Meaning of Life?

[JustGeorge]

The meaning of life has long been discussed, argued, pondered on, etc.

Rather than discuss what you feel the meaning of life is, I'd rather discuss how you arrived at what you believe to be the meaning of life.

How'd you get there? Or are you still on that journey?

 

[Kathryn]

Great questions! I would say that the journey never ends, as long as we are in different phases of our lives.

 

[an anarchist]

Or are you still on that journey?

Indeed.

It seems my understanding on the meaning of life fluctuates. I continually intake knowledge and experiences with an open mind. It is as you say, the topic has been long discussed and the discussions discussed.

The ebb and flow of my mind. Will I ever settle down on my perception of the meaning of life? I think I am yet too young to have reached that point at least.

Though you say let’s not discuss what we feel the meaning of life is, I will lay out my perspectives on the meaning of life to help explain how I arrive there.

Sometimes I’m nihilistically pessimistic We are here to suffer.
Sometimes I’m defiantly optimistic We are here to end suffering
Sometimes I’m an absurdist I am here to play video games with my brother.

It depends what lens I look through and which perspective I take up that determines my meaning of life day to day.

 

[JustGeorge]

Sometimes I’m nihilistically pessimistic We are here to suffer.
Sometimes I’m defiantly optimistic We are here to end suffering
Sometimes I am an absurdist I am here to play video games with my brother.

How did you arrive at these specific conclusions?

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

The meaning of life has long been discussed, argued, pondered on, etc.

Rather than discuss what you feel the meaning of life is, I'd rather discuss how you arrived at what you believe to be the meaning of life.

How'd you get there? Or are you still on that journey?

Trial and error

Humbly,
Hermit

 

[JustGeorge]

Trial and error

Humbly,
Hermit

What does trial and error look like with beliefs?

 

[an anarchist]

How did you arrive at these specific conclusions?

I’ll go into more detail since you ask.

Sometimes I’m nihilistically pessimistic We are here to suffer.

Everyone tells me suffering is an inevitable (well, everyone but the Buddha). When I let the hopelessness and bad vibes affect me, I buy into the belief that suffering is forever and intrinsically attached to our existence. Suffering is the one thing we can count on in life it sometimes seems.

So, I arrive at this conclusion by not guarding my mind from negative energy.

Sometimes I’m defiantly optimistic We are here to end suffering

I reached this conclusion through reading, deep meditation, and mystical experiences. My metaphysical experience confirmed to me the impermanence of suffering and instructed me to do my part in removing it.

Sometimes I’m an absurdist I am here to play video games with my brother.

I reach this conclusion when I turn my brain off on things spiritual and just allow the strange details of my life and life itself to bounce around my noggin. I’m sitting on a comfy couch, eating a steak, playing on a flat screen TV on a video game that looks more real than real life. I’m an elf shooting fireballs out of my hands in game. And the TV and Xbox and WiFi works all for my entertainment. It’s so silly! All of this for my entertainment! But I want to make the most of it and enjoy my life, so I enjoy the absurd nature of my circumstances. Modern life is so normalized now, but it is truly absurd.

 

[Secret Chief]

The meaning of life has long been discussed, argued, pondered on, etc.

Rather than discuss what you feel the meaning of life is, I'd rather discuss how you arrived at what you believe to be the meaning of life.

How'd you get there? Or are you still on that journey?

For me, there is not an arrival. Not sure about the word journey either. My belief in the eternal now makes it tricky to couch meaning in such terms. Meaning is constructed, discarded, amended... as we experience the practice known as life. Meditation is simply periods of formal, delineated practice. Mostly I endeavour to live authentically moment by moment (ie always now).

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

What does trial and error look like with beliefs?

As you do not want to discuss beliefs as such; I’d say that the society that I grew up in taught that the meaning of life was X. I lived accordingly, but came to the conclusion in my late 20s, that it felt entirely meaningless to me. So, I decided to give other ideas about the meaning of life a go.

I tried many different ones, but only one fulfilled both me and those who interacted with me. I have lived in accordance with that one since then.
It works well so far.

Humbly,
Hermit

 

[SalixIncendium]

The meaning of whose life at what point it time? Experience has taught me that there is no universal meaning...that it will vary from person to person from moment to moment.

 

[ChristineM]

I asked the universe what is the meaning of life and rather than the 42 people expect I was deafened by the silence. I believe that life is an accident of entropy. Eventually entropy will be to high for life to continue. I think the meaning of life is to procreate and produce offspring that continues that life until lifes viability ends and ensures entropy has not wasted its time.

 

[Jimmy]

To live it. How did I get there? When I first heard the question.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The meaning of life has long been discussed, argued, pondered on, etc.

I'm honestly unsure that there is one.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Life is something possessed by many, many more organisms than mere humans. Some of those organisms are beneficial to human life, some are antithetical to it, and others simply peripheral. But it is all life.

It is my view, formed over a lifetime of thought (and based largely on the brilliant work of many, many people intellectually superior to me) that life arose naturally, though we don't know quite how, and diversified naturally, about which process we know a great deal indeed.

I don't believe many lives on earth would ask such a question as "what is the meaning of life?" Ferns certainly don't, nor microbes, nor ants and weevils. I strongly doubt that mice and squirrels are much concerned about life having any meaning. Their lives mean nothing more to them than eat and don't be eaten, procreate, and (though they don't foresee it) die.

Humans, and potentially a few other highly developed animals such as cetations, elephants, great apes and so on, might have some little glimmer of life being a bit more than that, and you can see this in how they care for their fellow creatures, and appear to really mourn their passing. But humans are by far the most aware of all the possibilities of life, and I think the only animals that can actually contemplate the question.

But I don't believe we will ever come up with a better answer than "whatever we choose to make of it." I do not believe there is some "being" external to humanity that has a purpose for human life, for the simple reason that there's absolutely zero evidence to suggest that there is. And for the record, the "visions" of highly imaginative human beings does not count as evidence -- for if it did, then ogres and gargoyles and fire-breathing dragons, pixies, fairies, Santa and the Invisible Pink Unicorn are all just as real, just as much the product of human imaginations.

Therefore, if you want a meaning for your life, it's up to you to devise one, and then do what it takes to give reality to that meaning.

 

[Balthazzar]

The meaning of life has long been discussed, argued, pondered on, etc.

Rather than discuss what you feel the meaning of life is, I'd rather discuss how you arrived at what you believe to be the meaning of life.

How'd you get there? Or are you still on that journey?

Whatever I am compelled to view it to be.

 

[Nakosis]

The meaning of life has long been discussed, argued, pondered on, etc.

Rather than discuss what you feel the meaning of life is, I'd rather discuss how you arrived at what you believe to be the meaning of life.

How'd you get there? Or are you still on that journey?

How I got there? Umm.. Science.
Still on a journey? Not really as there isn't much to it.
Being that it is the same for all life, not much mystery around it.

 

[JustGeorge]

I asked the universe what is the meaning of life and rather than the 42 people expect I was deafened by the silence. I believe that life is an accident of entropy. Eventually entropy will be to high for life to continue. I think the meaning of life is to procreate and produce offspring that continues that life until lifes viability ends and ensures entropy has not wasted its time.

Want to make sure I understand... it was the silence and lack of "42" that led you to lean towards entropy?

I'm honestly unsure that there is one.

What's leading you to that conclusion currently?

 

[ChristineM]

Want to make sure I understand... it was the silence and lack of "42" that led you to lean towards entropy?

42 is the answer given in Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and is often quoted, even among these hallowed pages. The universe is like that, old and wise but ask it any question and silence is the reply.
As for entropy, i wish I could find the paper i read on entropy setting up the conditions for life and eventually entropy will have lost so much thermal energy life will be unable to exist.

 

[Secret Chief]

entropy will have lost so much thermal energy life will be unable to exist.

Bit like northern Scotland then.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I'm honestly unsure that there is one.

What's leading you to that conclusion currently?

I do not believe that I voiced one.