What is the Purpose of Life: Building a Belief System or Knowledge System?

[Skhandelwal]

Somewhere along the path, I've realized that I have been going the wrong direction...instead of finding the truth...I was actually trying to say, "I am right and you are not" So the old questions have sprung against and I feel clueless, any sort of help will be highly appreciated.

To begin with, this is a hot shot question for me:

I understand that our purpose of life is to become whole and desire is the cause of unwholeness...but what is the cause of desire?

 

[sd01g]

:
I understand that our purpose of life is to become whole and desire is the cause of unwholeness...but what is the cause of desire?

Maybe for some, the purpose of life is to find 'their purpose of life' and they might not care about becoming whole--unless they determine that really is their purpose of life. They might also find that fulfilling desires is the best way to become whole--depending on what the desires are, of course.

 

[Skhandelwal]

I believe that desire arives b/c of pleasure. But what about pleasure? if by senses then would we be enlightened w/o senses.

 

[jammieg]

Which is more important to you being seen as someone brilliant who knows the truth, or being see as an idiot who has only foggy notions of the truth?
It's a deceptively simple question but everyone makes a choice and there are many types of intellectuals out there not all of which were meant to be true intellectuals.

 

[Skhandelwal]

Was that off topic or did I not get you?

 

[jammieg]

Just think about it.

 

[Skhandelwal]

I am not getting it...there are way too many interpretations, it is way too vague.

 

[ganstaman]

I am not getting it...there are way too many interpretations, it is way too vague.

Welcome to philosophy...

I just now hope the philosophy forum doesn't stone me for blasphemy.

 

[Skhandelwal]

Alright but that definitely doesn't answer the question...

 

[out of whack]

I understand that our purpose of life is to become whole and desire is the cause of unwholeness...but what is the cause of desire?

Disclaimer 1: I see no evidence that life has a purpose or that we have one by virtue of being alive.
Disclaimer 2: I don't know what "unwholeness" represents or how desire causes it.

This being out of the way, at least I have an opinion on the causes of desire: evolution and survival. During the course of evolution, creatures whose design caused them to react to their environment in a particular manner happened to survive and reproduce while other creatures that reacted in a different manner did not. As reaction (nervous) systems improved, sensors allowed creatures to physically seek out what they needed to survive. I see this as basic desire: an inherited urge towards environmental situations analogous to what has so far allowed the ancestors of a creature to survive. These urges do not need to be perfectly accurate to be effective. A desire trigger may only be somewhat related to what is truly beneficial; it can even be completely misleading. But overall, a population that reacts to desire triggers should be more likely to have surviving individuals who procreate compared to a population devoid of any desire where individuals are so content that they simply lie down and die off. You see this in heroin addicts who appear to be in such bliss that nothing else matters so they don't even bother to eat. Desire is good. It keeps you moving.

 

[Skhandelwal]

Hello...this is philosophy, and believe it or not, this is the most widely accepted philosophy.

 

[LightbulbSun]

Somewhere along the path, I've realized that I have been going the wrong direction...instead of finding the truth...I was actually trying to say, "I am right and you are not" So the old questions have sprung against and I feel clueless, any sort of help will be highly appreciated.

To begin with, this is a hot shot question for me:

I understand that our purpose of life is to become whole and desire is the cause of unwholeness...but what is the cause of desire?

1) There is no purpose or meaning to life. Everyone has a different value system, but there is no universal value system.
2) Did you steal the whole "desire is the cause of unwholeness" out of Buddhism?

 

[ganstaman]

Hello...this is philosophy, and believe it or not, this is the most widely accepted philosophy.

Can you prove this? I know very little about philosophy, so knowing what's most widely accepted (by who, anyway?) would be a nice way to start things off.

 

[Skhandelwal]

Alright guys, forget it, this is not a debate, but a post by me so I could get some help on solving my problem. You don't have to believe anything I say...but please try to help on building up my own belief system.(just to clear somethings up, most of the religions have the same belief. That makes up the majority I think.)

 

[LightbulbSun]

Alright guys, forget it, this is not a debate, but a post by me so I could get some help on solving my problem. You don't have to believe anything I say...but please try to help on building up my own belief system.(just to clear somethings up, most of the religions have the same belief. That makes up the majority I think.)

Instead of building up your belief system, why not build up your knowledge system? You don't need any justification or assistance for your beliefs. They're YOUR BELIEFS. What was the point of this thread again?