what you don’t think people have things they consider important?
On the contrary. I think people are very good at believing in things, including what is important to them. My point is, that that doesn’t make it important because importance doesn’t exists as an empirical concept but only as a cognitive construct. My question is: Why do we need that construct? What is it that makes people need to be able to believe in something before it becomes real to them? Can’t you just enjoy the things you like without giving them an arbitrary value? The problem I have with this, is that importance -like any construct- will get a life on it’s own. Much like economy, politics, religion, ideologies etc. And before you know it, people are wanting for something that is just an idea and any relation to the factual enjoyment is gone.
We need food. We get food in exchange for money. The money itself is just a construct. But most people say money is important because we can exchange it for food. And so money/economics grew into something huge, and now many people cannot get good food they need because they have no money. That is just silly if it wasn’t so sad.
‘Life purpose’? Life has no purpose. That is the bare, harsh truth. Shouldn’t we just accept that and deal with it together instead of trying to believe in our individual mental constructs to hide in?
Perhaps I am missing the point. If so I apologise. But I fail to see the rationality of inventing my own personal purpose or importance. What does that do? I will concede that many if not most people will sleep better and feel good about their lives if they do. But in the end all this means is that you lived a self-created lie.
Is that what life is? Just something we make up for ourselves? is that what this article is telling me?
I’ll conclude here the same as above in my other reply: Life is objectively without purpose afawk. The rational thing to do is accept that. To invent subjective purposes is to deny the objective truth. that’s all I am proposing.
Okay. Not sure what the reason is for the negative points on my last 2 replies. I will admit my response to this article was fuelled by my own frustrations. But still I do not see where my logic fails when I say: “Life is objectively without purpose afawk. The rational thing to do is accept that.”
For the past 30 years I lived a life without meaning, purpose, passion, importance, you name it. Still, I feel no need to end it, nor does that mean I cannot enjoy things. But what that does do is make me feel lonely. I see everyone around me, everywhere, hiding behind their own self-created “purposes”.
To me, it is like everyone is digging holes and trying to find something, totally oblivious to that fact that there is a vast world above ground. It is just an -no doubt biased- observation/feeling. I didn’t respond to disagree with the article, but to see if anyone can give me a logical, rational reason to agree with it (=start digging a hole).
I failed in that. Sorry.