My definition of meaning isn't about profit in a next life or ethereal afterlife. It is about being more than the matter I am made of. — TiredThinker
I go back and forth on this a lot. One thing I've come up with is that "meaning", as understood even within the confines of this idea of life having meaning only in the present, is a concept that stems from some sort of metaphysical "meta-meaning" situation. We thought life had meaning in relation to an afterlife, but now we've amended that, and, using the same language, we say that life only has meaning in the now. And then it gets twisted up with some concepts borrowed from Hinduism or Buddhism. — Noble Dust
I am not assuming anything about the duration of time or the finite or infinite nature of the universe. — TiredThinker
If there is no afterlife can we assume life had no meaning? — TiredThinker
Why not ask the same questions about the universe or other things? — Wheatley
"Properly" or not, we can't examine anything once we're no longer alive.Can we properly examine life while still alive? — TiredThinker
Whether or not there is afterlife, we can assume anything about life's meaning or lack of meaning, but that won't change the fact that living is 'evaluating, selecting, prioritizing, interpreting ...' in order to survive and even thrive for as long as we live; and only in hindsight does one's irrevocable - irreparable - losses in the course of 'evaluating', etc, have meaning to the degree they shape one's life and remind one of lessons learned for survival and perhaps even provide (recurring) challenges - traumas - to be overcome. Whether or not there's a "here after", now here has every one alive by the throat struggling to delay the inevitable, fatal misadventure permitting, for as long as one is able, while gasping for meaning - the means to go on, to breathe (re-spiritus) ...If there is no afterlife can we assume life had no meaning?
What meaning or purpose does the existence of an afterlife provide?As far as I can tell there is no strong evidence that anything happens after we die, and yet I can't imagine life having meaning or purpose unless there is. — TiredThinker
So are other animals. What makes humans special complicated poop machines in that we have an afterlife and other life doesn't?No matter how proud we might be of our intelligence, and our inability to find anything seemingly more intelligent it seems we are just over complicated poop machines. — TiredThinker
Isn't a belief in an afterlife a way of preventing sadness in suicide? It seems that you are distressed that the evidence indicates that there isn't an afterlife.We can try to define a purpose based on our occupation, or some might argue that being happy is the only meaning to life, but that only sounds like a way to prevent sadness and suicide. — TiredThinker
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