

by UB » Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:32 am

ok that is a kicker of a question! Logically impossible to answer - here\'s why - I would not be able to tell you with any degree of accuracy what death is worth without experiencing it, and if I do experience it I would physically unable to provide you with an answer

So we are back where we started!

by b. » Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:48 pm

not necessarily, opposite of life doesn\'t have to be actual death; think about \"coma/icu/amc/90%burns/brain tumor/hiv/paralysis.etc.\"

by UB » Wed Jun 04, 2003 12:26 am

Sorry all those cases you mentioned are very much a part of life. It may be an ugly facet of life that you would not like to dwell on but is all still life! As long a person is in this world (functioning heart/brain) he/she is a part of life on this planet. You can\'t just people experiencig the positive heartwarming aspects of life (if these indeed exist!) as life and the rest as the opposite of life.

by **Kiran** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:21 am

\"Life has no other purpose. Living it, is the purpose\", just the same way as a Roses beauty has no purpose, other than staying beautiful. Dont know if any of this will make any immediate sense, it didnt to me when i first read it, but it does a little now.

by **Kiran** » Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:22 am

\"Life has no other purpose. Living it, is the purpose\", just the same way as a Roses beauty has no purpose, other than staying beautiful. Dont know if any of this will make any immediate sense, it didnt to me when i first read it, but it does a little now.

by UB » Wed Jun 04, 2003 2:08 am

sorry that does not make any logical sense. Its one of those seemingly profound statements that are essentially hollow.

by b. » Wed Jun 04, 2003 11:33 pm

let me tell you something UB, if you feel the above things are part of life then aren\'t you happy that you are not in it; just think, go to NIMS or Gandhi and see whats going on there just feel it then you will know whether life is worth or not; and by the way my question was can you look at the opposite and tell what it is worth.(what value)

by b. » Wed Jun 04, 2003 11:35 pm

let me tell you something UB, if you feel the above things are part of life then aren\'t you happy that you are not in it; just think, go to NIMS or Gandhi and see whats going on there just feel it then you will know whether life is worth or not; and by the way my question was can you look at the opposite and tell what it is worth.(what value)

by UB » Thu Jun 05, 2003 2:04 am

b, I guess we are looking at things from a slightly different perspective. At this point in my life I have no personal, monetary or professional problems but thats not the point. I am not looking at my life as something that exists separately from the rest of life on this planet. Anything and everything that happens on this planet affects me to varying degrees and I got to thinking about the futility of the bigger picture. It started out as this question \"what is it that is bothering me about life and what can I do about and it\" and the answer I came up with is that I can do nothing about it. People far more wise and capable have tried and there has not been any notable change. If anything there has been a regression towards medeival barbarian values. Cynicism is nothing but the bastard child of idealism and disillusionment.

by b. » Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:21 am

I didn\'t think you sleep on footpaths, but what notable change you want to see, tell me.

by UB » Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:15 pm

What change do I want to see? Any sign that human life has evolved into a higher sphere in 5000 years. Lets start with large scale insanities - an end to genocides and ethnic cleansings for instance.. does it even seem theoritically feasible? We didnt learn from medeival times, from nazi germany, from Bosnia, from East Timor, from Congo and in India I don\'t need to give you the examples. Man is inherently self destructive and this tendency of his will assert itself no matter what. Is there any sign that we will rise above this and reach another level of progress? Does anyone need to explain to a human being that this kind of behavior is insanity? History will give you enough proof of the futility of human existance (you dont need to go back 5000 years, 50 or 100 is enough).

by b. » Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:48 pm

why is this board not rotating or register, could the fullhyd moderator look into the problem, even some other boards are unable to open or move. thks coop, rgds.

by **The fullhyd.com moderator** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 5:03 pm

Dear b: We just checked, and rectified the problem. Thanks a lot for pointing it out!

by **pal** » Fri Jun 06, 2003 5:18 pm

I think are you have toooooo much comfort in ur life... that\'s the reason you are arguing on such a pointless thing

!!

by UB » Fri Jun 06, 2003 9:50 pm

you are entitled to think what you want pal

by b. » Sat Jun 07, 2003 1:47 am

I think Pal is right; you are only twenty five, once you are married and have half a dozen kids jumping up and down your head you will forget about Pointless life and Human insanity. cheerup man!!

by UB » Sat Jun 07, 2003 9:06 am

I don\'t know... I hope you are right! that\'s what happens to everyone. At some point in your life you start to question things but then bogged down with day to day life especially when you have a family to care for. Against all rational thoughts in my brain, I sincerely hope things get better with time - \"Umeed pe duniya qayam hai!\"!

by **Arun** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 12:04 pm

Hi UB et? al,

First let me thank UB for starting this board. In fact you were able to touch a sensitive chord and got up a few humans for thought provocation. It was wonderful to know that there are still some people who has a serious concern about the human kind as a whole. Well I?m not trying to refer the legends, but a common man like you?. like me ? and like others

It could be quiet boring if we start this from theory of relativism, evolution or struggle for existence, but.. as you know .. everything in this nature has a reason behind it. Don?t you think?
As you said ??does anyone here think life has really changed in 5000+ years of human existence? People like Buddha, Gandhi and Christ have come and gone and man still kills man, life still goes in an endless spiral..? is very much true. Dude I totally agree with you upon this. But the only thing on which I was concerned is .. how could you refer these names and why? The answer lies in your Question itself. Because they MARKED THEIR EXISTENCE THROUGH OUT THEIR LIVING and that?s the reason why we still remember them. What would?ve happened if Buddha/Christ/Gandhi thought the same way that they can do nothing about life cause nothing can be changed in the spiral? Well I?m trying to be supernatural but you can still give a thought for it ?

You mentioned that ?..man still kills other man..?. Ok let?s put it the other way. Why man shouldn?t kill an other man? [ Guys, don?t conclude that I?m a psycho

I?m not that bold anyway ]. Why not the other species of earth stop killing other species? Why should nature offer you so many resources? Theory of evolution and struggle for existence brother!!! I?m pretty sure that you are sensible enough to understand where I?m trying to lead this discussion into!!

If you are still not convinced, please let me know the EXACT context and your reasons for feeling pointlessness. I?m in favor of putting my head-on it

by UB » Thu Jun 12, 2003 11:46 pm

very long but good post! here is my rebuttal -
First - you say people like Gandhi marked their existence through their living (lets leave out the others just so I don\'t offend anyones religious sensibilities!!).
Fine but here are two questions: i) Who still remembers them? People like you and me who have no need for their teachings anyway (since we feel the same way inherently). All the people who need to know about their teachings and remember them (like the people in his own birth place in Gujarat) can\'t be bothered with that. ii) What is the use of people remembering them if they don\'t learn a thing from their life and teachings.
The other question you raised - why should man not kill man is more interesting. I will post my reply in a subsequent post lest I make this post too long

by UB » Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:12 am

ok, now for your more intriguing question - \"why should man not kill his fellow man?\". Here is my reply -
You talk about limited resources and man\'s natural survival instincts as an animal in a threatening environment - good point but you have to think beyond that. here\'s why: i) Man has one thing which no other animal on earth has - the ability to think rationally. ii) The only things that will guarantee a greater survival rate and a better quality of life for all humanity are cooperation and synergistic thinking. To illustrate my point think about the famous example in game theory about the 2 prisoners. To state this in short for those who don\'t know it - \"Assume there are 2 prisoners A and B who have committed a major crime together. However, there is no string evidence against either of them and the only hope for the police to convict them is to interoggate them separately and somehow get one or both of them to give a statement incriminating the other. There are 3 eventualities: i) One gives a statement against the other but the other one does not - so one gets to go free while the other gets a 20 year sentence ii) Both give statements against the other and get 20 years each! iii) Neither of them cracks (both cooperate) and both get off with a 6 month sentence on minor circumstantial evidence.
Which do you think is the best eventuality for them both?

by **Aadi** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 6:28 pm

You are still living. Why? bcoz u too there is going to be a sunshine tomorrow. who knows what it is going to bring in. If you believe in God, then I have something to say \"why its worth living\". It is told that God resides in a happy soul. If you want to live a happy life would u marry someone who always broods over your shoulder. would you go and stay in some place where you always hear the cries of the people staying in there. that is what God is also worried abt. if you are happy, then god is happy to stay with you. I have a very good idea for this as well.

Start by helping others. Donating something everyday. Then we would request god to keep us the same way so that we can always keep helping others, bring happiness to them, donate more and more everyday. If you have a lending hand...it means that you should have enough with you to lend (whether its happiness or wealth).

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