what is the meaning of life?

Question

i luv it

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)

Answer 2

The question "WITMOL?" is beginning to annoy me.

Look, if I asked you, "What is the meaning of a stop sign?" You'd say something like, "The stop sign is a signal--a means--to get you to stop for a moment before you go through an intersection."

So, if that's what a 'meaning' is, then how does it apply in your question? That is, what does 'life' signal? What thing do you aim at that is so important that 'life' is reduced to some mere means to that end?

I've been conscious only of my living being. I cannot envision 'me' before or after my living. So, it's very hard for me to imagine any program that makes my living existence the instrument used by [something prior to me] to attain [something that will be realized subsequent to my being].

I don't mean to be difficult. I understand the 'rudderlessness' of living. But I think the man or woman who holds the tiller sets the course. That is, the living being purposes some aim, and steers there. Mysterious aims, belonging to mysterious purposes are alluring distractions, to be sure--but they are only that: mysteries we play with.

Living a real life is . . . well, it's dull routine, much of the time, but you can purpose changes to the routine.

Answer 3

Life has no meaning, it's what we make of it

how can you talk about meaning when children are kidnapped, raped and murdered - when kids are born with aids, or as heroin addicts - when a 8 yr old has to work 15 hrs a day to earn his family a pittance

We - western, prosperous people with leisure time and access to the world wide web - are lucky. Have as much fun as possible - and try to do some good for others - before you die

Answer 4

"Cogito, ergo sum".

You see Descartes said: "I think, therefore I am" this is truly the meaning of life.

If we don't think we are void- Scientists tell us nothing can exist in a void.

You see to exist we must think, so when you start thinking you start existing... You think therefore you are.

After a lot of thinking I have come to the conclusion that- we are here to serve each other.

The African's say "Mbuntu" this means we are all connected, if each of us adds value to the other then we co-exist in a cohesive fashion. this goes to the heart of ethical issues.

IE overcharging for minimalist services. We must serve one another in search of excellence.

In short think exist and add value!

Answer 5

Life. What is the Purpose 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.

Answer 6

The meaning of life is to learn from life, to learn all you can about yourself and the world around you for the short time you have in this world. Your life is like a candle in a vast darkness. It's advisable to look and learn while the light is alive.

Answer 7

The meaning of life? Hell, make one up and go for it! The meaning of my life is to never pass up an opportunity to do something good for someone else. Also, 42.

Answer 8

Is there some rule that this question has to be asked once a week? Did everyone sign some agreement that they would ask it on demand? When will it be my turn? Because that is the day I resign my membership because this is one of the most repeated, most tedious, and most unoriginal questions to appear here.

Answer 9

38

Answer 10

As King Solomon says, "There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and be merry and that he should make his soul enjoy good in all his labour"

Answer 11

42