1
 If our lives don't last, then how can our lives have lasting value?

This question addresses the issue of how anybody could have a deeply meaningful life if we all disappear and become like nothing.

Stevie C.
  • 211
  • 1
  • 6
  • excellent question, thanks –  Aug 27 '22 at 13:52
  • not worth answering, but lasting value to whom? not to us, we no longer exist. That is the only puzzle there, anything else is a confusion of language. IMVHO –  Aug 27 '22 at 14:00
  • This is an existentialist question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism – J D Aug 27 '22 at 14:18
  • @return I'm convinced that we need something good in the afterlife. If we don't get some kind of Love that lasts... then this life becomes like a game where we all lose in the end. Why would anyone want to play a game like that? – Stevie C. Aug 27 '22 at 15:11
  • 1
    @StevieC. you don't really have a choice in playing the game, only exiting the game. – MathematicalPhysicist Aug 27 '22 at 15:44
  • I implore you to realise that it is a confusion of language and implicit selfishness, that makes you think and feel this way @StevieC. –  Aug 27 '22 at 16:08
  • Your question was hinted in ancient Shurangama sutra: Because of his examinations and comparisons, he decides that after death there is no existence. Expanding the idea, he comes up with eight cases of the nonexistence of forms. From that, he may speculate that Nirvana and cause and effect are all empty, that they are mere names and ultimately do not exist. Because of those speculations that forms do not exist after death, he will fall into externalism and become confused about the Bodhi nature... – Double Knot Aug 28 '22 at 02:14
  • 'Meaningful' does not jedenfalls mean meaningful to oneself or to members of the own.species. If in our lifetime we manage to shape some aspect of the universe for good to which some sentience in said universe attributes a value, this would answer the weak version of the original question in the affirmative. The strong version (a lasting value) could be fulfilled by providing a free resource that would be of value to every sentience, in particular to those not yet in existence. An obvious candidate would be the information that we exist, ie. that sentience is not a singular event. [1/2] – collapsar Aug 31 '22 at 23:11
  • [2/2] The issue here is of course that if in fact sentience is a singular event in the universe there never will be another sentience to collect the information. Sentience, however, seems to be necessary to see a value in something. A never-ending stream of (possibly non-overlapping in their time of existence) sentiences is not strictly necessary as long as there is potential for another successor. The universality of seeing some value in the information must be posited,of course. – collapsar Aug 31 '22 at 23:21
  • In one sense if our lives don't last, our lives can't have lasting value: the value ends when we do. But I take the question differently. The value embodied or realised in our lives does not necessarily end when we do; it could long survive us. Consider, for instance, the value embodied in the life of Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela. The moral example embodied in these lives remains, though all are dead. – Geoffrey Thomas Sep 04 '22 at 07:56
  • @GeoffreyThomas, In the second part of this question you'll find the words "if we all disappear." If we all disappear, then the accomplishments of Mother Theresa will disappear also. If this question was closed because someone did not consider the question carefully, then that would be unjust. – Stevie C. Sep 04 '22 at 13:17
  • @GeoffreyThomas, If humanity should go extinct when the sun runs out of fuel, and we are not able to colonize another planet; then all the accomplishments would be gone without a trace. That's why we need some kind of Love in the afterlife, in order to give life a deeper meaning. – Stevie C. Sep 04 '22 at 15:21
  • @Stevie C: My real point was just: 'The value embodied or realised in our lives does not necessarily end when we do; it could long survive us.' I don't think that's nullified by humankind's possible ultimate extinction. But I understand now why this does not satisfy you since you have precisely such extinction in mind. As my examples show, my idea was that the value of an individual's life need not end with that person's existence. I am just explaining my comment, not rejecting yours. – Geoffrey Thomas Sep 05 '22 at 08:33

1 Answers1

0

How anybody could have a deeply meaningful life if we all disappear and become like nothing.

Very few people (those who realized the truth) are aware of the eternity of the soul and value their (and others') lives. Human life is meaningful to them. That is why some of them are trying hard to teach us the value of our human life.

If your mind says that you came from nothingness and will eventually go to (become) nothingness you may believe so. But the following verses will not go amiss.

https://www.asitis.com/2/16.html

SonOfThought
  • 3,743
  • 1
  • 9
  • 18