Life is meaningless. Prove me wrong.?

Question

I was raised very religious- my father's a minister- and was taught to believe that life is meaningless without God and that he is our only hope for salvation. As I grew out of that mold and came into my own vaguely deist/agnostic belief system, it was hard for me to shake the whole "meaninglessness of life" bit, because it's so hard to disprove. Therefore, I've been more or less existentialist for the last few years, believing that life is meaningless but we can still enjoy it. However, whenever I'm feeling tired or down or bored, I begin to slip into a dark, unforgiving atheist nihilism- I have no soul, no conscience, no purpose. It's really hard for me to get out of that rut whenever I'm in it, because I won't listen to any argument at all.

So, although I'm not in that mood right now, I'd like to have something to look back on. Can someone please disprove or weaken nihilism so that I can look at this and cheer up a little? Convince me that we are more than cosmic accidents.

Answer 1

i can't prove it wrong. In fact, i wholeheartedly agree.

so that's why I'm going to spend the time here doing things that I want to do. if the time is meaningless, then it means that I can do things for fun.

once you see that religion was created in ancient times to control and unify people, things become slightly less blurry.

do what you want, when you want, but know the long term (well, long enough to affect you in the later years of life) consequences of your actions.

Answer 2

Sure it's hard to disprove. I came into a point in my life when I asked the same question: "What is the meaning of life" I would be irritated with every answer I get, saying God is life, he is what life is for and all that but it makes no sense to me. My God never does anything to me, I'm actually in a paradox believing in something yet I state things to disprove it.

Anyway, let me share something to You.

I found lifes meaning when I was learned a little something on philosophy, that the world is knowledge, and that knowledge can grant you anything even purpose. Ever since I was thinking, thinking about anything, about life, death, love, hatred, joy and sadness. I began to find more ways of learning, improving my deduction everyday, developing my observance and increasing my knowledge of the world. Because there is so much to learn, and I wan't to learn it all, even though I know it is unlimited but I want to learn. And after all these years, I found the meaning of life for me, and that is to learn.

I have found my life's goal, if you haven't just wait. We are not cosmic accidents, we all live for a purpose, but that purpose will only come if you find it. Just look, it's there!

Good Luck!

Answer 3

I was like you a few months ago I did searches on religions around the world I stubbled across buddhism I'm pretty skepital so I give everything a grain of salt I was an Athiest but since I looked at the scientific evidence it goes something like this cells die and new cells are created throughout your entire lifetime endless cycle of death and rebirth also there was a study done by a scientist where he studyed 20 children while they were learning how to speak could describe there previous lifetimes you can do a search about buddism and might find what im talking about it was mere luck I stubled acrossed it and it changed my entire life

Answer 4

Life is meaningless if you feel its meaningless. From the answers that I have read, most of them don't find life meaningless because they found something meaningful to fill their life with. You were brought up in a family whom believe that the meaning in life is found through God. But not all people find the meaning in life through God. It all depends on the person. Some find the meaning of life by spreading love and helping people. It makes them happy. Some like to learn. Some have a passion in sports and that is their meaning of life. You just haven't found your meaning of life yet.

Answer 5

Sorry to read that you're in the place you're in within yourself! Things like this are difficult and often are very difficult to change then correct!!! In order to recovery from this it will be painful to you.... perhaps in many ways. The process involves a lot of things which many people are unwilling to do or go through. Its not my place to begin or even help you begin that process. You'll need to find your own answers and use them in ways which will turn things around for you! What I can say to you is this:

The meaning of "life" is LIVING IT! You can do this very well without all the types of things you've been brainwashed with and now suffer from. The quality of it though is up to you.... choices.

Good luck & best wishes!

Answer 6

your right, life is meaningless =D
we are cosmic accidents,monkeys, rocks blah blah blah
so?
what's there to expect if God was the meaning of life. he made it..worth it, that we live in heaven and be alive for...forever? doing what?
doesn't both seem absoutly boring and sad in there way?
life is what you make of it, meaningless or not
sit back, drink some coco and give your thoughtful mind a rest, just enjoy the meaningless moments, what comes next or what there is to be next will fall into its place when the time comes

Answer 7

The "fallacy" of your argument is that "cosmic accidents" cannot evolve into "meaningful" situations.
The loving, successful "marriage" of two people started out as a "cosmic accident" of the two people meeting in the first place.
You planned on going to a place you "might" meet someone "meaningful," but you didn't know who that would be, or even if that person would become "meaningful."
In other words, even if we are "cosmic accidents," that does NOT mean we are "meaningless."
Get it?
Life is as "meaningful" as we "make" it!

Answer 8

Hi! Given your additional comments, it appears to me you're looking for *ultimate* meaning as opposed to the situational "meaningful" relationships and causes which occupy our time. It is under this assumption I offer my answer.

As a philosophical matter, your question self-destructs. You evidently intend the sentence "Life is meaningless" to have meaning, in which case there is meaning in life. You are using a universal to the effect that there is no universal. If there is no meaning in your question, then you have said nothing to which anybody can reply.

Technicalities aside, the clue to your answer is actually in the "rut" you find yourself in occasionally. The following quotation from former Atheist C. S. Lewis corresponds to your situation:

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying that it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."

Sir, you're part of the "show" Mr. Lewis was referring to. If there isn't an underlying cause or purpose to the universe, you wouldn't know it. The "rut" is reminding you, without you realizing it, that *something* governs us.

I'd be glad to discuss this further with you. Feel free to email me.

Best wishes,
Scalia

Answer 9

Two goals that have meaning: to make the world a better place for your children and the next generations; and to gain knowledge. Religious people might have an easier time with the concepts of "meaning" and "purpose," but that doesn't make their beliefs any more valid.

Answer 10

In my opinion, our lives aren't meaningless whatsoever because it depends on how you live your life, what you believe in, what you stand for, and what causes you fight for.

We fight to stay alive for a couple of reasons: we believe or think that there is nothing greater than living life, we believe or think that we have to live for our family, friends, significant other, or even our kids we believe or think that we're afraid of the afterlife, of the unknown; of all of these things simply because we're just plain afraid.

We fight to earn things because we think and believe that we can't survive without them, we think and believe that things bring us joy & happiness, we think and believe that life wants us to feel like we're doing something right & that we deserve some sort of credit.

We fight for whatever reason because that's the laws of cause & effect, the laws of God, and the laws of the Universe.

I believe that all humans have the right to be happy and to be able to live for whatever reason they may choose, I can't judge the reason, you can't judge or anyone else and we certainly can't make the decision for these people no matter if we think it's meaningless or not.

The method to all of this is very simple. Like I said before, life is God's way of testing the humans for their afterlife because too many people believe that when we die there won't be anything to worry about except for hell and heaven but that's not true.

We've all lived a life for no matter how long just to prepare for a life after death where there is something far better than this world could offer us. The method to all this madness is in what I said up above, so just read between the lines." Okay, that's what I replied but here's what I meant because some of what I said was pretty self-explanatory but some of it wasn't.

I don't think that a human's life is meaningless in no way possible for the simple fact that unlike animals, humans have the power to make a tremendous difference in this world. We can help save this world from whatever is destroying it or is a threat. We, humans are here to take care of the animals, take care of the nature around us, and to live the way God asked us to, just the way he asked us to live.

I believe that when a person lives their life right according to their beliefs and the way God has asked them to live, humans would be able to survive through anything because he lived the way he instructs us to.

The earth is hell; look at all the problems which we endure on a daily basis including war, material possessions, crisis, etc. I believe that God sent us back here to live another life from which he’d be pleased with. I believe that all humans have been lived here before, died, their lives were examined by God & his elite team of angels, and God decided if they should come back and live again to learn from before even though we don’t remember our old lives.

I believe that God has a different (a different planet; that’s why there’s no life there) place ready for the people who have lived exactly the way he asked & has instructed them to do so. Humans will have different bodies that are secured for this new environment.

So, that’s it folks! That’s why I believe what I believe and I stick to it.

Answer 11

Life is the source of meaning.

Does your mother, father, sister, brother, friend, cousin, uncle, grandma-pa, country, and loved lover mean anything to you?

Meaning is not just about you, it exists in your relationship with the world ... nihilism is self centered ... just ego.

Jonnie