2006-08-20 17:54:34 · 24 answers · asked by Jesse S 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives. Some people believe that the meaning of life is one or more of the following:
Survival and temporal success
* ...to accumulate wealth and increase social status
* ...to compete or co-operate with others
* ...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
* ...to die having succeeded in your purpose
* ...to live
* ...to protect one's family
* ...to gain and exercise power
* ...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
* ...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction
* ...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
* ...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
* ...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension)
Wisdom and knowledge
* ...to be without question, or to keep asking questions
* ...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
* ...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
* ...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
* ...to try to discover and understand the meaning of life
* ...to expand one's perception of the world
Ethical
* ...to express compassion
* ...to live in peace with each other, and in harmony with our natural environment (see utopia)
* ...to give and receive love
* ...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
* ...to serve others, or do good deeds
* ...to work for justice and democracy
Religious, spiritual and esoteric
* ...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment and atonement
* ...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
* ...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
* ...to become God, or God-like
* ...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. God)
* ...to follow the "Golden Rule"
* ...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
* ...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
* ...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
* ...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God
Other
* ...to advance natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
* ...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future human
* ...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
* ...to die, or become a martyr
* ...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
* ...to live, and enjoy the passage of time
* ...to have fun
* ...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
* ...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny
* ...to relate, connect, or achieve unity with others
* ...to seek and find beauty
* ...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
* ...to participate in the chain events which has led from the creation of the universe until its possible end (either freely chosen or determined, this is a subject widely debated amongst philosophers)
* ...still some do not even think there is any purpose whatsoever (see nihilism)
* ...(This is actually an extension of the point immediately above) There is no inherent meaning to life, existence, the universe, etc. They exist because they can. However, humans appear to inately give meaning, usually many, often conflicting, to what they are conscious of. So, to each individual, the "meaning of life" is whatever they decide it is. In that sense, every point above is potentially valid.
2006-08-22 14:05:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are given but one chance in this life, One pathway to walk, one destiny to fulfill What you do with that depends on what you make of it.
You can view life one of two ways, either you will enjoy it, or you will be miserable trying.
Don't dwell on what is in the past, on the "could have beens" in your life. Instead, seize the moment, and make every moment count.
Learn by your mistakes, for it is in learning that you discover the true meaning of existing.
Don't live your life with hatred and revenge for in the long run, all you ever really hurt, is yourself.
When you stare in the mirror, know the person who looks back at you.
Dont hide your heart from those you love for a heart not allowed to love eventually breaks from the loneliness inside.
When it is all said and done, and the final hour arrives the greatest thing that you can say is that you have lived your life, and that it has all been worthwhile.
It all comes down to one thing, this moment, right now...in the present the past is gone, the future, so unsure make every moment count!
2006-08-20 18:04:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's one of those good questions where you can't find a good answer.
I used to think we as an existence was a wonderful accident.
But then I began to believe that we are really here for a purpose, but a lot of what we used to be was lost in time, and we forgot.
To begin, I think all of the religions in the world hold clues to the truth, and we have to piece them together to find one true answer, and not tear it apart, or the people with it.
Religions have been corrupted, full of mythology and metaphors. I think there might not be a meaning to life but, rather, a purpose to life: To see how humans can survive.
2006-08-20 18:07:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I hope your old enough to laugh at the Monty Python and "42" answers. Monty Python made a movie with this title. Obviously a great movie. The 42 comes from Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe. If you know this then you already know the meaning of life - to enjoy it to the fullest. Help if you can. Be involved if you can. Laugh if you can. Find a path for yourself that you are comfortable in/doing.
Family is a large part of it. Preparing for the next generation, making life better for the people to come.
Big world shattering situations are rare, but the local communities always need help for the future. Help if you can.
2006-08-20 18:24:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The meaning of life is not fixed, like the answer to a riddle. It's for you to decide, and then to re-decide. This is the realm of the relative, so there are no "ultimate truths". It's for you to decide as you see it or feel it.
You do have a propensity toward seeing life from a unique perspective. That's why we are all unique individuals. To see life from a unique perspective, and to give us all a particular experience, or types of experiences, in this world. And from that, you have a purpose, so to speak. Not a purpose to the world, but a purpose in creating meaning from your unique perspective and experience in this world. The purpose of your life is for the fulfillment of your soul. What is means is for you to decide.
2006-08-20 19:31:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i had to do an essay on that same topic back in high school and all the research i did there was no definite answer to describe the word life.
i also interviewed a few people and i came to the conclusion that life means different things to different people.
2006-08-24 05:58:12 · answer #6 · answered by katz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The meaning of life is what you make of it. Only you can decided where your life will take you and what you will make of it.
Also "The Meaning of Life" is a funny Monty Python movie.
2006-08-21 00:02:50 · answer #7 · answered by Stephen 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
everybody is born of women and walks through this life in a test of faith! Faith in God or the devil! If you say you don't believe in either, you have fallen for the deception and there fore on the devils side and don't know it yet! You can find the meaning of life and the detailed plan of the spiritual world in the christian bible. start in John and read till the end and that should answer all your questions
2006-08-20 18:53:16 · answer #8 · answered by bungyow 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is no meaning of life, you can't find or magically discover it. Like Tme and Future, it does not exist by itself. You must give or assign a meaning to your existance. Corporations have Mission Statements. It i ultimately what you want out of life.
2006-08-20 19:10:33 · answer #9 · answered by _ 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think there is a meaning to life. We all end up dying, anyhow.
Well maybe the meaning of life, is death.
2006-08-20 18:29:32 · answer #10 · answered by Xefek 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the meaning of life lays deep within you. everyone has a different view. find whom you really are and the answers will follow you. not as cut and dry as you may like.
2006-08-20 23:20:52 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋