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What Matters?

This one is from an in-class assignment, so bear with me on all the questions and wanderings.

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What Matters?
BBC

In order to look at what matters, we must first go back to our beginning, with the intention that we will begin to reach an end.

God must be the beginning of all things, therefore he must “matter” in some sense of the word. He created us, caused us, so we must give that matter. In this sense, what is it about God that matters?

In this case, it must be truth because the only absolute truth is that of our beginning, but also our end. Yet to what end do we explore the realms of truth? Must we explore the nature of God to understand truth? Surely, we explore a tangible physical world, yet it is not a physical realm that we understand.

Second, we must ignore the fact that all of this talk is pointless. This would render any argument made about anything, also pointless, not adhering to the nature of this discussion.

With this in mind, we have come to know that we exist, so there must be a reason for our existence. Knowing this reason constitutes purpose, and the purpose of our lives must be the “why we explore what matters.” In order to find purpose in our beginning we must explore the ends of our nature; to make sense of our beginning.

To make sense of this, who needs to know of this type of knowledge? Ignorant fools? Wise “truth” seekers? Are there any other types of people? How do we define these types of humans? Assuming we are talking about people here, animals can’t read. Regardless, it must be for everyone. The problem with this is: who is going to read this thing if I'm just a college student?

Problems with the subject “what matters” include: 1. measurement of the mattering (in other words, can something matter too much or too little?), 2. can this thought be further explained by the lack of something mattering at all? 3. What DOESN’T matter? 4. Who decides what does and doesn’t, that is, if there is a distinction between the two — God, truth, us, others?5. Must something be living in order for it to matter? 6. Where does education fit into this mix?7. Does education matter, or does it merely provide a step-stool into a better view of the unknown, making us more aware of what we don’t know?

I usually don't ask this many questions in a class assignment, for most of the time we are trying to answer questions, not ask more. Though I've found that the simplest of questions – those of few words that aim to discuss the very basics of human nature – are the hardest to answer because of their infinite offspring of questions that need to be answered in order to understand the original.

As humans, we have the incredible ability to ask questions, unlike any other beings in the universe. But most of the time they aren't answered. For some reason, though, due to our inquisitive nature, we just keep asking.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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