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42 Philosophical Questions To Grapple With

Because life is bigger than what is presented to us at face value...

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42 Philosophical Questions To Grapple With
St. Lawrence University

Ever since I began sharing my writings publicly, I have been thinking how to make an article that encompassed all the “big questions” I have, those profound and philosophical questions about life that I am constantly left to ponder.

These questions, though, become so muddled in the brain that they are hard to think about and talk about, let alone write about. I am fascinated with philosophy and am always pushing myself to make some sort of great, deep, and far-reaching realization of truth. Through my frustrations, I have found that this is not the answer, and the only faithful answer we have to getting closer to the truth, is to continuously ask questions.

To those with a forever questioning and ravenous mind, merely questioning aspects of our life and universe that extend beyond us as people is essential to achieving that greater cognitive awareness, and developing your most fulfilled and morally aligned sense of self. Here are some of the big questions that keep me wondering about something greater; questions I implore you all to consider, if you haven’t already, because life is bigger than what is presented to us at face value:

  1. Is there intelligent life beyond earth?
  2. Is the universe vast and ever-expansive, or finite?
  3. Why are we, specifically, inhabiting this earth?
  4. Is there a greater meaning to life?
  5. Can everything be explained by science?
  6. Do we have free will, or do we live in a sort of "simulation"?
  7. How skewed are our worldly perceptions?
  8. Does this world exist outside of our consciousness?
  9. Is there one correct/wholly pure moral code?
  10. Is there a calculated, most optimal solution to every problem?
  11. Is there a limit to human knowledge?
  12. Why is there something rather than nothing?
  13. If energy is not created or destroyed, what happens to the "energy" of a person after death?
  14. Are we blocked from mental freedom because of how society immediately molds our perceptions?
  15. Are we missing major aspects of the world around us due to an inability to detect it?
  16. Are we able to preserve our identities through unconscious influencers?
  17. Is there an unseen and overarching influence in our universe? If so, is it a foreign entity or do we as humans contribute to its existence?
  18. Was our universe created to achieve a greater goal?
  19. Is time a social construct or something that exists without humans?
  20. Does anything continue to exist without the ability to perceive it?
  21. Are human beings merely clusters of cells functioning like machines?
  22. Is there a greater influence, besides environmental, for evolution/extinction?
  23. Are our time/resources finite?
  24. Is there a multiverse, where quasi-infinite universes exist within various fields of time?
  25. Can one transcend the physical reality in which we live and reach separate dimensions? If so, would this transcendence only be mental, or physical as well?
  26. Why do some reach self actualization and others don’t?
  27. Is our future predetermined?
  28. Is there a limit to technological innovation? Will we reach an era of post-industrialism?
  29. Is it possible to act without selfish motive?
  30. How does something come from nothing?
  31. Will humans ever be able to comprehend the incomprehensible, like the concepts of nothing and forever?
  32. Is it possible to experience/interpret objectively?
  33. Does forever exist, or is there a definitive end?
  34. Do our primal instincts govern our human nature?
  35. Is perception the one defining factor between what is and what isn’t? Are facts merely temporary reality as we progress towards the truth?
  36. Why do more possibilities exist in theory that can actually be achieved?
  37. Does dark matter exist, and if so, what implications does it have?
  38. What is true of ethics: a universal code of morals or cultural relativism?
  39. Could artificial intelligence ever become self-aware?
  40. Is quantum mechanics a limitless concept?
  41. Is spatio-temporal coordinates the only thing that differentiates one another from birth? Does this imply that it is possible that me or you would have never come into being?
  42. Is there a true dichotomy of religion vs. science, or is it a combination of both?
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