I'm doing an article for a major philosophy/psychology publication and would greatly appreciate it if the users here would be able to answer the one question on the quick survey (link below). It'll take less than a minute of your time. Post your answer here with a detailed explanation, too, if you'd like and the most thoughtful explanation will receive Best Answer.
Thanks.
Link to survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB226HN9KF6D2
2007-05-19 22:18:22 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
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.
So the bottom line is, we only have a temporary meaning to life, to reduce pain and increase pleasure, other than that everything is lost to oblivion.
To be or not to be? "To be" is temporary and "not to be" is inevitable.....
2007-05-20 03:38:01 · answer #1 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
By religion -> To live life in the way the god/s has stated and get the divine reward after death.
By science -> The meaning of life is securing future life. Reproduction and securing the life for future generations is what matters.
By philosophy -> To find deeper and personal meaning as to why you exist as a person, other than what is defined by religion and science.
Or from the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy... then the answer is 42.
Lunkwill: Do you...
Deep Thought: Have an answer for you? Yes. But you're not going to like it.
Fook: Please tell us. We must know!
Deep Thought: Okay. The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is...
[wild cheers from audience, then silence]
Deep Thought: 42.
2007-05-20 00:19:39 · answer #2 · answered by --- 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I chose "to create experiences and experience happiness as much as possible", because none of the other answers were adequate.
All of the other options seemed to me to be parts of the answer, while the option above is the whole answer. When you procreate, serve a higher purpose, create new things in the world, etc., those are all ways of achieving happiness and having positive experiences. People have children because they want to experience the fulfillment of being parents. They create things to experience the gratification of accomplishing some kind of creation. They act toward a higher purpose in order to feel that they have made a difference in the world and done what was right. These are all ways, ultimately, of achieving the feeling of happiness.
2007-05-20 03:35:36 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure someone can give you an explaination dealing with religion... I'm not about that.
The meaning of life... is to live, because a life without living has no meaning.
It sounds corny but can you really say that its wrong. Any one persons answer can be different depending on their own life experience. As long as they have had that enough said experience, their answer is correct.
If you have ever heard anyone give you some advice, insight words and life lessons? And have you ever listen to them, or taken them in to at least try understand what they are trying to say?
So a life worth living has a meaning, they are all different, but all have experience tied to it. A life not lived has been ripped from that experience and has not had those tied to their lives and wouldn't have a meaning.
2007-05-19 22:37:10 · answer #4 · answered by Rene L 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. Do you believe that life has meaning? 2. If so, what do you believe is the meaning of life? >> I don't really know. I don't think life has a specfic meaning (like aiming to go heaven.. or such) - but I think life has a meaning in itself. You know living is a necessary condition of life; so basically life is for living. People can just create a deeper meaning to life for themselves. And I strongly believe that everyone aims for happines.. so maybe that's the meaning of life? people just take different routes to reach it.. ahh.. I'm confusing myself. :( 3. If, hypothetically, you were to discover that there was no meaning in life, how would you continue to live your life in relation to how you lived it previously? I'll live it as I'm living it now. Please the meaning of life is to live it anyway; I'm just not sure if it goes deeper than that.
2016-05-21 23:15:17 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
42
2007-05-19 22:37:13 · answer #6 · answered by inactive account 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everyone has their own journey. Some, want to elevate to the highest possible energy vibration. Other's want to experience a specific emotion, and it repeats and repeats, until they understand it, and move on. but its different for all. depending on what their aim is.. and some people just sleep, never inquiring anything about life, and why they are here, or what it is/means-what have you.. ignorance is bliss...
2007-05-19 22:45:34 · answer #7 · answered by Mcayla 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In your survey, I chose that life serves a higher purpose.
Life, primarily, is a struggle against nature. It is a struggle, intended by God, to test us for the afterlife.
It can be viewed in the physical aspect:
A struggle against accidents and/or disease.
It can be viewed in the emotional aspect:
A struggle against loneliness and desolateness.
It can be viewed in the spiritual aspect:
A struggle against worldly temptations.
It can be viewed in the social aspect:
A struggle against judgment and consequence.
2007-05-19 23:01:30 · answer #8 · answered by Joeri 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life just is. It has no intrinsic, or built in meaning of it's own.
All the meaning that life will ever have is the meaning that you give to it.
Looks like its up to you.
Love and blessings Don
2007-05-20 01:36:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life doesn't exist, it's all in our heads.
2007-05-19 22:25:48 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋