What is the meaning of life?

Answer 1

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.....

Answer 2

I think this is the oldest question ever asked? Anyway, I'm guessing you're wondering what is the meaning of your life rather than meaning of life in general? I don't know you so I couldn't answer your question about the meaning of your life. But for those who are reading this and who have kids you'll know what I mean. This meaning I daresay transcends race, sex, politics, religion, etc..

Here it is:

The first time you hold your newborn child in your arms - that my dear friends is as close a meaning as you can get. No words, no judgment, no politics, no religion. Just you and your newborn.

Answer 3

The Meaning of Life" isn't just about knowing that our lives are having an impact; it's also about dispelling the philosophical fog. It's not only knowing exactly why you got up in the morning; it's knowing the rules you used to make the decision, where the rules come from, and why the rules are correct.

Answer 4

the meaning of my life is to become the person I wanna be, to live and feel the pleasure of living. life for me is like a play yard; wanna go away with no regrets, with the feeling that i had a wonderful time, that is was great !
have a real fun ;)

Answer 5

First of all, Your all wrong, In Reality and illusions There is no meaning in life. as said above by Len Anders

We may all be part of a dream of something infinite out there.
There is no Reality or Illusions.We can not trust our eyes or our senses.
All we may do is achieve our goals and push it to the limit and attempt to be remembered down in history.

Answer 6

The core of life is the existance of unity of body that composed by some componets; breaths, toughts etc body itself, that determined by God that you and me don't know when to pass the real world to spiritual world. And here you may compare to a planted seed that when grows up it will produce many seeds again (reproduction). so the meaning of life is most helped by breath; no breath no life ........Amen!

Answer 7

Catholics believe the meaning of human life is to know and love God.

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

For such a question you will receive many answers; some wise, some earnest and some based on personal experience. The problem is determining which one?

My suggestion to you is that the word "life" and its evolution provides an excellent answer to your question.

The following are my words from my web site www.ucadia.com
See: http://www.ucadia.com/gen_life_definition.htm

++Origin of the word "life"++

The word "life" and its historic meanings have existed in recorded culture for at least fifteen hundred years. The actual word "life" in English can be attributed to the word "lif" used in Old English and Old Saxon meaning- life, body.

The word is linked to the emergence of a religious and social philosophy of European Celtic mythology (around 550AD) that believed human beings possessed a special "quality of life", that vanishes at the point of death. This has often been described as the "essence of life", or the "fifth essence" after fire, water, earth and wind. "Losing" this essence has therefore been historically linked to human death for at least fifteen hundred years.

Prior to this period (550AD), there does not appear to be corresponding words in either Ancient Latin or Greek. This supports the argument that the word lif was created in both a social and religious (metaphysical) context.

++Extending the meaning of life to include “soul”++

It is no surprise then, that the word "lif " was quickly associated with another philosophical belief that all humans possess a special spirit called the "soul".

Philosophers (around 1350AD) speculated that this essence is derived from the presence of the "soul", which at the point of human death leaves the body. The belief of the soul leaving the body at death precedes the concept of the essence of life by at least one thousand years (around 600BC for the first writings on the concept of Soul).

Then around 1650, Renne Descartes published a historical work that for the first time provided a scientific basis for proving that human beings are aware and self aware. It was Descartes that wrote the now famous self aware proof of existence "I think, therefore I am."

++Understanding animals also have “life”++

In the past three to four hundred years, the historical usage of the word "life" has been extended to describe a wider quality which all plants and animals on Earth possess before a the state of death. Interestingly, this broadening of the definition of life has almost a direct correlation to the advancement of science into atomic and biologic areas. Everytime science has proven that more objects in the Universe share similar qualities to humans, the philosophical defintion of life has appeared to widen around ten to twenty years after the discovery.

In the last sixty years, a further attribute to what is "life", has been assigned being the quality of awareness. Therefore, almost all modern interpretations on the meaning of life includes as part of the definition of life a state of "awareness".

++The development of the word "life" and the awakening of humanity++

That humanity fifteen hundred years ago recognized a special quality of being human and classified it as lif is the beginning of an amazing journey that has as its destination-today. That Descartes linked the unique quality of being human "life" as being definable through awareness " I think etc." is equally important.

Since the emergence of the word "life" fifteen hundred years ago, we have seen the growth of the word, to mean that all things in the Universe possess this same special essence, which we can openly define as both awareness and life meaning the same thing.

Therefore, the words life and awareness, life and awareness of matter, life and the Universe are all wholly interchangeable. By the modern "evolved" definition of life- everything in the Universe is very much alive. Only levels of unique self awareness change. Awareness as a whole never dies, only grows.

The meaning of life then is both to truly appreciate the inter-connectedness between all things and that life itself is the most precious state of being human.

That we have reached this expanded definition of life now, at the beginning of the 21st century is a profound philosophical event as significant as any recent scientific discovery or cure for a disease.

The awesome importance of humanity culturally permitting the expanded definition of life (that the Universe is alive) is not yet fully comprehended by 20th Century thinking philosophers or religious leaders.

It has literally paved the way to the opening of understanding of what is awareness and Unique Collective Awareness.

Answer 9

What is the meaning of mango? What is the meaning of hamburger? What is the meaning of pizza? Likewise life also has no meaning.

Answer 10

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