The Nature of Life and Death.

Blueblades

What is Man? Why is Man? How is Man? The nature of life and death requires a full understanding of the nature of man. One must come to this from an unbiased point of view, unafraid of the philosophical consequences of making adjustments in one's attitude toward life and death. ( I have not. )

Although humans have walked on the moon and will soon reach for the stars, we have yet to learn what we are. After millions of years of existence on this planet, we are still unable to come to grips with the most important question of all: What is Man? Why is Man? How is Man? ( I don't know. )

To toss the problem of man into the lap of religion by judging it to be the whim of an omnipotent creator is merely to beg the question. Even if we were to accept uncritically the notion of instantaneous creation by superior force, it would leave unanswered the questions that would immediately arise from such a notion: Who created the creator? ( and on and on??? )

To go to the other end of the scale and ascribe our existence to a slow process of natural evolution in which particles of matter, chemicals, were mixed in certain ways to form larger pieces of matter and ultimatelyed reach the stage where life began sounds like a more sensible approach to the puzzle of our existence. ( I guess, I still don't know ) But only on the surface. For if we to accept the theory of evolution, and there is good enough evidence that is valid, ( Right ??? ) we would still be faced with the very problem religion leaves us: Who arranged things in this way, so that infinitesimal bits of matter would join to create life and follow what is obviously an orderly pattern of development? ( or did it just happen??? )

Whether we are theistic or atheistic, materialistic or idealistic, the end result seems to lead to the same door. That door is closed. Behind it lies the one big answer man has searched for, consciously or unconsciously, since the dawn of time. To the average person, the problem of what man is remains unsolved and puzzling as ever. I am an average person, stuck in the middle of it all.

This is not meant to be a debate topic, I'm just thinking outloud to myself, go ahead and ignore this thread, it's 11pm now, time for bed, goodnight all.

Blueblades, who has no idea what I'm talking about

JW83

Good points, but evolution is hardly a matter of orderly development, from what I understand. Species are continually becoming extinct, & it is a human arrogance to presume that we are the top of the tree. We could just as easily become wiped out, but as long as the earth exists, life will continue in some form.

funkyderek

Although humans have walked on the moon and will soon reach for the stars, we have yet to learn what we are. After millions of years of existence on this planet, we are still unable to come to grips with the most important question of all: What is Man? Why is Man? How is Man? ( I don't know. )

We're hairless apes with large brains. End of story.

Sirona

Hey Derek,

I don't recall you being hairless LOL Slightly ape-like, but I'll concede that you have a large brain.

The universe in continually evolving and in my belief system, God(dess) is simply the power which suffuses (sp?) everything. Addressing the original question of "What is man?" I'm tempted to state that man is simply an inferior version of woman LOL, but seriously, I think that man is simply the most evolved animal on this planet. (I guess that could be debated, but I'm basing it on what we have achieved technologically etc). Having said that, I do believe that in reincarnating and developing, we are contributing to the evolution of the universe and I think we're heading toward some amazing developments. Of course, these are just my ideas on the matter, given that I believe in reincarnation.

Thats my 2p.

Sirona

DannyBloem

Whether we are theistic or atheistic, materialistic or idealistic, the end result seems to lead to the same door. That door is closed. Behind it lies the one big answer man has searched for, consciously or unconsciously, since the dawn of time. To the average person, the problem of what man is remains unsolved and puzzling as ever. I am an average person, stuck in the middle of it all.

Some negative vibes, right?

Why should there be a door? Maybe there is just not a purpose of live. It just happened.
We love to live, as this is a very good survival strategie. But the longing for life, does not mean that there is something more if we are death.

Undecided

Blueblades,

I've come to the same conclusion, we don't have any conclusive answers for the reason for life and I have no reason to believe in a hereafter, but I know so little about the universe that I'm just going to wait and see or not see, as the case may be.

Ken P.

tetrapod.sapien

that is very honest of you blueblades. i think you have a very good idea of what you are talking about.

i don't presume to have it all figured out. but, at the end of the day, i fully agree with funkyderek. the simplest explanation is almost always the best one. i'm a reductionist and a materialist. i think that out of all explanations, the theory of evolution by natural cumulative selection explains best technically what we are and how we came to be. and in a philosophical sense, the "what" and "how" answers are also the answer for the "why" question. we are what we are only because we are. we are just here. no magic. alone in the universe for all we know. it's awe inspiring to think of it in those terms, truly. here we are:

african apes with big brains and a predisposition for arrogance and magical thinking.
on a tiny ball of rock and metal.
in a non-descript solar system.
orbiting a tiny little yellow star.
in a backwater galaxy that is but one of billions and billions of others.

and we somehow think we are special. i am always amazed that cosmology is not more offensive to creationists than evolution is. if anything, cosmology shows that we are not special, much more than evolution does.

JW83 makes a very good point too. it is the height of delusional arrogance to think that we are the end result of evolution. the pinnacle of special linear creation. the forces of nature are blind and indifferent. there is no care either way whether we survive or not.

does this mean we should just sit back and die, and let nature run its course? no. as richard dawkins has said on numerous occasions, natural selection is a biological fact, but we, as citizens of this world, have an obligation to fight its inherent blind cruelty. there is so much potential for positive change that would lead to our survival. we have it in us to make the world a better place. we need to seize upon life and run with it. so far, in our entire dark history, science does this the best.

we may just be african apes, but we have big brains. it's time we started using them.

are there other big brains out there? hopefully. like carl sagan said: "if we are all alone, it's seems like an awful waste of space."

Narkissos

Mankind > Language > Questions.

Answers?

We can speak of life and death and anything -- but who's doing the talk?

Siddhashunyata

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The Nature of Life and Death.

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