What is the point, or meaning of life?

wy yung, I think the answer varies from person to person. The meaning of life also has a temporal element in that it changes for that person depending upon what stage of life he/she is living.

For me, I was crazy about drumming and performing 30 years ago. Then it was mountaineering. Then I was focused on finishing graduate school. Etc. All these things gave me meaning at some point in my life. Marriage and a daughter came along and they are now my focus. Going puddle jumping with my daughter gave great meaning to our lives last month.

Take care wy yung

Skulmoski

That image has to be photoshopped! It doesn't rain in places where they speak Arabic! :D

There's a cavernous chasm between the meaning of life and what your life is meant for. The meaning of life is to beget more life, whether it be through procreation, nurturing/raising or a combination of the two. Rabbits make more rabbits.

However, that's just the physical side of it. Emotionally, we're here to fulfill ourselves and those around us. For some it's curiosity, others it's a drive to better the world.... sadly, many are content with not doing much beyond satisfying themselves. But if you teach, you aid, you push the boundaries and show others what can be done... your life is full.

For a geeky analogy, your stats can't be stellar across the board. You gotta be lacking in something.
 
Groucho Marx said it like this.... "I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."
 
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I think it is the human ego that falsely assumes that since we are are a higher life form, our lives must have a greater meaning or a more noble purpose.

I think life is an assimilation of experiences, good and bad that we or any other creature for that matter learns from, and hopefully gets wiser for it.

To me there is no other meaning other than to understand that every moment is a gift and that I should inhale deeply.

Dale, this is heck of thread.. wonder if Plato or Tolstoy will show up..: ) ?

PS- I'd like to recommend youtubing George Carlin's take on this subject. It will be worth the trouble

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Dale, this is heck of thread.. wonder if Plato or Tolstoy will show up..: ) ?

PS- I'd like to recommend youtubing George Carlin's take on this subject. It will be worth the trouble

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I agree, Abe. We might not have Plato but BassDriver seems to be doing well at explaining hedonism as per French philosopher, whatsisname [check Wikipedia] Michel Onfray's views.

He defines hedonism "as an introspective attitude to life based on taking pleasure yourself and pleasuring others, without harming yourself or anyone else."

Works for me :) ... and cockroaches etc

Is George Carlin still alive? I heard he feel off the perch. Whatever, he was/is very funny!
 
Is George Carlin still alive? I heard he feel off the perch. Whatever, he was/is very funny!

Naw, I think he's with Plato and Tolstoy.

Ah, the French view of life...I dunno if I buy into that. I prefer the Italian view actually. Everyone eats, everyone drinks, Mama Leone sings, then we all sing and then and we all pass out.

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Gawd, I'm even speaking with a French accent - he "feel" off ze perch. Sorry, the humour's a bit black for a respectable family forum and I'm sure sweet, innocent George would be horrified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGggltdGejU

My impression is that the Italians and French do more or less the same thing, just that the Italians do it more and are less fussy about it.
 
My impression is that the Italians and French do more or less the same thing, just that the Italians do it more and are less fussy about it.

Glad you found Carlin. Polly, dont you think the people who created the pizza have got the universe totally figured out?

Its got to be up there with the wheel and electricity in terms of inventions that transformed the quality of life on the planet.

..and I dont think the French created french fries ( if you're going to go there ). The Americans did. ( ? )

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So Plato on hedonism would be in the Symposium? But is that Plato's attitude or one of the revellers?

Let's keep this within reach of those who did not take philosophy. Each person has a valid idea. Do we really want to get into the ontological ideas of Sartre or Hume or Spinoza???
 
Abe, no bias there? :p

How about the inventors of palak paneer and tandoori chicken? Ok, they ain't pizza but meals like that suggest to me that meditating at a small statue of an elephant or someone with six arms can lead one to nirvana.

Have pizzas had more impact on the world than hamburgers or fried rice? Keltner or Gordon? Ringo or Charlie? Big Macs would be equivalent to a cheap drum machine - plastic and soulless.

I didn't take philosophy, Wy. I just looked up hedonism sometime last year and remember that some philosopher was keen on it and looked him up again. I wouldn't know a symposium from an ontologist. Feel free to enlighten me :)
 
Gawd, I'm even speaking with a French accent - he "feel" off ze perch. Sorry, the humour's a bit black for a respectable family forum and I'm sure sweet, innocent George would be horrified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGggltdGejU

My impression is that the Italians and French do more or less the same thing, just that the Italians do it more and are less fussy about it.

I understand it...there is this thrill of somekind associated with seeing "breaking news" on the TV...

...it is only once it really happens to us that we change...atleast in madness I see humanity...duality, another philosophical concept

If you are interested by that "breaking news" concept listen to Tool's Vicarious, it is about experiencing destruction vicariously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUXBCdt5IPg

The song really happens at 0:55...and great musicianship, love that odd-time and that stringy, warm melodic bass line of a bass player that doesn't know his place.
 
What is it with Tool? Maynard is always so far down in the mix I can never work out what he's saying. I had to look up the lyrics to get your point (yeah, it's exactly the same observation).

Why put such great lyrics so far down in the mix? Great playing but where's the melody? BD, sometimes you make me feel so old I wouldn't be surprised to see The Reaper walking through the door any minute now :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UBQFXQUqxE
 
What is it with Tool? Maynard is always so far down in the mix I can never work out what he's saying. I had to look up the lyrics to get your point (yeah, it's exactly the same observation).

Why put such great lyrics so far down in the mix? Great playing but where's the melody? BD, sometimes you make me feel so old I wouldn't be surprised to see The Reaper walking through the door any minute now :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UBQFXQUqxE

It grows on ya, Polly. Grab a copy of Aenima and/or Lateralus and just stick it in the CD player in the car for a while.

I really didn't get it or care for it at first...but Tool is an acquired taste. ;) Definitely one of my favorite rock bands today.
 
It grows on ya, Polly. Grab a copy of Aenima and/or Lateralus and just stick it in the CD player in the car for a while.

I really didn't get it or care for it at first...but Tool is an acquired taste. ;) Definitely one of my favorite rock bands today.

Zambizzi, I've heard a lot of Tool. Maynard writes some excellent lyrics but is almost always buried so far down in the mix that you can't make out the words! I also wish they didn't have that grunty metal-sounding guitar in every single track. I wouldn't mind the occasional happy tune either - and bear in mind this is coming from an old Crimson fan - lol. There is a reason why Tool gigs are not not packed out with middle-aged women. Having said that I like 46 and 2 and Schism.

May I recommend Dusty Springfield to you and other Tool fans. She's a brilliant vocalist and has done some fine tracks - Try I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself or Spooky or All Cried Out.

Bear in mind, she's an acquired taste but if you keep her Best of CD in the car, the music will grow on you :)
 
What is it with Tool? Maynard is always so far down in the mix I can never work out what he's saying. I had to look up the lyrics to get your point (yeah, it's exactly the same observation).

...I had that thought to, not mixed well...

...Maynard is very mysterious, performing live he is known to face the back of the stage, he is against the whole cliche rockstar celebrity imagery of "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll" and whatnot...

...an earlier drum teacher explained to me that Tool is almost completely written by/for the guitar player, very guitar oriented...

I also wish they didn't have that grunty metal-sounding guitar in every single track.

...actually quite like it when the guitar sound was different for a few songs; Jambi, Reflection, Disposition, Right in Two, Forty Six and Two, apart from those kind of songs...the gain is glued to number 10...

...love the tabla solos in Forty Six and Two and the drumming is very musical, odd-time grooves with flourishes in parts where they suit the changes of the song...

...it is good for a drummer's musicality when they learn another instrument (in Danny Carey's case, tabla and synth)...
 
...I had that thought to, not mixed well...

...Maynard is very mysterious, performing live he is known to face the back of the stage, he is against the whole cliche rockstar celebrity imagery of "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll" and whatnot...

...an earlier drum teacher explained to me that Tool is almost completely written by/for the guitar player, very guitar oriented...

Yes, to our ears it wasn't mixed well but these guys know what they're doing. It would make sense to drown Maynard out if he couldn't sing or wrote weak lyrics, but he can carry a tune with passion and the words are strong for what they are (dark poetry).

So you think it's a reaction against the hierarchical singer-as-star ethos? They seem to be keen on the whole subculture tribal thing and and only want to reach those who'll take the time to be actively interested. Clearly they don't care about mass appeal.

The treated vocals in the background do sound ethereal - that whole "mysterious" thing you were talking about ... but in every song? And that relentless crunching guitar. That's why I like 46 and 2 - they mix things up and the clearer passages sound great, even if Maynard's still down in the mix.

Can't help wondering if the guitarists have just been overpowering PAs with their stacks for decades and now they think that's what music should sound like :)
 
Abe, no bias there? :p

How about the inventors of palak paneer and tandoori chicken?

None whatsoever. Tandoori Chicken is overrated, Pol you haven't lived if you haven't tried a Dosa.

My own take on the meaning of life.. hmmmm... when its dark, I can see the stars?
 
Groucho Marx said it like this.... "I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."

Harry, I knew you'd pull out an ace!
 
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