What do you believe is the purpose of life???

Question

Okay, I think life was met to teach us that we should help other people and we should learn to care for ourselves, each other and the environment.... thats actually what I believe... what do you think is the meaning of life??? you can just say taht you dont worry about things like that if you really feel that way. Well, I'm just asking...

Answer 1

I believe that the meaning of life is different for each of us. And that each of us has to look within ourselves for what that meaning is. And I believe that it changes over time. Neither 'life' nor it's meaning to any of us remains static. It's an ongoing process which, if we avoid, will invariably lead us up a dead end and we'll be working towards things which do not truly satisfy our own needs for a 'meaningful' life.
And the meanings in your own life will certainly be different from the meaning in another persons life in many ways. Ant the meaningful things don't all have to be terribly deep (although some of them certainly will be). You might even discover that some of the things that are meaningful to you border on being self-centered or selfish or shallow. But if you don't either change them (-much- easier said than done ☺) or just learn to live with them, you'll never be happy.

Doug

Answer 2

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 3

When you say " life is meant . . . ", you are implying that there was an intelligence or a design or a plan for your life. That is the same as assuming there is a God.

In fact, God is necessary for purpose of life. Here is atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell on that subject:

“Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” (Bertrand Russell - noted mathematician, philosopher and Nobel Laureate)

If we assume that God exists, then God existing is far, far more important than doing some activities that make us feel good. If God exists and put the need for purpose into our human nature; shouldn't that send us on a mission to seek to find God?

But if we reject God, then there is no "meant" to life and all our activities, e.g. "help other people" and "care for the environment", etc. are all just activities that we choose to make us feel good about ourselves and to forget our meaningless existence.

Answer 4

The purpose of life is the purpose at hand. Each purposeful act subsists under a greater purpose and that under a greater purpose. As the self ascends from the description for the purposeful act to its greater or superior, the description becomes more abstract as it contains less description for the sensible until the greatest is completely non-sense. The Will is positive and the Judgment is negative. When we return to using our Judgment, we return to the sensible. The form the Judgment becomes, however, is a different process. Sensing is not comprehending until the senses become theoreticians in their selves so that higher purpose is not ascended to but conjoined with the senses for confluent exchange.

I essentially agree.

Answer 5

Well, the basic purpose of life is to continue life.. so having babies! But that's not very emotionally satisfying, so I like to think that loving people and being loved by others is the purpose.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

To me the purpose of life is to do what you want other to do for you. I believe we need compassion and need to slow down. We need to stop and smell the roses that God put here for us and really hear all the wonderful noises around us. To me that is what makes me come alive. Looking at all the wonder around me and knowing that nothing is in my control.

Answer 8

i was created by god to believe that life's purpose is to change or rather influence others lives... for me, life's purpose is to shower others the life that they want to have whoever they may be, whatever they may be doing... i want to help them make their life full if happiness and cheers from their comrades who are willing to sacrifice for the aims and goals of their dreams, though problems and tragedies are nearby. that is life for me!

Answer 9

In a purely biological sense: to survive and reproduce.

In a more abstract sense: we make the meaning in our lives. It's whatever we want it to be.

Find your path and lead the way.

Answer 10

I think the meaning of life is a test of God's faith.