famous philosophers have been trying to answer this question. i've tried. many possibilities have popped up in my head. what is your point of veiw on this ""unanswerable"" question?
2007-10-24 11:07:48 · 18 answers · asked by rascalover7 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
love ,laughter, happiness, mistakes thats the point of life
2007-10-24 11:11:48 · answer #1 · answered by olga g 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not really "unanswerable", just not the answer most of us would like.
Life has a nature. To collect energy, reproduce, and protect itself.
This is blazingly obvious from any observation of life.
But it seems like the moment humans became self aware, they have fancied themselves the center of the universe.
Now, this is understandable because you should be profoundly important to yourself; important to your parents, children & friends. But important to the universe? Hardly.
Conservative estimates hold there are at least 100 Billion stars in our galaxy and at least 100 Billion galaxies in the known universe. And I would hardly be surprised if our universe turned out to be 1 of a 100 billion.
So make up some higher point to your life if that's what gets you through the night. Personally I think its all vanity.
The people I love are important to me, and I imagine the reverse is mostly true. For me, this is enough. Trying to imagine I matter beyond that, strikes me as a fool's game.
Life is a magnificent thing, but it has no point other than to live it.
2007-10-24 19:14:50 · answer #2 · answered by Phoenix Quill 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's what you make of it. It sounds cheesy and lame, but it really is. No one can tell you what the goal in your life is. You're darn lucky if YOU can say what the point of your life is. The best we can do is do what we think needs to be done, and hope we're doing it right.
Besides, they've been asking this one since cavemen. If there was an answer, don't you think they'd have come up with one by now? : )
In response to Phoenix Quill, we have a vastly larger effect than just within our microsystem. Everyday, you affect someone else. I smile and talk to the gas station attendant. He is pleasant with the next 3 people he interacts with, because he is now in a pleasant mood. Those three people call their friends and family, who talk to people all over the nation. That is just one example. We DO have a profound effect, we just don't always know what it is or like what it does. It's not vanity, it's just fact.
2007-10-24 20:49:17 · answer #3 · answered by greengirlmissy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Point and purpose and meaning and worth all are interconnected. Worth is what we are all searching for:
"There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide. Deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions follow from that." (Philosopher and writer, Albert Camus-1942)
But worth requires purpose because it is our human experience that things without purpose have no worth. So we need purpose but purpose requires God:
“Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” (mathematician and philosopher, Bertrand Russell)
If we reject God, we also reject real purpose and worth, and so we have to find some way to feel worth even if it is only a feeling. We can do that by doing something that will earn us real or imagined praise. Take for example one of the answers here, "the purpose of life is to live a life of purpose". The only goal for that statement is to make us feel good about ourselves. It's praiseworthy and we feel good because it boosts our ego. No matter that most praise is insincere, we're more than willing to deceive ourselves.
If God is real, purpose and meaning and point and worth can all be real. Without God, all of it is an illusion which we are forced to maintain for our own mental health.
2007-10-25 07:06:39 · answer #4 · answered by Matthew T 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you are looking for an answere in philosopy the only one that makes ground is the one that includes you as part of the solution to reality. So far you are the most finite point in all reality and what you do is the point of life.
2007-10-24 18:18:47 · answer #5 · answered by JORGE N 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Take life as you find it, but don't leave it that way.
Simply put, the point of life is to enjoy it; that is, to live IN JOY. Since we cannot give away what we do not have, it is important that we meet our own needs first. Ultimately, however, the reason for enjoying life is to make the lives of others enjoyable. For as George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans Cross, 1819 ~ 1880) wrote, "What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?"
The point of it all is to make a point, to have a reason for being, to be a point of light by making a difference. In other words, the purpose of life is to live a life of purpose. Usually, we don't have to waste time trying to discover our life purpose because it is not to be found, but to be created by us.
If your personal calling is not obvious to you, be still for a moment and ask your inner wisdom for guidance. Franz Kafka (1883 ~ 1924) explains: "Life's splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come."
What's the point of being successful and having plenty to live on if one has nothing to live for? So, pick a cause. It is belief in something greater than you and enthusiasm in pursuing it that makes life worth living.
2007-10-24 18:26:26 · answer #6 · answered by Easy B Me II 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the question can be answered and is answered by many people here, but the difficult part about it is whether to accept the answer or not.
i agree with the gentleman who answered "LIVING". the point of life is to simple live it. how else do you answer this question. if you seek on what is the purpose of life... well, now that's something...
2007-10-24 19:16:43 · answer #7 · answered by Lari 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Making the most of your life, finding out who you are truely, making a GOOD impact on the earth and fellow humans, continuing the human race and making GOOD citizens. Being the best, happiest person you can be.
2007-10-24 18:40:46 · answer #8 · answered by Mal777 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
To live... all the pages in between the covers is up to the individual.
2007-10-28 08:16:02 · answer #9 · answered by cockroachdavis 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was a philospohphy major, I studied all forms of esoteric wisdom, I journeyed to the highest of mountains, and I could not answer this.
And then I had kids, and I stopped asking myself the question.
2007-10-24 18:27:49 · answer #10 · answered by Stenzo 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Turn your attention around to point it within... and over time, this question will be answered thoroughly and to your complete satisfaction.
The secret on how it's done...
2007-10-24 18:18:01 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋