Meaning and purpose of life: Doesn't it seem odd.?

Question

Many deny that life has meaning or purpose. But rephrase the question to "do you have anything to live for?" and suddenly there are answers. An answer of "nothing to live for" would immediately warn us of the possibility of suicide. This is serious business.

It seems to me that if there is no purpose of our existence here on earth, then we must invent "purposes" in order to avoid suicide. We have to have a psychological crutch for our own mental health.

But it seems that not just any invented purpose will do. For example, very few people collect old chewing gum wrappers as their purpose in life. No, it has to be a noble purpose, e.g. "make a difference", "feed the hungry", "learn all you can", etc.

It looks to me like we're inventing purposes to keep our sanity but then convincing ourselves that the purpose is for a higher cause than just our own mental health.

Do you find that odd?

Christian: I think purpose and meaning are essentially the same. We use "purpose" to apply to things and "meaning" to apply to actions. Both require an intelligent design or plan.

Helen: "happy" and "truth" don't always go together. Are we willing to deceive ourselves in order to be happy? I think most of us do.

binxdaji: The idea that its in our genes to "want to make a difference" is an example of self deception. Our genes are selfish genes and deceptive genes as per Dawkins. We act selfishly and tell/convince/deceive ourselves that our actions are really for others. Makes us feel better.

Answer 1

I agree with the Dalai Lama who says the meaning of life is "to be happy"

Just keeping it simple is the hardest thing to do... to enjoy the simple pleasures, and LET yourself be happy is the key...

I spent 40 years being serious and 'productive' every minute of my life.... for the past 3 years I have been 'retired' from 'having to work' which was my dream... but I still haven't worked out WHO I am without a 'role' to define myself by... very embarassing to be nearly 50 years old and not have a self-concept other than what I 'do'... so now I am committed to my 'purpose in life' to be HAPPY, while I contribute, share, save the world etc..... one day I might even work out why I am here.

I have collected more thoughts and resources on this topic here:

http://www.personal-enterprise-self-help-resources.com/HAPPINESS-PURPOSE.html

Answer 2

I don't think we are inventing the purposes in that sense. Yes, we come accross thinking that we have a purpose in life regarding our interests and emotions; but I think it is some sort of destiny. Why do we feel bad when we do wrong? (those who have a concience) Why do we feel good when we do good? Purpose is not the same as meaning, but we make our lives meaningful when we find a purpose.

I think that as long as we keep being fooled by society into our negative thinking since we are born, we will just think similar to what you think.

I don't think we will find answers in the physical world as clear as we want them.

Answer 3

Not really.

Its in our genes, our chemical makeup for some of us to want to make a difference; to evolve ourselves and that of all humanity. Some not.

The point is,
We can invent a million different reasons as to why we are here; but its the individuals who apply those reasons juxtaposed to their morals and realize that in all our searching...the only thing that we find that makes it bearable is each other.

Answer 4

I don't know, never though of it that way.

But having a purpose a direction in life is better then having none at all.

Answer 5

brother it seems that you are lost in the thoughts. these thoughts and beliefs of yours put you in a Dissonance. you have to get rid of it. it can be learnt and developed. better you go through the contents of the following urs intensively you will have a ligh in life:

http://www.lightinlife.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=101&limit=1&limitstart=0

and

http://www.lightinlife.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=65

Answer 6

The philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.

These questions are separate from the scientific issue of the boundary between things with life and inanimate objects.
Popular beliefs
"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?" Here are some of the many potential answers to this perplexing question. The responses are shown to overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories:

Survival and temporal success
...to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you
...to be always satisfied
...to live, go to school, work, and die
...to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to gain and exercise power
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to eat
...to prepare for death
...to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly.
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution)
...to protect and preserve one's kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution)
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
...to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means
...to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauer's will to procreate)
...to find and take over all free space in this "game" called life
...to seek and find beauty
...to kill or be killed
...No point. Since having a point is a condition of living human consciousness. Animals do not need a point to live or exist. It is more of an affliction of consciousness that there are such things as points, a negative side to evolutionary development for lack of better words.

Wisdom and knowledge
...to master and know everything
...to be without questions, or to keep asking questions
...to expand one's perception of the world
...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
...to understand and be mindful of creation or the cosmos
...to lead the world towards a desired situation
...to satisfy the natural curiosity felt by humans about life

Ethical
...to express compassion
...to follow the "Golden Rule"
...to give and receive love
...to work for justice and freedom
...to live in peace with yourself and each other, and in harmony with our natural environment
...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
...to serve others, or do good deeds

Religious and spiritual
...to find perfect love and a complete expression of one's humanness in a relationship with God
...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
...to become like God, or divine
...to glorify God
...to experience personal justice (i.e. to be rewarded for goodness)
...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. to seek objectivity)
...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment, and atonement
...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
...to discover who you are
...to resolve all problems that one faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach oneself from all problems faced

Philosophical
...to give life meaning
...to participate in the chain of events which has led from the creation of the universe until its possible end (either freely chosen or determined, this is a subject widely debated amongst philosophers)
...to know the meaning of life
...to achieve self-actualisation
...all possible meanings have some validity
...life in itself has no meaning, for its purpose is an opportunity to create that meaning, therefore:
...to die
...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
...nature taking its course (the wheel of time keeps on turning)
...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever
...life may actually not exist, or may be illusory )
...to contemplate "the meaning of the end of life"

Other
...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
...to participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
...to make conformists' lives miserable
...to make life as difficult as possible for others (i.e. to compete)