what is the meaning of life?
2006-09-18 21:19:11 · 38 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Sociology
The question "what is the meaning of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.
Popular beliefs
"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?" Here are some of the many potential answers to this perplexing question:
Survival and temporal success
* ...to accumulate wealth and increase social status
* ...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 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 gain and exercise power
* ...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
* ...to live
* ...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction
* ...to protect one's family
* ...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny
* ...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 expand one's perception of the world
* ...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 understand creation
Ethical
* ...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
* ...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
* ...to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land
* ...to become like God, or God-like
* ...to be rewarded for your deeds
* ...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. God)
* ...to express compassion
* ...to follow the "Golden Rule"
* ...to give and receive love
* ...to live in a way that you don't harm yourself and don't harm your environment
* ...to work for justice and freedom
Religious and spiritual
* ...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
* ...to die and become a martyr
* ...to live in peace with each other, and in harmony with our natural environment (see utopia)
* ...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
* ...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
* ...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
* ...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
* ...to serve others, or do good deeds
* ...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment and atonement
* ...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
* ...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God
* ...to disprove the existence of a or all all gods
Other
* ...to achieve self-actualisation
* ...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
* ...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 participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
* ...to make the conformists' lives miserable (see non-conformism)
* ...to participate in the chain of 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)
* ...to relate, connect, or achieve unity with others
* ...to resolve all problems that one faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach oneself from all problems faced (see Buddhism)
* ...to seek and find beauty
* ...as there is no intrinsic meaning to life, to each individual, the "meaning of life" is whatever he/she decides it is. In that sense, every point above is potentially valid.
* ...an answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?" is that it is just simply being able to ask the question, "What is the meaning of life?" (see Sri Sri Ravi Shankar below)
* ...a combination of any of the above.
No purpose, and therefore...
* ...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
* ...just a series of events
* ...just nature taking its course
* ...the wheel of time keeps on turning
* ...the cycle of life
* ...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
* ...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever (see nihilism)
* ...who cares?
2006-09-19 00:58:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a matter of practical fact, the meaning of life is to have children and propagate life.
I would add, however, that bringing up children as well as you can in the most loving and secure family environment that you can is both the biggest challenge I know and the most wonderfully rewarding experience. Therefore, I think the search for a bigger meaning is a bit of a waste of time.
I don't need a bigger meaning than my lovely family.
2006-09-18 21:35:24 · answer #2 · answered by Robin 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
At a basic / biological level, the meaning of life is to live or to survive. But it doesn’t stop there. At a higher level, every living organism also participates in ensuring the long term survival of its community or society, its species, and its environment. Beyond that, every living organism also participates in evolution - giving rise to new species, and new types of communities and societies, that are more capable of surviving. So, ultimately, life is about the long term survival and proliferation of this chain reaction, called life, that started with the first living organism and continues until today.
Apart from this meaning of life at the physical level, there is also the non-physical level. On this level, life is about “reflection”, or discovering the meaning of life itself, the nature of the universe, and the relationship between the two. As evolution leads to more and more intelligent species as well as more evolved societies of species, they are more and more capable of reflection, and this process will also continue until some living organism or some society of living organisms in the future finds the true and complete meaning of life, the universe, and everything.
2006-09-22 06:21:36 · answer #3 · answered by Vin 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Live life with meaning.
2016-03-20 09:31:35 · answer #4 · answered by Edison 1 · 5⤊ 0⤋
If you tell me what does the word "meaning" means than i will tell you what is the meaning of life. Language was created by humanity, but life was and always will be no matter human beings will be alive or not. Life is something that can't be explained in words, that we use, 'cos life is universal but our language, words are not. How do we know that we're not trying to tell a story using numbers in spite of words, when we're trying to explain the meaning of life in words.
2006-09-18 23:02:50 · answer #5 · answered by chuncho_ts 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The meaning of life is to question to meaning of life.
2006-09-19 00:45:19 · answer #6 · answered by Sarah G 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The meaning of life is to experience life in a physical body.
It is to learn, from each and every hardship and privilege we experience.
It is to live.
It is to experience love and all love encompasses, and by doing these things to grow spiritually.
We, as human beings, hold an extra responsibility, we have a freedom of choice, the meaning of life is also to experience this.
2006-09-18 21:35:28 · answer #7 · answered by Jane B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Purpose of life gives meaning to life.
2006-09-18 21:22:23 · answer #8 · answered by Spiritualseeker 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why are we here? What s life all about? Is God really real, or is there some doubt? Well tonight, we re going to sort it all out, for tonight is the Meaning of Life.
2015-03-23 07:21:45 · answer #9 · answered by Joshua 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Beautified for men is the love of things they covet; women, children, much of gold and silver (wealth), branded beautiful horses, cattle and well-tilled land. this is the pleasure of the present worlds life; but Allah has the excellent return (Paradise with flowing rivers, etc.) with Him.
( سورة آل عمران , Aal-e-Imran, Chapter #3, Verse #14)
And the life of this world is nothing but play and amusement. But far better is the house in the Hereafter for those who are AlMuttaqoon (the pious - see V.2:2). Will you not then understand?
( سورة الأنعام , Al-Anaam, Chapter #6, Verse #32)
2006-09-18 23:47:25 · answer #10 · answered by Nothing to say? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Happiness
2006-09-18 21:22:15 · answer #11 · answered by sexyass 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋