Just heard the national weather forecast which said more sunshine and a degree warmer everywhere today, but it’s pretty grey out there. My handy ‘Minutecast’ says ‘No precipitation for at least 120 minutes’, but ‘mostly cloudy’ and a high of 17 for the rest of the day. I spent some time yesterday sitting outside, but it was pretty chilly.
There I go, talking about the weather, clearly I’ve got nothing of importance to say – no change there. Not even any reflections on mirrors today (ooh, sorry! No I didn’t mean to say that, it was just the word that popped into my head. I wonder if that’s what happens though? That subconsciously my brain made that association and that’s why it gave me that word before I’d had time to think it through properly?)
Woke up thinking I had nothing to say, but then got to thinking (partly inspired by a response to Sunday’s post) about the Why Are We Here question. I’m sure I’ve said all this before – know I have, or at least thought it – but I’ll say it all again (maybe in a different form) because I haven’t got any other ideas today.
Do I believe we’re here for a reason? Yes, and that reason is cause and effect, ie we are here because our parents had sex and conceived us – maybe intentionally, maybe not, maybe they raised us, maybe they didn’t – some of us might have been conceived by IVF so the above is not strictly accurate, but whatever, it’s certainly true that we came from the conjunction of sperm and egg (unless there are any clones or aliens out there that on one’s told me about).
Do I believe we are here for a reason in the sense of having a purpose? No, except insofar as our parents chose to have us for their own reasons – to make them happy (a high risk expectation), complete the set, pass down the family business or whatever, or the evolutionary sense of passing on genes to another generation.
Am I an atheist? Yes. Do I believe in life after death? No. Does that bother me? No, because if I’m dead there won’t be a ‘me’ around to be bothered about it, or to regret the things I have or haven’t done, so why should I care now? Do I feel a responsibility towards my children? Yes, enough to have prevented me from attempting suicide in the past, and to know that I won’t in the future (as long as life is still physically bearable, but I’ve arranged for them to have power of attorney, so in extremis they can make their own decision about whether to keep me alive).
It’s amazing how little I can say in 500 words once I get going. Am I an existentialist? Am I a nihilist? As far as I understand those terms I would say: yes to the former, no to the latter.
Can I see myself ever changing these views? No.