The Purpose of life!!
As an antitheist I am often accused of being pointless.
Far from it. I am not at all depressed by the knowledge that my life is finite. I opened my eyes on this incredible universe sixty five years ago and at some point in the next thirty five years, maybe today, I will close them forever.
For me the universe will cease to exist just as it did before I was born.
In some ways that is sad and I can see how some people might find that frightening and pointless. I don’t.
I would find the idea of living forever excruciatingly tedious. What would you do for all that time? It would be a jail sentence. What mysterious purpose would there be to that? There would no be a purpose. You cannot hide a lack of ultimate purpose behind either – ‘God has a plan’ or ‘We have to progress through many stages and lives’ – for me that is merely a psychological cop out.
No. I am happy with a finite life. It means that every second is precious. Every moment has to be wrung dry of all possible joy. It will not come round again.
So, if there is no ultimate purpose then what is the thing that makes life worth getting up for? (And yes by the way – I am a very moral person. I do not need some religious doctrine and fear to make me moral. Morality makes sense. It is a philosophy that brings happiness.)
Here are the reasons to get out of bed. This is my ABC of life:
a. Love
b. Fun
c. Making the world a better place
d. Awe and wonder
e. Creativity
f. Solving the problems
g. Enjoying the splendours
h. Exploring everything
I. Reading
j. Writing
k. Sharing
l. Appreciating a nice meal, a glass of wine and good company
m. Arguing and educating
n. Speaking out against the madness
o. Caring for other animals
p. Looking out for the plants
q. Learning from history
r. Sport
s. Driving
t. Swimming in a cool pool on a hot day
u. Looking up at the stars and drifting to infinity
v. Getting an idea for a story, painting, poem or dance
w. Thinking
x. Singing and playing music
y. Appreciating art, theatre, dance, drama, music, poetry …….
z. Dancing
aa. Photography
I think that’s probably quite enough to fill a life-time or two.
I love this!
Thanks Jennie!
You’re welcome, Opher!
As for appreciating a glass of wine – that’s funny because I’m very sure I read an older post where you’d said that wine was “generic” and there wasn’t much difference between one and another until it was spelled out for you just how completely off the mark you were with that misunderstanding.
Maybe you’ve since revised your interpretation of the complexities as found within the world of wines. A good thing too.
Most wine drinkers know nothing about the wines they drink which is why our supermarkets are stuffed silly with rotten cheap rubbish.
Don’t know where you got that from. I like a good glass of wine and appreciate a good wine.
Name me one then. Why did you choose it? What’s about it that separates it from the pack?
Peter – Is this some kind of test? I don’t play that game. I do not claim to be a wine connoisseur. I enjoy a good wine but my pockets are not deep enough to buy the quality of wine that I would like. You tend to get what you pay for. I tend to mainly drink plonk with an occasional taste of something nicer. I am partial to a nice shiraz, pinotage or Malbec. The last nice one I had this Christmas was a Sam Plunkett Tait Hamilton Vineyard Shiraz 2017.
I recognise the Malbec, because that was one variety that had been recommended to you on that post that I’d read. The one where you made claim all wines were “generic”. Yes, I will continue to have a chuckle to myself about that one for some time, I think.
So, at least you took that on board. Malbec’s are quite full bodied and quite fruity. Got to be careful though as if left too long in an opened bottle, what’s left soon turns into a sort of Sherry! Drink that one up quickly.
Not for me that Shiraz stuff, pass. These bottles of plonky Shiraz 2017 are pretty terrible. They’re way too young and a long way off from tasting anywhere near decent.
Originally a French Rhone wine, most Shiraz these days is coming from California and South Africa. It’s a good all-round every day wine, nothing special. Sometimes far too peppery in flavour to be enjoyed wholly on it’s own so maybe better with eating meats etc. It’s not a big favourite of mine, but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it.
I quite simply don’t enjoy South African Pinotage wine at all. I find it as rough as old boots. That’s why it’s so cheap and on the shelves of Tesco. It’s crap. Let me be more succinct. Pinotage is a difficult grape to grow and even harder to make into good wine. The results are not always too successful. But they’re going to bottle it anyway, aren’t they? So, always best to only buy a much older vintage, one that has some credible ratings from those who know (do they really?)
Stop wasting money on rubbish and spend £10 more for something that you can actually savour and enjoy.
Get the wine to good temperature even if that means running it under a warm tap for a few minutes. Open it and let it breathe for half an hour. Make sure your glassware isn’t too cold either – it often is this weather if stored in cool kitchen cupboards. It’s not rocket science, but amazing how easily most people make a dog’s dinner of it.
So which would you recommend and from where?
A lovely Medoc from Bordeaux, France, Chateau Margaux, Premier Cru 1983.
Your’s for about £350-1100+, depending on the maker and vintner.
I’ve three bottles left. A desperate situation.
It’s absolutely wonderful.
But that’s not very helpful to you.
Other much less expensive Clarets from 2002 and 2009 would be worth considering.
There’s loads. It’s the quality of growth on any given year that matters. That info is very easy to find.
Right – out of my league. In my life I’ve only ever tried two or three bottles at those prices. Nice though they were I would not splash that kind of cash. But I’ll pop round and give you an opinion if you like.
So – in my price range – just give me a few specific names worthy of investigation. These generalities are no use to me.
I was simply making example of what a fine wine actually is. I didn’t pay that sort of money when I’d bought them. Nothing like it actually.
Actually these generalities are of great use to you! Firstly, it’s vital you learn the good years from the bad years. That’s how fine wines work. That’s what defines costs. A good year will cost more than a bad year. Always. That’s the sort of information you should have before walking into your local wine merchants. That means you’re one step ahead already of the sales person. That’s means you also have an understanding of pricing one bottle against another. So these generalities are really useful tools to have. They are your guide to what to buy and what not to buy. What’s more useful than that?
You need to get (as I’ve already said twice now) a Vintage Guide chart. Easily found.
Stick to French Bordeaux Clarets and you can’t go wrong. Once you understand the complexities of these wines, then all other wines’ differences become recognisable.
But you’ll never learn any of that by drinking budget plonk.
Seriously, if can’t find yourself a very nice 2009 vintage Claret for around £25, then you shouldn’t be having this conversation. I simply cannot lead you by the hand straight to any specific name, but I shouldn’t need to as all 2009 Clarets are very good.
Thank you for that advice. I’ll see what I can find.