Life what to do with it

[Dragon_Of_Heavon]

I noticed that the first topic in the subject was on death which personally I think is the opposite of what we are working for. Correct me if I am wrong but are we all not here to better understand life. What I would like to know is what does every one here want to do with their life. Personally I want to travel the world. I want to know the world. I am only in my early twenties and even though I know it may seem juvenile I am not really concerned with making the world a better place at this point. I would not know where to start. I want to see the world. I want to know the world and its people. I will get married and start a family in my thirties and I hope by that point to have a life showing my wife and lessons worth teaching my children. If I am to change the world I don't even want to attempt it until at least a little later in my life.

Not the most interesting of ambitions, but i know my self to some externt. I cannot change the world by just understanding my self I have to understand the world to change it for the better. How about you guys? What are your dreams, your ambitions?

[AlP]

To me life is like telling a story. It's not so different from being an author of a book that I want people to appreciate reading. Only they aren't reading a book. They're experiencing the things I've done and said: the things I'm responsible for. My advice: make it a story you're proud of =).

[Sophus]

I noticed that the first topic in the subject was on death which personally I think is the opposite of what we are working for. Correct me if I am wrong but are we all not here to better understand life.

Death is an aspect of life. To understand how you want to live your life it is important to understand what it is. Too many don't realize it's merely temporal.

How about you guys? What are your dreams, your ambitions?

To learn as much as I can about this world and contribute something to it. But most importantly savor the experience of life: both the joy and the pain. I don't think I experience sadness in the way that others do. I usually welcome it as a different taste of what life can be; in other words I'm content in my melancholy, thus perhaps it isn't melancholy at all?

[AlP]

Sophus, existentialism cannot be explained in two paragraphs. I think it's fine to express these ideas. I'm guilty too =). But Dragon_Of_Heaven will probably make no sense of this whatsoever don't you think? I know what you mean though =).

[Will]

I have plenty of normal ambitions like falling in love with a nice person, raising great kids, and retiring somewhere warm or less likely to come true ambitions like becoming emperor of China, riding a motorcycle off a helicopter as it explodes, and defecting in a prototype submarine from Russia?

[ewomack]

I once wanted to be a rock star. I failed. Now I eat right, get enough sleep and practice fervent monogamy. See what rock n' roll can do to a person?

 

[Santiago]

^^^
Agreed with the motorcycle part.

[Sophus]

Sophus, existentialism cannot be explained in two paragraphs. I think it's fine to express these ideas. I'm guilty too =). But Dragon_Of_Heaven will probably make no sense of this whatsoever don't you think? I know what you mean though =).

Ha ha... Hmmm, I dunno. Was that too much Dragon_Of_Heaven?

[Dragon_Of_Heavon]

AIP Nice of you but not really necessary. No Sophus that was not over my head I am only a semesters worth of classes away from a philosophy degree. (I know goes somewhat against the norm, but I did a lot of independent study in the particular subject.) Though Existentialism has a point that death should not be looked at as an end but rather another step in the journey, I have to contend that there is a reason why we differentiate between the two words Death and Life. Even though Death is a part of life we know absolutely nothing about it. I stress the word know here because even though we have suspicions or ideas about it we don't actually have an understanding of what it is. As such I would have to contend that my statement was not entirely off. We can attempt to understand life as we are here living it but trying to understand life though death or vice versa seems to be a lost cause.

[AlP]

Sorry Sophus my bad! Excellent, another person I can talk existentialist nonsense with =).

I'm mostly with Heidegger on what to do with life. The world is irrational and yet I am always seeking ways to make it rational, which is the absurdity of life. I recognize Heidegger's idea that the way people usually live is being-in-the-world. That's not a physical relation. It's "in" as in "in a relationship" and "world" as in "what world is she living in?", a social world. It's living within some system (religious, moral, capitalist, democratic...). The existentialists insist that you have to find some way to represent your individuality in the world. Heidegger differentiates the two ways of living as authentic and inauthentic. Nietzsche talks about nobility and slavery.

To me, what I should do with my life is to take responsibility for representing my individuality, what distinguishes me from the masses. I do that by endeavoring to excel at computer programming. I've been doing that since I was 8 and I pretty much live to program. I also endeavor to define my own values. I have a bit of a nihilistic streak but it isn't a radical nihilism. It's a revolt against the passive nihilism of mainstream society, an antinihilism. I knock down my value beliefs so I can rebuild better ones.

I expect I will never marry or have children. I know that's what society expects me to do but I find the idea dismally uninteresting. What a waste that would be.

That's just me though. Existentialism doesn't give you specific answers, just a framework to work within. And of course, most people have no interest in existentialism =).