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Outright let me set down some ground rules since I am painfully aware of how controversial and relatively arbitrary this subject is.

1. Post only once with your Opinion. Please do not post a rebuttal, it can only cause an argument due to the volatile nature of the subject.
2. Do not debase/insult/demean or otherwise post anything derisive. That includes anything which within general reason could be construed so.
3. Try and make a complete, whole, and well thought-out contribution. I understand in the moment of passion it can be hard to resist typing up a storm with your opinion, but it would serve the educational nature of this thread if you could calm down and be reasonable and able-minded when you post.
4. Post your opinion, but please do not go to excessive lengths with the theological literature. I don't want anybody to try and convert anybody else.

I would like for this thread's longevity to be unaffected by any Moderator interventions so, as I said before, keep cool. This is of an educational nature, partly for other people to read and digest others views, partly for my own benefit in trying to surmise, essentially, the meaning of life.

I will pose my initial observations and opinion, along with some questions, and I invite you to rebuke, support, or otherwise answer the most essential inquiry: What is the meaning of life? Opinions over religion are also welcomed, but highly cautioned, as they are quite relevant to the discussion.
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What we call life is a complex juxtapose of chemical reactions between amino acids, governed on a grander scale by nucleic acids; simply,nitrogenous bases connected to sugars with phosphate extensions. And the ineffable emotions that we experience on a daily basis? Chemical interactions between other complex molecule, more chemistry? Yes. We all must accept the facts in the face of irrevocable scientific evidence. But, these complex interactions could possibly be just the corporeal manifestations of the spiritual being. Or really just chemical interactions that are guided by a higher-power; an omnipotent being. It is all speculation, since no proof has yet been provided, however I do know that faith in the unprovable is a test of individual spiritual strength. That it is required because everybody can believe what they see, but not everybody can believe in something ethereal. It is something of a conundrum, which I am just restating.

Do we have a spirit? Are we just a physical manifestation of that spirit? When we are conceived, do create our own new spirit, or prior receive a passed on spirit? What exactly constitutes a spirit? Supposing we do have a spirit, of all the theories I am most inclined to believe in Reincarnation and Karma. Why? Because it forces you to take responsibility for your actions as an individual regardless of experiences or unjustness. Because the wheel of life is unforgiving and there is no benevolent god to accept your pleas and release you from your burdens. You are forced to serve out your "prison" term, and, unlike Heaven and Hell, there is no eternity, no "death sentence". Once you learn, you can return and become something different, something better. Going back to the main topic, does the existence of a soul and a governing creator affect our destiny?

What about 42? Douglas Adam's interpretation of the answer to life may be a bit cryptic, yet it seems to pose an interesting view. 42 is meant, in this case, to be spoken of by it's constituent digits, four and two. If you delve further into it, you discover that it was supposed to represent "for two". In other words, the purpose of life is the relationship between two individuals; love. In all the queer and spontaneous phenomenon of this universe, life on earth, in all its beauty and wonder, exists for love. I think it exceedingly simple, and attractive, but some how too easy and wonderfully beautiful to be true. Maybe I am a tad pessimistic, but I like to think of it as being pragmatic.

So if not for a god, and not for love, at least in my opinion, then for itself? Does life exist just to exist, for it's own sake. Or exist just so that it can proliferate that selfsame existence and intent? I think it seems likely that the miracle of life was bestowed upon this planet in all spontaneity, as is the tendency of our universe. And that makes it all the more special and beautiful. That life has no purpose, no governing body that executes predetermined destiny. It is here by accident, and so came to be without any intentions. It is chaos among order, the light to the black of space, a red flower on a green meadow. The last little dab on a masterpiece painting that suddenly completes the picture. I don't want to become to enigmatic or verbose with all the symbolism, but it really makes sense to me.


So, now, it is your turn.

I've always been fond of a self-regulating universe. A giant clock which functions under set guidelines. Where the guidelines came from is something which I honestly believe is beyond any sort of human understanding, not that we don't have the information to know it, but that we simply lack the capacity to think in such broad terms. In my view, if, existance as a whole is a giant working clock, fate is sort of... contradictory, atleast to me. Since everything works so perfectly together, it is going to produce certain results, since there are no flaws in the whole work of things. But then, if everything is going to happen as it is supposed to, that doesn't explain humanity and all the flaws we bring.

In my thought process, I like to seperate humanity and existance as a whole, mainly because nature seems so flawless, and humanity so flawed. While nature gets to move about as it should in its perfection, civilizations rise and fall, all for self-realization and justification. So although the purpose of life, and why it's there, I feel any view can fit, I think that the meaning of life, atleast human life, is all about... figuring out the meaning of life, sounds stupid, but it's what I think.

The way I look at it, the greatest civilizations which rose and fell around the world, particularly Rome, Islam, and the British empire, grew because their populace had a very optimistic view of themselves. The Romans wanted the justification and self-realization, they wanted to know why they were there, so they decided that they could take the Etruscans and Greeks, and use what had been put before them to spread across the world, what they thought was the way to greatness, it was their own confidence that lead to an empire. The great empires simply decided for themselves that it was their way or the highway, and even that would be a perfect system, but since two humans can be so confident, at once, this is the flaws which appear in nature's great clock.

So I figure that, what's going to happen, is going to happen, the clock is going to keep ticking, but like the quartz in the clock, humanity keeps shifting, and by seemingly working chaotically, keeps rythm. Economies go up and down, as do religious powers, and sickness and health. Fluctuation is what, to the observer, keeps existance as a self-destructive entity, but one would have to look from the outside in to see the order all of this pertains to.

I have found this thought process to apply well to many situations of religion and genuine opinion. It's mine, simply there to be viewed, I hope it isn't biased towards anything but my own views, I wrote it without as much thought as philosophy. The sort of philosophy which leads me away from the question, and leads to the socratic cycle of questioning a question... oh well, I'm too tired to think any further.

Life is a hereditary, wasting and ultimately fatal illness. There are cures to it, but society considers those things to be variations on the theme of murder, and while vaccinations through other diseases which can shorten life, we have decided to gradually render it increasingly incurable through our dogged pursuit of the medical sciences. Humans and all things other things which are created, and especially all things which are born with the sickness of life are destined to reach a fated end, to be destroyed. To live for even one day is to surrender to death another, and only things which have never existed, never lived, can avoid this fate.

Immortality is simply a state of stasis where the idea of a person continues to exist under a predefined series of settings, whether as a whole being or simply an idea, for a period beyond what is considered natural. Realizing that even immortality of a sort does end with death, humanity has fatalistically given itself two alternatives to the eventual expiration of living disease. Two live in granite routine and exist for a long time, or live every day as if it were the last, and eventually be correct. Any 'alternatives to the alternatives' are simply moderated varieties of the existing possibilities.

However, compared the the numerous cases of illness I have suffered in the past, none have been quite as enjoyable as life. To breathe, tasting the air and smelling the combination of artificial and natural contaminants. To feel pain, pleasure, in odd coincidences and disconcerting closeness. To fear, hate and love, though I prefer a harmless and attractive person to any of my enemies. To most, life is a disease worth having once, even if those experiences we had in it might be forgotten, and those still afflicted will forget about us.

If the disease is the only thing which allows me to be as I am, than I am more than happy to be non-asymptomatically alive. Besides, no one has really spoken well of the alternative... recently.

What is life? I mean, what is it really?

It's a concept; a concept invented to fulfill humanity's curiosity. We wanted to explain the world around us, and why some things moved, and some things didn't, and why rocks didn't bleed, but animals and other humans did. So we separated living from not-living, and self from everything else.

There is no reason for life. Life, as we know it, is just a long chain of coincidences that led to humanity being created and defining life and self.

Humanity, as a species, has been around for barely a millisecond in the grand scale of things, and has only been around for an infinitesimally small time as a civilization. And in that time, we managed to create theologies and ideas and the concept of soul in order to explain our existence here.

Also, the concept that humanity is separated from nature is a combination of romanticism and the human concept of self. Humanity is dependent on nature, but nature (the global ecosystem) is only dependent on humanity when we make it like that. It could just as well do without us.

Life is self. Without a concept of self, there would be no concept of life.

Bump! =D

The meaning of life is "the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally." ~dictionary.com

According to the dictionary 'life' is the condition of being alive. But what exactly is meaning in the deeper sense?

What is the meaning of a cup? A philosopher might say that it is round representing the circular facets of life traveling long and hard only to come back to the same beginning. A mathematician might say that it is geometrically sound defined by pi r squared times length to acquire its spacial volume. A Physics major might say that by Newton's third law, action reaction, the sum of forces exerted outwards by the liquid content equals the sum of forces inwards exerted by the cup. You ask the cup and it might say that its meaning is smash on nails and metal to build air craft carriers and titanic, after all it does have a nice grip and a flat bottom. Finally, if you ask the designer, he might say 'meaning? It's a cup. I use it to drink water'.

Meaning, therefore, can be derived from possible three sources. The first being others who tell you your meaning. The second being yourself who decides that you mean something. And the last being the engineer who designed the cup with its original purpose.

If we use a cup like a hammer, how long does it have before it cracks? If we use a pencil like a sword, how long does it have till it snaps? If, in juxtaposition, there were never any designers for humans then there is no intrinsic purpose for our existence. What meaning does life have, then, except what we make of it?

Meaning is always given. A rock in space has no meaning by itself. Scientist might give it meaning quoting laws of the universe and explain how it contributes in relativity to space time matter and energy; Philosophers might give it meaning describing its inspiration to life encouraging us to ask more questions; English majors might create meaning saying its a symbol with a hundred allusions to various works. Human life, then also, can only have meaning by being given meaning by either someone else or by ourselves.

If human lives spawned from nothing then there is no purpose except what we make of it. If people were created by some god(s) out there then purpose is what he/she/it/they intended to be unless we choose to defy it and start smashing nails and metals with our posteriors.

The proper questions to ask next, then, should either be:

1. What will you make of your life to give it meaning?

or

2. Is there a creator, some God out there, who created us and for what purpose?

Bumpetty Bump

For me the meaning of life is to serve god, but then that is because I am a christian. IF I wasn't however, my views would be the same as Kouketsu's. That quote you have put at the end of your post is dead right, some people have spent entire lifetimes trying to work out this conundrum, and as a result have squandered their chance to expereince life.

Anyhow, thats my views.

*puts the quote in his signature* XD

Ahh, I know that I am violating my own rules here by posting a reply, but I wanted to point out an error. I, in deed, already stated that my opinion of life was that it had no purpose.

Maybe you just missed it amongst the longer, more boring sections. I will quote it.

I think it seems likely that the miracle of life was bestowed upon this planet in all spontaneity, as is the tendency of our universe. And that makes it all the more special and beautiful. That life has no purpose, no governing body that executes predetermined destiny. It is here by accident, and so came to be without any intentions. It is chaos among order, the light to the black of space, a red flower on a green meadow. The last little dab on a masterpiece painting that suddenly completes the picture. I don't want to become to enigmatic or verbose with all the symbolism, but it really makes sense to me.

Besides, I never meant for this thread to be a discussion, merely a compilation of opinions; thus the rule about only posting once. I, personally, think of the meaning of life within the boundaries of Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle. The closer we come to understanding what the purpose of life is, the less we understand about what life is and vice versa. So it becomes futile to try and understand the meaning of life and germane to experience it; which seems to be in accordance with your opinion. But the distinction comes between a compilation of opinions, where you state your own opinion and revise it as your understanding begins to change, and trying to prove you are right, and disprove others, in a discussion. I don't want to prove anything, since I am incapable of doing so, only learn about and from others.

Personally i am a christian but i do have some Scientific logic in my head, I Do beleive that there is a spirit, and that it (Not he/she) is in control, that is my wishy washy, good boy christian answer.

Truly though There are several things that are always wavering my Christian beliefs...

1: The fact that although we cannot see it, there is a substance nearly untraceable to any human that controls the expansion, contractions and Any possible things in are known universe, Dark matter With all that power is almost considered to have a god like power. It makes me think that maybe dark and maybe even Anti matter are really what Control this Life.

2: I agree with the Reincarnation Idea in several prospects, but not completely, i think that as a life form, our job is to Be born, grow, live, love, mate, Re populate the world, grow old, and die, A life cycle as some would say. But When you fufill your Jobs is your time here over? Or is your spirit recycled and given to another human being as We are born? it would require alot of science but it's a possibility.

3: We humans consider the Mythical creatures we have created over the years, as fantasy creatures... But to Alein life forms if they exist... what are we to them? an imagination as well? could Dragons be real? Basilisks? Griffons? martian men? anything we consider fictional be real on another world? And to them we could be Fantasy creatures as well. So is there really such a thing as fantasy when we don't even know whats real in our whole galaxy? Could Myth be fact?


If some of these don't comply to the topic i'll delete it.... i just wanted to express how i truly felt.

This question always annoys me a little in that it's asked so often and answered so swiftly by people trying to be deep, and most people don't even question the assumptions behind it. As Kouketsu rightly says we shouldn't simply assume that life has a meaning but more than that people rarely bother to distinguish what kind of 'life' and 'meaning' they're talking about. My life? Your life? Everyone's? Life as an abstract? Life as a force of nature? And is a purpose necessary for meaning, are they the same thing? Is the meaning of a life like the meaning of a word? Is meaning about symbols and if so what is being symbolized? Are you interested in the actual meaning that life has in fact, or the kind of meaning it can acquire and so the possible scope of all meanings it could have, and how it could get them?

To put it another way, 'What is the meaning of life?' is a whole family of potentially important questions that's been carelessly conflated, making it just about the least philosophical question ever.

Nonetheless, answers like the ones here aren't just nonsense. If you're looking for a legitimate question with real import for your life, I'd start with 'What does my answer to 'What is the meaning of life?' mean?'

[Off Topic: Sorry about the Hiatus, but I have been absent from Gateway for a few months. I would like to revive this topic; I am still interested in hearing peoples opinions.]



I see what you are trying to say Kesteven. The reason the question has been posed here, in such a generalized format, is because when you start to analyze the question, break it down into precise points, extrapolate context, and the like, it becomes far too complex for the casual reader. Another consequence of narrowing the scope of the debate in that manner is that the answers will be restricted, when ideally, they should just be rough opinions straight from the minds of people. I am not asking for some esoteric debate on technical points here, I just want the unrefined opinions.




Thank you to everybody who has already posted, for helping me along. However, I accost anybody who is reading this to kindly, post your opinion. It matters not what language you use, don't be intimidated by something like that, or how radical your views are; I welcome them all.

It's been confirmed that the meaning of life is 42...

Anyway, the meaning of life is to live life. Basically to live, there's really no deep meaning to it to me.

If life has meaning, it can be nothing other than the conditions for life. Doing without trifles would bring someone closer to these essentials. If doing as much meaningful activity as possible, at the expense of non-meaningful activity, is virtuous, it would be virtuous to reduce oneself to near nothing. To paraphrase Lao Tzu, man is meant to sit still and look for the truth within.

There is, however, the possibility that life has no such essence, that nothing really distinguishes life from non-life. Down this road lie anti-essentialism, anti-humanism, and other contemporary criticisms of the bulk of philosophy.