161–170 of 173 posts
Q. Why did God make you? A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
Q. Why did God make you?
A. Sit down with your back straight, close your eyes and shut up for like 3 minutes. Then ask the question.
You will get an answer.
Development. There is literature about it, by the way, and it could be good for you to explore it if you feel that way towards the matter.
But there is also Discipline to go with that.
One of the things I love doing is making video games (with a lot of help from my son!). But my goal when deciding what game to make isn't to be "successful" by making a lot of money or using it as a springboard to start a business or whatever. If that were the goal I would end up with a completely different game that I probably wouldn’t enjoy making as I would always be consumed by the fear of making something that appeals to as many people as possible in order to maximise profit. It's not about making something I can sell. It's about sharing something I loved making.
I've recently just finished my first original game and it genuinely won't matter to me one bit if no one plays it except me and my son (and hopefully the rest of my family!). I had so much fun making it that I’m actually a bit sad that it’s over! That is the definition of success for me - finding a project that I truly enjoyed working on every day for a year and a half for no other reason that I wanted (needed?) it to exist. That doesn't mean I don't want to make money from the game though if possible! That would be great! But the happiness I get from trying to sell it is completely different from the happiness I got from making it. I'm in the process of trying to market the game now and trying to dive deep into it, looking for ways to enjoy each part of the process. But if I try for a while and can’t find a way to enjoy it, I will just stop and move onto the next game.
So in a nutshell, if I genuinely try to focus on doing the things I love every day (and I have many, many things to choose from - video games is just one example), then I am happy and if indeed there is a point to life, I think being happy every day (in the true sense of the word) is it.
Paraphrasing here from reading this many years ago, but in one of Richard Dawkins' books, the answer someone gave was "I don't know, but I do know I have reservations at my favorite restaurant for lunch and will be having my favorite sandwich." For some reason that has stuck with me. It all ends up about the same with the heat death of the universe.
Knowing what it is you will enjoy and planning for it is part of the answer, yes. Making room for it. But there is another component, and it is about finding what it is you will enjoy about anything you're about to engage in. Turn your life into play instead of work.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You’re confusing purpose with inevitability. Why do organisms reproduce? Because if they didn’t they wouldn’t be around—duh! This is like saying that the purpose of water is to find the path of least resistance.
I thought organisms reproduce because they get horny, they typically don’t get philosophical about it.
God said: "...men are, that they might have joy." ( https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-... verse 25, "men/man" meaning people, of course, as below.) And He also said: "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." ( https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/mos... verse 39.) Consider that: God's purpose is for our eternal be…
Meh. Invisible man in the sky not doing it for me. Too much pain and suffering on this planet. I used to believe in God. Until I learned about the Holocaust. One death camp survivor wrote: "If there's a God he owes me an apology.
I'm not sure I can follow that logic.
Suffering seems to be part of the life of every biblical hero. Christ suffered horribly as part of his ordained purpose.
The entire book of Job explores the suffering of Gods chosen faithful followers.
It's deeply woven into theology.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meh. Invisible man in the sky not doing it for me. Too much pain and suffering on this planet. I used to believe in God. Until I learned about the Holocaust. One death camp survivor wrote: "If there's a God he owes me an apology.
> Invisible man in the sky not doing it for me. Reasonable. Because such an understand of (the Christian) God is indeed simplistic. But most folks don't have the time or energy to get into theology and the notion of (e.g.) Aquinas of God being " ipsum esse subsistens ": "the shear act of 'to be' itself." * https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351477703 > I used to believe in God. Until I learned about the Holocaus…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Knowing what it is you will enjoy and planning for it is part of the answer, yes. Making room for it. But there is another component, and it is about finding what it is you will enjoy about anything you're about to engage in. Turn your life into play instead of work.
Common to our views is that it can be deconstructed into limbic circuitry, and technology will eventually find its way there.
I'm childfree so I'm on the leanFIRE track, pursuing my hobbies in my spare time. When I'm physically incapable of them or I run out of money (around 70), I plan to kill myself.
I don't know. If I sit down with my back straight and close my eyes, I can, in the space of 3-5 minutes, infallibly find the inner joy rising up from my body. Same way that something's kinda tense, and something's kinda sat on – there is a form of joy. I hear it is never lost, lest you're actually dead or in the process of. So I don't know about that.