The meaning of life

Every person exists in a universe that doesn't care about anyone's death. When I die it won't matter to the universe and I will eventually be forgotten. So in this sense my life is meaningless: it means nothing whether or not I die, to the universe at least. BUT within this uncaring universe I exist with other people. I can experience pleasure in my life and I can derive enjoyment from many things including the enhancement, artificial and meaningless as it probably is, of other people's lives. Meaning in life can be defined in these two ways and both are necessary and valid. Life means something in its self-contained, imaginary way. Pleasure, in essence, is the source of happiness in life. We seek a pleasurable existence, from which we derive happiness, from which we derive meaning. Happiness gives meaning to the universally meaningless life of a person.
The reason to live, as the absurdist says according to Mr. McCarthy, is revolt/change. We have this life so we should use it to make life more pleasurable for ourselves and others. In this seeking of pleasure and happiness we derive meaning for OURSELVES. To the universe, I don't mean anything. But my life has meaning in happiness. That happiness is meaning.

If happiness isn't meaning in life then what is? Being God? Getting into heaven? We don't need those constructs or ideals because we can live our lives as happy, existing people. Muersault simply exists and enjoys certain things, yet he describes his life and the things he does as meaningless. He decided to not consider that happiness to be meaningful in this grand sense of the universal meaning. He could just as easily decide to find that happiness meaningful and he wouldn't be imagining this happiness, and it wouldn't be any less meaningful in his life, because he decided to make it meaningful. The two kinds of meaning as I see them here are universal meaning (death and nothingness for every person, but still life) and meaning in personal existence. The latter is a meaning within society that can be as real as one wishes it to be. This makes it false to the universe but the universe does not define anyone's life, as it doesn't care anyway. A self-contained life in which meaning is found to the individual is as meaningful as a life in which we can get into heaven or become part of the universe.

Candide's punishments

Candide killed people in self defense. So he should not be punished. He acted as he knew best, which, at the time, was murder. Er, killing. But hold on. He killed that Jew guy just for being an ashhole (to use Matthew's euphemism) to Cunegonde. so that one, maybe we blame him for. And then he just kind of turned around and slayed the Inquisitor. So that two against Candide. He killed the two monkeys that were lovers of the girls. This was just trying to do the right thing, but still. Love lost because of Candide. SO thats now a few people/monkeys. Candide has been punished by not getting to see Cunegonde. And he keeps killing people until he will get to see her. Is it possible that he is not being allowed to see her because he keeps killing? Like the Inquisitor and his earthquake quick-fix, Candide just might be causing this evil against him to continue. He deserves any punishment levied against him. Candide has barely been punished, really. Considering the awful things that happen to people in this story, Candide is getting off easy. He has all of his limbs, both of his buttocks are intact, he hasn't been violated by anyone, and he still has a woman who inexplicably loves him, despite the whole murderer vibe he has going on. Also Candide ruins lives. No one has really enjoyed their time with Candide and furthermore, most people he meets die somehow. Candide deserves all punishments he gets.

How do we know what we know?

Knowledge is relative to environment. The mind can rationalize and convince itself, in a more conscious way, that one reality is "more real" in a sense. So the knowledge of the physical world around us is only knowable within the confines of that physical world. The mind is a miracle of evolution and every part of it was created for a purpose, to play on the generally accepted Christian doctrine of God's plan. The mind is a wondrous instrument in that it can delude us into thinking that while lying on a park bench we  are in fact laying on a bed of roses inside of a castle in the sky. The mind has shown clear possibilities to create realities that differ fundamentally from the generally accepted reality that most people agree upon. This reality, that shares the same laws of physics and the same mathematics where 2 and 2 is 4, has boundaries of knowledge, but in the inherent quality of boundaries there are inherent truths. A child is instructed to not go into a dark, decrepit house because these humble, albeit downtrodden, abodes have repeatedly shown themselves to be dangerous through the (can we say sacrifices?) experiences of those unlucky people who have had bad times in ramshackle establishments. We know what we know in this physical reality our mind has reasoned out to be true by  experience within that reality. Believing that there is more to reality than simple physics, as it must have been created by something at some point, I think that these realities may simply be homes for energy that has and always will exist. The only thing that can't be destroyed, only transferred from one form to another, as proven through scientific experience, is energy. This energy of life and reality has manifested in our physical world and the experience of that physical world, however much of a proxy for true energy in the universe it may be, is the only existence we have. Our reasoning comes from our minds, which are only reliable for our perceived best interests, and therefore experience must be trusted above all else.

who is the modern gadfly?

Who fills the void left by Socrates? Who asks the hard questions that seek to uncover the truth? Who points out the phonies?
Some would say that filmmakers like Michael Moore do this. The people that go into the situations that Moore goes into and ask the questions that Moore does, must have their work taken with a grain of salt. The bias of these filmmakers and writers in this vein all approach their subjects with a bias that can't be ignored, and really shouldn't because they came at the piece trying to convince people of a problem and how that problem can be solved. Socrates was biased, as all people are, but his method of questioning is imitated with the best work of Michael Moore. In "Bowling for Columbine" he goes after gun-toting America by just asking questions to these people about why they have guns and why they feel they should/deserve/need to have them. Sure there are loaded questions and leading questions that the person answering gets wise to but the person is made more foolish by saying "how dare you ask me that!" in answer to a question that simply shows this person with full mental faculties at his disposal why he is logically wrong. In the best and most calm and collected form, Michael Moore is the modern gadfly.

The Unexamined "Life"

That which is not understood can not be perceived as reality. Our reason is the only tool that separates the realm of reality from the illusory realm of the senses. Our ideas are what make our lives worth living and examination of thought is the only way to develop such ideas. Life can very well be worth living in the material sense of life. If you are in a good situation and have enough resources to sustain you and your family in healthy and pleasurable life, then this life is worthwhile within itself. But if the liver of this life of comfort and security does not understand why his or her life is meaningful to himself or herself then this person is living an illusion they can not see through. They are both the magician and the rabbit being pulled out of the magician's hat, but see only the point of view of the confounded audience. They create the illusion, become immersed in it like the rabbit is integral to the magician's trick, and somehow fail to see the true explanation of the "magic." Because the purpose of a magic show is to keep the audience guessing and for the audience to want to guess and try their best to understand. The search for understanding and truth is the examination of life itself and only if you ask questions of the universe and the magician who orchestrates this trick will worth be found in the living of life.

Eulogy

Sadly we are gathered on this web page to remember Peter Casey. His death was unexpected and unfortunate. He was a teenager on his way to becoming a man and with many prospects for life after high school. He was a football player who would have played in college had he been around for those years of his life.
His early years were spent enamored with comic books, Batman, and the like. Superheroes were his favorite characters. He drew comic books and until around the age of 8 this was his calling. He would be an artist! But sadly his creativity and artistic talent stagnated after this period.
A new activity took over Peter's life and this was the game of football. He started playing flag football and eventually played tackle and was always the biggest player on the field. His father being six feet and seven inches tall Peter was always going to be tall. His love for the game was apparent immediately and his passion kept him moving up the levels of competition and succeeding at every level into high school.
In high school Peter remained close to his grade school friends who, for the most part, went to Northside for high school. Friendship and staying close to those that knew him best was always very important to Peter. Life got harder in high school with more responsibilities, but being a good friend and staying close to his best friends was always a constant in his life.
In high school Peter decided that while football, and basketball as well, were great and would hopefully continue into college, they were not viable career options. Uncertainty became a new source of confusion and anxiety for Peter. Freshman year, as we are told we need to start thinking about college, Peter was unclear on his future. More and more through the year he enjoyed writing and his American Lit. class. The writing journal in that was the tool that helped Peter discover what he thought he might possibly be good at one day and that was writing.
Who knows what he would've become? He might've formed into what he was meant to be by the time of his passing. But the people he knew and the people that knew him, know that he was a good guy who was committed to being a friend and a rock for those people. Consistency and reliability to others were the principles of Peter's personality. He will be missed.

Peter Casey