[enw]

Life is absurd. Why anything exists at all is absurd. So absurd in fact I find it unconvincing that life is nothing but a large deterministic automaton without initial cause. Maybe religions are a coping mechanism for deluded people, but I hope they point to some deeper truths that we may never fully grasp.

In any case, pain and other conscious beings are as real as it gets, so no matter how brief one lifetime is, you can have a real impact by making it better for those around you.

[CamperBob2]

Exactly. Until proven otherwise, the only sane assumption is that this is all one big joke.

[hirvi74]

What you wrote reminded me of one of my favorite quotes:

"The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves."

- Alan Watts