The meaning of life

[Moeboid]

Is this allowed? Can't be bothered reading for forum rules... Lock if necessary.

I used to answer the question by saying that we can give our lives whatever meaning we like. I would then state the kind of meaning I'd given my own life. I don't think there's anything particularly harmful about answering the question that way, so I don't have much against it, but I've come to believe that it's just an inoffensive way of saying that there simply isn't one.

Another way I've considered answering the question is in evolutionary terms, in which case the meaning or purpose of life would simply be to reproduce as much as possible and try to best maximise the reproductive potential of our offspring. The problem with that would be that in our current world, many would find sch a goal rather unsatisfying and a case could even be made for it being somewhat harmful in various ways... Anyway, drifting slightly off topic.

I recently watched a video where Richard Dawkins proposed that it's just a stupid question, and after giving it a bit of thought, I've become convinced that "a stupid question" is exactly what it is. I can't find the video that I saw, but here's one where he says basically the same thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSZ_fsG5 ... re=related. To put it on my own words, I'm here because my mother and father decided (I hope :p) to have a child. We as a species are here as a result of the long slow process of evolution by natural selection. That's all there is to it, and searching for the meaning of our own lives makes no more sense than searching for the meaning of a mountain (same example that Dawkins used).

I imagine some people might be frightened by this, and a long time ago I think it used to frighten me to some extent, but now I find it rather comforting. I can do whatever I like with my life and as long as I don't get in anyone's way it's quite hard for anyone to have any objections to it. That really is something that I find very comforting. The only way for it not to be is if someone didn't trust themselves to be able to figure out what to do on their own. My advise for such people would be this: Not only are you capable of it, but you're already doing it almost all the time.

Thoughts?

[Avron the S'wit]

Is this allowed? Can't be bothered reading for forum rules... Lock if necessary.

I should lock this thread just for comments like that...but I won't, because it is allowed. (As long as everyone stays respectful.)

It's an intriguing question that humans seek to answer, and I have to say...there may not be an answer. Or rather, there are answers, depending on how you choose to answer it. You can answer it from a psychological, religious, and altruistic view point, which would be to say that the meaning of life is to live positively, help your neighbors, and do good deeds in hopes of making the world a better place (and perhaps making yourself some headway in an afterlife, or raking in good karma). Evolutionarily and biologically, like you said, we are here to pass our genes onto the next generation. Or you can answer it from a view point that leans more scientifically, and say that we are here because the universe aligned and gave us the right conditions in this one time out of lord knows how many and that's all it means. (The Drake equation, anyone?)

But I don't think the answer is what's important: I think it is the journey and the destination, personally, for yourself. What do you want to do with your life? Why do you think you are here? We're not all great; we're not all going to do great things. Most of us are going to die and barely be remembered, and give us a few billion years and we're all going to die anyway and no one will remember us, given that the universe is destined to die - and how do you escape that?

Like Kurt Vonnegut says, "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God." Perhaps it's just about the dance.

[Dark Lord Cam]

I say:

The meaning of Life is to give Life meaning.

[Mattbott]

there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers

hard to say anything specific here as the thread is about 'everything' and would need to be focussed a bit to get any opinions beyond an "everything is valid" sort of approach, but

i do think that morality is a major part of how/why humans evolved to the dominant position on the planet and part of our morality has been a reward/punishment system (you might call it religion now) based on being 'good' for fear of going to hell, so in this regard imo Dawkins is wrong concerning the validity of a asking the question or belief in a religious system cos if humans didnt ask themselves about the meaning of life in a practical and meaningful way, we would still be squabbling in caves

put another way, conscience is very relevant here , did it evolve in us because people who helped each other succeeded over those who didn't, or did god leave conscience in us as a reminder of his true path and will? here beliefs and opinions divide but in both we as a race have engaged in the question of meaning of life

[The Loner]

I say:

The meaning of Life is to give Life meaning.

Adding to that, I think the meaning of life is to make the life you have meaning full The point of existing is to make something of your existence.

[The Patriot]

The meaning of life is to find it.

[The-Shadow-One]

to enjoy it untill it ends! so basically i'm going on a rampage if i could hell with the consequences

[Moeboid]

You can answer it from a psychological, religious, and altruistic view point

Just out of curiosity, how would you answer it from a psychological viewpoint? I'm pretty sure I know what you mean, but I'd rather be certain. Besides, it's interesting.

About the altruistic viewpoint: Some would certainly see the meaning of life as something along those lines but they would have no authority to assert that that's what it is for others. In that sense, it's on a different level to the religious viewpoint in that some (all?) religions define their god(s) as having the authority to assert the meaning of life. The evolutionary viewpoint also kind of just asserts that the meaning of life is to reproduce, but it's very nearly justified in doing so in that all living creatures have by necessity evolved primarily for that purpose. Compared to those two, I would say that the altruistic viewpoint is on another level.

there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers

I guess it depends on how you define "stupid", but I think that a question like, "What does maths sound like?" it the kind of question that deserves only to be called stupid. I wouldn't put the question of the meaning of life on the same level as that, but I do still see it as silly. It seems you are a religious person (christian, I assume?) so to you I guess it's not a stupid question as it's a question for which the answer is of considerable consequence. I however don't believe in any god, so to me it is most certainly just a stupid question.

[AKB]

there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers

I guess it depends on how you define "stupid", but I think that a question like, "What does maths sound like?" it the kind of question that deserves only to be called stupid. I wouldn't put the question of the meaning of life on the same level as that, but I do still see it as silly. It seems you are a religious person (christian, I assume?) so to you I guess it's not a stupid question as it's a question for which the answer is of considerable consequence. I however don't believe in any god, so to me it is most certainly just a stupid question.

It should be entirely possible to express mathematics musically, therefore maths would sound like something. Therefore, it's not stupid.

[Veck]

I've given this plenty of thought in the past. In the end, I've decided that it's either something I'll spend my whole life contemplating instead of living, or good ol' reproduction.

[AddictedtoMorrowind]

Spoiler:

42.

I don't think there is a meaning of life. I think we are all supposed to find it.

[Lindai]

If you believe that life is a fluke i.e you don't believe in some god, then it follows that life would have no meaning as it was not intentional and things that are unintentional do not have any intended meaning or purpose. If you believe in some god, then the meaning of life is to serve that god and achieve immortality and the meaning(purpose) of immortality is to just enjoy it(probably,I don't know, I'm not immortal).

I thought about this hard one day when I was inebriated and it made perfect sense.

[Velothi]

The meaning of life is an odd little thing, if you ever wanted to give it meaning.

Let's presuppose (since the meaning becomes invalid if we do not) that we have a purpose besides existing and repopulating.

That purpose is entirely subjective to the person, as a Fascist might say the stronger individuals must take power, a capitalist might say profit is necessary for life, a religious man might say Life's purpose is to be with god.

And so on and so forth.

Ultimately rendering it useless for a general consensus, until people have come to a collective agreement or some opinions are discarded away.

That's just pre-supposing we "have" a purpose. Ultimately, we give our life meaning in numerous ways. I help the masses, educate them and organize them against oppression. Others do various other things, though one may say the "helping" part may be our purpose.

But consider this, lets say we all have a single destiny or purpose predetermined by an unknown being or force and we finally figure this out. We'll get disappointed for we each have our own individual ideas (or hell, if we come to an agreement a collective idea) of what this purpose is.

Why don't animals have this purpose? Why doesn't the bacteria or atoms have this purpose? The "purpose" or meaning of life is usually given as a de facto object for humans.

Which is redundant, as we are not all life is. Ergo, Life's meaning is the meaning of every living thing from Earth to the end of the Universe.

One may say, life's meaning is to expand. To grow, and not damage itself. Prosper, per say.

[JJKG]

I`ve never understood why it`s so important to people to put a meaning to their existence. For me, we simply exist, so we might as well have fun while it lasts. This idea is kinda scary, but it`s what makes sense to me.

[Moeboid]

there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers

I guess it depends on how you define "stupid", but I think that a question like, "What does maths sound like?" it the kind of question that deserves only to be called stupid. I wouldn't put the question of the meaning of life on the same level as that, but I do still see it as silly. It seems you are a religious person (christian, I assume?) so to you I guess it's not a stupid question as it's a question for which the answer is of considerable consequence. I however don't believe in any god, so to me it is most certainly just a stupid question.

It should be entirely possible to express mathematics musically, therefore maths would sound like something. Therefore, it's not stupid.

I should've known someone would throw something like that at me. You could also, for example, shove a microphone in a maths classroom, record a computer's cooling fan, or say your times tables out loud. They're all also somewhat legitimate answers. The problem with all of them is that in each case we've had to interpret the question poetically; we've come up with four audible things that are not literally maths, but are associated with maths. I agree that something like rhythm resembles maths, but that doesn't mean that if you look up maths in the dictionary, you'll see something about time signatures. Hell, there's even a genre of music called math rock. Perhaps I should've been more specific: It's a stupid question if you mean it literally.

[Luvitus]

I say:

The meaning of Life is to give Life meaning.

You didn't happen to get that from Ayreon, did you?

[Dark Lord Cam]

I say:

The meaning of Life is to give Life meaning.

You didn't happen to get that from Ayreon, did you?

It's my own belief, but I did hear it on their songs once. It was cool

[Luvitus]

It was on "Unnatural Selection" I do believe

[Dark Lord Cam]

It was on "Unnatural Selection" I do believe

You are correct, I believe. It's far from an unpopular concept. The meaning of life has been talked about by people ever since the first guy looked at a baby and went, "where did that come from?"

[POMC S117]

Most of us are going to die and barely be remembered, and give us a few billion years and we're all going to die anyway and no one will remember us, given that the universe is destined to die - and how do you escape that?

Well, if there's a Big Crunch then I wouldn't say that the Universe would die. It would be like a Phoenix. They "die" - some people interpret the word rebirth as resurrection - but are reborn through the ashes. That's what I imagine the Big Crunch and the resultant Big Bang to be like. Also, what's more likely? Big Crunch, Death Freeze(?) or the Big Rip?

Anyway, I think that the meaning of life is to survive. Just to survive. To be born and thrive.

[Avron the S'wit]

You can answer it from a psychological, religious, and altruistic view point

Just out of curiosity, how would you answer it from a psychological viewpoint? I'm pretty sure I know what you mean, but I'd rather be certain. Besides, it's interesting.

Well, any creature whose brain gets to a certain level of cognitive sentience - which humans have - starts to seek ways to justify why they are here and what their purpose is. Our brain is unique because it has the ability to grasp concepts that are abstract, which sets us apart from other creatures. (Things like right and wrong, love and hate, freedom, and so forth.) That is sort of where I was going.

However, what I rather meant is that I personally believe that religion is a psychological development; it aids our craving to give ourselves purpose beyond evolutionary and biological demands. It's a great testament to how amazing our brains are, if you ask me.

Most of us are going to die and barely be remembered, and give us a few billion years and we're all going to die anyway and no one will remember us, given that the universe is destined to die - and how do you escape that?

Well, if there's a Big Crunch then I wouldn't say that the Universe would die.

Let me rephrase: you and all the other humans are going to die - the universe that gave life to us will die. It may indeed begin again and perhaps another form of intelligent life shall crawl from the soups of nothingness, but no such luck for us and our ancestors, I'm afraid.

[leroybrown]

I imagine in less than a few billion years we would have developed the technology to sustain humans on other planets. There are too many humans on this planet as it is.

Peoples answers about the meaning of life are interesting, because their answers reveal a bit about themselves. What do I think it is? I'm not sure there is one, so I don't know. I just do my thing, pay my bills, and try to be a good person.

[Moeboid]

What do I think it is? I'm not sure there is one, so I don't know. I just do my thing, pay my bills, and try to be a good person.

Isn't it crazy that what you said there seems to be the general consensus. We spend so much time thinking about it, and in the end we conclude that all we should be doing is what we're already doing.

[leroybrown]

What do I think it is? I'm not sure there is one, so I don't know. I just do my thing, pay my bills, and try to be a good person.

Isn't it crazy that what you said there seems to be the general consensus. We spend so much time thinking about it, and in the end we conclude that all we should be doing is what we're already doing.

It is kinda funny, yeah.

For me, I was raised in an extremely religious household. I was 'confirmed' in my religion which means I had to stand in front of the congregation and be asked questions about the faith. At the time it was like a rite of passage.

Eventually I started to question my faith. The reasons why are somewhat personal, it's not that I don't want to talk about it, more so that it's off topic from the thread. This started in my early 20's.

This snowballed and led into where I am today. I am in a mindset of "I don't know," and that's ok. I am very comfortable with that, because that is truth at it's core. When true reality reveals itself, it won't be distorted by pre-set beliefs. (I think this also made me a better person now, than I was then. However, this may also be attributed to maturation.)

[Generalno1]

Having certainty about stuff like this is impossible. I feel it's it's best to not focus too much on it, and just live.