Does existence have any real meaning?

Question

Or is it just a freak -- a result of a zillion to one circumstances?

Answer 1

No, there is no meaning.

Answer 2

Whenever asking a philosophical question, please realize that the answer may well be more questions. Is your existence a "freak" of nature? Are you a result of some incalculable circumstance? But, perhaps the real answer is: Does your life have any real meaning, or are you insignificant? In regard to our existence, there are no definite answers available, nor will there ever be. We are as we are. Determining the nature of our existence is a terrible waste of time. Most great Philosophers pondered their lives and not those of humanity as a whole. Look within your soul and find your meaning of life in this dimension. Remember, every time you act or react you influence the acts of others, and thus, society.

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. Life is just a freak coincidence.

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

That's up to each individual. I feel my existence has real meaning, I have a son 18, about to finish High School and go on to college, and a daughter, 13, who has a smile that always makes Daddy's heart melt. My last name is going to be carried on, into the future, even after I depart this Earth because of my son, and even beyond that sholud my son marry and have sons of his own.

I served this nation for 21 years and met many different people all over the world, hopefully I left a good impression. I plan to be the best Grandad I can whenever my kids have have kids, and hopefully will be a good example for them too.

Answer 5

Our existence is not a fantasy. If it has no real meaning than none of us do. Everything we see or do or have done would be baseless, useless and would fail to even be. I also have faith in things I cannot see--90% of the matter in the universe escapes our vision, it's black matter. That exists. It all has a principle, a meaning. We don't have to understand it, but everything that "is" has meaning whether we understand it or not.

Answer 6

Life requires a million to 1 chance of circumstances.

So, if there are billions and billsions of stars, then the likelyhood of having one with the right conditions is very high and our evoltuion can be seen as highly probable.

Does that give us 'meaning' - not really, just an inevitability.

Answer 7

We will probably never know, because we really donn't know where we came from, who or what created us or who or what that created who or what that created who or what we are.We might have to live forever, working on the problem all the time, to find out. The answer is not worth the labour! We are just stardust or a figment of our own imagination

Answer 8

The probability that the universe is so finely tuned for our existence points us to a Creator. It is only with a Creator that our lives could have real meaning.

Answer 9

Considering the myriad circumstances that had to occur just for us to exist and the extraordinarily intricate fabric of our being, we are definitely meant to exist. We are each a miracle. We each have a unique purpose. It is not random. We are the products of intelligent design. Now it is up to us to make the most of our existence. Live life to the fullest. Appreciate the beauty of this world. Use your individual gifts to make the world an even better place...

Answer 10

I think a zillion to one chance.

Answer 11

Existence has objective meaning, a fact that is evident because it is intelligible. Evidence of apparent randomness in regards to existence does not by necessity indicate that things are meaningless, rather it indicates that reality is inherently mysterious in its origin, ontology and teleology. The predicament is that the meaning of existence exists outside of our subjective desires, and therefore we confuse our lack of ultimate control over reality, for a lack of purpose or meaning. The problem of meaning is not outside of ourselves in what exists, it is within ourselves. Our perception of the meaning of existence is mitigated by our ego-driven desire to make reality a servant to our subjectivity, rather than allowing, and accepting reality to be what it is.