The Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

Truth is determined by reality. Absolutely, moral and ethical truths can and are determined without deities.
Accountability is held by reality. All that is needed is your reason.
If there are any contradictions in any theory or philosophy that seeks to answer the big questions than they are ultimately flawed because there are no contradictions in reality.

 

I lack the data to formulate a meaningful response.

However.

I am quite certain, by evidence of a long life recklessly lived, that The Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.... is ...

Puppies. Very important. There have to be puppies.
And small children.
Giggles are mandatory.
Chocolate, seriously ...
Good cheese.
Chewy bread.
Red wine, but the sweeter, deserty stuff. Dry wine is just stupid.
Hugs, from friends, offspring, lovers, old folks, puppies ...
Passionate kisses!
A warm bed on a dark and stormy night.
Snuggle Bunny. This one has multiple definitions. Get your mind out of the gutter! Or put it right back in there, either is suitable at different stages of life.
If you are gonna' dance, dance like Snoopy, or get outta' town!
Breathe Deep The Gathering Gloom ... after all, that's what it's there for.

And remember what Lady GaGa said ... "Social media is the toilet of the internet"..

Smart lady, good body, darn good piano player ....

Betcha' she hugs puppies at every opportunity!

How about you?

 

Hardly. If anyone can declare morality to be whatever they think.. that is, if we are in a godless universe, and there is no moral lawgiver, then AMORALITY is all there is. You pick the platitudes you like, from the smorgasbord of choices, and everyone else does the same. Those are not 'moral absolutes! ', but everything is relative. Morality is a human construct, to manipulate people.

Assuming any reasoning is 'ultimately flawed', for trying to arrive at a logical conclusion, regardless philosophical questions, is flawed itself. Is Truth unknowable? By everyone?

If there is an objective reality, even if some are ignorant or confused, the reality is still there, and it is completely rational, and highly likely, that some may have stumbled upon this Truth, over the millennia that humans have groped about this planet.

I agree that SEEMING conflicts, due to incomplete information, or misperceptions, might appear to 'contradict' a philosophical theory. But that would not invalidate the theory. There are other possibilities.

Why... would these 'things' be the ultimate answer to life?

How can inanimate, material objects be the answer to abstract concepts regarding the soul, eternity, God, and an afterlife?

Are not these things but mere distractions?

Now, i am a huge fan of the simple pleasures of life. But in a dark mood of existential angst, puppies do not come to mind. These are temporal amusements, that only distract us from the quest for meaning.

If there is no meaning, and this is a godless universe, then why not? Chocolate and puppies can be tasty distractions in a cold, hard, meaningless existence.

But.. IF.. there is a God, and He created us for some purpose, this question gnaws at our souls, and material things are of no value .

 

what purpose could an all-knowing god have? he could not learn anything from his creations

but then again the bible says he missed up the first time and had to drown every living creature but a boat load and try again, so maybe God is not all knowing then

 

I don't know what purpose the omnipotent, omnipresent, almighty Creator of the universe would have, or did have, for this creation. Perhaps that is something for us to discover, in our journey through infinite space and time.

 

a book claims the answer is 42, so it must be true

 

Morality and ethics are based in reality. God is the human construct that skews the concepts of ethics and morality. In fact, any form of mysticism goes against human nature to use reason as his sole means of survival. Not to say that any atheist has the answer. There is plenty of mysticism to go around. Have a 5 minute chat with any liberal atheist and you’ll quickly find out his god is the State, commune, or collective. Hence the contradictions, relativism and subjectivism.
Every vice and virtue can be ethically tied to rational objective acceptance of reality.
Reality and truth are NOT subjective. The ability of humans to cognitively choose to place consciousness ahead of existence does make this choice correct. Obviously one can choose not to accept the real world- but that has no bearing on reality. So in other words, the magical god filled world people choose to invent only seems to piss them off when they are proved differently.