what is the purpose of life?

Answer 1

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 2

Though I m not religious or theological, i think purpose of life is better found when u look back into those epic books.....
An example of how religion sets purpose can be found in the biblical story of creation in the Old Testament of the Bible (Genesis 1:28), in which God orders Man to "Be fruitful, and multiply; fill the earth, and subdue it". This indicates that the propagation of the human race, the care and population of the earth, and the control of the earth are the first three commandments God has set for man.

Another Biblical example is given in Micah 6:8, which states "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Answer 3

This seems to be a burning question. The question has many forms, but ultimately the purpose of life is bound to its definition. That purpose is to live. Life, as we know it, is a biological entity. Living organisms struggle with their environment to survive. They procreate to perpetuate life, and they die with their remains recycled into the ecosystem.

Ideas beyond the biological basics that give purpose to life based upon mythology or religion are vague and intrinsically supportive of the religion or mythology. They are inventions of the human mind or imagination.

"To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield..."
from Ulysses, a poem by Tennyson. The partial quote seems to be at the base of what life is about.

Answer 4

In general, life has no purpose - it is the act of living that creates purpose and use

Answer 5

the purpose of life to me is to die....we all live to die..it isn't promised forever..some just have a better time with their life then others..

Answer 6

there is no purpose of life. it is just a waste of time being here goign through the pain and hapiness. worst of all.. u w ont know whenyou goign to die.

Answer 7

The fulfillment of your human nature in accord with virtue.

Answer 8

to learn and gather knowledge of the universe, which would have no meaning if there was nobody to discover its secrets. so technically, we are here to give meaning to the universe, just as the universe is here for us.

Answer 9

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqHyzeIJ4_0gkbnEh3nJYYHsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071104094118AAjepJD&show=7#profile-info-7e7002b6150c8c3eae2926c9baf2be5daa
some good answers here

Answer 10

http://es.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Akn6IVT4W1Yxzv3kmD9e6gBo.gt.;_ylv=3?qid=20071106042201AAY4gL5