Human Mind

[Cyan]

To everyone saying that the purpose of life is enjoying/eating/doing the things you like and profit before you die:
I understand that some people think it's the purpose of life to profit being alive.
In my point of view, this answer is not the "purpose of life", it's more your "purpose in life" but not the life's purpose itself.

I answered based on the state of life itself (is your presence on earth a purpose or just a coincidence?).

I think everyone will agree that their purpose in life is to make choices based on what they like. (unless they are slaves/vegetables and can't decides by themselves).

 

[stinkoman]

2. The observation that science still has not explained what existed before the Big Bang and what caused the Big Bang.

There are ideas about both of those things.

1) There isn't one.
2) A church with a band. Seriously what the fuck.
3) Pretty well.
4) B.

 

[Zetta_x]

Thanks again everyone for the replies; I'll explain more about the questions and why I asked them.

A few weeks ago, one of my closest friends said something and I was so mind boggled that I had no idea how he got to that conclusion. A couple days ago, I remembered what he said and it haunted me all that night, because I couldn't figure out the thought process. What haunted me more was the fact I spent so much time trying to think of one reason why he would say it. I finally came to the conclusion that this guy makes generalizations based on one sample size, while he is brilliant, he certainly was rather impulsive for his conclusions. Not to mention, the one sample size he took, he misinterpreted what had happened and was completely thrown out of bounds.

So at 2:00AM after losing so much sleep thinking about this, I realized there is a lot more mindsets I didn't understand hence the three questions:

1) Your idea on life sets an overall mood of your current mindset
2) This question is more to confirm part 1. Since you would think something unusual is an opinion, it may be dependent on how you view life. These two questions are distinct in a way so they are not the same question
3) The third question was meant to leave you questioning. As humans, we may have a relative bound on how much we know our minds (maybe compared to other people) but we have no grasp on how much we actually know ourselves.

These three questions triangulate on the qualities of the human mind I am unfamiliar with and would like to know.

The reason why I need a large sample of posts is: to have as many unique posts as possible and to get a feel on the average person. Imagine it as a picture. In this picture there is a circle inscribed into a rectangle. While what's in the circle may be the majority of the picture, I still need the corners. The circle represents the average and the corners represent the extremist.

What is nice about GBAtemp forums is that my friends on facebook were more hesitant to spill out personal thoughts while there is more of an anonymous feeling on GBAtemp. However, I truly believed that age is a highly influenced factor on the questions so I threw that in as #4

 

[koimayeul]

Even though it's done

1. Taking side between Good and Evil overall behavior (altruist/selfish, respectful/violent, reasonable/rebel etc) .. Manicheism at its core though with all the needed nuances. Why, in order to be worthy of God's blessing or facing destruction at the end of time. Fervent Christian here.

2. Ill intent. The will to hurt/use people for personal benefits (greed, lust, etc) without a mere care for their feelings and whereabouts. I hate it with a passion. Zero tolerance for this!

3. Between well and very well. Learning throughout my lifetime as best and honest as humanly possible.

4. D (32)

 

[Cyan]

I don't think the age is directly a factor, but more the past experiences.
The more you experiences things in life, the better you know how you react to things (you know yourself better and better), the more you may change your point of view by seeing different angle of a same event.
So, yes, the age is important, but age without past experience is not enough to compare the responses.

Two same aged persons could have opposite views, while one could have the same as a younger one.


For example, I could think that I know myself pretty well (psychologically), but I rarely went into society before.
Now I'm working with a lot of people, and I "discovered" a side of myself (emotionally) that I didn't know.
I kind of evolved in my own personal knowledge (I think there's a better word to describe that).

Some people change their priority in life with time, others don't.
one can believe in religion and one day find it stupid, or the contrary, or change religion (Hinduism and karma see life's purpose differently than Christianity or Islam, just few example of totally different point of view).


The idea of the rectangle+circle is maybe good to visualize the answers, but it would be hard to decide where each answers are placed.
It's your own interpretation too.

 

[gut5]

I don't think the age is directly a factor, but more the past experiences.
The more you experiences things in life, the better you know how you react to things (you know yourself better and better), the more you may change your point of view by seeing different angle of a same event.
So, yes, the age is important, but age without past experience is not enough to compare the responses.

Two same aged persons could have opposite views, while one could have the same as a younger one.


For example, I could think that I know myself pretty well (psychologically), but I rarely went into society before.
Now I'm working with a lot of people, and I "discovered" a side of myself (emotionally) that I didn't know.
I kind of evolved in my own personal knowledge (I think there's a better word to describe that).

Some people change their priority in life with time, others don't.
one can believe in religion and one day find it stupid, or the contrary, or change religion (Hinduism and karma see life's purpose differently than Christianity or Islam, just few example of totally different point of view).


The idea of the rectangle+circle is maybe good to visualize the answers, but it would be hard to decide where each answers are placed.
It's your own interpretation too.

^this guy knows what's what

 

[Cyan]

I don't think I know everything nor better than others, I'm just open minded.
I try to see things with a distance and make my own idea of things. (might be totally wrong )

 

[Terenigma]

1) To learn about yourself and what you like/dislike so that when you die, you can be sent to the most personality appropriate afterlife party.
2) To see people pick on and hurt their friends because they cant deal with the people who actually hurt them.
3) I think i know myself well
4) C

 

[Skelletonike]

1) What do you think is the purpose of life and why?
People need to find themselves, find love and learn to love themselves, I see the purpose of life as learning and growing up, becoming whatever you want to be and living a life with no regrets and no "What if..." 's


2) What is the most unusual observation in life you have seen and why was it unusual to you?
Well, dunno how to answer to this, there's lots of unusual things that I've seen, some good and some bad, although I could say that seeing someone that fell from a 12th floor once and landed on their feet, well, their legs pretty much became jelly, with the bones all shattered in their legs (well, I assume the bones were shattered from the way that the person's legs looked).


3) How well do you think you know yourself?
I know myself pretty well, I know that I'm a sadist, that I'm selfish, that I'm proud, lazy, etc... I know my faults and I also know my good qualities, however one never trully understands themselves so they should always look for themselves within their hearts. =3


4) Age group:
b) 16-21

 

[Costello]

The reason why I need a large sample of posts is: to have as many unique posts as possible and to get a feel on the average person. Imagine it as a picture. In this picture there is a circle inscribed into a rectangle. While what's in the circle may be the majority of the picture, I still need the corners. The circle represents the average and the corners represent the extremist.

seeing as we are all by nature unique, I would consider it limited, if not dangerous, to attempt to get a grasp of what the 'average person' is.
categorizing, classifying, putting people in groups and 'races' we all know what this leads to.
every individual is unique, each in their own ways

 

[Tonitonichopchop]

1) I don't think there's any purpose to life other than living it in the best way you can that fulfills you and ideally will help fulfill others.
2) The most unusual observation I've made in life is people clinging to immortality so tightly through religion or other means they fail to realize how short life is and don't take advantage of it.
3) I think I know myself pretty well, though things about myself change as time goes on so I recognize when I want to change something about myself.
4) B

 

[zerofalcon]

1) What do you think is the purpose of life and why?
Individually depends on every human being and his/her consciousness, some want to reach their own goals while others want to help others to reach their goals. As a living beings we all have a purpose in common.. LIVE AND DIE.

2) What is the most unusual observation in life you have seen and why was it unusual to you?
Nothing. Ironically everything I have seen behaves as natural as it can be: I know that the past, present and future each one behaves different in every person, but there's nothing unusual on it. Yesterday we were sad, today we are happy, tomorrow we dont know. Good and evil, acts as natural as it can be. We struggle between those perceptions, trying to understand if we are living our lifes as it is or as it should be.

3) How well do you think you know yourself?
Its hard to explain, my past, my present and my future will define if I can reach that goal of knowledge about my own being. So far I can tell I'm at a 25%

4) Age group:
d) 29+

 

[Zetta_x]

The reason why I need a large sample of posts is: to have as many unique posts as possible and to get a feel on the average person. Imagine it as a picture. In this picture there is a circle inscribed into a rectangle. While what's in the circle may be the majority of the picture, I still need the corners. The circle represents the average and the corners represent the extremist.

seeing as we are all by nature unique, I would consider it limited, if not dangerous, to attempt to get a grasp of what the 'average person' is.
categorizing, classifying, putting people in groups and 'races' we all know what this leads to.
every individual is unique, each in their own ways

Definitely! Especially on GBAtemp, there is definitely more uniqueness on here than other places. However; I argue it is still possible to find what an average person is taking into consideration that GBAtemp's average may be different than what the average average would be.

 

[Cyan]

Sometime I think that people are only aspiring as finding their other person.
That's something true everywhere on the planet, regardless of the surrounding technology, society, politics, religion, etc.

child -> adult -> finding someone
(and that's true not only for humans)

I think it's the main purpose in life for the majority of people.
They try to not be/stay single for too long.
(Of course there are exceptions, but I said majority)

 

[Nathan Drake]

1) What do you think is the purpose of life and why?

I'm of the belief that any purpose we may come to think of is bogus. We don't need a purpose to be. I certainly don't believe that I have a purpose beyond anything plainly scientific that we can all figure with a little bit of high school biology. Not being religious in the least, I don't feel that I've been granted any purpose by a higher being. I'm simply here to be another human, and to work to the best of my ability to be the greatest that I can be. That's good enough to drive me forward day after day. If I achieve something great, or some form of what I may consider self enlightenment, then that's just a little extra pro on the (hopefully) long road to death.

2) What is the most unusual observation in life you have seen and why was it unusual to you?

Heh, growing up has been plagued with unusual observations. The problem is, the unusual tends to work out to be fairly usual with a little bit of time spent on it. I suppose what I've found the most unusual is how people can blindly believe in anything. How can it never be considered that somebody doing seemingly selfless deeds isn't simply seeking the praise and adoration of others? Anybody that may bring this up is labeled as jealous, and the idea is swept under the rug once more. I can never understand how people manage it ("it" being blindly believing) in any respect. How can you blindly believe that people are inherently good? That people are inherently bad? That religion will save people? That religion is even helpful? That modern politics actually help people? That modern politics are ruinous? I always thought that humans were seekers of logic, but I've seen so many baseless arguments used to support blind beliefs of all kinds that I'm not sure anymore. Perhaps my need for logic has blinded me more so than those I accuse.

3) How well do you think you know yourself?

Pretty damn poorly. I'm only 18. I don't know myself one bit, for the most part. I thought I had myself figured out at 14, yet by 16, I had proven myself almost completely wrong. Now at 18, what I thought I knew of myself at 16 has changed dramatically once again. I can't tell you my limits physically, emotionally, or otherwise. I can relay basic info about myself to a degree, as well as certain mental attributes, but my personality as a whole is still much of an enigma to myself. Of course, I also believe that we never truly know ourselves. We don't observe ourselves as closely as we observe others. I can tell you more about my best friend, their personality, their habits, how they'd react in varying situations, etc., far better than I could give that information about myself. I figure, it's just how we are. Of course, I also figure, if we truly knew ourselves, our limits, our personalities, all that, then we would never screw up. We'd never end up in situations that we wouldn't want to be in, or shouldn't be in. In that respect, even if somebody on their deathbed claimed to know themselves, I'd probably claim bullshit. There's simply too much complexity.

With that said, if I had to place a percentage, a tentative 10%.

4) Age group:

B