What is the meaning of life? Or is it all just a means to and end?

Question

From the time we are born we start our journey to becoming a sucessfull adult as soon as we start school we are trapped in a race and there is never a winner we all die and all u did was work. There is never any freedom to do what u want when u want u are forced into a life were your worth is measured by your bank account. All i have on the meaning of life is you go to school u start working u grow old you retire and die. Not much of a meaning is it?

Answer 1

u r so right & that is what society teahces us but it's not the truth...you are here to learn about life, to evolove to a higher spirituality & that doesn't mean going to the mountains necessarily but living in God & love, learning about different values such as patience,humbleness, justice, fighting for the Truth, helping each other....whatever you feel you need to learn is your goal in life....ask & the answers will come to you & you'll be guided, that has been one thing that I have realized in life....
you are already on the right path by questioning & are a seeker like me ( & many others)...enjoy life & don't avoid success either but also know what is most important .

Answer 2

The meaning of each person's life is the meaning he or she gives it.

You've just defined your life -- not 'life' but 'your life' -- as a trap you're forced into, a rat race, a question of something you win or lose and in which whoever dies with the most stuff wins.

And no, it's not much of a meaning. So what are you going to do about it?

Don't let other people or society's expectations tell you what your life "should" be. That's your responsibility. If you continue to absolve yourself of responsibility for your own life, and follow some perceived blueprint or do what everyone else does, you're lost.

It doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. But don't let yourself be a victim, buffeted about by external circumstances. Don't let situations and people push your buttons. Don't let your feelings or circumstances be other people's "fault."

For starters: Every once in a while, practice standing outside yourself. Try to think of yourself as a completely objective outsider looking in on your life.

It's not the cards you're dealt, it's how you play them.

Answer 3

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 4

Meaning of life i've learned is to find my Way and then i can die with a smile on my face, whatever gets me in the end.
Had trouble with bank accounts and all that over the years but it was worth it to have had the experiences that i have had.
And this helped me along the way too...

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Answer 5

Life's what you make it. Which is very true, ok your definition of life was modern day. Most of todays people choose to live like that cause its the only way to get by. But think what we need is too look a lil further beyond the bad, stressful mundane life most of us lead, and think really why we're really here? i'm a evolutionary gal, some part of me likes to believe in religion, cause sometimes thats all we have to hope for is that there is someone higher looking out for us. I spose we really need to look into ourselves to find the true definition, we all have ups and downs but we learn from it, and not everything in this world is bad. Life is to live, and choose of which way you want to lead it. But always keep it balanced or life will mean nothing... Love, be happy, face what ever downs may come our way as a lesson in life. we all get through it somehow, just never regret and be happy at the end of it.

Answer 6

the world exists for the education of man. Emerson said something like that; we are here to teach the next generation. we will forever chase that ultimate knowledge, just like that coke head chases that ultimate high.

is there more to life then going to school, then going to work, then getting married and having children; the next step is death. some1 said this previously, life is what you want it to be. if you're upset about the society prescribed life, don't do it. live how you want to live no matter what others think. the only right and wrong are those that go with yourself and those that don't.

Live this life so the next generation know more than you do.

as long as the process continues, we'll find something out about our universe that will astonish us.

Answer 7

If you take an assembly of molecules at a given temperature and pressure they will adopt a configuration of minimum energy according to the various principles of thermodynamics. One of the unnecessary and sometimes unpleasant side-effects of this is called 'life' and its attendant phenomenon among more complicated configurations called 'consciousness' Seems to have been inevitable given the initial conditions at the 'big bang' following the period of hyper inflation when the various forces broke symnetry and the various possible spatial dimensions were selectively expanded. Is there a viable alternative to life? Or must we just live with it??

Answer 8

Don't be so negative. You should want to go to school because you should want to know about the world you are in a be educated. You say work like its a bad thing, I love my Job and I'm not even a rock star or anything, I work in cell phones. I don't think people judge me by my bank account I think they judge me by how I care for other people and try and get them to laugh all the time. I do what I want, I want to live in this world with a little static as possible. Yes that means going to college and waking up in the morning to go to work.
Take my advice don't watch TV any more, go outside and take a walk, look at some trees, watch them sway in the wind. relax wait till you get to college it will all make sense.

Answer 9

The answer is 42, if you believe 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.

Does there have to be an answer to your question? By this I mean a single answer, couldn't there be a million different answers all of which are valid to the individuals who give them? I think personally that the meaning of life is a personal, individual thing- something we have to find for ourselves, whether its in the form of a religious belief, a hope or dream we have, or from a despair.

You sound like you have a very Marxist point of view, as what you've said seems to follow the idea of Capitalist ideology. I'm not going to refute your ideas, you believe them so there's no point me saying anything to the contrary. There is something to what you say, but I would like to say (to be rather cliched) that happiness is what you make it.

Answer 10

Life. What is the Meaning of Life? Life....Life....Life. People have so many opinions on this. But here is mine:

Life is not just breathing and spending your days. It is not waiting for death. Life is not about regret.
Life is about living. And when I say living I do not mean just breathing and walking and talking. I mean living.


I mean yelling across a mountain top just to hear words echo back to you.
I mean spreading your arms, getting bare feet, and dancing in the rain.
I mean sitting at a horizon and watching a sunset and letting all your days worries just dive away with that sun.
I mean singing at the top of your lungs without worrying if you sound good or bad.
I mean just running at full speed just 'cause.
I mean giving a destitute even a penny just to see a smile on their face.
I mean putting a big inspirational grin from your heart on your face even through moments of depression.
I mean putting a smile on those faces that are filled with sadness or wet with tears.

So, my friend, what is life? Life is simply living. But living for this world. There is so much sadness, melancholy, hate, sorrow, pain, and agony in this world. It wouldn't hurt to just get up in the morning and put a smile on your face. And think....that today...today...I'll live for this world. Today I'll dance in the rain just 'cause. Today I'll sing in a crowd just 'cause. Today I'll say hello to everyone I see just 'cause. Just 'cause there is enough sadness in this world...and maybe, just maybe, if I can put a smile on my face and cheer someone else up...AKA live for this world....maybe, just maybe, There will be some...a little bit of less sadness and melancholy in this world. Maybe...Just Maybe.

There you go, that's my opinion. Life is living for this world and without a reason. Just living for this world....just 'cause. Just cause you want to lessen that sadness that weighs this world down.