| What is it: is man only a blunder of God, or God only a blunder of man? —Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Gods |
Why Are We Alive? May 21, 2007
Posted by Rastaban in : Atheist Culture, Meaning & Value, Naturalism , 19 commentsWe go to work, we eat, are entertained or entertain others with movies, music, tv, drama and comedy, we party with friends, couple, have sex , yet behind all our activities lurks the question, why do we exist? What is it all about? Why should there be life rather than not? And why us — why are we the ones who should be alive?
I think it is fair to say that this is the ultimate religious question. All of our major religions have a “story” whose purport is to answer it.
It’s likely that humans are the only species on earth who asks such a question of themselves. That observation itself, that we alone ask the question of existence, is often thought to be a clue to the answer. Perhaps other animals fail to ask why they are alive because they have no “higher purpose”; perhaps we ask because we sense that we do. That we even wonder about such things could itself be evidence that there is something “untold” about our lives, that there is “something more”.
Before continuing, let’s ask ourselves what kind of answer could ever satisfactorily resolve this question of “why?”.
Imagine God asking himself (itself/herself)
Why do I exist? What is my purpose?
For God, what could the answer be to such a query? What is it that makes God’s existence meaningful for God? (more…)
