2006-09-04 11:29:36 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
http://www.answers.com/meaning%20of%20life
"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.
2006-09-04 14:09:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have had to learn to live with the fact that I was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.....which has certainy presented me with a number of challenges over the years. Having said that, I think my daily life now is far better than it was prior to having major surgery when I was 18....and even in my childhood, I am sure that things *could* have been worse, given that I was born with these conditions....and I don't like to complain about it.
2016-03-26 22:09:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the meaning of life is to find happiness while you are hear and not worry about how unfair others are. And remember it can always be worse.
2006-09-04 11:35:18 · answer #3 · answered by thesweetestthings24 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't overlook it, but take note of it. When you die, report it to the authorities. Let them know that life is not fair, and they need to do something about it.
2006-09-04 11:34:14 · answer #4 · answered by breauxbridge 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think anyone really knows the meaning of life.
2006-09-04 11:38:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
nope, . . .
The meaning of life, is to find a place where you can have fulfillment and satisfaction, to be better than you were, to live well and happily, and to do no wrongs to your peers.
Despite adversity.
2006-09-04 11:35:32 · answer #6 · answered by somber_pieces 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow, Ivan. That is deep. I always thought it was to ignore ignorance and pretend it didn't matter.
2006-09-04 11:32:31 · answer #7 · answered by Isis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
something like that
2006-09-06 16:21:16 · answer #8 · answered by BeachBum 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
and have fun while you're at it too ;)
2006-09-04 11:34:34 · answer #9 · answered by hypocondriac#1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋