If you're athiest, then what's the point in living???

Question

It seems as if everyone loved the first question about why you should do good deeds if you're an athiest... I'm not as crazy or evil as everyone else on here... that being said.....

If you are an athiest then what is the point in living? What do you hope to do with your life? Do you really think that most people's lives (even the religious) ever mean anything to anyone else except family and a few close friends. Do you know your ancestors that died over a hundred years ago... and if so do you really care...( do you miss them? I bet you don't really care unless there is some trivial little fact you can point out... i mean after all they're dead, that's it! End of story...) Eventually this will happen to you as well, in long enough time nobody's going to even care you existed... that's the whole point. What is the meaning of life 4 nonbelievers taking this into consideration... This may be depressing for EVERYONE, but deep down in your cold hearts you know it's true.

Answer 1

Actually the same reason as the millions who have never heard of your Middle Eastern God.

Love of family and children hope for a better world in the future.

A book to read
An easy chair.
A garden when the days are fair.

Answer 2

first of all, atheist not athiest.
1)the point of life from an atheistic point of view is that you have to live each day to the fullest, because you don't know what might happen tomorrow.
2)Atheists hope to do all the same things with their life as Christians do, get a good education, have a good job, a wonderful family, etc. just sans the religious part of it all.
3)And what does it matter what your life means to everyone else? as long as your life has some meaning to you and you have done something worth remembering, you've lived your life fully.
4) obviously i don't know my ancestors from over a century ago, but that doesn't make their lives any less meaningful or fascinating. When I did a report on my ancestors, I found out that my great great great grandmother was one of the first women to be able to run her own ranch in Mexico. It wasn't her living or going to Heaven or Hell that made her a great person. it was the fact that she opened up doors for many others in her country.
5) (not really an answer to one of your questions, just a final point) Christians focus on living a good life so that the next one might be better. operative word "might". Atheists believe that this life is the only chance we get, so we must live our lives as fully as possible.

Answer 3

I dont understand how having a "point" to living has anything to do with happening to be atheist or a believer. But I'll answer your question being an atheist.
Whats the point in living? Well I was born. If I were to commit suicide I would cause huge problems for the people who love me which would most likely cause my father to commit suicide which would cause more problems for more people. That is selfish. I live my life loving my family and boyfriend and the few friends I have. Trying new things, learning new things, eating different things....whatever. That is what life is. Being atheist or not has nothing to do with having a "point" to life. I just happen to be alive so now I have to live my life.
No I dont care too much about my ancestors I dont really think about them except the ones who lived in my lifetime and had an affect on my life. I dont care that no one will care about my existance when Im dead. I'll be dead so I wouldnt know that people dont care that Im dead so it wouldnt affect me in any way. And just because I dont believe in god doesnt mean I have a cold heart. I'm probably more caring and considerate and warm blooded and less hypocritical than most religious people.

Answer 4

Atheists can live their lives without knowing the point. We can accept that whatever the point to living is, we just don't know what it is. Some of us believe that not knowing the point of life is tormenting enough to drive people to believe in a religion that explains it for them. This may sound a little cliche, but I believe that the point of life it to find out what the point in life is, and enjoy life along the way. Since I don't really believe in an afterlife (e.g. Heaven or Hell or the such), I believe that my existence will have an impact on history (it'll be history in the future), but even if no one recognizes what those impacts are, they still exist. If you are not an athiest, and you think like the questioner, I think that you are missing the point that life isn't unbearably depressing or flat-out pointless if you don't know the point to life. I also don't believe that I have a cold heart, you are just kind of insulting atheists, but I assume you actually believe that; I hope you change your mind on that idea.

Answer 5

I am not an atheist at all, but I can tell you that there is a point to any human life just as there is to an animal life.

Most of it is procreation. Making sure that your gene pool survives. It's a primal instinct - you know, that instinct that can't be deemed possible by creationists, because that would have to mean that humans were quite undeveloped people at some point - which every animal has. Another, smaller, part of it is survival of the species.

I've noticed, by the thumbs down I've recieved before giving a similar answer, that people might think it's sick, or think there really is more to life - but if you look around; and actually *look*, you'll notice that that is all people seem to care about.

They make sure their children have all they need to be well in the future when they are gone.

Answer 6

o_o Geez, you're making it sound like atheists are evil or something. NOT evil, they just don't believe God's really out there.

Meh, I'm not an atheist anymore. I'm more agnostic, but I like to live because I want to make the lives of others happy.

"Why do you do good deeds if you're an atheist"... because, the person who recieves them will be happy. They recieve something they need in this cold world, even if it's just a hand to pick them up when they're down.

I don't feel that I need to be rewarded by God to do good deeds; I do them because it makes the person I'm doing them for happy. And seeing them happy makes me happy too. I don't want people to be alone, when there are so many of us out there to keep them company. So many of us that can give them what everyone needs; a friend.

I wanna live life the way I want to, and I want to make the lives of the people around me something they can look back on, and smile. I wanna live for the moment, and not waste my life away doing HOLLOW good deeds just so God will be happy.

I want to do good deeds because I WANT to. Because I want to help.

I'm sure that God would like THOSE kind of deeds more than the hollow ones.

"Cold hearts"? :O... just because we don't believe in something, we're cold, insensitive people without feelings? That we don't care about anyone else? That we just sit in a corner going "There is no God, I tell you... no Goooooddd..."?

Uh, no.

Answer 7

before your drunked rant about my relatives, who I miss very much and cry, or about how thats depressing yada yada, you ask a simple question,

you ask whats the point of living.

fokkerball's answer is cool, is it depressing we dont have a god or an afterlife, no, and does it make us want to jump off a bridge, no

whats the point of living, i dont know, its occurred to me in my 30 years everyones got an answer for this of some sorts, mostly people list family and friends and doing things, skiing was listed,

im a conscious being and i exist

i go to work, pay taxes
i go home to a wife and a son

i play with my son and take him for a bike ride he enjoys it

i dont get too hung up on things, sure i spend two three hours a day thinking about politics and science and religious beliefs, im an atheist but the overlap of politics and science and religion fascinates me,

is there a point to living, whats the alternative, me not living? thats not so gratifying

im here, im alive, how did i get here? parents, family, etc. sure i believe in evolution, how did the first cell become alive i dont have an explanation that would make any sense to anyone,
so what does that mean i have to stop living cause i cant explain the origin of the first life?

when i die is it over, yeah probably this is all i have, im alive, i will go home to the family, thats it, thats all i know and thats not even a guarentee, people die on their way home from work

we're all going to die someday,

most of us hope its not today,

we have people in our lives we love who love us,

thats our point and purpose
to love and be loved

ill accept you for being someone who believes in god if youll except me for not

Answer 8

Ah, the definition of atheist is as varied as... well: beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
Not -- or no longer -- accepting "your" version of Biblegod is not the same as not being open to the possibilities.
Since I've seen my husband's ghost -- and I'm not alone in that -- I don't wonder about there being "something" after "this life." Meanwhile, I can live THIS life without losing my perspective. When I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking about what I'm doing TODAY.
You will only be depressed about this concept if you are hung up on an angry, vengeful god with anal minions who manipulate their associates.
Lighten up.

Answer 9

"This may be depressing for EVERYONE, but deep down in your cold hearts you know it's true."

Errr, no I don't.

There isn't ONE meaning of life. There's many. In all seriousness, there's probably millions. Mine are probably different from yours.

Someone's meaning of life might be to write books. Someone else's might be to study nature. Someone else's might be to be as good an athlete as they can possibly be. Or build a career. Or travel. Or form relationships. Or run for a political office. Or make movies. Or help other people and do charity work.

Not to mention a meaning for life that hopefully everyone shares, which is being there for our family and friends.

There are millions and millions and MILLIONS of potential 'meanings' for life. The absence of a supreme being or an afterlife doesn't change that fact.

Answer 10

If you have to state out that youre not crazy or evil, then it is not so.


Atheists can still lead successful lives. When atheists don't have to worry about the eternal salvation(or damnation) of their sins they can have the best time in the world!

I am not atheist, but I do not constantly worry about whether or not I am going to heaven. And when religion is not on my mind is some of the best times I have, just hanging out with my friends at camp or riding around town(I live in A VERY SMALL town)....it just makes life easier.

I can see why alot of atheists don't follow God, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up my faith just because it's easier.