Life is more than who we are?

TiredThinker April 19, 2023 at 18:28 3050 views 11 comments
In the Goo goo dolls song, "Name" it has the lyric, "don't it make you sad to know that life, is more than who we are?" I know the song in general may have other meanings, but regarding that statement alone any thoughts? How would everyone interpret the takeaway of that line?

Comments (11)

invicta April 19, 2023 at 19:01 #801353
It implies a holistic view of life that were bigger then the sum of our parts organismically and sociologically.
Metaphysician Undercover April 20, 2023 at 01:51 #801444
Quoting invicta
organismically


Really?
180 Proof April 20, 2023 at 05:41 #801475
Quoting TiredThinker
"don't it make you sad to know that life, is more than who we are?"

Nah, I ain't no solipsist or narcissist.
TiredThinker April 20, 2023 at 22:32 #801799
I assume it means maybe we invent stuff to be important when maybe our identity is actually all that really matters? But society forces us to work within the confines of priorities that may actually be hollow?
Sir2u April 21, 2023 at 12:27 #801921
It is wrong to take it out of the context of the entirety, something that so many people do nowadays to argue that they are correct about something.
I have never heard the song, or at least have never paid attention to it while hearing, maybe posting the lyrics would make it easier to comment on how the write intended us to interpret the meaning.
180 Proof April 21, 2023 at 12:38 #801925
Reply to TiredThinker Maybe. So what? A truism at most. Read Beckett or Kafka, Chekov or Houellebecq. :smirk:
TiredThinker April 22, 2023 at 15:51 #802344
Reply to 180 Proof Is it really obviously true though?
180 Proof April 22, 2023 at 16:49 #802353
Reply to TiredThinker Unless one is naive, I think so.
TiredThinker April 23, 2023 at 03:11 #802411
Reply to 180 Proof So a person's identity is all that matters? Life isn't about more?
Noble Dust April 23, 2023 at 05:33 #802425
Reply to TiredThinker

Songwriters often write words that scratch an unconscious itch, but they might not even be able to explain what the words mean themselves; speaking from experience. The meanings of good song lyrics are often left open to debate. I wouldn't hang on a song by the Goo Goo Dolls to tell you something deep about life. The song could do that for you, but that more depends on your own experience of life and your experience of the song.
180 Proof April 23, 2023 at 08:07 #802436
Quoting TiredThinker
So a person's identity is all that matters?

A "person's identity" is the precondition of "all that matters" to her.

Life isn't about more?

IMO, "life" isn't "about" anything "more" than living-as-an-end-in-itself (like e.g. health, playing, caring, flourishing, etc).