It seems that most people agree you only live one time... I do not know if this is true or not. However, if we look at life in this way (one and done) then it is easy to say that nothing matters. I see where this comes from. So This outlook seems rather bleak...I'm basically screwed in the end so "let's just enjoy the time we have".

I too enjoy the time I have. I'm just surprised nobody has said anything about reincarnation. It seems most of the ideas here are compatible with reincarnation and it gives you the "why should I live/lead a good life" aspect. There is a lot of research to back up past lives and that the soul exists after death. It is a very old idea that pops up a lot throughout history.

Look at how many religions include reincarnation in thier ideology. Reincarnation was initially accepted by the Christian faith until it became the state religion of Rome. It is also pointed out that an underground of mystical movements such as the Gnostics, Cathars, Sufis, and Kabbalists have always accepted reincarnation as a core spiritual belief.

Look at Socrates' very convincing arguments for the immortality of the soul. The one that originally got me was in the Phaedo when socrates is on his death bed . Do you people really not believe in the soul? Read some other books, do some research. I recently read "many lives many masters" by brian weiss and I recommend it for anyone with an open mind. It made a lot of sense to me.

Maybe the life you're living is just one plane of the many that every soul must live and learn on. There are certain lessons you have to learn here on earth. You have to keep coming back till you do whatever you need to do. This theory could help explain child phenoms, people that can speak foreign languages with no training, and many people that can recall past lives under hypnosis. Sometimes you carry things from a past life to your current one.You have to keep coming back until you learn what you have to learn. The goal is to become god-like through knowledge. The unexamined life is not worth living. Even if you don't believe in these things you still owe it to yourself to learn about everything you can. These are all just thoughts to get you started. Do some research. I feel like I'm writing a book.

A question I've been thinking about lately...(maybe someone can help me out)... If you apply this reincarnation model or whatever to life with the idea of evolution. Did souls always exist, even in the earliest humans or even prehumans? Does this mean apes and such have souls? Or was it over the course of history people discovered this soul? Surely it can't be that at some point everyone just got a new soul. Where did they come from, when did it all start? This is all assuming you believe in one soul, many bodies mind you.