Why should we live, if we’re all going to die?

In my post "A plea to consider living" I had talked about my personal decision to check out once my parents pass away. We also talked about how asking a troubled soul to wait, saying it will pass, is like asking someone touching a hot flame to wait, which validates why it okay to want to leave suffering behind but we didnt discuss whether it is the right thing to do or not.

I had proposed a multi layered model which decides what is right and what is wrong in the post "what is right and what is wrong?". Using this model, we use intent as an anchor and weigh that intent against three layers -  Personal benefit, Societal benefit and Virtue benefit.  Please do read the post if you want more details on my thoughts about it.

So using this model to determine whether "self checkout" is right and wrong, we need to consider the intent behind it. The intent in my case is to find peace from life which is both meaningless and suffering.

I personally believe that death - The great nullifier, erases all suffering and grants a peaceful nothingness. 

So this creates a contradiction in the definition I provided for the layer 1 - consequentialism , where I had argued that the nature's way for defining what is right or wrong is by checking whether the action allows the individual to survive, reproduce or provides well being. 

But in this specific scenario, your survival is effecting your well being negatively. So whether its right or wrong is completely upto you as an individual. Saying your biology is right and you need to survive is also right and saying it is more important to find peace is also right. I am not here to judge either.

But this contradiction is also why it is extremely difficult to check out.  The body's biological right to survive will stop you from taking the step you consider is important for your well being. 

The more you decide to rebel against your own body, the more your body is not in your control. Your brain itself works against you, causing you to paralyze with fear and regret until you change your mind,  Your body will work actively against your will by causing asphyxiation, fainting and even bone structures fail your plans.

So yeah, I wouldn't call death an easy way out. It is just an another way out, under your own terms.

But if you do decide to live, which might be the better way as the layer 1 is not eating itself out. You will need a purpose to live to your fullest.

If you have already thought about death, you would have already realized by now that life itself has no meaning, no purpose. But you can fabricate one that fits your life purpose, this is what my parents are to me now. This is why I have decided that I don't want to hurt them more just by my death.

I will do anything and everything in my power to not hurt them with my hands. In my personal life, I have taken up the role of the one who is financially responsible.  I have not been able to take away all their stress, but their attachments guarantees these stress and so my hands are tied. Enabling them wouldn't reduce their stress and would definitely increase mine.  But I do help them how I can in the ways I think is right to make their lives a little better.

In the video by Einzelgänger shared above, they discuss case studies where a Jewish doctor noted that the prisoners who had given up in life, who didnt have a purpose in life often died from sicknesses and other ailments, while the ones who had chosen a purpose for their life survived.

In this modern day and age, where philosophy has taken a back seat in the education system, where people have become machines, attached to their duties, obsessed with what is right and wrong. They have become machines functioning without the fuel to make it worthwhile, the purpose.

The sense of purpose is the very essence of life and it is completely upto you what should that purpose be. For some its music, for an another its family, for a third it might be becoming aware. Sure in the long run none of this matters as the great nullifier always makes these meaningless.  But it is like asking what is the purpose of your computer if it will not work forever.  The answer is it did something now, If you cant invite death early, you need to find a purpose that you can obsess over.

This purpose need to not be god given or life altering or even something that is long lasting. You can throw away your current purpose on a whim and adopt a new one on a fancy. The only requirement is that you need to identify it as your current purpose.

So to answer the question that started this article : Why should we live, if we’re all going to die?
It is completely upto you whether you want to live or die, I am not here to say one is right or wrong. The first layer in my model makes it justifiable to both live and to die. But if you do choose to live, find a purpose so that you don't die unintentionally.