I spend a lot of time thinking about the meaning of life. Especially as I've been on this planet for 64 years and the meaning doesn't get any clearer. In particular, what the hell is the meaning of so much violence, poverty, torture, ill-health and general misery and hardship? There are a number of possibilities:
1) They're a test. To see how much we can endure, how much crap we can tolerate, without going completely mad and wanting to top ourselves.
2) God got bored with peace and harmony and thought, Soddit, I'll chuck in some murder and mayhem to spice things up a bit.
3) We've brought it on ourselves by our own thoughtless behaviour and our inability to challenge corrupt and useless governments.
4) God created a perfect world but then left the day-to-day maintenance to a sub-contractor who predictably screwed up.
5) God's computer was infected by a virus, and the IT staff were away on a training course at the time.
6) It's the inevitable consequence of the shitty capitalist system, comrade, and only full-bloodied socialism can wipe it out and bring about a truly democratic society that gives proper respect and dignity to every citizen.
I must say I rather incline to number six, but number two appeals to me as well. I'm sure God doesn't want to be seen as a tight-arsed goodie-goodie any more than the rest of us, so he has to chuck some pure evil in the mix occasionally.
God's only human after all.
PS: As you all probably know, God made me an atheist. I refer to Him purely as a literary device.
Hello Nick,
ReplyDeleteYou always seem to be writing about topics I'm thinking about...
I'm very inclined toward number six, but number three is also true, I think.
I'd like to blame number one, but number three has had some hand in the way things are. :(
ReplyDeletecapitalism is shitty, agreed and i prefer the socialist ideal but lets not imagine the world would be any better that way. people will always be people and therein lies the problem
ReplyDeletee - Nobody's pointing the finger at God, I see. It's the humans wot dun it. Certainly people are being remarkably supine about useless governments. Particularly in the UK.
ReplyDeleteGrannymar - See my reply to e. How much more of this awful Cameron government are people prepared to put up with?
Kylie - Very true. Just look at all the so-called socialist governments that have failed abysmally because the new lot were just as corrupt as the old lot.
I don't think it has a meaning.
ReplyDeleteA god doesn't factor in for me. I don't think there is a "meaning" to life - it just is. It's our job to try to make it better because that's the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I want to find out.
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined towards #4...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely #7 about the Aliens and how they tamper with records n' stuff - I couldn't have expressed it better myself
ReplyDeletenewjenny - Aha, the meaning of no-meaning.
ReplyDeleteSecret Agent - I do agree it's our job to make things better wherever we can. Otherwise by default we just let things get worse.
Megan - Very sensible. Who knows what sinister purpose we're the unwitting pawns for?
Terra - The sub-contractor then scarpered quick before God realised he'd been shafted.
Quickie - Of course, the Aliens, I'd forgotten about them. The usual trick of destabilising a planet so it's ripe for a Venusian takeover.
...I'm with New jenny!
ReplyDeleteLife makes a lot more sense when you stop looking for meanings.
Sx
Scarlet - I suppose looking for the meaning of life is a bit like looking for the meaning of an abstract painting. There ain't one, it just is what it is.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm...all of the above? Although as pointed out above, we've failed miserably at socialism too...
ReplyDeleteLeah - All of the above? Wow, that's a real multiple botch-up. Of course some would say socialism has never been tried in its purest form. And ditto capitalism.
ReplyDeleteThe socialist system will only work when human beings become socialist. That presupposes that the ruled and rulers will be humane and compassionate. I believe that it is an impossibility.
ReplyDeleteRamana - Ah, but would we all be humane and compassionate if we weren't dehumanised by intolerable living conditions?
ReplyDeleteNick,
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see how screwed up humans make the world, go read http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.com
It will tell you a good deal about how people with disabilities are treated in England these days. Not a pretty picture...
e - That's a brilliant parallel between government repression in the thirties and government repression now. Making the same mistakes that only deepen the economic crisis and prolong everyone's suffering. People with disabilities, the poor, the sick, they all get hammered.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite subjects.
ReplyDeleteI tend now to believe that shit happenz and a body just has to do the best they can with what they've got, hopefully not inflicting too much angst etc on other people along the way.
Personally, I wouldn't want to be a politician. Decisions involving a finite amount of resources and an infitie number of needs...no thank you.
I think life is too short to spend it being horrible to myself and other people.
I think my answer to this changes from hour to hour and day to day but right now I'd say a mix of 3 & 6!
ReplyDeleteRoses - I think the politicians have more resources than they like to make out, but that's another story. Indeed, life is too short to waste on nastiness.
ReplyDeleteConor - Ah, the human factors again. The British are particularly bad at telling governments "We've had enough of this crap. Bugger off. Now."
I just think of how we're just tiny little bits of life on a planet in the solar system in a bigger universe and how over-important we think ourselves and how out of control we are because of our brains. And I also think that probably we're an anomaly. We'd have done better with wings and a tail and a good strong beak. Or fangs.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest... I dunno. I dunno at all, Nick.
Val - We're all astonishingly unimportant and insignificant in the great cosmic scheme of things. And yes, we'd probably be much better off, and less destructive, if we were all birds.
ReplyDeleteFirst I read your later post about not belonging then I read this post and have come to the conclusion I don't belong on this blog! But tough, I'm here anyway!
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose I suppose I'd say 3 and 4 because they tie in together. I'd also say that love is at god's heart and that with love things can change for the better.
The bible tells us that god knows how many hairs we have on our heads such is his personal interest and care for us so, no, I don't think we're unimportant and insignificant!
To which you will probably say, 'Blear' (my word verifier!)
Liz - Oh, I detect a very deep sense of belonging to Nick's blog, one that can never be broken.
ReplyDeleteSub-contractors, eh, always manage to botch something.
The Buddha said we're all totally insignificant, mere grains of sand on the banks of the Ganges.