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Frost's The Road Not Taken, originally written as a joke, is an easy frame to view my life, imho "And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the t

Frost's The Road Not Taken, originally written as a joke, is an easy frame to view my life, imho "And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal. " is just the choice Thompson postulates. To me, I now believe the overarching purpose of life is to have children. Two distinct groups: those with children and those to help those with children. Parenting (becoming a parent) puts a humans heartbeat into perspective like nothing else can

njloof 10y ago
And becoming a parent challenges me to figure out how to impart life lessons like these. I think it's best if I help her discover them and choose among them.
endswapper 10y ago
I think Andrew's post hijacked this thread - not his fault. You make a good point, but I would like to make it more broad. The purpose, the secret to life, and to fulfillment, is being of value to others. Children are just the most immediate, appropriate people to be of value to, and it's often in a service capacity. I think becoming a parent is the most effective way to reset our own egos. I think being self-serving is built-in and there are all sorts of wonderful benefits to that evolutionary mechanism. To Thompson's point, we are all just floating until we find a purpose. Floating has little value. So, it is worthwhile to adopt a purpose for the value that it provides. When that purpose ceases to provide value it should be abandoned in the most severe way possible. Through this process we have the potential to identify our character and our abilities. And for those in and around Andrew's comments: ful·fill·ment fo͝olˈfilmənt noun 1. satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one's abilities or character.
marknutter 10y ago
> To me, I now believe the overarching purpose of life is to have children. Two distinct groups: those with children and those to help those with children. I reached the same conclusion myself very early on when it became very obvious that it's the most logical conclusion to reach based on the evidence we currently have about the "meaning of life". From a biological perspective, the meaning of life is to stay alive procreate. It sounds empty and ironically, a bit meaningless, but most of what we do in our lives that we find great joy in are rooted in these two very fundamental goals. Every time we eat a delicious meal we're keeping ourselves alive. When we have great sex we're fulfilling our procreation desires. Even travel can be traced back to those two base desires because we've evolved to take great pleasure in exploring new worlds and relying on our wits to survive. Now that I have two children of my own I'm more certain than ever that ultimately, it's what I am here to do. My life only has meaning insofar as my children's lives have meaning, and in that way I am fulfilling a centuries old promise to my ancestors who ultimately gave me life by living meaningful, fulfilled lives themselves.
- AstralStorm 10y ago
  Raising children is not enough. You should also provide them a future. This generalises to providing everyone a future as best as you can.
  - marknutter 10y ago
    If everyone focused on raising their own children properly they wouldn't need to provide a future for everyone else. I'm focusing on my kids.

njloof 10y ago

And becoming a parent challenges me to figure out how to impart life lessons like these. I think it's best if I help her discover them and choose among them.

endswapper 10y ago

I think Andrew's post hijacked this thread - not his fault. You make a good point, but I would like to make it more broad. The purpose, the secret to life, and to fulfillment, is being of value to others. Children are just the most immediate, appropriate people to be of value to, and it's often in a service capacity. I think becoming a parent is the most effective way to reset our own egos. I think being self-serving is built-in and there are all sorts of wonderful benefits to that evolutionary mechanism. To Thompson's point, we are all just floating until we find a purpose. Floating has little value. So, it is worthwhile to adopt a purpose for the value that it provides. When that purpose ceases to provide value it should be abandoned in the most severe way possible. Through this process we have the potential to identify our character and our abilities. And for those in and around Andrew's comments: ful·fill·ment fo͝olˈfilmənt noun 1. satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one's abilities or character.

marknutter 10y ago

> To me, I now believe the overarching purpose of life is to have children. Two distinct groups: those with children and those to help those with children. I reached the same conclusion myself very early on when it became very obvious that it's the most logical conclusion to reach based on the evidence we currently have about the "meaning of life". From a biological perspective, the meaning of life is to stay alive procreate. It sounds empty and ironically, a bit meaningless, but most of what we do in our lives that we find great joy in are rooted in these two very fundamental goals. Every time we eat a delicious meal we're keeping ourselves alive. When we have great sex we're fulfilling our procreation desires. Even travel can be traced back to those two base desires because we've evolved to take great pleasure in exploring new worlds and relying on our wits to survive. Now that I have two children of my own I'm more certain than ever that ultimately, it's what I am here to do. My life only has meaning insofar as my children's lives have meaning, and in that way I am fulfilling a centuries old promise to my ancestors who ultimately gave me life by living meaningful, fulfilled lives themselves.

AstralStorm 10y ago
Raising children is not enough. You should also provide them a future. This generalises to providing everyone a future as best as you can.
- marknutter 10y ago
  If everyone focused on raising their own children properly they wouldn't need to provide a future for everyone else. I'm focusing on my kids.