This changed my outlook on life.

Perhaps, but if life has no purpose as you seem to think, then what the hell would be wrong with deluding myself into happiness?

I am saying that life has no objective purpose, people still have their own subjective ones, including myself.

If we are in a sinking ship someone who truly believes that a rescue boat will save us when we need it most may not do their part to bail the water out of the hull. I think humanity would be best served by dealing with problems with the idea that there is no rescue coming. By having the most realistic perception of the world possible we are then able to address issues in the most direct way possible because we are dealing with objectivity and practicality.

As for happiness, you can find another purpose. I am still very much human and so I value things which have no objective value in the universe. I value health, knowledge, peacefulness, exploration and compassion so I pursue those in my personal life and try to bring them about in the world, at least some of the time.

I enjoy movies, I enjoy flowers, music, snowboarding, playing guitar, hockey, learning new things and seeing practical benefits from my actions. The root cause of my enjoyment (biochemical reactions) doesn't make it any less enjoyable, the feeling is still the same.

Whether you're human because of a god or human because of natural processes, it doesn't really matter. You are still human, you will still feel emotions, you will still feel joy, sadness, indifference, pride, shame, hopeful and hopeless.

It would honestly seem stupid to NOT convince yourself otherwise if the alternative is accepting infinite nothingness.

There isn't infinite nothingness, there is a universe filled with diverse things, almost all of which we've never experienced or will experience. There is plenty more to life than believing in a god. I accept that I will die and that I cannot change that but that doesn't mean I cannot enjoy things while I am alive.

I don't think it is stupid, I think that society would benefit from a more realistic view of things. Of all the people I know who abandoned their faiths, none have lost purpose in life, if anything they're a little more pragmatic in how they deal with things.

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