Life is meaningless?
 

I was looking at dumb.com and saw this little factoid.

27% of U.S. male college students believe life is "a meaningless existential hell."

Could this be true?

For you, absolutely, Life is meaningless, there is no reason for you to continue to burden us with your presence.

troll

Soak yourself in gasoline. It will cure you of your fleas. Promise.

Merc, get out of her sandbox, this is uncalled for and you started it without provocation.

told you he was a dickhead

You're throwing stones?

and thankyou Bruce. I appreciate it.

I really do hope there's a discussion about this thread topic. I know the source isn't reliable, but still wonder if it could have any basis.

It's bullshit, 27% is way to low.

So if students believe this, does that mean they're suicidal?

Never! I would not do such a thing to such a fine upstanding mutually respectful poster! She has always been the measure of civility to me.

Eat more donuts, your last posted pic fixing that wheel shows you need to be on a diet. Obesity kills.

yeah..ok....i'll lose weight....and you'll still be a dickhead.

Cool! the first thing we agree on! you are a fat fuck and I am a dickhead! The first step in a mutual understanding of fact. Very cool.:3eye: :D

never said i wasn't. i actually lost 6 lbs this week, cock. oh, and the 4oz of goo i blew allover your ex-wife's chin.

Not necessarily. They may just see no grand purpose for all of us. No all encompassing plan, we're just on a rock spinning through space and life will begin and end as it always has.

So that would imply no belief in a higher power wouldn't it?

What would that mean for religion in general?

Cute! but 6 pounds is a frigging drop in the bucket for your fat ass. Call us when you hit 60 pounds.

4 oz??? weak, from a 2 inch dick? I doubt it.

'meaningless existential hell' connotates a certain malaise toward life, i'd say.

27% of students are probably depressed and taking medication, too.

the question is....why does there HAVE to be a meaning to life? Everyone always asks what the meaning of life is. who cares? life IS. the end.

yeah....i could take a 6 lb dump. and you could eat it.


i'll make you a deal. if I lose 60 lbs, will you fuck off and not come back?

That's easy for you to say, you have a purpose to life, win the popularity contest. No?

Well, a lot of people have meaning in their life through their religion. There are others such as myself who create a kind of meaning through their family. Or maybe it's that my family means something to me as is the case with lots of other people.

Maybe someone should ask them if it's really life that's meaningless, or is it death?

Not a chance. I don't want to eat your children. Not my bag.

having a purpose and seeing meaning in life are separate considerations. the question "What is the Meaning of Life?" assumes that there IS meaning. WHy does there have to be a meaning? Can't it be a product of a series of random events?

For the most part I would say yes. Personally, I am of a Christian background but I don't necessarily believe that there is a little specific plan for every person on this Earth, and that we are guided to some sort of destiny or fulfillment. I see it as we are all here to do our own free will and if that lines up with how God wants us to treat each other great, if it doesn't well I guess we'll see what happens. Nobody honestly knows for certain one way or another and anyone who claims that they do is full of shit IMHO.

Of course it can be. I actually tend to agree with this philosophy more or less.

for people to believe life is 'a meaningless existential hell' is pretty extreme though. It comes across to me as suggesting there's no meaning in anything and that life is hell.

yeah, well...consider the source. 27% of college students are spoiled little melodramatic bitches.

Well I agree with that last statement. I suppose that's part of the problem. No one really knows the answer, so some people stop trying to figure it out.

What concerns me is the growing level of 'sadness' - for want of a better word - in youth culture today.

well that made me laugh.

So you reckon they should just be left to melodramaticly live their lives?

I think we should keep in mind that this seems a canned response, a survey answer choice. The students weren't saying that life is a meaningless existential hell, they were just >50% in agreement with the statement presented to them by the testers.

me? no. i recognize the importance of it, though. not a purpose by any means. what's your purpose? to be shitty to everyone lately?

That could very well be true. As I acknowledged, the source is definitely far from reliable.

Maybe I should worry about more important things than melodramatic college students. ;)

To be just like you.

ok...have we entered a new dimension or something?

remember when Hulk Hogan was a good guy...then he changed and became a bad guy? yeah. Now he's a good guy again. weird huh?

very

And through it all he was still the best.

I think I've entered the twilight zone.

:eek:

Ali and LJ are agreeing n shit.

....head for the hiiiiillllllllllsssssssssssssssssssss!!!

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid!

whatever. the point is that you've been acting in a very un brucelike manner lately. several people have commented on it. you've ignored it. what up?

You bet! As a country kid myself we used to watch him on the weekends. Yes I watched wrestling! :redface: He's kept that 'aura' hasn't he?

Remember when the tv would actually go off the air? I don't know why I mention that except he came from an era when things were more pure and true. When there were actually quiet spaces in a day. Now we have to actually find the time to be quiet.


Yes, I cringed a couple of times while their verbal shots were flying over my head.

That aura may be either wing of the mustache.

Should he and Senior Teutel have a "baddest mustache" competition? -- sort of a Clash of the Titans? Yeah, I know: they clash those two titans together, the heterosexual population isn't gonna want to watch.

Are any of those students depressed because they're taking meds?

Well the source was dumb.com, so I doubt anyone really knows although I suppose this could be the result of some clinical study - who knows?

It was more a question of, do you think this could be true, and if so, what do you think could be done or alternatively, not done.

For the percentage, I have no idea. I don't go around asking people that question and if I do talk about it, I am usually with people that think the same way I do so generalizing the whole college population of that would be extremely biased.

I personally do think life is meaningless but I am not depressed or suicidal about it. I know in 100 years I will be forgotten and besides my direct descendants, my life will mean nothing to everyone living at that time.

I know more or less how to be happy and I try to live that way. Even though I do try to make the world a better place (not to be cliché), I do not expect to be remembered for it. I just want the people that are around me to be happy and that will usually keep me satisfied.

Great outlook. Life really is meaningless, except to those who depend upon you for there life. Then it takes on a new meaning.

Is that sarcasm?

I think we are talking about two different things. Meaning of life has such a broad definition it can be taken so many different ways. I am talking about in a much wider view than you.

I think you are talking on a more personal level, which I agree with you 100%.

If I died today, yes many people would be hurt, but that pain will go down and in 200 years it would usually not have mattered whether I died or not. Even though the path resulting from me can be drastically different, life will move on with or without me. The ending is the same no matter what path you take. To get down to my point, the universe does not care whether I live or die making my life meaningless.

I'm reminded of that famous quote, I believe by Mark Twain:

"There are 3 kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and statistics."

93.856% of statistics are made up on the spot to support an argument.

"[Statistics] are meaningless--you can use them to prove anything." (variation on Homer Simpson quote)

Besides, I thought this was a rhetorical question.

Lincoln said it best: Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

"To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost."

--Flaubert

(I've quoted it before but it seemed to fit here.)

No, I was agreeing with you. And I continue to agree.

Even your direct descendants won't remember you in 100 years. They can look you up, but why bother.

You could make millions and have a hospital wing, college library, or little league field named after you, but a couple years later they would sell naming rights to a bank or energy company.

You could find a cure for some disease, but they'd be cursing you, when they found it caused another problem.

You could write literary classics but students everywhere would be cursing you for having to read and memorize the crap.

Make great paintings and your name will be remembered.... but not you. Descendants with the same name, who reap no financial gain, will curse you when they are harassed by art teachers and become the butt of the other students jokes.

No, better to do what makes you happy, then slip beneath the waves without a ripple, than to be famous.

Life isn't meaningless when you had a positive impact on someone.

Some insignificant gesture in your mind could just make someones day.
Make them look at the world in a better way.

Sure it could. I'd be interested to pick apart some of the categories. Why college students? Do non-college students give the same answers? Do females? Why or why not?

In The Optimistic Child, psychologist Martin Seligman argues that the epidemic of childhood depression is a direct result of the self-esteem movement.

...i thought it was like in the upper 93's or lower 94's....

And did they ask during finals week? They're also in college where their belief systems maybe are being challenged for the first time.

I think that this is right. If I'd been presented with this survey option as a student, I'd have picked it for fun and then chuckled at myself all day for being soooo clever. :rolleyes:

Depending on the survey target group, I doubt that 27% of students would have even known what "existentialism" was.

near as I see it.. life is what you make of it. what you believe is what you do. and where (if anywhere) you go after death is kinda pointless, a person ought to try to be a decent person for the sake of being a decent person, no intangible rewards or punishments for not doing so. all you have is who you are and your honor. 2 cents inserted...

geez bruce.. you feeling alright? most of your last posts have been rather bitter or spiteful.. just curious. not that it's any of my business.