Why do you believe in religion?

[Michel07]

No... I don't think you understand what I am saying... It is my belief that there is no God, and that human life is worthless, along with every other form of life... Everything is going to die, there are no souls and whatnot, and no one has a purpose to make a difference in the world...

Even though our lives are meaningless, we can still be nice to eachother and have fun, since we have to be here anyway... It is nice to be kind to people, but in the end we will all be dead with absolutely nothing to show for having been alive... That is what I believe... I believe that.

Well, I'm afraid you don't have much evidence that there is no purpose to life or that there is no transitional element to life which is something that has been explored by man since day one. But if something as small as being nice to someone matters it's because the person matters and if the person matters there is a reason.

 

[whereismynotecard]

Well, I'm afraid you don't have much evidence that there is no purpose to life or that there is no transitional element to life which is something that has been explored by man since day one. But if something as small as being nice to someone matters it's because the person matters and if the person matters there is a reason.

Aggggghhhh... The point I am trying to make here, is that I believe that lives, as a whole, are worthless... It might make an individual person happy if someone is nice to them, but it will not matter in some great scheme. Eventually everyone will die, as will thier conciousness, and it will not matter if they were nice or if people were nice to them. Either way they are dead. There is no purpose for anyone to exist... we all just do, and since we are here anyway, we might as well have fun and be nice to eachother...

You have no more evidence that life does matter than I have to support that it doesn't. My beliefs are extremely logical to me.

Also, my internet is kind of sucky right now, so that is why it took so long to respond... and if I disappear, it is because my internet keeps shutting off, and I might just give up on it for a while.

 

[Michel07]

Aggggghhhh... The point I am trying to make here, is that I believe that lives, as a whole, are worthless... It might make an individual person happy if someone is nice to them, but it will not matter in some great scheme. Eventually everyone will die, as will thier conciousness, and it will not matter if they were nice or if people were nice to them. Either way they are dead. There is no purpose for anyone to exist... we all just do, and since we are here anyway, we might as well have fun and be nice to eachother...

You have no more evidence that life does matter than I have to support that it doesn't. My beliefs are extremely logical to me.

Also, my internet is kind of sucky right now, so that is why it took so long to respond... and if I disappear, it is because my internet keeps shutting off, and I might just give up on it for a while.

Sorry I was on the phone for awhile.
I realize that these are your beliefs right now but evidence of these things is not always as tangible as we would like but that does not make it is nonexistant. It is personal evidence sometimes but use some of your imagination and I'm sure you have some and you will get your evidence. Maybe it will only be personal but it will be there.
Einstein said " Imagination is more important than knowledge." He said that because he was a discoverer and without imagination it is hard to discover especially those things that are less tangible. Can a person prove that love exists? Put it in a beaker and pour it into a test tube ? Not. But we know it exists because we are capable of it even if we can't prove it in a lab. Intangible existence.

 

[whereismynotecard]

Sorry I was on the phone for awhile.
I realize that these are your beliefs right now but evidence of these things is not always as tangible as we would like but that does not make it is nonexistant. It is personal evidence sometimes but use some of your imagination and I'm sure you have some and you will get your evidence. Maybe it will only be personal but it will be there.
Einstein said " Imagination is more important than knowledge." He said that because he was a discoverer and without imagination it is hard to discover especially those things that are less tangible. Can a person prove that love exists? Put it in a beaker and pour it into a test tube ? Not. But we know it exists because we are capable of it even if we can't prove it in a lab. Intangible existence.

I don't believe that love exists...

And if I have to imagine the evidence that I need to believe something... Well, let's just say I don't know if it could really be considered evidence if I made it up... Imagination is fun, but you cannot imagine things and pretend they are true...

 

[Michel07]

I don't believe that love exists...

And if I have to imagine the evidence that I need to believe something... Well, let's just say I don't know if it could really be considered evidence if I made it up... Imagination is fun, but you cannot imagine things and pretend they are true...

It is not imagining evidence, it is using imagination as a portal to discovery. Einstein did know that is required for open mindedness.
And what do you mean you don't believe that love exists if others love you.

 

[whereismynotecard]

It is not imagining evidence, it is using imagination as a portal to discovery. Einstein did know that is required for open mindedness.
And what do you mean you don't believe that love exists if others love you.

I think you can kind of like someone, but it is usually just obsession, and obsession fades, which is why so many people are madly in love, get married, and then get divorced when they realize they were never really in love, they were just obsessed with eachother.

 

[Michel07]

I think you can kind of like someone, but it is usually just obsession, and obsession fades, which is why so many people are madly in love, get married, and then get divorced when they realize they were never really in love, they were just obsessed with eachother.

It is possible to be obsessed with someone , you're right on that point. And yes sometimes the love isn't strong enough to make things work but love is manifested in many ways. The father who slugs away at a job he doesn't like or even that he is above ,to put food on the table and clothes on his kids back. That is love. Need more examples? The list is pretty long though.

 

[whereismynotecard]

It is possible to be obsessed with someone , you're right on that point. And yes sometimes the love isn't strong enough to make things work but love is manifested in many ways. The father who slugs away at a job he doesn't like or even that he is above ,to put food on the table and clothes on his kids back. That is love. Need more examples? The list is pretty long though.

I think that seems more like a social/cultural obligation more than love...

I am going to go do something else, because there are too many people on this site right now, all telling me that I am wrong about everything... I could stay here and argue in circles with everyone all night, but it is kind of tiring, so maybe I'll come back to this thread tomorrow.

 

[Michel07]

I think that seems more like a social/cultural obligation more than love...

I am going to go do something else, because there are too many people on this site right now, all telling me that I am wrong about everything... I could stay here and argue in circles with everyone all night, but it is kind of tiring, so maybe I'll come back to this thread tomorrow.

Take care.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

No... I don't think you understand what I am saying... It is my belief that there is no God, and that human life is worthless, along with every other form of life... Everything is going to die, there are no souls and whatnot, and no one has a purpose to make a difference in the world...

I agree with you in some regards; nothing has value... except what you give it. Nobody has purpose... except for the purpose they find for themselves.

I think that in some regards, I'm a nihilist. I don't think there's any external force out there that dictates good/bad, right/wrong, precious/valueless, or anything else. However, the flipside of nihilism is that you're free to feel, believe, and act however you see fit without anything being measured against any sort of external standard. While your starting point is a blank slate, you can make whatever you want of it.

If you find a purpose that only has meaning within your own personal, subjective frame of reference, great. Does that purpose have meaning in some objective sense? I'd argue that it doesn't matter whether it does or not. Even if the objective exists or matters, none of us can experience the objective directly; all we have is the subjective.

You have as much responsibilty, power and freedom as you want within the sphere of things that touch your existence. If you think that nothing has value, you're completely correct... for you, and what you believe about it is all that matters for you. However, any other value system would be just as correct for you if it reflects how you think, feel and believe. Value is just the product of peoples' decisions. If nothing has intrinsic value, that doesn't mean that you can't assign things value; in fact, I think it means you can assign them whatever value you want.

I think you can kind of like someone, but it is usually just obsession, and obsession fades, which is why so many people are madly in love, get married, and then get divorced when they realize they were never really in love, they were just obsessed with eachother.

It's unfortunate if that's all you've seen or experienced of love; it doesn't have to be that way, though.

Love does change over time, and it's different for everyone. While a relationship might stop being a mad, passionate affair after a while, it can also develop a warmth, comfort and empathy that wasn't there in the beginning.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I am going to go do something else, because there are too many people on this site right now, all telling me that I am wrong about everything... I could stay here and argue in circles with everyone all night, but it is kind of tiring, so maybe I'll come back to this thread tomorrow.

You're not wrong. What you believe is right for you.

But if you believed something different, that'd be right for you as well.