From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!trb
Newsgroups: net.suicide
Title: Re: Continuing a lengthy flame
Article-I.D.: floyd.1436
Posted: Wed Apr 13 14:18:16 1983
Received: Fri Apr 15 05:24:26 1983
References: mit-eddi.109

Mit-eddie!hammy says that his purpose in life is to make the world a
better place in which to live and then goes on to say that his
self-improvement activities strive toward that end.

I wonder if he thinks that he was created for a different reason than
other people.  Looking at the world in producer/consumer terms, I think
that hammy's ideal sounds like a producer rather than a consumer.
That doesn't make for a very well rounded universal economy.

When I look at the "why am I here" question, I think about my
impression of the world as my senses receiving impulses and all, and I
think that my job here is to enjoy it.  I venture to guess that people
like hammy who make the world a better place to live, do so out of
feelings of guilt or satisfaction, for personal reasons.

Here a self, there a self, everywhere a self, self.

Even altruists are selves.

Boy, this discussion could degenerate into a sophomoric "what is reality"
fiasco pretty damned quick, if so, let's move it to net.philosophy.

	Doing it for grins,
	Andy Tannenbaum   Bell Labs  Whippany, NJ   (201) 386-6491