All of life is just a memory... Is there a point to it?

[Crucible]

I mean all future is the past, or at least will be. Whatever will happen in my life will. That is since fate exists. Why not just kill ourselves now? What if we KNEW what the afterlife would be. What if it was everything we would want it to be. Lets also consider nothing in this life affects that life. Now if this was the case, would you kill yourself? I mean if you did you could simple go back to your life in the afterlife. Of course the people in it would not be real, but they would act exactly like the actual people. You could also do countless other things. But, what if that is not the case? What if I am wrong? Then I suppose killing oneself would be a very bad thing. I think this is the reason we don't know this kind of stuff. If we did I would imagine almost everyone would see this life as pointless and leave it. I can't really say I hate this life. There are many things I want that I cannot have. I can tell you this though, if I knew what the afterlife was and was what I wanted it to be I would not wait a minute before killing myself. I guess I am just stuck here for now. I don't want to, but I will have to live this life. I just wish I could do something useful before I die. I just don't life living life being uncertain of things.

[Umbrasquall]

You could amount to something. Life is a lot about the temporary guilts and pleasures. Sure it might just be a memory later, but at least you had some fun! However, there is a deeper side of life. Long-term effects like success, love, friendship. I think those all all worth it.

[Xisdence]

Such a complex and meaningful topic. Hmm. Crucible you could say that everything you will ever do is going to fade into history, but imagine all the parts of existence that your life effected, the people and such. Imo we don't yet know enough about time yet, to concede there is only past, present and future. So in a sense, maybe it won't. As for afterlife, well i fukin hope there is one, a life where i can spend time with the people you love, doing the things whcih bring utter happiness, such as eating steak and pepper pies, mmm. Being uncertain of things, well i think that's part of it. Do you always feel so confused about life, and what your going to do??

[Crucible]

Well, I don't know if life is worth living. I don't know what will come. I would imagine my future would be good, but I have no way of knowing. What if at some point I end up going crazy and killing 100s of people for example. Or lets say I get a major brain injury and it drops my IQ to 40. I mean if I knew either of those would take place I would kill myself now. If I am to do what I want in life, I want to live. That is how I am uncertain.

[Kaniaz]

I believe nobody in life is really important as far as the entire universe cares, we're all just like the scuttling of ants. If we die, nobody really cares except say 0.0000000000000001% people or something. Still, dosen't exactly stop you from enjoying your life, does it.

[CT]

you have the opportunity to have fun, so go ahead and have fun cause all this theorising is doing no good...

[Stalker]

Sure, we could all just kill ourselves. The universe wouldn't care and earth would most likely be better off without us. But just because there might not be any external point to our lives don't mean we have no reason to live. Lives only purpose is live itself.

[Dragon]

What Stalker said is right, the only true purpose to life is to live and learn from it. If you were to kill yourself right now, you would realize that the ultimate purpose of life is truly to just live, so stop worrying about it, and just go on living O_o

[Flowstill]

There really is no future, or any past. Future is what the present will be, and the past is already gone and is just your minds memory. To live, is to recognize that time doesn't exist, there is only the present moment. To fully immerse your whole being into the present and be a part of whats going on right now, is living. When you become a part of the flow of life, you recognize everything as yourself. Your individual perception is your true individuality, but everything is One flowing right now in the present. Just be. Allow all life to be, including all inner life and the true joy of the true perception of life as it truly is, will be bliss, harmony. A good way to start being present, is to observe your feelings and thoughts, without judgement. i.e. observe the feeling of anxiety and don't say to yourself, "this sucks, this feeling hurts, I'm so depressed", etc. Just feel the feeling and that is all. This causes the feeling so subside. Remember, we are alive in the moment, the only moment there is. To recognize this and become one with the only moment, is truly liberating.

[spoon]

Why does life have to have a purpose? It'd scare me more if it did. Am I fulfilling my purpose? What happens if I dont? etc I'm only here for 70ish (here's hopin) short years, most of which I will probably not even remember when I'm old, most of which I will probably do nothing of sigificance. After I die I'll rot in the ground (or burn, depending on how I feel). People will remember me for a while - maybe a long while if I manage to make an impact. But in a generation or two noone will know my name, noone will remember who I was, they might remember me but I guarantee they remember something other than who -I- was. But I wont care, I wont know anything anymore. But I got to live, and hopefully I got to have fun doing it. That last sentence makes me very happy. -spoon

[LewisM]

I like that Spoon. When I think of fate, I always think to myself about choices. I dont think of it as just letting fate choose. I would rather choose. For example, if I had to choose whether to battle through life trying hard to become a better person etc OR to slump through life, because hey, fate chose my life there's no point in fighting, I would DEFINITELY choose the former. Wouldn't you? It's the lazy option to just 'let fate do it'

[Dylan]

I'm slightly confused Lewis... do you believe in fate or not? If so, how can you CHOOSE anything? That seems really contradictory to me - it would merely be your belief that you are making choices. I also agree with what spoon said "Why does life have to have a purpose?". I don't believe life has a purpose or a meaning. Why do people always have to have an answer, "The Meaning Of Life"? Comfort perhaps? Security? But then again, like spoon, perhaps comfort and security can come from the lack of a purpose.... but wouldn't that itself be a purpose? We fabricate our own purposes - it's unavoiable. But on to the original post. About how there's only past... I wouldn't be so sure though. It would seem to me that there is only present, because that is all you can ever experience. How do you know that you haven't just been placed RIGHT NOW into the world, with a brain that already has "memories" written on it. Well you don't, and as I don't myself believe this, and you probably don't either, there still isn't any way of really telling it's false. To be honest, I'm not spiritual. I like to think I'm open minded, perhaps I'm not? Maybe I merely pretend to examine different views when I've already, deep down, made a decision for myself? I still like to think I'm open minded though... Anyway, I recently read up about Tibetan Dream Yoga. Apparently they believe that life is a dream, and that you must achieve some realization to wake up... just as you do when you wake up from the dreams that we are used to. When you wake up from that dream, your dream reality is terminated and you go into "real life". The idea is that when you achieve this realization in "real life" you will 'wake up' into another reality... with senses and perceptions much clearer and different than that of your dream world.. perhaps this is what happens when you die? you wake up... Now. Of course this idea isn't exclusive to Tibetan Dream Yoga, i'm sure you've all heard it before. But their approach is that, through dreaming lucidly you can heal problems you have in real life, and can begin to advance yourself towards this realization. Kind of like meditating... achieving enlightenment... "enlightenment" being aware that you're dreaming but not leaving that state? so i guess.... you haven't died, but you're aware, kind of like lucid dreaming. I don't know much more about that, but it's interesting, and you should definately look into it. I had something else to say but I've forgotten, and I'm too tired to remember now. Actually there's a really good chance I misunderstood some of the posts I read and responded with something completely not relating. I'm just that tired, but I've gotta have something to do! Haha, you'd think I'd go to bed when I'm tired (and lucid dreaming being an extra special incentive!) But some odd reason though no. I decide to stay up late for no reason.. doing nothing except procrastinating on sleep itself.. It's quite silly but I often do it, and I just can't seem to stop. Cheers, Dylan

[O'nus]

Here's another interesting aspect to consider: Everything you know and everything you do can be boiled down to a cognitive system. In other words, everything you do relies on your memory. Think of it and it'll begin to bother you. The very fact that you are reading this is because you were taught English - the symbolism of sounds coming out of your mouth. This symbolism utilizes your memory as "memory" represents "recalling past thoughts and experiences, etc." and every other letter is simply a symbol of the sound it makes, and every word is simply a symbol of the definition we have given it. This is all stored into your memory just the same as cheat codes to video games. How you interact with people, tell jokes, manage your anger, is all influence by you memories - how things have happened in the past. You will consider past events in order to come to the resolve that you desire in the present situation by utilzing your memory of past events. The only time you are at a clear slate is when you are first born. Only then are you an undeclared variable - disregarding the argument about genetics implication to character. Everything you do and everything you think is entirely based on your memory integrated with your animal nature. On a more relevant note: Will you even remember, how you felt, in one day, one week, one month, one year, or what about in ten years? So when the people you work for pressure you, and fail to understand you, does it really matter? And when they call you on the phone, screaming and yelling, does it really matter? And should you really allow that influence in your life? In your eyeday life, whenever something annoys you, stresses you, makes you mad, or makes you sad. Consider that that something really matters. It's all about choices. It's up to you to live in a cynical fashion believing that their is no purpose in the world. I am simply sorry that you cannot see the beauty in the world and how much it has to offer you. Love, passion, an identity, beliefs. You should feel lucky enough to even consider the meaning of life and what your purpose is considering their are billions of other creatures on this Earth that may not even know they exist. It sounds as though you are going through a transitional phase with your beliefs. Are you moving out of your family soon? In the middle of school and feeling like you're in the wrong program? These are my thoughts.

[Crucible]

Well, O'nus, about what you said about remembering how you felt. I remember how I felt for every situation in my life from age 2. I have a very good memory. I remember how I felt emotionally while being potty trained among other things. The reason I would rather prefer to end life now is because of responsibility. I don't like always having to worry about doing something. I have to go to school, do well, get a job, have a family, etc. Even the small things like making sure I take a daily crap and washing my face annoy me. I really don't want anything to worry about. That is when you can really enjoy life. If you could be care-free as you were as a child life would be perfect. I remember well that I had no problems with life when I was younger. For the most part, life was good as a child.

[bmx-life™]

Sounds like you are affraid of time cause all we got is limited time yo. To pull of stuff thats makes us feel alive everything else is just nothing realy, life is made up of good moments, I dont know what happens when I die or if there is a god, but I made a pack with God if there is one, I said gimme a good happy life with everything I need to be happy. Ill do your bidding in the next ie: kill demons or whatever an if theres no deal after death I wont be around to worrie. Its just that you have self awerness now you dont realy wana give it up cause this maybe very well be all youll ever know! When you think about it dying may very well be the best thing you could experince?

[Dylan]

I'd say if you're so afraid of routines and responsibility... find a way to work around them. Be spontaneous, adventurous... there's no point just ending your life for that reason alone. You'll die eventually, who knows what will happen then, why not make the best of what you're experiencing now. It couldn't possibly be THAT horrible? And you'll probably end up changing your view on this at some point later on in your life. Either way... make the best of it, or learn to adapt. Take it easy, Dylan

[Xisdence]

Life isn't related or dependant on memories, that's rubbish. We all have inner instincts and human natures.

[LewisM]

Instincts don't govern that much (or so I think). Anyway Dylan, what I was trying to get at is that the illusion of choice is just as good as real choice. Right now, in my mind, it seems that I either have the choice to try hard in life or to bum around. Now if I were to think about fate, and I saw two different pre-determined lives (one hard-working, one a bum) I would prefer to be the hard-worker. So, in my life, I work hard and attempt to get that hard-worker life. Since no one can tell the future and find out what fate has in store for us, we may as well keep trying to get the life we want in the hope that it is our fate.

[Dylan]

Ah ok I get that. And I agree as well. I have the same view. I don't lean so much towards the idea of "FATE" so much as I do towards the idea that everything that occurs is unavoidable because of the cause and effect of the previous events. It just seems like the most logical explanation to me... But at the same time, I don't waste my time fretting about this... rarely does it ever even enter my mind. I just go about my life trying to be the best I can be, always moving forward to achieve what I want to achieve. Cheers, Dylan

[Crucible]

I never said I was afraid of death. I don't care that we have limited time here. I have said more than once that I am just sick of life. I actually look forward to death. I'll be happy when it comes.

[regetsref]

I don't know if this thread is dead or whatever but, I think life is pretty pointless. I agree that there is pleasure and beauty in everything but its just hard to find because of all the emotions, and conditioning in our lives that get in the way of trying to really be ourselves. This probably won't make any sense as Im no good at expressing myself verbally but whatever. But to Crucible I say if youre sick of life, stop playing mmorpgs and get a girlfriend. I was in the same place as you, I had no real friends and spent all my time playing online. After cancelling my accounts I realized that I had wasted 8 months of my life. All I have now is the memory of what I did. Of course all you ever have is memories but being able to share them with others that you love makes them worthwhile I think. Anyways, Ive been really depressed and finally meeting a girl I really like is pretty much all it took to get me better. Also if life sucks you can always still do something, just go away somewhere or completley change your life and become a different person. I think people get stuck, whatever situation they end up in because of the course their life took seems to be the only option, but there is always something to do. Ugh I really cant say what I want because I, I think I dont have a large enough vocabulary or something.

[incognito]

A thread after my own heart... life is nothing but a memory, what're you going to remember? Originally posted by back in the day@ he I believe nobody in life is really important as far as the entire universe cares, So you don't believe in the whole a wonderful life theory? Everybodies actions have consequences far beyond what you might see, or even experience later in life... you may do or say one thing to one person that causes them to take a completely different path in life, causing yet others to alter theirs, it's kind of an ongoing vicious circle. This can happen on a minor scale, and a major scale. I think everybody plays a role in their own way, but then I look at life as one big game so the analogy comes easy for me... I've thought alot about the fact that life is only a memory in the end - which makes you wonder, in the end, what's left over to remember it? But I live my life around this as much as I can - I may not do something terribly exciting, educational or whatever some days, but I won't remember those days down the road anyways. It's the days where I'm with friends, or do something I've never done before, the experiences that leave a mark that I live for. If you notice, a lot of people around you will constantly be talking about inane things, or even intellectual things, but they *always* talk about, "that one time". These memories make you who you are... I always knew this in the back of my head, but I had it hit me in the face just over the past year when I moved back to my home town, and decided I was going to remove part of my life from my memory... because I didn't want to base my life on the things that happened during those years. After awhile, I realized I was changing... almost like part of me was missing and I couldn't quite figure out what. Lately I've been remembering, forcing myself to remember, and I'm changing again, but I'm getting back the things I lost, and learning from them. I've got a pretty simple theory on everlasting life too. If you want to live forever, it's actually surprisingly easy. Do something in your life, anything whether it be a personal accomplishment or affecting others in some way, that when after you've passed away somebody remembers you. Somebody remembers your story, or tells somebody else about "that time". When that happens, you've just lived longer than your years.

[incognito]

Originally posted by soylent sam I never said I was afraid of death. That's a rather courageous statement. I think everybody is afraid of death. Some people may be ready for it and accept it, but that means in no less way are they not afraid of it. Nobody will ever know what lies on the other side till they get there themselves. I'm still reading this thread but the general idea I'm feelin is that you're just bored. Depressed might be a better word, but I'm not a psychologist. Go out and live.

[CryoDragoon]

Originally posted by Crucible Why not just kill ourselves now? it's just my opinion, but you are really crazy...

[CryoDragoon]

I think everybody is afraid of death. at least i am [/quote=\"incognito\"] Go out and live. [/quote] and right you are! and again, i will send you this song: http://www.downloads.nl/cgi-bin/meta/do/np...age=2&where=mp3 the 2nd