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Okay, since the last one kind of got out of hand (and I probably didn't help matters much), I'll make an attempt at it myself. Before we start, a few rules:

1) Everyone is entitled to their opinion, just as everyone else is entitled to think how stupid said opinion is. Keep it civil; PM someone if you have a personal beef about what someone else has said.

2) In here, you do not make statements as if they were fact. You back these statements up with proof, whether it is statistics, an article, etc.

3) Some topics will get heavy. In fact, I'm going to start with a heavy topic. With this in mind, if you don't want to discuss a particular topic, don't feel obligated to. It is of no concern.

4) Do stay on topic in here.

With that in mind, lets go to topic #1...

Firstly, in response to you, since you wanted to see how I would respond to you in the previous thread, but it was locked, I say thus:

My response to Angel was not to what he thought, not his opinion, but the way he widely disrespected other's beliefs by calling them ignorant. He picked pretty much the shittiest way to say the things he said, and then said them. I have relatively no qualms about that thread, nor anything you said in particular, otherwise. So my No. Just no. had very little to do with his opinion and much more to do with the shitty way he presented his opinion.

As for your topic, I must think on this.

-How do you perceive the value of life? What is a good life and what is a life wasted?
Interesting, I never really considered this. I suppose the value of life is really relative, isn't it? My definition of a good life is probably quite different from yours. Society in general tries to put some form of perspective on what is "good life" compared to a "wasted life", but that's like telling someone Coca-Cola is extremely bitter when they think it's extremely sweet; it's all opinionated and how you view it. My view, personally, comes from being content with life. If you wake up in the morning and you think "Hey, I'm doing alright. Sure, things aren't perfect, but they're getting there," or something along those lines, then I'd say you're living a good life. You might be in debt, have a shitty love life, or not work the best job, but you've got something keeping you going.

As for a wasted life? That's a lot harder to say.

-In what way should people live their lives to the fullest?
However they see fit. If living life to the fullest is playing video games all day for someone, then have at it. Personally, I've been living life to the fullest by surrounding myself with good company to help forget about my troubles.

-Does society often times overvalue life?
... Lemme come back to this one later.

Such a difficult opening question... I will say that while it makes sense to say that we as individuals have a sole purpose on this world, it is also not fact, and therefore our value on this planet, yet alone in an infinite universe, is probably more lenient towards being completely microscopic. There are 7 billion of us on one planet, in one galaxy out of an estimated 500 BILLION. I think to believe we play a significant role in the universe is simply the ego needing to be stroked, but thats the beauty of it all. No matter what we do, the universe will still exist and life will still be occuring in so many different areas of it.

As for what is a good life? I agree with Shanahan, completely relative. I will say that being selfless, though sometimes punishing, is subtly rewarding and in a perfect world, everyone does something for the good of morality and his fellow man. A life wasted doesn't exist. Even killers, rapists, elitists, etc. Karma (in my opinion) always bites them where the sun doesn't shine and it is our duty as attempted model citizens to avoid taking such paths.

Don't waste your time putting up with ideas or people you don't want to put up with. Spend your life answering what ifs rather than asking them.

Not at all. Just look at the media, dude. Video games, movies, music, news programs, television. Death is almost occurring in every single one of these things, yet these all serve as entertainment. I repeat. Death is being served for entertainment purposes. Say I'm over-exaggerating, but just let that sentence sink in for a moment.

We do. Accepting death is a part of growing up, and there are people who don't and that's where you develop a road block of developing enlightenment. Is violence entertaining? Yes, it is. We're partaking in it right now, on Gaia and watching it on TV. Are we entertained by death? I think it would be more apt to say that we're fascinated by it, not so much entertained. I think why we see death so much in the news and such is because good news is boring. We want to see bad things happen to other people so that we can distance ourselves from our own problems and focus on the suffering of an outside party to draw the "at least I'm not this guy" comparison. You know, instead of engaging in introspective thought to improve our individual human conditions.

Not to mention our obsession with youth, health, drugs for prolonging life, and the such. We try and find new diets to stay thin and young, we discriminate fat people, we're finding new drugs to cure everything instead of changing eating habits and alternative life-styles,

Defense - 10%
Health/Medical - 25%
Schools - 10%
Jobs & Income - 40%
Food & Agriculture - 15%

I probably missed a whole bunch of everything

Cut the DOD Budget down to a 1/6 of what it is currently. Which last year it was around $682,478,000,000, leaving it around 110Billion. So leaves around 572+ Billion. I'd take about half of that and pump it into the National Infrastructure, leaving some 236+ Billion. Take that money and throw it at Public Education, Public Health, and wait for it... "IN-SOURCING".

That's right, ******** Reagonomics! Out-sourcing has been the leading factor in the downfall of American Economics. With that I'll go on record and say Reagon was the worst president we've ever had.

Monsanto is evil! Trying to own food with their genetically modified crap and such! What a bunch of pricks!