Is life worth living?

coyote

Well-known member
I'm pretty sure that value is relative.

I don't think people are precious about a single strand of hair, or the tips of their fingernails.

Unless you have your own thing, it's all supply and demand.

relative to whom?

who decides?

what makes them better able to determine each individual's value?

are they omniscient?
 

Odo

Banned
relative to whom?

who decides?

what makes them better able to determine each individual's value?

are they omniscient?

No, I mean that if you love something or it is close to you, then it has value to you, but it might not have value to anyone else. Nobody determines the absolute value of a thing, but there are things that have a value that is relative to a larger number of people.

For example: I think that most people would agree that the universe is more important than someone's house.
 

coyote

Well-known member
No, I mean that if you love something or it is close to you, then it has value to you, but it might not have value to anyone else. Nobody determines the absolute value of a thing, but there are things that have a value that is relative to a larger number of people.

For example: I think that most people would agree that the universe is more important than someone's house.

so we're saying the same thing

essentially: just because YOU think your life is devoid of value, doesn't mean that is doesn't have a greater value to a higher good

but you aren't able to see that - no one can

you just have to trust in the fact that your life is part of a greater cosmic whole

so don't fvck with it
 

Odo

Banned
so we're saying the same thing

essentially: just because YOU think your life is devoid of value, doesn't mean that is doesn't have a greater value to a higher good

but you aren't able to see that - no one can

you just have to trust in the fact that your life is part of a greater cosmic whole

so don't fvck with it

I think that most people can tell if they have value to other people, or at least to themselves. And I don't think that justifying your existence because maybe it has some value according your belief in some mystical cosmic abstraction is in any way realistic.
 

coyote

Well-known member
I think that most people can tell if they have value to other people, or at least to themselves. And I don't think that justifying your existence because maybe it has some value according your belief in some mystical cosmic abstraction is in any way realistic.

it's too bad you feel that way

it surprises me, considering your views on the environment and corporate greed, since the people raping our planet seem to use the same justification that you are to line their pockets

:sad:
 

Odo

Banned
it's too bad you feel that way

it surprises me, considering your views on the environment and corporate greed, since the people raping our planet seem to use the same justification that you are to line their pockets

:sad:

I think that the environment has great value, not just to me but to others. A clean ecosystem is worth infinitely more than any amount of money-- some people can't see that, but that's only because they're stupid. I also think that capitalist society is a huge part of why people don't have value to each other... if we lived in vibrant, open communities instead of consumerist shells and that was our priority, we would be able to care about each other instead of about our things.

The people who are raping the environment don't have a justification... they're doing it because of greed and that greed has infected everyone else.

None of this contradicts what I have said.
 
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coyote

Well-known member
I think that the environment has great value, not just to me but to others. A clean ecosystem is worth infinitely more than any amount of money-- some people can't see that, but that's only because they're stupid. I also think that capitalist society is a huge part of why people don't have value to each other... if we lived in vibrant, open communities instead of consumerist shells and that was our priority, we would be able to care about each other instead of about our things.

The people who are raping the environment don't have a justification... they're doing it because of greed and that greed has infected everyone else.

None of this contradicts what I have said.

so... either EVERY life is valuable (what i propose) or only the lives that YOU think are valuable are valuable, because you're smarter than everyone else

:idontknow:
 

Aron

Well-known member
I won't say that life is totally worthless, because there are a few good things in it, but I wouldn't cry over it if I died. Because... you know... I would be dead.
 

coyote

Well-known member
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NathanielWingatePeaslee

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!
Staff member
On a semi-regular basis, I make a point to go outside and lie down looking up at the sky on a clear night. It's 'real country dark', so visibility isn't a problem.

The milky way is plainly visible across the sky. I adjust my position to orient myself so that it's perfectly horizontal across my line of sight, in accordance with galactic north.

This way, I know exactly where I am in the universe. I feel utterly insignificant, which is of great comfort to me.
 

Anomaly

Well-known member
You can only answer this question in a way that's meaningful to you.

Curiosity, for instance, is one of the things that make my life worth living. There's much that can be said on the topic, but I feel that the more that is said, the more the discussion tends to simply go in the circle for the reason stated in the first sentence.
 

Odo

Banned
so... either EVERY life is valuable (what i propose) or only the lives that YOU think are valuable are valuable, because you're smarter than everyone else

:idontknow:

That's not what I'm saying at all, it has nothing to do with me, and one more time, value is relative.
 

coyote

Well-known member
That's not what I'm saying at all, it has nothing to do with me, and one more time, value is relative.

who DOES it have to do with?

what are YOUR thoughts on the value of life?

or are you merely deferring to the "powers that be"? - since they have all the power and you don't?

just because they place a certain value (or not) on life does that mean they are the only ones who get to decide?

if you say that the value of life is only relative to what the "powers that be" decide it is, aren't you simply perpetuating the problem?

:idontknow:
 

Odo

Banned
who DOES it have to do with?

what are YOUR thoughts on the value of life?

or are you merely deferring to the "powers that be"? - since they have all the power and you don't?

just because they place a certain value (or not) on life does that mean they are the only ones who get to decide?

if you say that the value of life is only relative to what the "powers that be" decide it is, aren't you simply perpetuating the problem?

:idontknow:

I'm starting to feel guilty about taking up so much space on this thread, but here goes.

I don't think that life has any intrinsic value. People assign value to the things that they believe to be important, but it doesn't actually create any value in the thing. Value isn't just automatically granted something because it exists.

I think that certain actions or ideas probably do have value, but it doesn't really matter who is performing/expressing them... the ideas and actions in themselves are what's important.

And I definitely don't think that the 'powers that be' deserve to assign value to anything... I'm not 'deferring' to them, because I have my own ideas, and the ideas are more important than me as a person. If you don't believe in things, or you don't think about things, or you don't do things, then you're not even really alive... you're just existing.
 

coyote

Well-known member
I'm starting to feel guilty about taking up so much space on this thread, but here goes.

I don't think that life has any intrinsic value. People assign value to the things that they believe to be important, but it doesn't actually create any value in the thing. Value isn't just automatically granted something because it exists.

I think that certain actions or ideas probably do have value, but it doesn't really matter who is performing/expressing them... the ideas and actions in themselves are what's important.

And I definitely don't think that the 'powers that be' deserve to assign value to anything... I'm not 'deferring' to them, because I have my own ideas, and the ideas are more important than me as a person. If you don't believe in things, or you don't think about things, or you don't do things, then you're not even really alive... you're just existing.

cool, thanks for clarifying :thumbup:
 
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