what is the meaning of life?

Answer 1

Meaning is something that attaches to words and symbols, perhaps even to actions. That meaning is then conveyed from one mind to another. For example, if I use this word: "dog", it conveys the idea from my mind to yours about a particular type of animal. I have a picture of my dog in mind, then I write these letters: "dog", which you read, and then, hopefully, a similar picture arises in your mind. Those pictures in our minds are the meaning that was communicated.

I can also convey meaning with actions. If I hold my arms out and lean towards you, it means something, an invitation to an embrace. When you see that action you understand something of what I mean. Meaning was conveyed from my mind to yours through an action.

It's also possible to devote one's life to some activity, as Mahatma Gadhi had done, and to use those activities, performed over and over, spanning many years, to convey an idea in his mind, "nonviolence" and "self-determination", to hundreds of millions of people. He succeeded and it resulted in India's independence. In this case, he used his life activities to convey a meaning to others.

Another possibility is that some creator is communicating meaning to us, the created, by the fact of having created us and the world around us. However, this idea is too complicated for me. If I look at examples of life: the bacteria infecting my hand, a flower, an old man, there is no common meaning that arises in my mind. Furthermore, I'm unaware of any mind that might be using that bacteria, flower, and old man, to convey meaning to me. I'm not making any effort to ask that communicator to repeat and clarify the message.

So I say that the question, "What is the meaning of life", is unanswerable.

Answer 2

80% of humanity, the religious folks, don't need to ask the meaning of life, the church tells them....the supernatural explanation. But the rest of us can't swallow religious dogma, because there's no evidence. Nobody can prove that there life after death, that people are tortured or rewarded after life or that there's invisible spirits running around.

I've come to two conclusions recently:

1. Life has no meaning
2. Life has a million meanings.

First, there's a certainty that death and annihilation awaits not only you, but the Earth in general. It's an astonomical certainty that our sun will supernova and leave the earth a burnt crisp, not to mention all the other extinction level events around the corner.

Second, the million things that give us meaning are the pleasurable experiences we can conjure up during the short period we are here on the earth, in the form of the relationships we have with our kids and other people, and the 'housekeeping' types of purposes. What i mean by that are the curing disease, ending hunger, improving literacy, reducing crime, preventing war, helping other kinds of things.

Answer 3

What is the meaning of life? This almost inclines one to substitute the term "purpose".... which could be answered.

I really do not understand what is being sought by this question? If a simple inquiry as to what one thinks, or believes, or supposes, then it is seeking a subjective guess as to what God had in mind when he created the Creation.... although the term "purpose" would more precisely solicit this answer.

I suppose my answer would be, it depends upon what one "thinks" life means. This is, I believe another instance where a term like that of "why" is relatively easy for a Left-hemisphere dominant individual to answer, but quite difficult for those who have access to the causal reality within the MIND to answer... because the term "why" calls for a response from the brain, specifically, and "reason" calls for a response from the MIND.

Likewise, the term "meaning" calls for an intellectual brain-level response, while "purpose" calls for the causal behind what is otherwise obvious to the brain and physical senses, or conjecture. I had only run into one word like this prior to now.
That word was "why". Now I know of two words that are vibrational realm specific.

Answer 4

There is no meaning as such, Humans are a genetic fluke like all other creatures and life forms, thus we exist without purpose or meaning . We have evolved to be intelligent and recourse full and will continue to look for answers that are not there . Each individual has there own outlook and goals in life but in the end we all want to be loved so in conclusion i would say LOVE is the only answer and people should just be happy with that and there life's will become much fuller and richer.

Answer 5

stop saying 42, you stupid google searching idiots. Or did you happen to see it hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. anyways google is recording your personal ip and every search you personally make through it. They can give all this information on you to the gov. until 2038 i believe. I heard similar of yahoo...yes I guess thats pretty hypocritical wutever.

Anyways, what makes you so sure there was a meaning behind the existence of life? Do you believe that the world is 100% logical as aristotle did?

asking what is the meaning of life is already assuming there was a meaning when you NEVER(Nor Did ANY Man) knew the meaning in the first place. Doesn't really make sense to come up with such an imaginitive question.

Who Really Knows?

Answer 6

Life is defined as a series of experiences. In Sanskrit it is known as 'Anubhava Dhara'. An experience is the contact between 'You' and the 'world. When both constituents are bettered the result is happy experiences, happy life. Today the 'world' has been improved but not the individual 'you'. Hence with all progress and advancement there is more stress and sorrow everywhere.

You fulfil your purpose in life when you discover absolute happiness, perfect bliss. This is achieved by refining yourself - develop purer emotions and clearer thinking, until all desires are eradicated. What remains is your essential Self, the abode of absolute happiness.

Answer 7

Life is that what occurs when the physical characteristics are animated in such a way that the natural functions common to other like physical units are operable in shared existential qualities towards the ends of their intended purpose.

Life is also a brand name of breakfast cereal and a board game produced by Milton Bradley.

Or do you mean, what is it that gives life meaning?

Uh......I'll have to get back with you on that one.

I think it has something to do with relationships and the surrender of selfish aims for the benefit of others.

Close enough eh?

Answer 8

The meaning of life is to find your own meaning.

Answer 9

You can't give this question an answer that will please everyone because it simply depends on every single individual that finds a personal purpose that gives life meaning or others simply can't find their liefs purpose and are in perpetually search.I believe that life is to shallow and it may seem meaningless for the ones that can't perceive it's greater meaning, a meaning beyond ordinary existence, a pure, perfect life, a perfection impossible to reach in the world we live in know

Answer 10

Life don't hav a meaning in itself, but u can give a meaning to life by the way u live it.