Must we ask why?

[IJesusChrist]

I wonder if we should ask ... Why?

Why are we here?

Is it childish, igorant, foolish to ask such a question at this time period? Should we ever ask it? It's impossible to answer so to ignore, accept, or to search?

What do you think?

 

[darkwolfunseen]

I always thought we ask why because we were ever the first creatures with the ability to think past primal needs. It became a gift and a curse, because then we got so caught in discovering a purpose under which we would feel special enough to live under, that we missed out on our lives themselves.

 

[BrainEater]

i think we must ask why until we have reached the point when we don't have to ask why anymore. if we answer the questions, regardless which questions and we then find the answers, what exactly is the point in asking more questions if we have the answers to the questions we had before?? well of course it would seem obvious that the arrival of answers can create new questions arising and new reasons for "why" questions...

peace :weedman:

 

[Illegalsmile]

i think our ability to ask why is part of what makes us human
were the only species that i can think of, that record, document, and question everything around us

 

[trick]

the answer is simple, but to put it into words that are communicable beyond the firsthand psychedelic experience.. not so simple.

i believe many of us have gotten glimpses of the truth b4, but these experiences cant be put into human language.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Thats what a friend of mine said - we can ask why, simply because we can. We're the first ones to be able to.

We're the first ones to use tools to kill others, the first to use weapons, the first to kill themselves purposely, the first to lie... so should we?

Just because we have the ability doesn't mean we should. I thought I saw the answer once, but it still doesn't explain anything - it simply makes it unanswerable. So maybe Brain is right - I'm at the point where I shouldn't even ask why anymore, it simply cannot be answered.

 

[Brugmansia]

Back in the days I thought I had discovered something new because of the explored altered states of consciousness. I thought I could liberate myself out of the entire reality questioning box through crystallisation of philosophy and alchemy. Finally I thought, the hole of the truth found, just keep flying through it and at the end the truth shall turn frozen for once and for all. But what subsequently followed was the whole domain beginning to tire me out with its flashing everlasting remodification of any experienced definite truth. Realising that endless translation is presicely what infinity truly is, gave me the agreed quietness to erase the whole WHY box itself out of my consciousness. Redemption through intervention.

 

[Teonanacapilli]

I think the why is individual, not universal.

 

[Sinaeps]

Wow, there sure is a lot of pseudo-profound intellectual masturbation in this thread... Seriously, I won't name anyone but some of you might want to consider to stop trying to sound "deep" and actually research and find the answers that are available.

The problem with "why" questions is that it stems from the notion that everything has an intention behind it. It's mostly true when it comes to human affairs (hence the existence of such a notion), but it's not the same in nature. We can ask how humanity, or life, came to be. The simplest answer would be "emergence". But "why"? There is no reason, it's just part of the progression of the Cosmos. If you want to find out about our origins, you'll have to look into evolutionary biology, genetics, abiogenesis, astronomy, physics,... It will take you more than a few days to be honest. If you're searching for an outside "validation", an objective view that would classify your existence as worthwhile, then good luck with that. I don't think it'll ever happen, and I couldn't care less. I am the only consciousness I'll ever know, and I think my existence is valid.

Asking "why" is anthropomorphizing the cosmos, it's the most intuitive view (judging from thousands of years of religion) but it's simply not productive.

As Jean-Paul Sartre would put it: "Existence precedes essence."

 

[trick]

you sir are wrong, without the question 'why', man kind wouldnt have been pressured to think, and thus create all that we know today. stop being so closeminded. you have a valid point, but to simply dismiss a conversation as "too deep".. gtfo

 

[BrainEater]

an ignorance is a bliss and a human being is a puny element of cosmic existence.

to lay the reliance for the definitions of one's own life in the hands of something/someone else, is giving away the responsability of one's own life.
to do that obviously can mean giving away a real aspect of life and to go one step closer either to the point of embracing all illusions or to wipe them away like smudge on glasses.

so what is to be said??

well words are just letters, but when these become words, the value of their definitive interpretation more and more becomes the matter of subjectivity, which ultimately and obviously seems to be built on the dusty bricks of perception and experience.


peace :weedman:


P.S. i think we are here to take care of just that question that started the thread. either we can find out why are here or we can define that answer, individually for each and everyone of us. not saying a collective answer couldn't have validity. :wink:

 

[Illegalsmile]

without the question 'why', man kind wouldnt have been pressured to think, and thus create all that we know today.

+1 that too
and jesus, i agree we are alot different than other species. sometimes i think either god exists and he made us diff so we could direct the evolution of our planet. or we were modified from neanderthals by advanced alien races at the beginning of "time" so we could have more power over other species and direct the evolution of our planet.(now, i bet all species are equally advanced somehow)
however we got here, i feel like we're supposed to do what comes naturally to us and it all comes together, if theres no god or advanced race, then there is at least a universal framework that all things follow and if we pay enough attention we can follow it too like instincts to hunt, mate, and pass on genes, and ask why.humans been doing that since they were invented

 

[_Avatar_]

If you mean why as in "for what purpose", I think it's impossible to answer, because purpose is generally limited to a certain time, whereas we exist throughout time. Well, perhaps that is the why: we exist to extend awareness through time (either by procreating or being eternal beings reincarnating the essence of awareness). That's the only purpose that we can fulfill from moment to moment, in whatever lifeform, era or solar system we may happen to be. If at a certain time and location you perceive a need and want to fulfill a certain purpose, that's fine too, but simply existing and experiencing the world fulfills the primary purpose, it seems. I don't believe in a "why" related to a Creator or Lord, but the question why we "created" ourselves is interesting. Because I think if it's anyone who decided to be me, to be a sentient entity, it was me, not a him or a they. There is no assignment, other than to go with it.

 

[IJesusChrist]

I find it odd that we ask why for individuals, and seperately ask why for all of reality.

"Why do I exist"
Progresses to
"Why do we exist"
progresses to
"Why does this exist"
pertaining to everything...

It is ODD that we ask this, it is ODD indeed that we cannot answer it. I like to think we can psychologically make our own purpose, and that purpose is valid in all respects, but can be dismantled quite quickly with logic...

Existance in general, why is there such a thing to be experienced? Why is there experiencers? Eventually leads to - without consciousness, did the universe exist? I seem to always come back to the same questions.

Do you think it is healthy, correct, and valuable to assign yourself your own purpose, your own destiny and meaning?
By assigning it yourself, do you find this hypocritical?
Perhaps that is purpose, to create one's own purpose? That sounds like cyclic philosophy.

I wonder.

 

[trick]

i think to create ones purpose in life would be the best option. because finding out your purpose on your own would be impossible without looking at your entire life timeline (b4 and after where your at now) and also looking how you have effected EVERYONE your have ever encountered, as well as whos lives your ACTIONS have effected. so to create your own existance would be a better option in my opinion, because even years after death, the reason someone lived may still be hard to see. so why not creat that exsistance yourself?

i can think of a few reasons for my life, but then again, that starts to get into the "why are you here" thread i guess.

 

[ararat]

it depends which form your self assigned purpose has. if it's about reaching a goal that will make you happy and whole somewhere in the future it's bullcrap. does one actually need a purpose to live? does life feel so insignificant that one starts to look for a purpose?

I think there is no purpose to existence, it seems absurd to ask such a question. notions like aim, purpose etc. all stem from our practical mind, they are human ideas. existence isn't human.


I'm wondering a lot as well. sometimes I see something and I am mind-boggled that it actually exists. but what is it that makes it mind-boggling? have you ever tried to imagine that there is NOTHING? that nothing exists? it seems much more absurd than the other side.

 

[IJesusChrist]

I really enjoy reading these "we only ask for purpose because we're human" ... "Existance isn't a human invention"

I like this.

 

[trick]

bannannapancake i like what you brough up about life feeling insignificant, and thus the reason for looking for a purpose.

idk why i like it, but it seemed like that line needed to be pointed out for some reason.

 

[Illegalsmile]

For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been
to convince you that you must assume responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous
desert, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since
you are going to be here for only a short while; in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.
-- Don Juan in Carlos Castaneda's Journey to Ixtlan

 

[Brugmansia]

Peyote tea with a very minor amount of a solanaceae herb. Or two individual pipes, one containing pure DMT, the other a good mindfucking salvia extract, try to break through on both simultaneously. Separates the chaff from the wheat.

Carlos knew what he was doing, his mind was never out of stock. Our existing self reflection means we're mentally disabled. With actual proper behaviour in connection with nature, one should never check and monitor its past or future for the sake of lifting bricks to contribute these to the emperor's enormous grave due to his masculine architecture of vanity.