A new philosophical model on the meaning of life

A new philosophical model on the meaning of life

Life is like a chess board

I have always considered myself agnostic (i.e one who believes god or any level of comparable cosmic intelligence leading to intelligent design is unknowable), but after reading the first couple of pages of the book 'The God Delusion' by famous British scientist (and one of my heroes) Richard Dawkins, I discovered that the current state of belief I have is better to be called atheistic. 

In his book, Professor Dawkins presents a scale, to measure the degree of theism or atheism affecting your psychology. Neatly designed and simple to follow, it is basically a 7 point scale, which assigns the following points: 

1 => Perfect theist (I KNOW, that God does exist! 100%)

2 => Typical theist (I can't prove it, but I strongly believe God does exist)

3 => Agnostic, leaning towards theism (I don't know it fully, but I believe God may possibly exist)

4 => Perfectly agnostic, 50-50 (God is unknowable, that's all!)

5 => Agnostic, leaning towards atheism (Although I don't get it fully, God possibly doesn't exist)

6 => Typical atheist (I can't disprove God, but I'm sure he doesn't exist. Sure!)

7 => Perfect atheist (I KNOW that God doesn't exist.)

So, while I had the wrong impression that I was agnostic, this new and simplified system reformed my self-analysis and turned me into the typical atheist that I was already. 

So, if any intelligent being can't possibly exist and there certainly is no life after death, how may we find joy and happiness, and more importantly, a satisfactory meaning of life? The answer is simple, as per my system of beliefs. I've crafted what I call 'The Chess Model' or 'The Battlefield Model' of life. 

Seriously, you should use your own mind,
rather than blindly following the
ramblings of those around you.
Religion is a serious issue,
so we should at least make it as logical
 as possible.

I've already written that I believe in the eternal battle between work and entropy, i.e light and darkness (not correct terms to denote two opposing forces, but it's doable I guess), or order and disorder whatever you like. So, to find a satisfactory meaning of my life, and that I am not just a random guy wandering about, while squandering my life force before I kick the bucket, I devised this elegant system (which I believe would prove to be elegant to any of its followers) to relate the randomness of varying phenomena taking place allover the world. 

To simplify the system, I've applied the model first to the human population. You see, some people are good, some are bad. Not that anyone can be 100% evil or 100% righteous, but at any limited period of time, we might see that some guys are just slaughtering innocents, while a few actually risk their own lives to help others. 

In my system of assumptions (mind you, I'm a scientist. So, I fully know that all these systems, even the ones I'm presenting here, are not scientifically accurate, and thus not the reality. These are simply models of reality, a sort of pseudo-reality, to make the complexity and hopelessness all around seem a little bit easier to handle. My 'God', Light, also falls under the same category), the entire world is like a battlefield, or a chessboard. One one side stands the army of white, under the banner of light, and opposing them stands the army of chaos, under the banner of darkness. Each of us are actually pieces in one side. If you, for example, kick a dog lying peacefully in front on your house without any viable reason to do so, you're adoring evil. Thus you get to reserve your place on the side of darkness. One the other hand, if you help an old lady get across the street, expecting nothing in return other than self-satisfaction of being good, you're worshipping light. 

The wondrous light, dispeller of darkness

Every action that you perform is a reflection of your inner self, and thus you get elevated more and more on one side. All the burglers, murderers and rapists form the side of darkness, and all of us who would want to battle evil in the name of justice stand in the opposite side. 

So, this entire model of religion is pretty much simple. But conclusions that can be drawn from it are elegant in simplicity and value. Consider a few:

Light is science, and science is light,
for both of them repel darkness and falsehood

• Evil is connected, but so is good. So, to follow the path of righteousness, do whatever seems morally correct. Battle entropy, battle injustice, because you're not alone. Evil guys have allies, but so do you. Maybe you're too scattered at the moment, but wait a while, and you will most certainly see allies coming to your aid. See, at times a white pawn (solder, for those who are not familiar with chess) might get trapped in a lonely corner of the board, cut off from its allies and surrounded by enemies (the pieces of black) in all directions. This is similar to the situation of hopelessness when we find ourselves surrounded by enemies in all directions, with no hope or help seen on any side. Many people commit suicide then, and more attempt to do so. But suicide is just illogical. Hang on, just hang on a little and call for help, and the forces of light will come to your rescue! 
• Evil is interconnected. So, suppose the black knight kills the white bishop, but in the next turn the white rook might slash the black knight, punishing the sin. This helps to relate two different phenomena. Firstly, say a guy bashed you for no reason, insulted or attacked you, anything. So, revenge may seem to be a cool idea, but the actual thing to be targetted is justice. Suppose A insults you, and you don't get to teach A a good lesson for that. But this 'revenge' might be completed by B, a totally unrelated person, who in turn attacks A for nothing. So, don't lose hope if you can't fight your enemy now, because someone else might do it in future. Secondly, if you see injustice anywhere, you must try to protest, no matter if you're being harmed or not. This is a battle, and you are an important piece in it. 
• Sometimes, it is a good idea to perform a 'golden retreat'. You see, when we encounter a mass of enemy units on the board, we often perform a retreat, to return to fight another day. Same thing applies to life as well. When you see that your enemy is advantaged, the followers of evil are well-organized, don't feel ashamed retreating. If you leave, you'll live. And if you live, you'll be rewarded with the opportunity to fight another day. 
• Don't attack the enemy stronghold directly, instead exploit any weakness in the design of enemy's battle plan. The enemy may be well-organized, but with time their defence may crumble. So, don't lose hope if you're facing the so-called 'misfortune' today, just have faith and return after a while. 
• Abandon pride and jealousy, for the greater good. If white pawns start fighting between themselves, the blacks will try to get better of the situation. Always remember that unity is strength. Ally yourself with your friends who you think are righteous and noble, and together build a formidable alliance. Help each other in times of need, and thus you can overcome all your problems. 
• "You're not alone", remember that. You are not unimportant either, because every single pawn has its value in chess. Every single unit serves a purpose in the grand design, and thus whatever you have, wherever you are, you are not unimportant, no matter whatever others tell you. Like Dawkins, I would not declare this 'grand design' to be an act of god, but it's simply the destiny of mankind. Together, we the entire human race, have defeated many enemies, ranging from malaria to human sacrifices. The light of science, the glorious light of wisdom shines brightly as ever, and victory will be ours!

Hail to the Aryan Light! May we be victorious against disorder, everywhere.