orange monkeyee

it's all fun and games to debate philosophical stuff, but why not consider this: You're going to die someday, and whatever you believe in is all grand to me.

Why not enjoy what you have instead of pondering what's to come ?

wilbjammin

It's a good way to live a hollow existance...

A life without questions is a life without substance.

You've defined Kierkegaard's aesthetic mode of existence.

Socrates - "The unexamined life is not worth living"

Let alone the fundamental questions of suicide. How can you just live if you do not know whether life is worth living in the first place?

I could try to just enjoy things... but without having any kind of meaning behind it, I couldn't enjoy it.

Though, I don't understand why you've phrased it "pondering what's to come"... there's plenty in life to question philosopically.

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Innominate.

:::OshnSoul:::

There is a difference between questioning life and worrying about it.
I have questioned to get where I am today. Now I am full of a positive energy that is my spirituality. I keep asking questions to realize more of who I am and the life I am living.
Ya, just live it- but ask questions! The wisest are those who ask questions...........But don't worry about life!

archpaladin

Apart from necessary spiritual cultivation, by considering philosophy and theology, I learn how to maximize my fulfillment of life. I learn how to act in such a manner that best suits myself and those around me. If I did not consider philosophy, I could certainly enjoy the life I have, but I would probably live a little more chaotically. Personally, I'm sure I would hurt more people being chaotic than being contemplative.

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Menoman

I agree to a point, most of the time I am just living without thinking philosophically, I do however enjoy sitting around while board and reading about religions of all sorts(especially the far out ones).

I think you described how most athiests live. *the ones I know at least*

agnostics on the other hand I would think try to contemplate even moreso than others perhaps.

Whether I think that philosophical thinking is necessary for some sort of enlightenment, I'm not really sure. Too many unknown factors for me to make a decision on that question.



Hope my ranting at least got close to giving you my opinion lol :P

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anti fishstick

well you have to define your life in some way.
and to me, that involves asking questions.
the how and why?
this gives meaning, logic, convention. it's a way to measure your existence; to justify.
why not ponder? why do you think enjoying what you have means not questioning in any way. why can't they go hand in hand?

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And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~Anais Nin

nate_dawg

what?

just because a person is an athiest, doesn't mean they don't question their existence and existence in general.

if anything, I would think an athiest would be rather deeply involved in this, since they have no institution "telling" them what the meaning is...........they're trying to find it for themselves.

I'm an athiest, and i find philosophy to be very interesting and insightful, especially those "big" questions......

gondath

by the same token, why do we live or do anything at all when we know we're all going to be dead anyways? Nothing really matters much when you're dead. Living is a philisophical question in itself. Why be alive?

orange monkeyee

doing what i do on a day to day basis, keeps me alive.

irateplatypus

i don't think they are mutually exclusive. i'm really not sure that any speculating on an afterlife has kept me from enjoying life as i know it now.

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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

~ Winston Churchill

John Henry

I don't know about pondering 'what's to come', but as far as pondering in general goes, I rather enjoy it.

Also 'debating philosophical stuff' does not entirely consist in making ludicrous speculation as to what you might do after all your vital functions stop (incidentally, in case you're wondering, you rot). Many of the threads on this board seem to go along the following lines (or similar)

Argh: So, guys, where do you think the universe came from? I think it got farted out of the ass of a giant billy goat

Tharg: That can't be true. I believe that God created the universe and that God is a big ball of cheese.

Blargh: But how could a big ball of cheese make something as beautiful and complex as the universe? It seems obvious to me that it could only have been made by a really tall car mechanic.

Tharg: HOW DARE YOU MOCK MY BELIEFS!!! YOU SMALL MINDED BASTARDS!!! CAN'T YOU JUST ACCEPT FOR ONCE THAT SOMEONE ELSE'S BELIEFS MIGHT BE TRUE!?!?! OF COURSE GOD IS A BALL OF CHEESE. ANYONE WHO BELIEVES ANYTHING DIFFERENT IS A DUMB FUCK AND WILL GRILL IN HELL!!!.....


Don't be fooled. This is not philosophy. A real philosophical debate might go more along the following lines:

Argh: So, guys, where do you think the universe came from? I think it got farted out of the ass of a giant billy goat

Blargh: So where do you suppose this goat came from....


Surf around the philosophy board a bit and you will find a few threads like the latter. This kind of philosophy is exercise for the mind and is an enjoyable part of life in it's own right

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"No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit."

orange monkeyee

Hey wait, who brought the beer for the debate? ( answer of a 20 year old with ADHD)

doncalypso

I couldn't have said it any better... I second that motion, Your Honor.

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Doncalypso... the one and only Haitian Sensation