It is 2009. Thousands of things have been invented and done before. Some things make sense to repeat, like a recipe, because we all have to eat every day. Other things seem completely pointless, such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and every other social networking site that serve the same exact purpose. Or what about music? If you’ve ever tried to teach yourself guitar or bass, you know there are tons of websites to find tabs for mostly every song, meaning somebody out there has already learned and mastered the song enough to write down how to play it. And of course, the artist that made the song popular in the first place already created it, so everyone playing in their homes is, in the end, just wasting time.
Yeah, there’s no cure for AIDS or cancer, so you can argue there’s still a lot to be accomplished. But those are milestones that thousands die trying for before the one guy figures it out. The rest of life is repitition: basically wake up, go to work, go home, go to sleep, and do it all again until all the problems that accompany old age kill you. If a bridge collapses, some guys will fix it, and over time it’ll collapse again.
Yet we go to school and work and press on because others expect it of us. But what’s the point? Well, there you go- the most pessimistic, poorly backed up and probably immature thing you’ll hear all day.
Oh yeah, and I hear from people say all the time, "You think idiots would have been weeded out by natural selection by now." Yet there are a lot of useless people around still. Some never do anything at all but eat food someone better could use and hog their air. Could we agree that some of us just aren’t cut out for society?
You are so true.. when it comes down to it, life itself is pretty pointless without knowing God.
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Actually I would have to agree with you. I think that mathematically, the majority are destined for mediocrity. It’s just a matter of what end of the mediocre spectrum you will end up in that will make the difference between your schlubby life and the next guys slighty better or worse schlubby life.
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One should strive to be virtuous. That’s the point. Try to be good, do good. Do your absolute best at everything you chose to do and try as many things as possible and be opened minded. Think of purpose and why you are here. Understand this world we ar living and what can you do to make it better. Even if you only affect one person in a good way, then there is meaning for you.
It’s not a waste of time to try new things. Your reasoning is off. If learning a song that has already been learned is a waste to you, then why are you using a language that some one else already knows? Why use the computer? Why ask the age old question of purpose in life?
I say, you need to search your soul about now. I don’t feel that I get up for anyone, but myself. I am so happy to go to school and learn new things and be with my academic peers. I am happy to see my kids everyday and watch them grow. I am happy to dream about the things I hope to achieve. Finding God really opened my eyes, mind and soul. I have always believed, bu I had a new found faith, a rejuvenation a couple of years ago. Christ found me. God Bless and good luck!
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Good question.
I share your pessimism…but not toward higher education in general or because it is inherently pointless. It is not. What makes college pointless these days are the minds and attitudes of all these drunken frat-boys who grew up with a silver spoon and think college is about socializing. I can’t think of a bigger waste of resources. Couldn’t we import some starving 3rd-world-ers and educate them instead? Oh well.
I also disagree that learning is somehow pointless because there’s nothing more to learn (or as you said, "thousands of things have been invented".) That’s just not the way it works. Knowledge is cumulative, it doesn’t plateau like that. For example, a medieval student might have posed, "We already have castles, crossbows and saddles for our horses. We have steel and domesticated livestock. We have servants to do our cooking, muses to play us songs, sophisticated agriculture, and"…you get the idea. There’s actually more to learn now that we know more, but it seems counter-intuitive.
Sure there are similarities between my iPod and the aforementioned medieval dude’s servant playing an instrument for him, but this common connection is called being human, and it doesn’t make the progression in technology pointless just because both instruments serve to meet the same end.
You’re totally right about your third point. We have lots of idiots in our society. The reason they aren’t eliminated via selection is because we actually need them. As some elderly people say grumpily, "the world will always need ditch diggers"..or McDonalds burger flippers, etc. Maybe someday we won’t have lower-classes and stupidity will actually be selected against, but we will probably destroy the planet before that day comes.
So to answer your Q, there is no point in YOU pursuing anything. Do what makes you happy. If that is pursuing things, fine. If not, so be it. Just don’t actively get in the way of people who are pursuing things they believe in, that’s where philosophers turn into bullies…or terrorists.
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You are so true.. when it comes down to it, life itself is pretty pointless without knowing God.
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