2024_1104_1313

The podcast panel discusses the purpose of human life. Different beliefs and backgrounds influence individual perspectives. Religion, family, and personal experiences shape one's understanding of life's purpose. While there are common moral values, each person's purpose may vary. Actions in this life can impact both the present and the afterlife. Some focus on serving others and making a difference, while others prioritize personal growth and happiness. Personal beliefs evolve over time, influenced by new experiences and perspectives. Hello and welcome to Thomas' podcast, Food for Thought. I'm Mr Beg and I'm going to be the host and I have a really great panel of guests with us today. So could you start us off and introduce yourselves? Hi, I'm Annalise from 8BE. Hi, my name's Cleo and I'm from 8BW. I'm Jude Salty and I'm from 8BS. My name's Xenia and I'm from 8BE. And today we're going to talk about what is the purpose of human life? I believe the purpose of human life is to serve, to do something with your life, to live, to look after this planet, to take opportunities and to make something out of what you have been given and these are resources. It's the purpose of life, human life. I think that your first life, what human life is like a trial before you go to heaven or hell and you need to be a good person, help the world and yeah, before their judgement comes and you either go to heaven or hell. You've got to make the most of it. I agree with Annalise but I also think it depends what religion you're from. So if you're Catholic, your purpose of life might be totally different to someone who's Muslim or Hindu. I also think that human life is about sustaining what we already have and making it better for the next generation. Yeah, so I'm Muslim so I believe that when you die, there is a creator and there is a God and there is someone who follows what you do. I mean, a lot of Atheist people don't believe that and see, that means that they probably don't think that there's an afterlife either, meaning that your life is just your life and that can mean that you'd want to do something different with your life compared to someone who's Muslim or Catholic or Protestant or whatever. But I think even if you are Atheist, it still doesn't mean that you don't take care of your life or the world. I mean, I can't believe for everyone but it probably means that even though you don't believe in an afterlife, you probably want to make the most of it, whatever. Yeah, of course, but if you're an Atheist, you're probably not going to... you're going to think about the rest of your... like, you'll just probably live life differently. You probably won't have it in the back of your mind. Exactly. You won't always be thinking about whether you're being good enough for God and I guess you're not always thinking about religion and you still probably have to be like a good person and you'd still probably be a good person if... like anyone can be a good or bad person, but you wouldn't have it in the back of your mind if you're an Atheist. Yeah. Anything else to add to that? Okay, so just to add on to that, so I'll cut this out, but do you think we all have the same practice then? No, I think it depends what background you're from, maybe your parents, where you're from, what religion you are. I think it's all like... it all comes from your background. I don't... sorry, I have to disagree there. I don't think it's necessarily where you're from, what religion you are, what you believe in. That doesn't always affect what you do with your life and what, you know, obviously there's going to be influences from your parents, from your family, from the surroundings, from the culture, but it doesn't necessarily mean you have to sort of stick to that. Yeah, I agree with Annalise, because just because you were born in like Iraq and you're Muslim, it doesn't mean that you can't, when you're older, decide that that's not who you want to be and that you can change and that whoever you want to be and whatever you want to do is what you can do. I agree with that, but what I'm trying to say is that everyone has a different purpose because of what other people who surround them have made them feel and how they've made them think or what a lot of people from their family do. Yeah, that's true. A lot of people follow their family's religion or their family's traditions and things and that's a good thing sometimes. And yeah, it could mean that you believe that there's a different purpose in life for you or for someone else, but that means that if you wanted to change, would your purpose in life change if you wanted to like not be Christian anymore? No, not really, because what are your human morals? What are you want as a person? I think they're across most people pretty much the same. So even if it's a different way of viewing it or a different way of practicing it, the morals are probably the same, you know, be nice, be kind. Be Thomases. Exactly, be kind Thomases. And yeah, I think it's obviously different, but on the same basis the same. Yeah, I guess the fundamentals are probably the same. Everyone agrees that. Well, most people agree that you should be good and you should be kind and giving and caring, but there are some things that might change in your beliefs if you swap religion. Yeah, I think like because every religion has like a different moral of life, so I agree with you. I think, yeah, because obviously if you're a Christian, I don't really know about other religions, but if you're a Christian, it's to be like a steward for the world and look after it. It's probably the same across other religions. I know that I think for Buddhists it's like be kind to all animals because they believe in reincarnation. Yeah, and I think that I think that your beliefs might change according to your morals. Let's say you're born in a background of Muslims and then you don't feel like that fits your feelings or what you believe, then I think you change according to how you see life differently from other people. But also over the course of your lifetime because when you're younger, your horizons are not necessarily broadened as such. You don't know everything. You kind of just have one opinion about something, but as you get older, your opinions change. You get new points of view. Yeah, I think like all religions do have like that moral surrounding be kind, respect everyone and those main morals, but I think that there are also smaller little ones which makes everyone's human purpose a bit different. So, I think it does depend on religion. Everyone has a different belief and like Anneliese said, when one's a child, you have one belief like broccoli is bad. It's bad, but like when you grow up, it changes. I think also like not necessarily even religion, it's not always on religion. I think for the first humans, obviously, I don't really know what they thought, but I could presume that it would be sort of, you know, survive. It's not really I'm going to waste this life and just like sit in a cave and just do nothing. I'm going to go out. I'm going to go hunting. I'm going to go find food. That's a natural human instinct because I'm hungry, but yeah, like all animals, but like if you think about it, a lot of people are thinking about what their actions and what they're doing for how that's going to affect whatever happens after you die and a lot of people think, well, what's the point of being on the planet if after you die, you go to some eternal place and some people think that you just get reincarnated after you die and so doesn't mean people don't know, but a lot of people are always thinking about it and even though some people don't believe that, they still keep the same ideas maybe about what kind of a person you should be to someone from like a different group. Yeah, but there's also some motive. There's a natural motive to do something. Obviously, there are a lot of religious people and a lot of atheists as well. For atheists it's probably just, you know, I'm going to do something because it's just a waste of time. I'm sitting here and I'm not doing anything with my life. That's not what anybody wants to do really. It's not normal, I guess. It's not normal, but not not normal. It's like it's not brought after. Exactly. People don't do that. I think it also depends on how religious you are. So if you're more religious, if you're more like, for example, Christians, more likely to follow what the Bible represents and when you're a bit less Christian, you are a bit more free. Yeah, like a lot of religions, like Vina said, if you're more strict to following some religions, you're like, no, no, you can't marry someone from this place or this religion and you need to marry someone from here or that like that. And some people, but if you're not as religious, if you're not as strictly religious, then you might think about it in a different way and you might not really mind where the person you're marrying is from. Earlier to what Jude said, he said, you think that a lot of the time people think about what their actions will reflect on their afterlife. I think a lot of the time it also, or personally, I think it will help affect me like I think a lot of the time it also, or personally, I think it will help affect me like in this life, not in my eternal life, because right now I'm young, so a lot of things can change. Your actions always affect your future life. Yeah, not only your future life, but the life that you're in. So like if you do something bad, it's not just going to affect you in your afterlife, but it will affect you in this life. I think for a lot of people, it's sort of in stages, you know, the first 10 years of your life, it's all about learning, and then the second, it's about having fun, second and third, it's all about having fun, and then sort of third to fifth, you're working, having a job, and then from that point on, you're like, you're reflecting, I guess, you're enjoying your life. Those relationships that you made when you were younger is going to, you want to build good relationships. If you were, it's going to affect, if I had a bad relationship and I was mean to other people, that's going to affect my future life. You always sort of have to be thinking ahead, one step ahead, is this, is me saying this, even though I'm really, really angry right now, is this me saying this going to affect, you have to think about rebounds of that. Yeah, and I think, like somebody said, that the first three stages are just kind of learning, and then having fun, and then the fourth, fifth, are kind of more learning that you have to take responsibility, if you have a family, providing for the family, and then the seventh and sixth stage, that it's more kind of like, yeah, but what Annalise and Theo said, I think the older you get, the more mature you get, and your ideas on things broaden, so you don't have only one point of view, but it becomes all a bit more, makes all a bit more sense, and it's all a bit more, yeah, I do agree with that, but I do like to play devil's advocate with that as well, I think, I was having dinner with someone, this is really irrelevant, but they said, I know a really mature 14 year old, and a really immature 20 year old, so age is sort of a, it's a way of referring to most commonly when it is, but somebody was earlier, later, yeah, but someone who's older, I think is a bit more mature, like also, because it depends on also what they can do, like someone in their 80s or 90s will be, not be able to, like someone in their 20s, run the whole marathon, so I think it all depends on what you, yeah, yeah, like they're more, there's more thought that the older you get, the more wiser and more mature that you get, and your understanding of the world gets better, but when, that doesn't necessarily mean that when, that a lot of 14 year olds, like you said, can be a lot more mature and think a lot more than a 20 year old, but you need to think about, like, what circumstances both those people would grow up in, like if a 14 year old grew up in a quite strict, tight house, and where he learned a lot about being a good kid, who, his parents, who doesn't do anything really bad, yeah, maybe he wouldn't be more mature than a 20 year old who would, who grew up in a household with parents who didn't really pay any attention to him, and where he was kind of free to do whatever he want, and as a kid, kids make a lot of mistakes, and when you're a child, you can't really tell what a mistake, and then you carry bad habits to when you're older, and when, if your parents aren't there to help you correct, or people, adults aren't there to help you reflect on those bad habits, and try to get rid of them, then it's quite hard to get rid of them when you're older. Yeah, I agree, but also, I think, I don't know about you, but sometimes, this, the wisest stage that you are at, is when you are younger, and you're learning, because it's fresh in your brain, I think. Yeah, I agree, because you have, like, a more open mind, than when you're, because, and the knowledge is new. Yeah, because you might not necessarily understand, like, everything that you're thinking about, or everything that people think about, and when you're older, you might have, like, 40, 30, 30, 40, 20, even, you might have more fixated ideas on things, like, okay, yeah, like, what you like, and, or, which, yeah, so you have more fixated, a more fixated mind on things, like, for example, like, in the election coming up, like, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, maybe if you're a kid, because you didn't really have a fixated mind on anything, you would think more about oh, that's a good argument, and that's a good point, whereas if you already decided, because you're older, you probably decided where you stand, you'd probably, even though it might be a good argument, you'd probably think no, no, no, no, no, that's not right. So, you still do need to have an open mind when you're older. I think more when you're younger, it's, like, my opinion, that's what I think, like, I'm not gonna, because this person's promising something better for me. You don't really think about, you need to be, when you're older, you do need to have your opinion, you need to be good with this opinion, you need to be good with this decision making, but you need to remember to have an open mind, consider all the factors of a campaign and argument. Yes, definitely, but, like, I'm just saying that a lot of older people will have a more closed and fixated mind on where they stand on a subject, compared to a child who doesn't know much about the subject, and will probably listen to the argument of both sides. Yeah, I think for a child, the only opinion that matters is his or hers, but whereas when you're older, you think of things more in a broader way, what makes sense for everyone, what benefits everyone, and not just what you think. So, that's been a really good discussion. I just want to end with one question I want to answer all. So, what kind of impact do you hope to make on the world? Um, I believe, obviously, I want to take care of the planet, but I just want to make everyone around me happy, because, happy, because, you know, it's all about motivation and the good spirit, I guess. Morale. Yeah, I want to be able to, like, help people who can't afford not as nice things, and people who are stuck in some really bad situations, to get out of them, so they can start, like, a new life, and try and be the best they can, and, yeah. Yeah, I think it also depends what career you want to leave, so it's different for everyone, everyone's different, um, what footprint they would like to leave behind, it depends on, like, what career you'd like to do, but I think overall, everyone's is the same, to be, like, kind, to care for others, to make sure you're just kind. Yeah, I think, I think, me personally, I'd like to leave the people, you know, they're in the next generation, in a place where they not were in a world that's collapsing in pollution, or environmental problems, but a world where, where I think that they can be happy, and find solutions, and, of course, everybody wants a perfect world with no problems, but I think the problems are the things that make us learn. Yeah, you always learn from your mistakes. So, yeah, that's been great. Thank you so much for that.