What makes life worth living?

[lone*star]

Originally Posted by Moksha

Joseph Campbell once said that consciousness and energy were really two sides of the same coin. If matter (or mass) is a form of energy, if, in other words, hard, solid, stable matter is an illusion and everything is really energy, and if Campbell is right, then everything is this energy-consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. But that experience is a delusion, a prison. Is this energy-consciousness striving to be free of that delusion? Is it striving to attain self-consciousness? Is everything consciousness striving to be conscious that it is conscious? Christ I feel ill...

Well, put yourself in the position of this universal energy-consciousness. It has the choice between simply resting in the silence, stillness and serenity of its own being - which is pleasant, but not very interesting. Or it can spice things up a bit by creating this amazing universe, with places like planet Earth, with all its colourful drama, excitement, hopes, fears, dreams, problems and relationships. And then, not only watch the drama unfold from a distance, but actually play every single part in the whole production too!

So what would you do? Would you choose to just rest in peace, or would you create and get involved in some drama as well?

[Bertignac]

Hi,

I'd say, find the little things that you like, or like doing. Or try new things and find out.
If you have lost touch with that part of yourself (the part that enjoys doing things), try to remember a time when you were actually happy, and try to reproduce it.

In my experience, ultimately, it's helping others in need that warms my heart when nothing else can.

[Moksha]

Originally Posted by Copernicium

You need a human brain for consciousness. Or debatably a chimp or dolphin brain, although I'm not sure how their consciousness compares to ours.

But do you? Clearly you need a brain for reasoning, thinking and forming a sense of self. But when it comes to consciousness I am not so sure. Thoughts, memories and the ego aren’t synonymous with consciousness. I don’t even know how you would define it. Susan Blackmore wrote a book on this in which she said that in spite of all she had read consciousness itself remained a mystery to her. How did a universe of rocks and gas and water (solid things/stuff) give rise to something like consciousness (not solid stuff at all)? I believe this is known as ‘the hard problem’ among philosophers - how you reconcile these two fundamentally different things, matter and consciousness. But then I guess matter itself is an illusion. Isn’t that the big discovery of modern physics?

[lone*star]

I thought this Youtube video (on this kind of subject) was fascinating. Richard Dawkins made a series of short films called "Enemies of Reason" - the idea presumably being, to publicly demonstrate how sane and rational his own views about reality are, and of course, how 'loony' certain other individual's views are! (And no doubt in some cases, he was probably right!) But in this particular interview, I thought he possibly didn't come out of it looking quite as superior as he might have been hoping. The guy he's talking with here actually talks about 'spirit' rather than 'consciousness' - but perhaps the two are interchangeable?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Sqt-zqmrk

[3stacks]

^ What about biscuits, biscuits?

[3stacks]

^lmao, that's hilarious. I wouldn't know what to do with six plates.