The meaning of life

[Bloopy]

What's the meaning of life?

Those of us who are atheists would likely concur that there's no intrinsic meaning in life, and it's all just a tremendous accident. If anything exists outside of our universe, it's probably more universes containing equally baffled creatures. So, maybe the question needs rewording, eg.: What's the greatest meaning you can give to your life?

Just a reminder that this is a serious and mature section of the forum (outside of the bible basher threads ). I wanna see a few paragraphs, not screeds of text copied and pasted verbatim from your favourite holy books.

 

[CiG]

Fuck your rules, also:

 

[Slammed]

Why does there have to meaning to your life or anyone elses?

 

[Bloopy]

Why does there have to meaning to your life or anyone elses?

I didn't mean to imply there has to be a meaning. The best answer could be none whatsoever. But if so, surely someone can justify that answer somehow.

 

[Slammed]

If one doesn't think about a meaning, or live life looking for one that might be all the justification needed for them, without any explanations. But I suppose that wouldn't be enough for someone looking for answers, or a direction.

 

[Bloopy]

The answers to a question similar to yours could be hugely insightful. Not why a life has to have meaning, but rather why anyone would wanna give meaning to theirs. It's probably depends on how the individual feels. Eg. if one person simply enjoys figuring out a meaning to slap onto their life then maybe their meaning of life is to enjoy it. Whereas another who sees this search as a serious and satisfying pursuit may then find their meaning of life is to achieve satisfying accomplishments. Though most would probably then get philosophically greedy and claim their meaning is a combo of both and more.

For me these sorts of things aren't a search for a direction. It's more about examining, deducing and defining things based on experiences of where one is at now. Reaching some kind of answer/conclusion can lead to feeling happier and more confident in making the same choices I probably would've made anyway. And if there's no answer to be found, I still enjoy taking my brain for a walk around the block.

 

[Slammed]

You could also take the point of view that someone who spends a lot of time looking for meaning is actually looking for the wrong thing.

 

[Ugadwal]

the meaning of my life is Love. Perhaps this is the most philosophical question of all existing. The ancient Greeks and Romans have been puzzling them, we are still puzzling. Values and meaning of life, there is an essay collection on this site https://studydriver.com/value-of-life-essay/, you can come read if you have a need or are interested in this topic as a whole.

 

[Vandert]

I`ve never thought about the meaning of the life, but perhaps it is happiness

 

[komeye]

I want to live on a land where they stop killing and robbing

 

[Shreddling]

The meaning of life is to seek and love the meaning of life as you discover and define it.

 

[Shreddling]

The meaning of life is to seek and love the meaning of life as you discover and define it.

I was an atheist for 15 years at the beginning of life. I have been studying religion philosophy spirituality consciousness for more than 15 years. Even if you’re an atheist there still has to be a meaning of life for you it doesn’t have to be God or religion based. Science is a wonderful thing that can help us understand how life works even down to the subatomic level so I’m sure for atheists that are also astrophysicists or quantum theorists, That their meaning of life is to understand life which is what they enjoy which is what makes them happy and it also contributes to our society.
On the other end of the spectrum you have the Abrahamic religions, And the catechism of the Catholic Church defines the meaning of life on its first page, to seek and love God. And I just want to say that the term paganism is a load of crap. If you look at One of the oldest religions on earth that’s still around today that would be Hinduism, which I have studied in depth for years and is part of the culture Of where my parents are from, most people including some Indian people practice it and believe that it is a pagan religion which it is not. Each of the different gods are simply different aspects of one God and this is the true deeper teaching of Hinduism, and from what I’ve seen, This goes for all the other religions and ways of life throughout the world that have been falsely labeled pagan.
As humanity grows and evolves certain institutions of social control will no longer be needed. Sadly the great things that were taught by great teachers have been used by religion for some bad stuff.


happiness isn’t truly experienced unless it is shared. Shared with others and with life itself. and that involves seeking and discovery. This involves stepping outside of yourself, outside of your ego. And ego here I’ll define as identification with form. And that means the subtler forms of thoughts and emotions. If you learn not to act on your thoughts and your emotions then you’ll find an underlying observer and flow within you and in life. Each of us is the universe that wanted to be aware of itself and thus created the means To meet its self in you, and us in each other. And that’s love.

 

[chriscook]

The meaning of life is subjective, often centered on love, growth, and purpose. It's about creating connections, embracing experiences, and finding fulfillment in the journey unique to each individual.

 

[Frorige]

For me, the meaning of life is about finding joy and purpose in the little things. I believe we should enjoy every day as much as we can, even in small ways. Pursue passions, connect with others, and make memories that matter. Personally, I am passionate about traveling, exploring new cultures, and meeting people from all walks of life. It reminds me how vast and beautiful the world is. I’ve recently started planning trips to Divi Resorts, and it’s made me realize how important it is to do more of what you like because those moments create the greatest meaning.

 

[Bloopy]

I finally figured out the Bloopy answer. As I said, I'm basically atheist and I don't think there's any inherent meaning to the universe, at least not one we can discover. So meaning as I know it is something created by the brain. At every level, the brain interprets signals to make sense of them, from hearing a simple humming sound, to feeling a complex mood based on a variety of factors. Following that train of thought, the meaning of life would be something like the overarching interpretation that arises when one ponders life as a whole.

So when I meditate on the entirety of existence and life as we know it, what sense does my mind make of it? That it's everything. It's tragic, it's entertaining, it's venerable or absurd, overwhelming or underwhelming, serendipitous or zemblanitous, it's like being inside a computer or labyrinth, it's a toy to play with, it's like being a slave to events beyond your control yet having the freedom to do anything within the bounds of physics and/or society, it's a chance to leave a legacy or even try to leave no trace at all. The meaning of life is the infinity of possibilities. Once I worked that out then I realised other friends had said the same basic thing in different words, including my ex who considers this meaning a core part of her identity. Funny knowing the Bloopy answer was already right in front of me since 6 years ago.

Philosophers get caught up on separating out different definitions of "meaning", particularly 'purpose' vs 'making sense of'. However, I think purpose is just more layers of interpretation. If someone finds a strong purpose, that helps them fill in the details of how existence makes sense to them. Or in my case I can take what sense I've made of life and ponder some ideas on top of that for my brain to conjure up a purpose.

I realise I may have a bit of a non-answer here. What it is is that it's possible, because if it wasn't, nothing would be...

The meaning of life is to seek and love the meaning of life as you discover and define it.

This line is even more of a non-answer given it's a circular definition. You go searching and discover the meaning of life is to go searching and discover the meaning of life, finding that it's to go searching and discover the... Also, re: science, "how life works" & why it all exists are two very different questions. Sure, a scientist is most likely happy contributing to society, but an explanation for why that's the 'meaning of life' would still very much up to philosophy. Not merely a matter of presenting the scientist's work. More scientists might say the beauty is that we don't know the 'why' and leave it at that.