Thinking about the absurd and Myth

As I have previously posted, "The Absurd" is when we rational humans try to find meaning in what appears to be an irrational or at least indifferent world. In the past there have been two traditional philosophical responses to this human condition, hope in something or someone that transcends the absurd or suicide which means you agree with the universe as being absurd but not worth living in, I think both are escapes from the absurd. Albert Camus offers a third approach of agreeing that the absurd exist and is true but instead of running away from it to face it by your revolt, your freedom, and your passion. In other words, as I have felt for long time life is its own point and you cannot improve or transcend it you can only add to what you have or to what it is. The way I like to say it "it is what it is". In other words, in spite of the world's indifference we should live our lives anyway and live it well. Another aspect of what Albert Camus calls Absurd Reasoning and what it amounts to is his argument against Rationalism. Rationalism as he presents it; is thinking that our human reason can make sense or give an explanation of this universe, this too he feel is absurd. Upon reflecting on this I learn something new, which is good, I learn that I am guilty of trying to think I can understand or use reason or rationalism to understand something that is indifferent or doesn't care to answer what my reason or rational mind begs an answer to. This is the absurd it is the confrontation or my desire for unity, clarity, for meaning, for a reason in a cold silent universe and my illusion that the universe will relent and answer. From this, I agree I should not take life too seriously because until proven otherwise, life is impermanent or temporal, and is the only one I know of, and I should live with what I know this life is, instead of what I don’t know, an unknowable afterlife. I think Joseph Campbell alluded on these themes in his writings that life is about the experience of being alive and myths are a way of describing or helping us get that experience of being alive and so the myth of Sisyphus informs me.

Reason Driven Life

A couple of months ago I was listening to a pod cast called The Reason Driven Life (this podcast no is longer podcasting) and it was a podcast based on the book by Robert M. Rice, PhD. It is a contra-book to the Rick Warren's mega-selling book called the Purpose Driven Life. I have not read neither the Purpose Driven Life nor Reason Driven Life but from what I heard that day, it confirmed something that I have been thinking for a long time. I am lucky that I was born (period). The odds of us even being conceived is astronomical, if you think about if one event in earth history prior to your conception had been different, you would not exist. Life is the cosmic lottery, we happen to be on a planet that is life supporting, evolved from a species that can type on a computer, that another of my species created. I am able to think about the past, plan for the future, and live in the present. Personally, I am lucky to be in the wealthiest country in the world, even though some of my ancestors came on slave ships, if one of them had made the decision to jump overboard, I would not be typing this sentence. I don't think there is a higher purpose, this is enough, just to be born and experience life; is good enough. Our evolution could have took another route, for example, I could be a starving child in a developing country or even here in the U.S., I could have been born with mental retardation or a rare incurable disease. I am writing these things or thinking about these things NOT to make me feel good at the expense of others, if anything it should make me strive to fight for scientific research and development that may one day find a cure, fight for prenatal care that could prevent some diseases, and strive to find solutions to end world hunger and disease, that is, to seek world peace. The chimpanzee or bonobo chimps could have been the ones who evolved the large brains and we could be the ones living in the trees in a jungle in Africa, Asia, or South America, all of these are possibilities in the realm of the potentiality inherent in matter-energy. As one of the guys said, this is heaven and looking forward to another life and missing this one is hell and is unreasonable. We should love our children, our spouses and everyone we meet. I am pro-life, in the sense of thinking about the possibilities of not being born, but what about a stillborn child, or one who is born but is swept away in a tsunami or another natural phenomenon. Life is a precious gift, I feel bad when I kill a spider or run over an ant hill with my lawn mower, however it seems that these events were determined to a certain extent, they could not have happen any other way, because if they could have then why these series of events come to this outcome, I guess it could have in the realm of potentiality but it didn't. All I can say is Wow! When I think about another life after this one and in the Christianity's afterlife, this one is going be eternal, to live forever, singing to and worshiping God, it would seem that after singing the same songs for a million years and saying the same praises another million years, I would have rather not existed any more, it would seem to be a bore after awhile to sing the same old songs and say the same old praises, no wonder Satan rebelled, he probably got tired of the bullsh!t, but I don't believe in the Judeo-Christian mythology as true factual, historical events, and if we would look at them as the myths they are, then the world would become a more rational place. Think about it, I and ever sentient being that exist, had an astronomical chance of not existing at all...I am not writing this to say this is proof of a higher power or purpose, but I am thinking that life is too precious to waste worrying about an afterlife that could or could not exist. In other words, I am going to play the hand I have than to worry about one I don't...Think about it....