Saturday 9 February 2013

How fickle is this life we live?

Life. To some it's one of the biggest questions and mysteries; our very existence. Why are we here? For how long? Is life just a game? In this below-amateur article I aim to make you think and contemplate on our existence, is there more than just waking up, going to work, eating, sleeping, breeding and then repeating it all over again with no greater purpose?


 Before I start this article I'd like to ask you a question. Is life just a game? If so; what are the rules? What is the objective? What's the goal, and who made this game anyway? These are things that you may have already pondered throughout your life, maybe you haven't. If you haven't, why haven't you? If you have, why have you? The universe we live in is by far the most complex matter that we know of, it seamlessly works in harmony with itself keeping balance. Think of planet earth for example, too close to the sun, too hot. Too far away from the sun, too cold. It's position is perfect. Did the earth just plonk itself right by there? Did it just think to itself 'This is the perfect spot to reside so that life can cultivate and multiply' That's another point- why do we multiply? Would it make any sense to make hundreds of lets say the most latest up to date Android phone (Or Iphone, whatever you prefer) and then come to the conclusion that their existence does not have any set purpose only to later be destroyed (death)?

The human brain is by far the most complex calculating mechanism we know of, more so than any computer. What created such a complex and incredible mechanism? Did it occur by chance, did it develop through years upon years of trail and error of itself? Was it all just a big accident? If I created the most up to date TV with all the trimmings on top and told you nothing can surpass this TV and explained all the incredible and amazing features and then began telling you that this TV was created by accident and it wasn't meant to exist- would you believe me? It's completely illogical. What materials do you need to make a phone? You need oil, metals, sand all of which can be found in the desert. Suppose I was talking a stroll with you in the desert; and lo and behold the latest and most advanced phone with the best technology and features was just lying there. You ask me how it got there and I tell you that 'All the materials needed for this phone are in the desert here- By chance and through time this phone was created by itself.' You would probably sign me into the closest mental asylum. By logic and reasoning it only makes sense that this was created by another being of great intelligence; or if you're skeptical of 'great' intelligence let's just leave it at intelligence then. If it is so that we believe by logic, reasoning and rationality something can not come out of nothing; if we believe that a mother cannot give birth to herself, then what drives us to believe that something such as our universe and world we live in that works in such a manner of set patterns (Such as day and night, rain and sun shine etc) can come from it's own self, out of nothing? 

Male and female. You can't have one without the other for reproducing. Throughout the years of existence itself we have naturally known how to reproduce. Humans and animals in the same manner. Humans have free will and reasoning, but if we take a look at animals; it is well established that animals work by 'instinct'- preset and programmed actions and thoughts to be fulfilled such as hunting and mating. How is it that the reproductive organs work so well together? How did they become what they actually are? How is it so that they are 'perfect' for one and the other? When you think about the concept of embryology and reproduction it really is rather a genius system! Some believe that our only real purpose in life is to reproduce. And some people believe their is not set purpose to life. Okay. But what's the point of making something if it has no real purpose? It's a bit like making a whole factory or Lamborghini's and then after they've been made they're all scrapped. I mean we're all going to die one day. We don't know when or how but it's the only guarantee in life. Would it make sense to say that something that works so incredibly such as the human being (every part of our body works harmoniously to keep us going) has a purpose for being here? Well, those computers which aren't even as complex as the human brain have a purpose. That state of the art mobile phone has a purpose. These items are considered to have less value than human life, they are materialistic items (And you can't deny that, if you saw a child crying over the loss of his Ipod rather than the loss of his Mother, surely you would frown upon that- We value human life, hence why we would wear armour in war- to protect our life!) So if these items which have less meaning have a purpose; shouldn't we humans have a purpose also? 

It's 3 am in the morning. And knocking at your door is a man standing in nothing but red underpants. That's right. Red underpants. Curious, you ask through the safety of your letterbox 'What do you want here?' to which this man in red underpants replies 'I'm here to read the gas meter'. Would you let them into your house, where your family and belongings are kept? The likelihood is you wouldn't believe them and be promptly phoning the police reaching for the heaviest blunt object in the room to be used as a weapon. Or you might politely ask him to go away if you're that sort of person. Why? What lead you to this decision? (One that we can call mutually agree is a sensible one considering the given scenario). The biggest factors of your decision could be the obscure time of his arrival, and most certainly the lack of any other clothing besides from red underpants would drive your decision, he simply does not look like the gas man! What process did you use to come to that conclusion? Reasoning at it's most basic fundamental. Comparing the knowledge you already know such as 'the gas man looks like this, he travels in this vehicle, carries this tool around with him and dresses like this, has a uniform, has an ID badge'- There are certain things we already may know from our experience such as what a gas man would look like, so comparing the two things and analyzing the situation is reasoning. The process of making sense of what is around us is reason. If you wold use reasoning to protect yourself (such as in this situation, I wouldn't trust some guy wearing red pants at my door 3 in the morning) would it not make sense to reason something potentially far greater and significant- The meaning of life itself. Would it make sense to use reason to try and understand all these questions; 'what is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What's it all about?' 

Back to the title of this article, how fickle is this life we live? Well one second you could be the manager of your own company; you could be the richest man/women in the world for all it matters but the moment you step out that luxury Jaguar how do you not know some lorry could come along and run you right over? Did all that money you earn save you? Can you just buy another life or some more time? You could be reclining upon a beach in Miami wishing that this world could last forever and before you know it it's either a tsunami or a volcano up in your face. The point trying to be made here is: Death can occur at any given moment. Young, old, healthy, rich- It doesn't really make a difference. 

Sometimes you have a reason to have thrown reasoning out the window. Sometimes you also need a reason to bring reasoning back in. Is your life now, and the time it is in your life the reason to bring back reasoning?



2 comments:

  1. Wow, love the way you put your argument across sir, would like to learn more about it... look forward to more of your articles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete