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8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週日 8月 18, 2019 11:24 pm
ellenlin
Hi All,

As the movie ‘Avengers: Endgame’ has been released over 3 months, I assume most of us have already seen it (or at least those who care :lol: ).
If you have not seen the movie …*SPOILER ALERT!!

Session I

In Avengers: Endgame, Tony (Ironman) discovered a way which can bring all the dusted/vanished people back to the present, but the consequence might be accompanied by the risk of losing his loved ones (like his daughter). Similar scenarios happened in many Superhero movies: the main character has to make a rescue decision between one person (his/her lover) and a larger amount of people. To answer this kind of question, it is often discussed with the topic of responsibilities (which has also been discussed in David’s topic on 8/13):

Q1/ If you have superpowers or are as capable as Ironman, would you choose to live like a superhero and dedicate your entire life to save the world, or you would rather live a normal life with people you love? And Why?

People say that we exist on this earth for some undetermined period of time. During that time we do things. Some of these things are important. Some of them are unimportant. And those important things give our lives meaning and happiness. The unimportant ones basically just kill time.
(Reference: https://markmanson.net/life-purpose)

Q2/ What is the meaning of life? Does life require a purpose and a goal?

Q3/ Do you agree that the most important purpose in life is to find happiness? What is happiness? What is the most important thing in your life (e.g. spend time with your loved ones, have a great career, find your inner peace… )?

Q4/ Is there life after death?


Session II

Reference 1: Why does time pass?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKKbkS_LOu4

Q1/ What does ’TIME’ mean to you?

Time travel in Avengers: Endgame is based on a popular time travel theory in the field of quantum physics. At one point, Iron Man even drops the name David Deutsch — that’s the guy who came up with the “Many Worlds Theory” or “Multiverse Theory.” Basically, he argues that the place we conceive of as our universe is just one of many parallel universes. And if you change something in the past, you create a new timeline, branching out from the original timeline. So nothing they do in the past affects their main timeline.

Reference 2: Breaking Down the Complicated Time Travel in Avengers: Endgame
https://time.com/5576656/avengers-endgame-time-travel/
Reference 3: Do we live in a multiverse?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx7erWZ8TjA

Q2/ Do you think ‘Time travel’ is real and feasible?

Q3/ According to reference 3, do we live in a multiverse? What are your thoughts?

Q4/ ‘No amount of money ever bought a second of time.' - Tony Stark (Avengers: Endgame)
If you knew you were going to die one year from today, what would you do and how would you want to be remembered?


**************************************************************************************
Agenda:
3:50 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:20pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:20 ~ 5:00pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
5:00 ~ 5:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:20 ~ 5:30pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:30~ 6:10pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:10~ 6:30pm Summarization / Concluding Remarks / Announcements(20 mins)
***************************************************************************************
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Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週三 8月 21, 2019 10:07 pm
Luis Ko
if i had superpowers, instead of saving the world, i might not necessarily live a normal life but i would only want to help those who i liked and cared, or those who i thought deserved. i would like to live a life that i can choose the life i want to lead freely, without those superhero responsibilities.

unfortunately, i have no superpowers. the reality is life is suffering. that is to say life sucks. you have got to either live with it or, deal with it. if you choose to live with it, it will have no meaning at all even if there's indeed a meaning inherent. however, if you choose to deal with it, even if you are not sure what life meaning is at the very beginning, you might find it really meaningful later lo~ later! :lol:

Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週四 8月 22, 2019 2:21 pm
Rock
The most important thing in life doesn't have to be happiness, only happiness may let you forget other things which are important, so you don't care about them anymore. :lol:

Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週五 8月 23, 2019 12:54 pm
Luis Ko
Rock 寫:The most important thing in life doesn't have to be happiness, only happiness may let you forget other things which are important, so you don't care about them anymore. :lol:

objection!

there's nothing more important than happiness. of course for happiness i don't mean those specific joyful moments or, ecstasy. having a happy life, or say a life that makes you feel happy, is the most important thing i would say. then again, it also depends on the individual lo~ 8)

by the way, even if it's multiverse, time travel is still fictional to me. time is just a term that human invented for calculating how long things have happened i would say. it's not like the saying let bygones be bygones that it's in our control to let it be. the reality is just that bygones are bygones that simple. we will never go back in time.. "No amount of money ever bought a second of time" says it all. :mrgreen:

oh~ and i don't believe there's a life after death sort of thing either. it doesn't matter anyway. it's just like we go into extra time of our life even if there's one, but we will forget everything in the end. :lol:

Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週六 8月 24, 2019 6:26 am
Kooper
YouTube seems to have developed an AI technique that really knocked my socks off – it seems to have been capable enough to read my mind!

Just one day after I browsed through all the questions that Ellen designed for us without clicking any of the reference links yet, out of the blue YouTube recommended me a Ted talk. Guess what! It was a speech on finding life meaning versus seeking happiness. The speaker Emily Esfahani Smith argued that seeking and creating meaning in life makes us feel more fulfilling than pursuing happiness. She introduced four pillars of a meaningful life: belonging, purpose, transcendence, storytelling. Check out the Ted talk. You may not buy in what she found or theorized, but it at least offers us a structured and possible approach to find and stay on the path to a more fulfilling life and a more comprehensive theory to agree or disagree on.



When it comes to discussing happiness and meanings in life, it's essential as first step to define the two terms. The term happiness in particular is vague and oftentimes confusing. People could use it to refer to a wide range of states, such as a physical pleasure, the feeling of well-being, or others.

Here are the definitions of the two adopted by the speaker and they are what the whole speech is based on.

Happiness: a state of comfort and ease, feeling good in the moment.
Meaning: meaning comes from belonging to and serving something beyond yourself and from developing the best within you.

Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週六 8月 24, 2019 8:38 am
Kooper
Luis Ko 寫:unfortunately, i have no superpowers. the reality is life is suffering. that is to say life sucks. you have got to either live with it or, deal with it. if you choose to live with it, it will have no meaning at all even if there's indeed a meaning inherent. however, if you choose to deal with it, even if you are not sure what life meaning is at the very beginning, you might find it really meaningful later lo~ later! :lol:
It's good to see Luis engage again. To celebrate, allow me to play the devil's advocate. :wink: Don't you think accepting the annoying parts of life is to practice the Taoist Philosophy initiated by the two known thinkers Laozi and Zhuangzi and then what's wrong with that? :twisted:

Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週六 8月 24, 2019 8:46 am
Rock
Luis Ko 寫:
objection!
OK, let's fight.

But, let me ask you a question first. Are you happy? :lol:

Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週六 8月 24, 2019 1:23 pm
Luis Ko
haa~ don't get me wrong. though i don't know much about Laozi and Zhuangz, i'm philosophical.

life doesn't have to be meaningful that's what i always believe in. that's why i always say that's life. my reply is for those who care about it. i suppose the meaning of life here is something very positive. if it's not, if the meaning of life is to suffer then, it's just not worth mentioning, is it? and to deal with life seems more positive than to live with it. of course what i have said might not be the answer to the meaning of life but, the notion is quite similar to the ted talk speech, don't you think? if only i can detail it haa~ then again, if to live with life can also produce positive meaning then, i need to have second thoughts.. :drink:

right, i admit my life is not a happy one, at least until now, and, that's life. 8)

Re: 8/24 (Sat) The Meaning Of Life (Host: Ellen)

發表於 : 週一 8月 26, 2019 11:47 am
Christine
Participants (20) : Ellen (host), Christine, Iris, Kooper, Jerry, Michelle, Arthur, Morris, Jason, Rock, Ken, David Jr., Steve, Antonio, Julian, Leon, Stephen, Andy,Blithe, Carmelo