The gauntlet hath been thrown downeth. Thank you for bringing out the big guns early on. I have thought about these questions a lot and I don’t have satisfying answers. That’s part of the reason why I keep thinking about them and have chosen an academic path that helps me search for the truth. What is my life worth if I don’t even know what it means? Yeah, so I get a good job and pay my bills and buy shit I want. Whoop-tee-frickin-doo-dah. I like stuff as much as the next person, but I need more than that. So let’s get on with these questions.
1. “What is love?”
The simple answer to this question is: “Baby, don’t hurt me.” Granted, it always pops in my mind because it’s a catchy song lyric, but it is somewhat of a valid answer. The need to love and be loved is part of the human condition. It’s something we have built into us and yet we don’t seem to know how it works. But we are definitely afraid of being hurt by our loved ones for a variety of reasons (loss, abuse, heartache, etc.). However, this fear doesn’t really explain love.
One thing I find interesting is that we are perfectly happy saying we love someone or something and yet we haven’t got a clue what love means. If we look at dogs, they are capable of loving us it seems, and they don’t understand it any better. Based on this comparison, it seems reasonable to say that love is a function of our biology. That we love because chemistry, emotions, and instinct tell us to. But then can we still love someone without the need to propagate our species. It seems like we can, because there are varying kinds of love. Spiritual love, platonic love, and (my favorite) sexual love. These derivations suggest that love is not just a function of our biology, but more a function of our mind. We are able to separate what we choose to love and how we choose to love it.
I still like the first answer, though: “Baby, don’t hurt me.”
2. “Where is the soul?”
The exact location? You don’t want to know what it is, just where it is. Or maybe you already know what it is and you just need to find it. Well, a lot of people think it resides in their heart. This seems a bit hokey, since the heart is just a muscle that moves a lot of fluid. Others believe it’s in their brain. Again, it’s just matter inside your skull; hardly a home at all. My answer is that it doesn’t actually exist. Now, before you get offended and say, “what do you mean it doesn’t exist? Do you mean I don’t exist?” First of all, you don’t exist, but what I mean is that the soul is not an entity that takes up residence in any matter, space, or time. So it does exist, but not here in this plane of existence that we currently find ourselves trapped in. You may be asking how this works. Think of your body, the mass of decaying matter that will eventually stop functioning and cease to live, as a vessel that carries your being while you are interacting with this world. When your body dies, your soul carries on elsewhere, because it wasn’t ever here to begin with. Your body is just a conduit for your soul to experience something different. I’m not sure how I can explain it any better and I feel this is quite plausible. In fact, I’m pretty sure this explanation does not conflict with any religious tenets, it just lacks the heaven/hell/God aspects. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong, though.
3. “What is the meaning of life?”
There are several attempts at explaining this one in the realm of philosophy. One is that you are here to know yourself and you can only do this by using your thinking and reasoning abilities. In this way, you are fulfilling your true potential by being something more than an animal; a super being, if you will. If I ask: Who are you? You’ll give me your name, your job description, maybe where you are from, what school you attended, or a variety of other identifying attributes. But is that who you really are? Your name is just words that give you a label, but how is that really a part of your being? You didn’t even name yourself. Someone else gave you your name, therefore it is your parents’ idea of what you should be called. If you don’t like what your parents named you, you are able to change it. And if you did change it, would it change who you are? Your job is something you do. It makes you money and passes time, but how is it something that defines you? Sure it may be something you love to do and something you can’t possibly see yourself not doing, making it seem like a necessary and sufficient reason for your existence, but it’s not you. These are descriptions of you, but you are more than that, are you not?
Another more common explanation for the meaning of life is that life is meant to be lived. That you are here to do things like help others, experience the world, and enjoy yourself rather than sitting on your ass watching television all day. Honestly, is there any difference between being a potato on a couch and being a potato in a coffin? I loves me some TV as much as the next person, but my intuition tells me that there is something wrong about spending countless hours watching moving pictures on a screen. But to put it another way, life is change and motion, whereas death is permanent stillness.
Not sure if I agree or disagree with #1 although fully valid and good points. However, your answers to #2 and #3 seem right on to me. I’m glad you took on the challenge.
Still waiting to be enlightened. I write a frickin’ essay and you can only be bothered to write three sentences.
My love ideas need some improvement, but they won’t evolve if you just say you disagree.
I didn’t say I disagree, I said I’m not sure what I think on that. My “essay” would digress in a direction that is not suitable for all readers. Therefore, I choose to be brief and give no details so as not to alienate and offend some dear friends. However, the debate/discussion would be very entertaining and interesting in a different setting, say on a trip to Michigan in the not-so-distant future ….
I like alienating and offending dear friends on my blog. That’s why it’s here. My dear friends are the ones who know me well enough not to take things too personally. But I understand that this may be too public for some things, so I won’t be offended (this time).
As far as trekking to the mitten state, we’ll have to see when that could be possible. Probably not until next year sometime. I’m going to be busy with school until 2064 (if the world doesn’t implode at the end of the Mayan calender).
I’m looking forward to 2012. The risk of death for our entire species/planet is quite fascinating.