What is the purpose of life

In the previous post's video, Richard Dawkins discussed the purpose of purpose: a human mind needs a purpose for everything, and most people think that everything HAS a purpose, even things without one. For most people the only way to see the absurdity is to think about the purpose of purpose.

When I was young, we were told that the purpose of life is to live our lives the right way to go to heaven after we die. Religion gave us the ultimate answer of the purpose of our lives - to test our conformance to God, in order to be rewarded by a pleasant afterlife.

But lets think a little more about it. What would be the purpose of the afterlife then? After we finally made it to the heaven, we would enjoy our afterlife and be happy. What would be the purpose of our existence? It doesn't make sense. Couldn't we just enjoy our lives just right now for the same purpose? The ultimate answer provided by all religions is a mental fallacy. We don't need a purpose. We make our purpose ourselves.

[2] SKEPTIC_SLAX_USER wrote 193 days ago:

Looks like Your purpose Tomas is to "rub it in", "in your face" to many/most Religious people. However, your purpose is to serve the people with Slax and that you make a Good Job. Please dedicate to that and stick to it. With all the garbage of religion and bible stories and Richard Dawkins' Crap(which many or most people don't care for by the way), it is not earning you much respect :(
Slax is your thing and many users appreciate it, but you are ruining many users with your CRAP about ..... whatever you write. Please write about Slax and how it can be improved and forget about religion and more bullshit from Dawkins.

[3] Mr. Condom Catholic wrote 192 days ago:

I agree that Tomas should separate SLAX from philosophy but remember, if Tomas wants to rub it in, he can be my guest. It has been said that organized religion is the greatest threat to the survival of mankind.... with that being said, I say atheism doesn't get fairly represented so let him blab. This is his web site. Look at it this way: With everything people offer to others, there is usually a "sermon", a "pill" you have to swallow. You have your sermon, he has his. Some entire Linux distros are religious in nature. Be thankful his is not.... And remember, the Bible was created by persons unknown and reassembled by a council of bishops led by the Roman emperor Constantine in the year 325 AD, leaving out at least 6 books, one of which had a young Jesus going around turning kids into stumps and piles of ashes, I kid you not. So you really don't know where it came from and what it contains. What if Satan secretly wrote the Bible backwards, made it look like the real thing, and we are all going to Hell? Hahaha.

[5] Pissed_Slax_User wrote 192 days ago:

Sorry Mr. Condom Catholic and Thor, but I hate to disagree with you both. While I give you one thing, it is is "his" blog and he can do whatever he wants and post whatever he wants. He is losing his time. While I am not too religious nor I am an atheist, I believe that all the shit that he writes about is nothing more than that. Noah's Bullshit, Abraham and Isaac, Richard Dawkins' purpose. That is just plain bullshit to me also. If the bible stories are bullshit, then why not Richard Dawkins' and also the Atheist Crap. Whatever the purpose, I don't give a sh*t about it. It is not working! Do you understand that.

Let us more be focused on what is really important here not some stuff that happened before. People are distancing themselves from slax because of this. I know it is stupid, but they are. I know of a guy from Argentina who used to love Slax, but now he stays away from it and went to Wolvix and/or nimbleX just because Tomas keeps this blog and because he removed the "would you kill for your God, God does not exist" Thread from slax forum. It is true that that thread was and will remain the best one of all time. There is no substitution, Tomas did not keep his word on it that it will no longer be deleted and he did not return it back like he promised. This is a person who cannot keep his word. Also he said he was not going to release a new 6.1.X version and he did, while that is not a bad thing to do, why did he state that he was not building a new version in the first place?

Just my thoughts?
C YA ll in slax forum anyhow.

[7] Tomas M wrote 191 days ago:

Re [5]: Oh, did I promise to keep the forum thread alive forever? I don't remember that, nevertheless it is possible. Anyway, I can see it is marked as spam again, which hides it from the forum. I don't care so much about it.

Also I don't remember to say that I will never release Slax 6.1.x, but maybe it is possible too, I don't remember a lot of things. Anyway, I am constantly changing my mind, so if I said that, then I simply changed my mind. I don't have any problem with that.

In my opinion, changing our minds (as new information comes into our heads) is far better than religion dogma, which doesn't change at all and is wrong all the time.

[9] thewer wrote 191 days ago:

Well, despite the fact I should thank you for Slax first, I'd like to share some thoughts on Dawkins, too:
Don't waste too much time with him...

Why?
Cause 'the purpose of purpose' is such an old insight it makes one yawn... that man needs a purpose, a meaning of life, is not exactly new - nor discussing it.
Or as once Karl Valentin (you might know that one) stated:
Everything has already been said, just not by every one...

I am not really a religious person, being an old doubter myself, but I at least accept that Atheism is a belief same as Christendom, Hinduism or whatever - it is not science, it cannot be proved. The only way to find out what happens next is jumping from a bridge - no wait, you end up in hell then if the church is right damn... ;) Dawkins is to me same as the pope - both probably nice chaps to some aspect, but narrowed in their views and way of argumentation.

If you stick with science, you have to accept that being part of a complex system you are unable to describe that system from within - which is the reason why there never will be a proof of or against God/afterlife/whatever.

My Tip:
Believe what makes you happy as long as that doesn't involve setting others on fire or so. Religion is in most cases bound to some moral that enhances social life and makes people happy. Looking for a solution where you are unable to find one won't make you happy...

[10] Dr. Brown wrote 191 days ago:

Hi Tomas,

you are a brave man! One needs a courage to oppose all this machine of fundamentalists. Any way:
The purpose of our live is to live. The chain of live does not care about your or our purpose. Reproduction is the only think what matters. Intelligence, feelings, reasons are the thinks directed to improve survival of species. I hope our species will use it properly :-)
Think about our lives as bubbles in a cattle. They appear on the bottom, travel their way to the top, and explode on the top. During the way they may interact, merge or split and may be think something. But who damn cares. They are gust a chain in the energy flow. In principle it does not matter if they are there or not at the end.
The example should not necessarily bring you into a depression (it is not going to happen soon if judge from your character). It just confirms your worlds: make you a purpose yourself.
In fact the purpose is given by nature - live (survival). Even deadly ill people squeeze their teeth and continue to fight for live. Some time these people survive and contribute in this way to survival of our species. The people who really do not wand to live - die or suicide them selves. Their ideas (ideas of death) die with them and that is how the idea of live propagates. It even better so.
Finally, having wright understanding does not oblige you to propagate it among the others. It has a danger of becoming a preacher on your own (this is how the religions are made). Scientific approach as the most natural way of exploring the universe rejects religions and this is the only wright way to do.
If I would not be too busy with my scientific topic I could write a book on this topic too :-)

[11] smilin' Jack wrote 191 days ago:

[quote]In the previous post's video, Richard Dawkins discussed the purpose of purpose: a human mind needs a purpose for everything, and most people think that everything HAS a purpose, even things without one. For most people the only way to see the absurdity is to think about the purpose of purpose. [/quote]

Since you feel the need for the discovery of the purpose of purpose relating to the human mind and invoke Dawkins, a famous Biologist and faith baiter, shouldn't the conscious mind be first scientifically defined for this discovery?
That's 'conscious mind', not the 'hardware'(brain).
Essentially, scientifically how and why do we have conscious thought? What is conscious thought?
And if you think, therefore you are.
Oddly.....part of the Decartes argument for the existence of God.

So I think ( LOL! ) that you first need to address the science of conscious thought and it's purpose before attacking the purpose of anything else, because 'conscious thought' essentially defines/describes all that exists and what is proposed as belief.
We call it a consensus of opinion.

Lots'a luck....

[quote]What would be the purpose of the afterlife then? [/quote]
[quote]What would be the purpose of our existence? It doesn't make sense. [/quote]
A better question, imo, is....why is there existence (not just of life) ? And then proceed to purpose.
Does a question, even scientifically proposed, that can not be answered require an reply 'doesn't make sense' or just can not be answered at this time?

Lots'a luck there, too........

[12] Pax wrote 191 days ago:

Tomas's opinions like the software he works on are both 'open'... There aren't nearly enough people who question what they've been sold - whether it's religion or any other topic you care to mention.

When you ask cattle what the purpose of life is, they'll respond by saying that 'it's eating grass and farting all day' in no particular order. They will also get pretty upset when prodded to do something else.

When you ask another species what the purpose of the cattle's life is...

Remain open(-minded), folks - even if it hurts your delicate and egotistical sensibilities because the answer to this question has yet to be answered.

[14] Pissed_Slax_User wrote 190 days ago:

@[7] Tomas

Here's my proof:

http://www.tomas-m.com/blog/635-Slax-6-1-1-is-out.html

\begin{quote}
The amazing and unbeatable Slax 6.1.1 is released. You can rest assured that there will be no more new version
\end{quote}

Then you are like God, and add "in the next two days". Reminds me of the you can eat from all the trees in the Garden, but except from the tree of knowledge/wisdom.

Also, in another blog post:

"Slax 6 is now over. Only bugfixes or small improvements should be implemented, the focus is now on Slax 7, which will contain KDE 4 and newest kernel. This will take some long time I guess."
Source:
http://www.tomas-m.com/blog/605-Slax-6-1-is-out.html

Nonetheless,
I am not against you Tomas, If I could meet you in person I would and invite you for a BEER. I appreciate that you build Slax and give it to us for FREE. I am also reminded of John 3:16

For so Tomas so much loved the world, that he us his creation so that all men who believed in Slax use it for the enjoyment and have a nice PocketOS in their bag of tools :)

The God Thread is saved in Gocosoldll's web page which will be removed in October when Geocities closes down :(, DAMMN

In the post, you stated that the thread was marked as SPAM and it will be restored, and it was not restored. It always will remain the THREAD OF THREADS. No other thread comes close to it. It would be great if you could restore it maybe make it READ ONLY. Then I would stop pissing you off with God and arguing against you. If you restore that thread, it would show greatness on your part :)

[19] Brian36 wrote 188 days ago:

Hi: Thanks for a great distro Tomas. I am a Christian believer. I, like many others, need a focus, and I ask that folks read John 3:16 to compare with the 'adjusted' one shown in the blog. Atheistic 'religionists' like to insist on their right to force their views (ref Kmer Rouge, etc). It's a human failing 'I'm right and I'll kill you if you think otherwise'. Not the way Christ operated.
Keep up the good work Tomas.
Brian36

[20] How_did_Christ_operate? wrote 184 days ago:

to [19]

You write "Not the way Christ operated."

How did Christ operate?
You were not there to see it! You only base yourself on what is written. The stories could/would/might have/ changed throughout the years. There is no "real" proof of what happened. Only what is "written" in those books. And your comment on John 3:16, is in my opinion wrong.

If you are a father and have an "only child", would you kill him for your God or to complete/make real a prophecy only to say, I have given you the ultimate sacrifice, I have sacrificed my son so that all men can have hope for eternal life?

I am catholic and I also question the Creed, not the apostle's creed but the Niacene creed. I don't buy that part where it says,

"God of God, Light of Light, ....", Christ was "not here" when the beginning of time, Adam and Eve, and when Moses was ordered to post the 10 commandments, etc. Then John(which is an idiot BTW) says/states in one of the New Testament books that Christ was already there. That is plain bullshit like Tomas says. He was not there, and if he was he should have been written about in the Old Testament books, ie. Genesis, Exodus, Deutronomy, Samuel, Kings, Job, .. Ruth, ... etc. He is not, therefore, I can conclude that that statement written by John is plain bullshit! I believe in God, God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit, I just don't buy that Jesus was here since the beginning of time, that is plain Bullshit!!! ONLY God the Father and God the Holy Spirit have always been here and will be for all eternity, whether you are a believer or not. You can't prove that he is there and otherwise that he was not!

[21] [16] who marked the thread as spam? wrote 183 days ago:

@ Tomas

who marked the thread as spam?
You are the superuser(root) like God. You should know everything, who was the a____e that marked the thread as SPAM. Yes there could be confidentiality issues, but why not restore the thread and mark it read only and no one, no one, except for you, can delete it(mark it as apam), etc.

This way, I will quit asking you for restoring it, I will also SHUT UP and not question you in other threads in the blogs. I am a troublemaker here, questioning you left and reight, but if you show greatnesss by restoring that thread, I will SHUT UP for good and respect you even more for doing it.

[22] Tomas M wrote 183 days ago:

Username 'wodan' marked it as spam. Ask him what is his religion :)

The forum currently doesn't have the requested feature (to mark threads read-only). I will restore the thread for the last time, but if anybody marks it as junk again, I'm not going to waste my time on it anymore.

[23] dubbu wrote 180 days ago:

You believe in God.
You don't believe in Prayer.
Do you understand faith?
Do you understand Gods will?
Do you understand Gods Power?
Do you understand Gods gift of freedom to choose?
Do you understand Gods gift through Christ, the Holy Spirit, God the father; these 3 are 1?
That which you want to do you do not do.
That which you do you do not want to do.
Do you understand absolute truth?
Christ came to divide.
Christ came to save the sinner.
When you were praying, where you surrendering to Gods will for you and trusting God? Or were you asking for things which were not part of Gods plan for you. Seek ye first the kingdom and his rightousness.

[25] neonlinux wrote 176 days ago:

Hi Tomas..
in some ways i enjoyed reading the above posts..
i also liked your comments too in response to the various posts.. actually i want to say Slax is really cool distro... at present my favorite.. over Linux Mint, Mepis, OpenSuse (well ha ha have not downloaded it .. but i prefer debian & slackware.... from previous experience) i am going to try and make a module .. since i found a .tgz that has good looking chinese fonts in it which i want to use...
by the way i agree with you.. whether you continue development work on Slax is great news if you do .. and if you do not .. well.. Slax 6 works very well for me... or if i need another distro.. at this time i am using Linux Mint 6 and Xpud.. i use unetbootlin to make bootable usb.. and it works very well.. live-cd for me was wait wait wait ..
much appreciation for your work ..
i am writing this since i noticed on your page to download the script .. write to me...
so i am...

[27] Mudassir wrote 170 days ago:

Dear Sir Mr. Tomas ,
I am totally agreed with your view on the "Purpose of the purpose". But whatever you are doing is a very kind and purposeful thing you are doing in your life..
I think you have got your right direction....
Bravo! Do your work without any tension and help the newbie to linux like me...

Md. Mudassir Mustafa
Computer Engineer.

What is the purpose of life?