What is the meaning of life?

Answer 1

The philosophical 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.

These questions are separate from the scientific issue of the boundary between things with life and inanimate objects.
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. The responses are shown to overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories:

Survival and temporal success
...to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you
...to be always satisfied
...to live, go to school, work, and die
...to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to gain and exercise power
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to eat
...to prepare for death
...to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly.
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution)
...to protect and preserve one's kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution)
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
...to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means
...to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauer's will to procreate)
...to find and take over all free space in this "game" called life
...to seek and find beauty
...to kill or be killed
...No point. Since having a point is a condition of living human consciousness. Animals do not need a point to live or exist. It is more of an affliction of consciousness that there are such things as points, a negative side to evolutionary development for lack of better words.

Wisdom and knowledge
...to master and know everything
...to be without questions, 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 understand and be mindful of creation or the cosmos
...to lead the world towards a desired situation
...to satisfy the natural curiosity felt by humans about life

Ethical
...to express compassion
...to follow the "Golden Rule"
...to give and receive love
...to work for justice and freedom
...to live in peace with yourself and each other, and in harmony with our natural environment
...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
...to serve others, or do good deeds

Religious and spiritual
...to find perfect love and a complete expression of one's humanness in a relationship with God
...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
...to become like God, or divine
...to glorify God
...to experience personal justice (i.e. to be rewarded for goodness)
...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. to seek objectivity)
...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...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 discover who you are
...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

Philosophical
...to give life meaning
...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 know the meaning of life
...to achieve self-actualisation
...all possible meanings have some validity
...life in itself has no meaning, for its purpose is an opportunity to create that meaning, therefore:
...to die
...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
...nature taking its course (the wheel of time keeps on turning)
...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever
...life may actually not exist, or may be illusory )
...to contemplate "the meaning of the end of life"

Other
...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 participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
...to make conformists' lives miserable
...to make life as difficult as possible for others (i.e. to compete)
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Answer 2

Only living life the way YOU see fit can answer the question. The meaning of life is as different to you as there are people on this planet. Don't worry about the the meaning of life, just enjoy the experience.

Answer 3

To THRIVE. Every living thing. Humans (most) seem to have the need for an answer, a purpose, a message. Why? I'm sure other other creatures don't ask this, & live in harmony--or perhaps better said, in "balance" until humans mess around with their environments. In its most abstract, connotative use, "meaning" indicates...pointing to the presence of valuable insights or important intimations without SPECIFYING WHAT THEY ARE. Many subjective opinions on this. Personally, I've never pondered for a moment about the "meaning" of life. Perhaps because I simply enjoy the living of it.

Answer 4

I do not believe that we are simply here to live and die. I think that the meaning of life is to achieve true happiness, and I don’t think that God put us on the Earth with a very specific way our lives are going to play out. Happiness is a state of emotion that is symbolized by feeing satisfaction and enjoyment. There is not one true definition of what makes one happy for every single person in this world. The meaning of life is finding true happiness in oneself, not momentary happiness.

Answer 5

As hard as I resent it, I am succumbing to an existentialist mindset lately, thinking that the meaning of life is purely based on our physiological instincts like fear of pain, hence, avoidance of those experiences, reproduction (not even for the continuation of species), hunger fulfillment, etc.

From a preferred idealistic point of view, it is love, undeniably and eternally.
From a cynical point of view, people are all too stupid and egocentric to understand here so who the hell cares?
From a realistic point of view, it's a combination of all of the above.

Answer 6

I think the meaning of life is ..... Life. Creating it . Taking care of it and living in harmony with it. All life from people to plants. It's the natural order

Answer 7

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

Answer 8

1. the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally.
2. the sum of the distinguishing phenomena of organisms, esp. metabolism, growth, reproduction, and adaptation to environment.
3. the animate existence or period of animate existence of an individual: to risk one's life; a short life and a merry one.
4. a corresponding state, existence, or principle of existence conceived of as belonging to the soul: eternal life.
5. the general or universal condition of human existence: Too bad, but life is like that.
6. any specified period of animate existence: a man in middle life.
7. the period of existence, activity, or effectiveness of something inanimate, as a machine, lease, or play: The life of the car may be ten years.
8. a living being: Several lives were lost.
9. living things collectively: the hope of discovering life on other planets; insect life.
10. a particular aspect of existence: He enjoys an active physical life.
11. the course of existence or sum of experiences and actions that constitute a person's existence: His business has been his entire life.
12. a biography: a newly published life of Willa Cather.
13. animation; liveliness; spirit: a speech full of life.
14. resilience; elasticity.
15. the force that makes or keeps something alive; the vivifying or quickening principle: The life of the treaty has been an increase of mutual understanding and respect.
16. a mode or manner of existence, as in the world of affairs or society: So far her business life has not overlapped her social life.
17. the period or extent of authority, popularity, approval, etc.: the life of the committee; the life of a bestseller.
18. a prison sentence covering the remaining portion of the offender's animate existence: The judge gave him life.
19. anything or anyone considered to be as precious as life: She was his life.
20. a person or thing that enlivens: the life of the party.
21. effervescence or sparkle, as of wines.
22. pungency or strong, sharp flavor, as of substances when fresh or in good condition.
23. nature or any of the forms of nature as the model or subject of a work of art: drawn from life.
24. Baseball. another opportunity given to a batter to bat because of a misplay by a fielder.
25. (in English pool) one of a limited number of shots allowed a player: Each pool player has three lives at the beginning of the game.
–adjective
26. for or lasting a lifetime; lifelong: a life membership in a club; life imprisonment.
27. of or pertaining to animate existence: the life force; life functions.
28. working from nature or using a living model: a life drawing; a life class

Answer 9

What does it mean to you?

Answer 10

Its different for different people and only you can realize and define what it means to you.

Answer 11

Ugh. I'll never understand why people keep asking this question. It's so pointless.