What gives humans the will to live?

[Luna]

Or whether, what gives humans the will to survive?

We all know that without a few things like a job, education, or experience are required to be able to survive in this world. But why do we strive for these things? Because we know that if we don't have them, we won't be happy. But what is happiness? They say that all the money in the world can't provide happiness, but so many divorces happen because of financial issues. The man isn't taking care of his family financially, I can't be with him anymore. Its HER fault that she doesn't work and she's dragging me down. I can't survive with them, I have to get out. Then the people with money who are alone want love, because they believe it will fill a hole in their hearts. However, look at all the celebrities who end up divorced because they committed infidelity. Look at all the people in the world who only marry because of the money and end up unhappy.

What the hell will make us happy? No matter what there is a struggle. Why is happiness so important that we are willing to suffer so much pain, agony, bitterness, anger, jealousy, greed, and other negative emotions? Are people born with this will? To suffer no matter what life throws at you? Or is it something that is formed while you are still alive? Is it able to deteriorate?

A long time ago there was an argument here about how suicidal people deserve to die.

But are they really to blame for their actions? They used to have the will to survive like most of the us. But it began to disappear and whither away as their life went on. Maybe it wasn't because they couldn't live on. Maybe they just were tired of it. Maybe they were tired of surviving all the time.

Can anyone really live their lives? There are moments of happiness and peace, but those moments end. Why can grief and anger and bitterness last a life time...no, generations and generations, but happiness lasts from moment to moment? Are these moments really worth surviving from day to day?

It really confuses me.

 

[Darkworld]

I don't exactly have the will to 'survive'.

Hell, I have pretty much given up on the world, but I guess... Hmmm, I guess I do have a small nugget of hope. My will to survive stems from my need to watch others fail.

If a suicidal person wants to die, let 'em. Saving them is pointless~ They'll just start taking up space.

And the clingy factor: If you have to rely on another being to bring you happiness/give you a reason to live, you probably will end up under the suicidal category sooner, or later.

I think the thing that gives us all a reason to push forward is the need to see what happens next. The world is just a big suspense film, and we want to finish it~

 

[☢☢Zombies Galore☢☢]

Survival instinct.

 

[Kikora]

Everyone will face stress in their life, no exceptions. You can deal with it, or let it comsume you.

 

[Kawamura]

I don't exactly have the will to 'survive'.

Hell, I have pretty much given up on the world, but I guess... Hmmm, I guess I do have a small nugget of hope. My will to survive stems from my need to watch others fail.

If a suicidal person wants to die, let 'em. Saving them is pointless~ They'll just start taking up space.

Hrmm.

When I read this, I think of someone who is young, immature and has not experienced suicidal ideation.

I've been trying to read Kant, Sarte and Aquinas (which makes me sad), and all of them say suicide is bad for various reasons. Kant, because you're not supposed to use man as a tool, and killing one's self to get rid of pain is using one as a tool, therefore you're doing something wrong. Sarte says its bad because you lose control of your own life by dying and Aquinas says it's unnatural since things want to live and because your life is God's and all. Moral of the story: it depends on whom you ask.

Luckily, I haven't had a "what is the purpose of life" crisis since I was twelve. So, you know, I don't actually think about these things.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

Can anyone really live their lives? There are moments of happiness and peace, but those moments end. Why can grief and anger and bitterness last a life time...no, generations and generations, but happiness lasts from moment to moment? Are these moments really worth surviving from day to day?

It really confuses me.

It's better than the alternative. Given the choice between existing(whether it be for brief moments of pleasure and long drawn out periods of pain and suffering) or ending everything that I am and not being able to come back and try again tomorrow, I'd go for the former option. I cannot predict the future and the balance between desire and pain fluctuates so much, tomorrow may bring more of one than the other and that hope drives me. Because some days are very good.

 

[Luna]

So so far, I've gotten curiosity, instinct, irrelevance, spirituality, and fear.

Curiosity, or the desire to learn is probably the most important to me. I want to learn all I can before I pass, because I believe in reincarnation and that you only transcend to the afterlife once you gain the amount of knowledge you're supposed to know. Instinct is something that also makes sense to me because I can pretty much sum up everything anyone ever does back to that, but I was wondering why people lose that instinct when they don't want to live anymore. Spirituality is something that only works for people who have hope and can believe in a savior. Currently I don't believe in that so I can't really say I understand it.

But the most common of all that is fear. Fear of death. Not knowing what could be awaiting you once you pass. I actually put that where instinct is, because I've been taught that fear is an instinct. When someone fears for their life, they do everything they can to protect it. So if someone is absent of all these traits, does that mean they have no desire to live?

 

[☢☢Zombies Galore☢☢]

If you want to test just how powerful survival instinct is make a noose, tie it up somewhere sturdy, step onto a chair, put it around your neck and see what it takes to actually step off that chair.

 

[Trygon]

Natural selection?

 

[Kikora]

Luna, you're stupid.

Everyone has their own reason for living, you can't just narrow it down to one.

 

[Luna]

If you want to test just how powerful survival instinct is make a noose, tie it up somewhere sturdy, step onto a chair, put it around your neck and see what it takes to actually step off that chair.

I know how powerful it is because I go out of my way to flip out before a bee can sting me. Imagine if I thought it would kill me.

I don't think anyone can escape that instinct, that's why people who commit suicide do everything they can to put themselves in situations where there is no turning back.

Natural selection?

I knew you'd say that. =P

 

[Luna]

Luna, you're stupid.

Everyone has their own reason for living, you can't just narrow it down to one.

You missed the entire point of this topic.

 

[Kikora]

Luna, you're stupid.

Everyone has their own reason for living, you can't just narrow it down to one.

You missed the entire point of this topic.

No, you managed to take a topic that could be intellectually stimulating and emo-ed it into a dumbed down and boring version that barely entitles any response at all.

Many suicidal people who either are stopped or survive regret their actions later. It's not black and white, this person lives because of yadda yadda and this person is lacking that so they want to die.

 

[Trygon]

Luna, you're stupid.

Everyone has their own reason for living, you can't just narrow it down to one.

You missed the entire point of this topic.

No, you managed to take a topic that could be intellectually stimulating and emo-ed it into a dumbed down and boring version that barely entitles any response at all.

Many suicidal people who either are stopped or survive regret their actions later. It's not black and white, this person lives because of yadda yadda and this person is lacking that so they want to die.

Kikora, please maintain some facsimile of respect in BMA.

 

[dramamine213]

Luna, you're stupid.

Everyone has their own reason for living, you can't just narrow it down to one.

Kikora, you have a chip on your shoulder. She's explaining what she has figured out to be true for herself and wants to know what other have to say about her ideas and is also asking what others think/feel. If you want to continue to call her names/adjectives, you know where to take it.


As for myself, I continue to persist because I'm unsure how well my partner would do raising our daughter. I would like her old enough to be able to bathe herself and fix food for herself before I felt she would be physically capable of surviving without me. Outside of that, no one or no one thing really keeps me from removing myself from existence. I'm plenty sick of humanity and myself.

 

[Kikora]

I'm sorry, Seraph.


Point I was trying to make is that there's no universal reason for living, and no one thing a person lacks when they are suicidal. It can be a chemical imbalance in the brain, a poor choice, or a genuinely bad life they can't see any other way out of. I don't approve of suicide myself, but I know that many people who are suicidal but live on later regret trying to take their own life.

The will to live is written into every creature on this planet, not just humans alone. It's an instinct to survive and carry on your legacy through whatever means. As far as I know humans are the only creature that willingly ends their own lives to avoid hardship. :S

 

[Bast the Cat Goddess]

Okay, I came up with an answer, but I can't really go into specifics because I have to go to work soon.

I live because I want to find a way to make myself happy. I don't want to depend on anything or anyone else to. I know that its not impossible. I know that even if I find a way to do this it probably will fade away with each and every hardship. But so what? I want to learn to do it again until I get it right.

I can't depend on anyone but myself to satisfy me.

 

[Luna]

Kikora, you have a chip on your shoulder. She's explaining what she has figured out to be true for herself and wants to know what other have to say about her ideas and is also asking what others think/feel. If you want to continue to call her names/adjectives, you know where to take it.


As for myself, I continue to persist because I'm unsure how well my partner would do raising our daughter. I would like her old enough to be able to bathe herself and fix food for herself before I felt she would be physically capable of surviving without me. Outside of that, no one or no one thing really keeps me from removing myself from existence. I'm plenty sick of humanity and myself.

Yes, I was looking for other peoples opinions and not a sole reason.

Do you think that being there for your daughter is your purpose in life?

A long time ago I thought that if I found a purpose in life, then I would be happy and I would be able to live. I'm not so sure that's true now.

 

[Luna]

Okay, I came up with an answer, but I can't really go into specifics because I have to go to work soon.

I live because I want to find a way to make myself happy. I don't want to depend on anything or anyone else to. I know that its not impossible. I know that even if I find a way to do this it probably will fade away with each and every hardship. But so what? I want to learn to do it again until I get it right.

I can't depend on anyone but myself to satisfy me.

Call me when you get a chance. I want to hear all the details. D;

But this is a very good answer...I never thought of it that way.

 

[Kikora]

Kikora, you have a chip on your shoulder. She's explaining what she has figured out to be true for herself and wants to know what other have to say about her ideas and is also asking what others think/feel. If you want to continue to call her names/adjectives, you know where to take it.


As for myself, I continue to persist because I'm unsure how well my partner would do raising our daughter. I would like her old enough to be able to bathe herself and fix food for herself before I felt she would be physically capable of surviving without me. Outside of that, no one or no one thing really keeps me from removing myself from existence. I'm plenty sick of humanity and myself.

Yes, I was looking for other peoples opinions and not a sole reason.

Do you think that being there for your daughter is your purpose in life?

A long time ago I thought that if I found a purpose in life, then I would be happy and I would be able to live. I'm not so sure that's true now.

No.

My purpose for living is I have absolutely no intention of dying. Once I realize I want to live for myself everything else falls into place. I don't live because of my daughter, but I am here for my daughter because I want to live. You have to live for yourself, or else you're cheating yourself out of a happy existence.

Once you learn that your will to live supports itself then reasons for being happy will come. Like the desire to keep learning, the desire to be a good parent, or to improve the world we live in. Having those be your entire reason for existing just brings sorrow.

 

[Luna]

Like the desire to keep learning,

As I stated above, that is the reason I am here, to learn. But it hardly makes me happy, it makes me shake my head at best.

I questioned Dramamine because of her feelings towards life, and you don't share those feelings, so I would appreciate it if you didn't answer other peoples questions for them.

 

[Kikora]

Like the desire to keep learning,

As I stated above, that is the reason I am here, to learn. But it hardly makes me happy, it makes me shake my head at best.

I questioned Dramamine because of her feelings towards life, and you don't share those feelings, so I would appreciate it if you didn't answer other peoples questions for them.

You didn't read what I said.

You live because you want to live, and you find things to make you happy while living. If you live for other people or for petty desires you wont be happy, because you'll reduce the meaning of your existence down to these trivial things. The wonderful thing about living for the same of living is that you can have hundreds of things that make you happy, and even if your ideals change it wont impact your desire to keep going.

 

[Luna]

You didn't read what I said.

You live because you want to live, and you find things to make you happy while living. If you live for other people or for petty desires you wont be happy, because you'll reduce the meaning of your existence down to these trivial things. The wonderful thing about living for the same of living is that you can have hundreds of things that make you happy, and even if your ideals change it wont impact your desire to keep going.

Okay, thanks for the feedback.

 

[Kikora]

You didn't read what I said.

You live because you want to live, and you find things to make you happy while living. If you live for other people or for petty desires you wont be happy, because you'll reduce the meaning of your existence down to these trivial things. The wonderful thing about living for the same of living is that you can have hundreds of things that make you happy, and even if your ideals change it wont impact your desire to keep going.

Okay, thanks for the feedback.

If you don't live for yourself you'll never be happy.

Ever.

 

[dramamine213]

Living for myself hasn't been very enjoyable thus far me. It's felt selfish and I feel guilty when I do something for myself as others would benefit more from deeds done than I.

No, my purpose for life isn't my child. I just feel it would be unfair for her to not have someone to help her learn how not to poop her pants or make pancakes or tie her shoes. I have a longer list of things I'd like her able to do before I consider taking the plunge.

And I am aware of the emotional issues and the increased chance of suicide she might have to deal with as she gets older, but if my partner and I can teach her many things and ideals, it shouldn't be so much of an issue I hope.

A foolish reason for trudging on is the unlikeliness of being able to Robo Cop my brain into something that works better than my dying body. I'm not saying I want to live forever, but I would like to have the choice of longevity that my human body doesn't provide. A couple hundred years of learning and watching humans destroy/better themselves is all I'd like. Even after that, I'd still probably remove myself after 'enough'.