Why do humans cling to the delusion of "purpose"?
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matt_shade — 6 years ago(July 23, 2019 11:38 AM)
Since we create our own purpose in life it becomes a subjective truth, not a delusion.
And there's the delusion; that "purpose" can exist outside the imagination because you can claim it does.
'(sigh) We humans are stupid egotistical self-deluded beings' -
matt_shade — 6 years ago(July 23, 2019 10:05 PM)
A hammer has no "purpose", it has utility. It can be used to slam nails into wood, to scratch that hard to reach spot on your back or put on the floor to hold a door open or to hold loose papers down in case of wind. Utility is abstract but objectively real.
"Purpose" is neither objective or subjective, it is imaginary. It affects nothing outside the imagination. It is as unsupported as me claiming that the "purpose" of the Sun is to keep Mercury warm.
That bit of logic is my evidence.
I can make myself useful, I cannot make "purpose" non-imaginary. It is egotistical to believe otherwise and most days I loathe our species for the hubris of it.
'(sigh) We humans are stupid egotistical self-deluded beings' -
matt_shade — 6 years ago(July 26, 2019 09:17 AM)
I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, it doesn't exist to others, it remains entirely imaginary, meaning it is an objective truth that it affects nothing except the imagination i.e. only the concept of it exists i.e. only the concept of it is real.
You can also take certain things from your imagination and turn it into a reality depending on what it is, this is including what you believe your purpose is.
There are imaginary things that can be made reality, yes, but "purpose" is not one of them.
You can believe your "purpose" is to be the best gardener in your town but objective truth is the universe does not reflect your human ego that way, you were and are free to be a poor gardener and be a decent painter instead.
'(sigh) We humans are stupid egotistical self-deluded beings' -
matt_shade — 6 years ago(July 28, 2019 08:35 PM)
Well we ultimately choose our own purpose in life because there is no objective reality.
Wrong, there is objective reality. The Stone Age lasted for over 3.4 million trips around the Sun and was followed by 6,000 trips around the Sun of non-Stone Age. That's historical fact proven with physical evidence but if you are thinking in more philosophical terms:
It is objective reality that I exist and that the patterns and concepts my mind deals with exist. It is also objective reality that meaning and logic exist.
Purpose has no meaning unless we create the meaning ourselves.
Wrong. The concept of "purpose" has simple meaning: that a hammer can be infused with the "purpose" of being used to hammer nails etc. or that a wooden chair can be infused with the "purpose" of being used to sit in. Basically that someone (e.g. the maker of a thing) gets to decide how a thing is to be used.
It’s only considered imaginary if we don’t put our own meaning into action.
Wrong. It remains imaginary no matter what we do.
If I believed my purpose in life was being a gardener for whatever reason and actually became one then it does become a reality.
No, it does not. You simply chose to be a gardener. You have no "purpose" because it is imaginary, only the idea of it exists in the mind. You cannot change that and I cannot change that.
It’s no longer imaginary.
Yes, it is.
We can also have more than just one purpose if we wanted to view it that way.
No, we can only have zero "purpose". What we have is plenty of utility.
Nothing is stopping you from being both a gardener and a painter
True but irrelevant.
Since you don’t think there’s such thing as a purpose then that becomes a truth only to you.
No, it is objective truth that "purpose" is a mythical quality. It is imaginary, it affects nothing except through the imagination.
'(sigh) We humans are stupid egotistical self-deluded beings' -
Woodyanders — 6 years ago(July 23, 2019 11:47 AM)
Because it gives us some valid and credible reason to exist. What's the point of even being alive unless you serve some useful purpose in your life?
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything. -
matt_shade — 6 years ago(July 23, 2019 11:52 AM)
Because it gives us some valid and credible reason to exist.
No, it doesn't. Our ancestors could have gone extinct 3.4 million years ago and that would be an equally valid universe.
What's the point of even being alive unless you serve some useful purpose in your life?
There is no point and there is no "purpose", it doesn't exist outside the imagination. You might as well be asking what's the point of being a hammer unless you are used to hammer specific types of nails into a specific type of wood. A hammer has
utility because utility is real.
'(sigh) We humans are stupid egotistical self-deluded beings'
Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 