I was thinking today about whether or not it's a good thing that human beings are capable of questioning and thinking about their own existence (this idea is generally known as 'existentialism' [see more about that in *Links to Philosophy Websites*]). I mean, it has it's good points and it's bad. For one thing, being aware of our own existence means that we can think about what we want to do with our lives; whether or not there's an afterlife; why we're here; if there's a reason we're here at all... those are all amazing things to think about, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth the confusion that comes along with it. Every day people's minds are probably swamped with questions about why we're here at all (I actually can't speak for all people, so when I say 'people' I loosely mean me and other people I've spoken with), and sometimes that can just be too much. And if people develop the mentality of thinking that there's no reason that we're here at all, say; and that when we die that's it forever, it can probably be pretty depressing. So do we pay a high price for the ability to question our own existence? More on this in a bit. I just had to get that all out because I was thinking a lot about that today. -Delia Feb. 15/00 ... There was a question that I was thinking about on the bus today (that's where I seem to have a lot of my philosophical thoughts, for some reason): If people have been raised all their lives believing in one religion or belief system, and have never really been exposed to other ones, then do they really and truly believe in it? The way I think about that is kind of like something that I think about morals: you can't know that something is morally right until you've seen something that's wrong, and vice versa. So I don't really think that you can truly believe in one thing until you've had a chance to really give thought to all the other belief systems so that you can really have convictions about what you end up believing in. It really bothers me when I hear people who are very religious knock other religions or beliefs, or are so arrogant that they claim that their beliefs are facts, because they don't even know exactly what they're putting down. There was someone that I knew in grade seven who was very dedicated to her religion (Catholicism), and wouldn't even sit open-mindedly for a conversation with me about it, because she couldn't grasp the concept that her beliefs are simply HER BELIEFS. I mean, isn't the whole point of religion that you BELIEVE in something, not regard it as a fact? That's what faith (which is a major aspect of many religions) is all about. Belief in something without trying to prove or disprove it. For example, at this point in my life, I've decided that I'm an athiest, but I don't go around telling people that God doesn't exist and that religion is bullshit; but what I WILL do is have a discussion about it, because that seems to be the only good way to learn anything. -Delia, Feb. 21 ... Recently I've been asking people what they think the meaning of life is, and a few people have replied after a few moments of thought "The meaning of life is to think about the meaning of life and keep questioning it." or something to that effect, but that doesn't really make sense to me, because then there's no outcome. Whereas if you decide, say, that the meaning of life is to be happy, and you've succeeded in that by the time you're on your deathbed, then you know that you've succeeded in fulfilling your goal by the time you die (I totally lost my train of thought in there somewhere, so I don't know if it's gonna make sense to you). So by that logic then, it doesn't really matter if a universal Meaning of Life is decided upon, all that really matters is that you come up with your own thoughts about it and do your best to fulfill them. -Delia, May 24 ...
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