So, I've always assumed other people wanted the same things in life that I wanted. But, that doesnt seem to be true. So, I am very curious as to what other people want out of LIFE. Thank you.

Well, what do you want out of life?  I imagine a MountainHermit wanting peace and quiet and comfortability away from big city life.

Peace of mind

no responsibilities

Don't know what I want...

Hmmm... I guess I want what I can't get.

Lots of experience.

Thank you for your responses.   I appreciate you taking the question to heart. My next question obviously is, what steps are we taking to reach this goal?

Yes, Riddler, you are correct, I ran away from the madness of the crowds. To find the madness is in me. So, I guess thats what I am getting at. How do you know, for sure, I exist at all. Couldnt you be imagining (dreaming) others to make this experience more dramatic?

I found passion in making games, and I don't only do it in Risk form.  I hope to use my passion to make enough money to be able to live peacefully on my own accord.

Existence is a human concept, so based on collective human experience, we can infer that we exist, at least collectively in one giant existence.  We may have no more proof than that, but it seems that proof is more of a burden in this sense.  Part of the fun is enjoying the mystery of the ride.

I endorse Evolutionary Psychology which posits that much of our behaviors (and therefore our experience as humans) are evolutionary adaptations with modification from our environment.  As such, I am trying to come to terms with what I have evolved to experience so I know my limitations and bouandaries and then based on that make the best I can of it.  I may have it figured out in three more lifetimes.

Hrm.  What is the meaning of life... Simple enough. ;)  (everything below, just my opinion)

I never was very religious.  I have a hard time believing their is an afterlife.  I'd love it if there was, but think it is unlikely.  So that means the purpose of this life is to live this life to it's best, because it's the only existence you will experience.  After that it gets a bit more tricky.   What does it mean to best live. 

At one point I figured pleasure was the best thing in life.  So the goal should be to maximize pleasure.  But this does not mean short term pleasure, (i.e. maximize the integral of your pleasure function over time).  But as I get older I realize how fleeting pleasure is.  I get a nice massage, and it feels great for its (short) duration, but when it's over, it's over.  Things like close relationships with people you love, provide a sort of continuous pleasure. 

Sometimes I wonder if there is some creator or god - were we created for a purpose?  Even assuming we should care what this 'creator' wanted from us, how would we know what it was.  I think Buddha and Jesus and other religions had a lot of good advice in this regard, but those are still just  thousand year old stories.

It seems to me that since everything began, everything has been moving towards a state of more organized information.  Gravity pulled amorphous simple gases together.  Stars created more complicated elements.  Elements created compound molecules and formed into planets.  Energy/gravity from the planets allowed atmosphere and very complicated molecules (proteins, etc.), which give rise to life & DNA. 

DNA was the most complicated/organized thing for billions of years, until mankind developed civiliation and developed computers and the internet.  And here we are.  So I figure if there is a purpose to this whole living thing, it must be to organize information and build complicated things.  But at that point it's so far out of my scope it almost doesn't matter what I do.  It's like a single ant thinking, what do I do today?  To the anthill it doesn't matter if that one ant does anything.

So where does that leave us (my specifics in parenthesis)?  I figure do stuff that brings lasting enjoyment to you (learning, making/playing wargear, loving friends & family), think long term & plan for the future (go to college, get a decent job, stay healthy), and (for no good reason - well, maybe now with a daughter I have a reason), try to make things better (see above for definition of better) for the future.

MountainHermit wrote:

How do you know, for sure, I exist at all. Couldnt you be imagining (dreaming) others to make this experience more dramatic?

I'll let the experts argue this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solopism#Responses

I thought the "Life is imperfect" "Philosophical poverty" and "Solipsism amounts to realism" were pretty convincing.

MountainHermit wrote:

... How do you know, for sure, I exist at all. Couldnt you be imagining (dreaming) others to make this experience more dramatic?

 

A good question for Descartes...

SquintGnome wrote:

I endorse Evolutionary Psychology which posits that much of our behaviors (and therefore our experience as humans) are evolutionary adaptations with modification from our environment.  As such, I am trying to come to terms with what I have evolved to experience so I know my limitations and bouandaries and then based on that make the best I can of it.  I may have it figured out in three more lifetimes.

 

I also believe in Evolutionary Psychology (never knew there was a term for it!) but remember that with Evolution behaviors and adaptations don't happen by design of the participants.  It's more a factor of natural selection whereby adaptations/mutations naturally arise and are selectively favored over generations.

One really cool example of this is in cuttlefish:

Some male cuttlefish are big and strong and so they can fight off rivals for mating.  Yet other male cuttlefish are small and weaker so how do they continue to breed?  It turns out that they mimic the "colors" of female cuttlefish and so the larger males let them be and go off fighting other big rivals.  The smaller male, having successfully infiltrated the female group, then is free to mate as he chooses.  Smart!

I use this as an example of something I would consider an "evolved" behavior.  At one time there must have been an adaptation/mutation of a smaller male who did that and successfully passed on his genes.  As this strategy got more and more success over time there was a natural selection process (still on-going) that keeps the smaller males from dying out.  Of course, being big and strong is a nice strategy, too.

Coming back to Evolutionary Psychology, my first thought would be that our behaviors and thinking would have to be tied to physical evolution because if one person's thoughts and experience perished along with their genes then how could it perpetuate to the next generations? Take, for example, a psychology that led someone to commit suicide at an early age (before they had kids).  Then the physical traits that manifested that method of thinking (i.e. brain configuration I guess) would no longer be favored by natural selection.

BUT

with the advent of speaking, writing, and of course the Internet :) now it doesnt' really matter if someone's psychology dies with them as long as it gets passed on by other means.  So in effect it's now that people can build on the foundation of those before them.  One potential downside to this, I think, is a potential "group-think" where new ideas and alternate thinking is quashed by the masses because it's not popular or doesn't fit into the normal paradigm.  I guess in order to continue progress from that point there needs to be strong scientific proof (to appease the critics) or it has to be marginalized and perpetuated by a faithful few.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this SG! Nice topic

Hey Attila,

Yes, I find this topic fascinating as well...so much to discuss.

My first comment is that selection by evolution requires both sexual selection and survival selection, not just survival selection.

My second comment is that behavioral adaptations are probably just as important if not more important that physical adaptions.  Most people are familiar with physical adaptations, for example size, strenght, binocular vision, opposable thumb etc.  But I think we don't realize until we think about it how many behavioral adaptations we have evolved.  Pretty much anything we do becasue it 'feels right' could be a behavioral adaptation.  A good example is how toddlers become anxious when separated from their mothers.  This tends to keep toddlers near their mothers and away from predators and natural dangers (rivers, cliffs, etc).

Another interesting sub-topic that you alluded to is 'group selection' and altruism.  At first blush altruistic behavior does not seem to fit with natural selection, but there is plenty of evidence to support 'family selection' and 'group selection' which may select for altruism in some members of the family or group, even if they don't reproduce (worker bees e.g.)

So much more to say...but thats a good start.

I could be dreaming, and that would be cool too.

I know this for sure: I've made the decision that I don't know when I'm done with this life, and I certainly don't know what happens next... if anything.

Therefore: Might as well do as much as I possible can before that point.

I learn what I want to learn, go where I want to go, and I do the things I want to do at any given time.

If the fancy strikes me, I go and I do. It's important to me to create benefit, or to do what I can to help in any given situation, and although that's not a perfect "set of instructions" I've only really blown it a few times...

I think it's a good way to live life.

AttilaTheHun wrote:

with the advent of speaking, writing, and of course the Internet :) now it doesnt' really matter if someone's psychology dies with them as long as it gets passed on by other means.  So in effect it's now that people can build on the foundation of those before them.  One potential downside to this, I think, is a potential "group-think" where new ideas and alternate thinking is quashed by the masses because it's not popular or doesn't fit into the normal paradigm.  I guess in order to continue progress from that point there needs to be strong scientific proof (to appease the critics) or it has to be marginalized and perpetuated by a faithful few.

This is very close to the theory of memetics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memetics), long before the word 'meme' was captured by the internet.

I want a second season of Firefly, a GOOD live action He-Man movie, Book 3 of the Andrea Court Series, a TV series based on the book Ready Player One and a Hot chick who wants the same things.

However, I will settle for another White Sox World Series. 

A World Series Championship for the Cubs sometime in my lifetime (can you say 2034 Champions??), to be able to play a full and recognizable version of Stairway to Heaven on guitar, and to complete a full pass of 35 off at 34 mph (for anyone who knows anything about waterskiing).

(Thanks for the inspiration Risky, and I knew there was a reason why I never trusted your opinion...)

i want to make a difference and have somebody tell me how to do it!!!

not because i'm lazy i just want to know how. seriously,