Atheist, what is the purpose of your existence?

Question

In a trillion billion septendecillion(its a real number, look it up) millenium what value has your being alive given to the universe.

If there is no God and we are all going to return to the dust from which we came (cosmic dust), why live.

Or why value anyone elses life. If you value your existance and there is no God why not make every effort to better your quality of life and those you care about around you?

Please do not say "well its obvious that we should care about our fellow man...blah blah, blah, ect., ect."

If there is no God then there is no purpose or morality in the universe other than that which you impose on it through your own subjective outlook on life.

Answer 1

*Drink*
Please go tell the Dalai Lama that his life has no meaning.
Or tell the young girl I donated bone marrow to so that she could live that my being alive had no value.
Then come back and ask the question again.

Answer 2

"Or why value anyone elses life. If you value your existance and there is no God why not make every effort to better your quality of life and those you care about around you?"

I am not an atheist but you are making generalizations. Atheists care about morals and doing the right thing because it makes other people feel good about themselves, not because they are governed by a religion.

You are probably right, there has been a trillion billion septendecillion millennium and there are probably as many planets. Life exists off the Earth. To think that there is some all-powerful god looking over Earth seems ridiculous.

Answer 3

Even if there were a God, our existence is pretty futile. We are still a tiny, insignificant speck in the universe.

Whether you believe in God or not, you still need to understand that there's a difference between religion and morality. A big difference. Many religious people aren't moral in the slightest, while many moral people aren't religious.

It doesn't take a Jesus-freak to recognize that human life is valuable and must be protected. It doesn't take a nun to know that stealing from others is wrong.

You're right...morality is subjective. It's subjective whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or atheist. It's based on how you were raised, how you believe, how you interact with the world. Your morals are different from any other Christian, or any other person on this earth for that matter.

However, for the good of continuing the human race, we've come to some general conclusions about what's right and wrong, and it seems to work pretty well for most of us.

The purpose of life? For me, it's to pet my dog, better myself through education, and see what the ocean looks like from underneath. For you, it seems like your purpose is to post narrow-minded questions on Yahoo Answers.

Why live? Hmmm...have you ever had a really good steak? Or a "perfect" margarita? I can find countless reasons to wake up tomorrow, and none of them have anything to do with going to a mystical "happy place" when I die. Seems like that's a poor reason to get out of bed in the morning to me.

Anyways, have a great day, and try to be open-minded to those who don't think like you do. You'll learn a lot that way.

Answer 4

We are here, alive on Earth, and I don't believe that I should be a good person merely to escape a man-made eternal hell. Even if there was a real hell, don't you think your god would prefer someone who was a good person and lived a good life, but had rational doubt about an unproven being over someone who has blind faith for selfish reasons?
Morals evolved as a defense mechanism. If no one had morals, we would all kill each other off. Humans have them, apes, dolphins, monkeys. You must realize we are not the only ones. Anyway, we are alive and no one wants a sourpuss or a meanie, so I am good so that others in society are happy, because "love makes the world go 'round."

Answer 5

"why live."

i'd prefer not to die just yet thanks.

"Or why value anyone elses life."

because i would prefer that they valued mine in return. no-brainer, this one.

"why not make every effort to better your quality of life and those you care about around you?"

yes.

"Please do not say"

please don't tell me what i can and can't say.

"If there is no God then there is no purpose or morality in the universe other than that which you impose on it through your own subjective outlook on life."

yes. is that a problem?

vv Tim H:

"The really sad thing about being an atheist is - even if you were right all along, you never even get the satisfaction of saying "I told you so!" By the time you figure out you were right, you're dead!"

gee, lucky i'm not motivated solely by the possibility of being able to say i told you so then isn't it.

Answer 6

True. But being a member of the human race, like a dolphin amongst other dolphins or a monkey amongst its kin means we have a vested and biological interest in the survival of ourselves and our offspring, we extend this biological condition, being clever sentient humans, to our community, our country and if we are being extra clever and progressive, our species.

It would be nicer if there was a grand cosmic plan already laid out for us, then we wouldn't have to do any thinking at all, unfortunately, as atheists we aren't going to just make up an answer to keep us irresponsible and smug. There is inventing and innovation to be done! As a humanist i believe we have important guidelines, we have a species to save from its own self-destruction, owing mainly to it's capacity to swallow bullcrap and it's lack of morality and compassion towards its own kind. Religions had it's 60 thousand year turn. Give us a decent go please.

Answer 7

First of all, yes I'm familiar with the number "septendecillion" (coming from the latin root septendecim meaning 17), with a value of 10^54.

Second, I'm profoundly existentialist, and yes, life is absolutely meaningless in the grand scheme of things. And yes, I absolutely agree with the point of "mak[ing] every effort to better your quality of life and those you care about around you". So the answer to your question is that there is no purpose to my existence, but I might as well make the meaningless lives of myself and those that I care about as good as possible, while we're still around.

Answer 8

I find that the followers of religion to be more freaked out that there may be no reason for their existence than the moment they spend here now. It is interesting that you all are looking to die to move on. To that, if I were God,would say "nah, you cannot come here cause you did not take the challenge I presented before you. L O S E R"

Answer 9

The really sad thing about being an atheist is - even if you were right all along, you never even get the satisfaction of saying "I told you so!" By the time you figure out you were right, you're dead!

And the beauty of believing? Our worst case scenario? We get to live with hope and die in peace! And then turn to the same dust as the atheist. No punishment for us in being wrong!

Being an atheist, on balance then, I mean when you really think about it...it's just dumb.

Answer 10

Look, it doesn't matter what I say to you. It's obvious by the way you posted that you know what answer you want. Here's a premonition: You will receive an answer by a like-minded Christian, and you will choose this response as "best answer." Why waste my time giving you a fresh response to a question I've already answered ten times this week?

Answer 11

Some of us lead a good and valuable life for the good of our fellow man. Some lead a good and valuable life because it is the right thing to do. Some do so for their children's future. Others need some sort of eternal, cosmic parent to keep them honest. Those people scare me the most.