No "Meaning" to Life: Live Free and Define Your Own Purpose

[Dissident Dan]

Meaning to life? **** it

So many people have spent (read: wasted) so much time thinking about a "meaning" (whatever that means [pun not intended]) or purpose to life.

Where do people get these silly ideas?

I assume that by "meaning" to life, people are referring to a purpose, unless someone informs me otherwise. But what is a purpose? It is a function designated by an entity or group of entities for an object. The purpose is not an inherent property of an object, but rather the word "purpose" just implies an intended use.

General Electric made a toaster with the purpose of semi-burning bread. However, I can use in my time machine (Simpsons reference). Someone's father may have had a child with the intention being that that child would take over the family business, but the child may pick a different path. In other words, the parent assigned a purpose to the child of taking over the family business. The purpose is completely subjective.

Why should GE's purpose be any more correct than mine (ignoring the ethics of time travel...which are not really my point)? Why should the parent's purpose be any more correct than the child's? How can a purpose be an actual quality of an object, or universal in anyway, if it is just a designation projected by some being onto another object? Whether that being is me, some CEO, a dog, some parent, or god, it doesn't matter. There is no actual truth to the matter of purpose, other than it being true that a certain individual has certain ideas relating to an object.

Meaning to life? I say **** it. Don't wait around for someone else to assign their own arbitrary purpose. Define your own. Live happily.

 

[Kerrie]

Meaning to life? I say **** it. Don't wait around for someone else to assign their own arbitrary purpose. Define your own. Live happily.

i can agree with this, everyone has to define their own meaning of their life...for some there may not be a meaning i suppose, but that would seem awful boring...

 

[Evo]

So many people have spent (read: wasted) so much time thinking about a "meaning" (whatever that means [pun not intended]) or purpose to life.

Where do people get these silly ideas?

It seems to run rampant here in la la land.

Meaning to life? I say **** it. Don't wait around for someone else to assign their own arbitrary purpose. Define your own. Live happily.

Very wise words.

 

[Fliption]

Perhaps searching for a meaning to life is the chosen purpose for these people. Perhaps this IS what makes them happy. Then let's let them be happy and not criticize them with posts like this.

 

[Tiberius1701]

So many people have spent (read: wasted) so much time thinking about a "meaning" (whatever that means [pun not intended]) or purpose to life.

Where do people get these silly ideas?

I read an excellent observation about the question. It pointed out that "meaning" always implies a meaning TO someone. When you look at it that way, you realize that the question only makes sense when you ask, "what is the meaning of life TO x".

As a humanist, I believe the great thing about life is that we can choose the meaning for our own lives, for us, and not have it handed to us by some authority.

So, the question has been answered. I know what the meaning of my life is to me and can move on to other issues.

 

[olde drunk]

it is our lack of confidence in self that has us looking for an external meaning. once we look inward, we realize that we each have our own meaning.

logically, within freewill, we decide what our goals and meaning is and will be.

peace,

 

[THANOS]

There is no point in searching the meaning of life. But if it fulfills you then by all means search!

 

[BlackJack]

Some people feel better if they have a special purpose assigned by other people. It's easier to follow than to lead.

 

[Polly]

Some people feel better if they have a special purpose assigned by other people. It's easier to follow than to lead.

I think we follow a belief because we are attracted to its instrinsic goodness and that it satisfies our inherent sense of yearning.

 

[pace]

1. I think one must be attentive that when you ask the question 'meaning of life' you've already presumed that there's a will behind life.

1.1 Then one shall ask oneself: Was I puzzled because of the question itself. Or was I puzzled because I wasn't aware of point 1.

1.2 Now one can ask yourself: Am I still puzzled about the question 'meaning of life' ?

 

[Rader]

So many people have spent (read: wasted) so much time thinking about a "meaning" (whatever that means [pun not intended]) or purpose to life.

Where do people get these silly ideas?

I assume that by "meaning" to life, people are referring to a purpose, unless someone informs me otherwise. But what is a purpose? It is a function designated by an entity or group of entities for an object. The purpose is not an inherent property of an object, but rather the word "purpose" just implies an intended use.


Meaning to life? I say **** it. Don't wait around for someone else to assign their own arbitrary purpose. Define your own. Live happily.

People with silly ideas, who have spent so much time thinking about a "meaning" or purpose to life, impose there self made reasons. Those who search find there happiness.

 

[pace]

And of course, you also have the other silly people, who just think that everything is silly. ;)

 

[verty]

Simply try to acknowledge that although we don't know if there is meaning to life, we desire it rather a lot. People would much rather discover some great meaning to life than face the possibility that there is none. Simply acknowledge your own desire. That is humanity's biggest problem, not realising how our own desires affect our decisions.

 

[cen2y]

Meaning to life? I say **** it. Don't wait around for someone else to assign their own arbitrary purpose. Define your own. Live happily.

Hmm, given an isolated system at any time where all laws and alike has been defined (I don't believe in true randomness), you'd be able to calculate forward in time to find the system at any other future time. Since our brains, "souls", and alike also is accounted for (the be able to affect, it either has to be within the system or be assigned as a law or alike), I'd say that whatever your actions are, they won't change the future from the "purposed" way since it was already "supposed" to occur.
Thus, your faith was already decided at the creation. *dum dum duuum*
or something.

Personally, I don't think there is a real meaning of life. There were simply a lot of different particles having a party, where some groups was able to increase the amount of it's kind of groups. As certain subgroups became more and more efficent, the will increase even more in amount.

 

[pmb_phy]

What is the meaning of life? A question most of us ask at one time or another. I like Einstein's view on this

What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.

 

[macbethium]

Am I correct to say that most here believe life is simple another artifact of the evolution of the universe? There's rocks (not alive), the grey area (virusses etc.) and life as we know it.

By that train of thought, it is thus fair to say that in the "great scheme of things", it doesn't make a rat's ass of difference whether anything in the universe is inanimate or alive.

What then explains the tendency for life to get increasingly complex? Or the desire for complex organisms to survive?

p.s. it's my first post, if I'm beating a dead horse don't hesitate to refer me to other posts!

 

[Dissident Dan]

What is the meaning of life? A question most of us ask at one time or another. I like Einstein's view on this

What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.

I do not mean to say that life has no value, but that a life has no purpose. Purpose only exists in thought. It is a fabrication.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If there is a creator then there may well be a philosophical purpose to life. Of course this comes down to a choice in beliefs, but given omnipotence I would think that by definition all things are possible. For example, every photon that contributed to the mutations that led to the evolution of humankind had purpose. It was divinely designed that each and every photon would be emitted at just right time and place.

===> The randomness of QM is what ensures that God's will be done? Funny, I don't remember Feynman ever mentioning this...

 

[Dissident Dan]

If you read my original post, you will see that I stated that even if there is a god, its purpose is not absolute, and is just as arbitrary as any other. Purpose is not a quality of the object to which we assign the purpose (although the assigned purpose can affect the qualities of the object, obviously), but a description of an intended use. It describes the thoughts of the purposer, not the state of the purposee.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

However I might argue that all of existence is just the thoughts of the creator. We are God's dream and that sort of thing...a definition of "is".

If it is because God wills it to be, isn't that implicit purpose...if it exists only as a function of God's will?

 

[p-brane]

I do not mean to say that life has no value, but that a life has no purpose. Purpose only exists in thought. It is a fabrication.

I thought porposes exist in the ocean. he he.

But, just for the Halibut I'll propose: the purpose of life is to create more life.

It may also be a process that allows rocks to observe themselves.

Since all of life is simply modified rocks, perhaps rocks are simply trying to get a good look at themselves.

Perhaps, just maybe, give it a thought; that is the purpose of life. To provide rocks with a consciousness.

You wouldn't want to deprive rocks of that privledge, would you?

 

[Dissident Dan]

It doesn't matter if we are part of a dream or not. (Although us being merely a dream seems more like a linguistic twist than a description of anything that could actually be. The whole idea of a dream is that it has no reality other than being the experiences of the dreamer. If it has its own reality [such as my existence in the dream], I fail to see how it could be a dream. Either that, or the word "dream" becomes meaningless.)

Whatever I am, I am. I have a consciousness. Any intent that another has for me is irrelevant to my own intent for my life.

 

[loseyourname]

Does it really need to be tangible? Certain things I do feel frivolous, certain things feel meaningful. I have no idea what it is that distinguishes one from the other, and I don't care. A balanced life requires both.

 

[Humbucker]

My ex wife will tell you that as long as I'm conscious she better get a fat check every month.That's proof of life.

 

[drag]

Greetings !

Am I correct to say that most here believe life is simple another artifact of the evolution of the universe? There's rocks (not alive), the grey area (virusses etc.) and life as we know it.

If I say "yes", would you accept that answer...

By that train of thought, it is thus fair to say that in the "great scheme of things", it doesn't make a rat's ass of difference whether anything in the universe is inanimate or alive.

Except to that live thing, perhaps.

What then explains the tendency for life to get increasingly complex? Or the desire for complex organisms to survive?

The laws of physics and mostly thermodynamics in this case, I guess.

Live long and prosper.