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When I talk with people who are not sure what the purpose of life is, I point to people like this guy as an example of what the purpose can be. There's really

When I talk with people who are not sure what the purpose of life is, I point to people like this guy as an example of what the purpose can be. There's really no point in his travels other than personal satisfaction. That people can be motivated by things like this helps me to relax, and I hope more people learn to enjoy these simple things as well.

Swizec 7y ago
Viktor Frankl’s book really helped me here. There is no purpose to life. But you need one to be happy/thrive/survive. So pick a purpose and go for it. Any purpose will do, just choose.
- LandR 7y ago
  The book is "Mans Search for Meaning", and I would also recommend it to anyone.
klenwell 7y ago
My favorite illustration of this principle. From an account of one of the first MMORPGs: Under the resource system, players could gather raw materials, like ore, and make them into finished goods, like armor, which, once used, would begin to break down and reënter the pool as raw materials. Players, it turned out, liked to make things—they were turning out hundreds, and even thousands, of swords and shields and gauntlets—but instead of using them, or throwing them out, which would have had the same effect, they hoarded them. One player reportedly had a collection of ten thousand identical shirts. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/05/28/pimps-and-dragons https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/05/28/pimps-and-drag... A collection of ten thousand identical shirts. Yet there are times in my life when I could have certainly appreciated the therapeutic benefit, if not higher purpose, in coming home from the office and spending all evening folding t-shirts in a virtual castle.
DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
> There's really no point in his travels other than personal satisfaction. IIUC, you're advocating hedonism as a sufficient purpose for some lives. I think for many people, the possibility of hedonism as the greatest possible good causes them existential dread. Caveat: I've studied far less philosophy than I should have; I may be talking out my backside.
- function_seven 7y ago
  I'd wager that "personal satisfaction" is (or can be) something different than "pleasure". To me--also with little philosophical study--"hedonism" refers to just pleasure. It's the sugar of life. But I've gotten the greatest satisfaction in life from things other than sex/drugs/booze/games/etc. From creating new things, solving problems, and helping others. This is the protein of life.
- philwelch 7y ago
  Nah, that’s basically also what Kierkegaard said.
- deanCommie 7y ago
  Interestingly, I found hedonism as a SOLUTION for my existential dread. Of course I don't call it hedonism, but here is the path I followed. These are statements of fact to me, but of course they are highly debatable. Fork wherever your own experience does not match. 1) There is no God, as in a conscious being who created the universe for a purpose that is yet to be revealed to us 1B) The universe itself is uncaring, and it's current state is just the resolution of a very complex set of causes and effects. It's on a path, but there is no destination or goal. 2) There is no afterlife. Existence is consciousness, and when consciousness nds, there is nothing else. 3) Consciousness may or may not be special but it is irrelevant because we EXPERIENCE it as special. 4) Experiences and feelings are real, complex, evolving, and almost limitless in the range that you can experience over the course of a finite lifetime 5) Positive/unique experiences are inherently good to have. And good to provide to others. 6) Therefore, the only thing we can do is try to maximize the amount of positive feelings/experiences we each have, and maximize the amount we generate in others. 7) The exact balance between focusing on yourself vs generating in others, and the relative worth of being a force multiplier (e.g. sacrificing your own happiness for someone else, or multiple others), is an exercise left to the reader. So long as your actions contribute to a NET good for the world, it's probably okay. 8) What I don't like about the term hedonism is it makes it seem like I want to just sit around eating grapes and having sex. In a more macro sense, technology that helps humanity be more effective and have more leisure, a more egalitarian society, a multi-planetary civilization that is safe from extinction from a wild cosmic event are all things that I believe are of value to contribute to the overall increase of one's happiness/experiences, and to all of civilization. So my philosophy, whatever it is called, is completely compatible with humanity's progress

Swizec 7y ago

Viktor Frankl’s book really helped me here. There is no purpose to life. But you need one to be happy/thrive/survive. So pick a purpose and go for it. Any purpose will do, just choose.

LandR 7y ago
The book is "Mans Search for Meaning", and I would also recommend it to anyone.

klenwell 7y ago

My favorite illustration of this principle. From an account of one of the first MMORPGs: Under the resource system, players could gather raw materials, like ore, and make them into finished goods, like armor, which, once used, would begin to break down and reënter the pool as raw materials. Players, it turned out, liked to make things—they were turning out hundreds, and even thousands, of swords and shields and gauntlets—but instead of using them, or throwing them out, which would have had the same effect, they hoarded them. One player reportedly had a collection of ten thousand identical shirts. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/05/28/pimps-and-dragons https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/05/28/pimps-and-drag... A collection of ten thousand identical shirts. Yet there are times in my life when I could have certainly appreciated the therapeutic benefit, if not higher purpose, in coming home from the office and spending all evening folding t-shirts in a virtual castle.

DoofusOfDeath 7y ago

> There's really no point in his travels other than personal satisfaction. IIUC, you're advocating hedonism as a sufficient purpose for some lives. I think for many people, the possibility of hedonism as the greatest possible good causes them existential dread. Caveat: I've studied far less philosophy than I should have; I may be talking out my backside.

function_seven 7y ago
I'd wager that "personal satisfaction" is (or can be) something different than "pleasure". To me--also with little philosophical study--"hedonism" refers to just pleasure. It's the sugar of life. But I've gotten the greatest satisfaction in life from things other than sex/drugs/booze/games/etc. From creating new things, solving problems, and helping others. This is the protein of life.
philwelch 7y ago
Nah, that’s basically also what Kierkegaard said.
deanCommie 7y ago
Interestingly, I found hedonism as a SOLUTION for my existential dread. Of course I don't call it hedonism, but here is the path I followed. These are statements of fact to me, but of course they are highly debatable. Fork wherever your own experience does not match. 1) There is no God, as in a conscious being who created the universe for a purpose that is yet to be revealed to us 1B) The universe itself is uncaring, and it's current state is just the resolution of a very complex set of causes and effects. It's on a path, but there is no destination or goal. 2) There is no afterlife. Existence is consciousness, and when consciousness nds, there is nothing else. 3) Consciousness may or may not be special but it is irrelevant because we EXPERIENCE it as special. 4) Experiences and feelings are real, complex, evolving, and almost limitless in the range that you can experience over the course of a finite lifetime 5) Positive/unique experiences are inherently good to have. And good to provide to others. 6) Therefore, the only thing we can do is try to maximize the amount of positive feelings/experiences we each have, and maximize the amount we generate in others. 7) The exact balance between focusing on yourself vs generating in others, and the relative worth of being a force multiplier (e.g. sacrificing your own happiness for someone else, or multiple others), is an exercise left to the reader. So long as your actions contribute to a NET good for the world, it's probably okay. 8) What I don't like about the term hedonism is it makes it seem like I want to just sit around eating grapes and having sex. In a more macro sense, technology that helps humanity be more effective and have more leisure, a more egalitarian society, a multi-planetary civilization that is safe from extinction from a wild cosmic event are all things that I believe are of value to contribute to the overall increase of one's happiness/experiences, and to all of civilization. So my philosophy, whatever it is called, is completely compatible with humanity's progress