2006-10-06 12:31:44 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Other - Arts & Humanities
"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)
* ...to complete your list of life goals
* ...to find something to believe
Wisdom and knowledge
* ...to be without question, or to keep asking questions
* ...to find out the meaning of life
* ...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 find true love
* ...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)
* ...to determine a set of goals based on an individuals belief in the meaning of life and work towards the attainment of those objectives.
* ...a combination of any of the above.
* ...42
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?
* ...because nobody will ever love you.
* ...life may actually not exist, this is all a surreal dream.
But most importantly
* ...not to die.
2006-10-08 13:12:07 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life is about survival. We are here to do the best we can & what we are doing with it is different for everyone. Some people are creative, loving, giving & make positive changes in the world, leaving the world a better place. Others are destructive, selfish & mean, leaving a negative mark on the world. We're all in this together. We just have to learn to accept each other and be kind (to ourselves, to others, to the world)...
Life is only as meaningful (or meaningless), beautiful (or ugly), joyful (or miserable) as you make it. Choose to live the best life you can...
2006-10-06 13:13:04 · answer #2 · answered by amp 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thank you for not appending '...in 25 words or less' to your questions.
What is life? Life is what you make it. Why are we here? I truly don't know. What are we really doing with it? Some of us are doing nothing. Others are making very worth while contributions.
That isn't very helpful, or very original, but that's the best I can do.
2006-10-06 12:34:59 · answer #3 · answered by old lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We complicate it via making all variety of arbitrary laws approximately what lifestyles "have to" be, akin to: I have to be a winner at any rate I need to appear excellent or my partner would possibly not love me. There have to be a tough and rapid procedure for the whole lot, or the whole lot will fall aside. Staying alert however now not alarmed, being tuned in to humans over methods, will eventually make matters run extra easily and believe less difficult. LIfe is realistic. Be well to others and do the first-class that you'll. so, KISS it'll be well.
2016-08-29 06:49:42 · answer #4 · answered by boyington 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life, although undefined yet by medicine and the Supreme court, is change.
We are here to serve others and Glorify God. Sadly this is often forgotten which changes "Life."
What we are doing with it depends on the individual. Sometimes I think I would answer, "not much."
2006-10-06 12:35:48 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it all depends upon your religion. that will affect what you believe you are here for. if you believe in an afterlife of any sort, then life has a meaning based on what you earn for the afterlife. if you don't believe in anything, then... yeah, what is life?
2006-10-06 12:40:03 · answer #6 · answered by christy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋