# Meaning of Life **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 4, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388 "2015-12-04T04:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pianodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e79b87/32.png) [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/1 "2015-12-04T04:59:05Z")
Hi SD, What’s the meaning of life? Don’t know if or how many threads on this have been posted before. My best guess is that if there is meaning, it’s to do good works and spread happiness. As a musician, I do it through music. But I wonder what opinions others have. Is it to have the most sex? Make the most money? Visceral pleasures of food and entertainment? Reproduction? The pursuit of power? The pursuit of love and finding a soulmate? The finding of beauty in nature? The attainment of knowledge? I am prepared to admit that we are all just blobs of molecules and that we create our own meaning…that meaning and purpose are just concepts that humanity imposed to give order to the chaos. But when you genuinely put a smile on someone’s face, it makes you want to think there’s something more than chaos. On a practical level, I’d rather live in that fantasy world than be a nihilist. The fact that everyone may have differing opinions as to what meaning is implies that there is no correct answer. But my mother always taught me it’s what you DO with what you have, not what you have, that makes the difference. Your opinions are welcome. Thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/2 "2015-12-04T05:57:16Z")
Consider [Absurdism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism) _In philosophy, “ **the Absurd** ” refers to the conflict between … the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and … the human inability to find any.… The universe and the human mind do not each separately cause the Absurd, but rather, the Absurd arises by the contradictory nature of the two existing simultaneously._ It might not make anyone else smile, but if it makes you smile, it has succeeded. Great Og, after all, is a comedian, you could at least do it the favor of laughing at its divine punchline. Fuck prayer, laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/3 "2015-12-04T06:42:18Z")
Someone once said – I know it only from a quote by Robert Heinlein – that the only two occupations worth a damn are the creation of beauty and the discovery of truth. Art and Science. I disagree, and think there are lots of other occupations that are worthwhile: the supporting infrastructure that make Art and Science possible! The Artists and Scientists need us to bake bread, survey for roads, run the electric generators, put roofs on houses, and so on: all the thousand little tasks that are necessary for a civilization rich enough to be able to afford Artists and Scientists. For most of us, today, that is the Purpose of Life: maintaining Civilization, so that Beauty and Truth may be created and shared. Also looking at porn on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/4 "2015-12-04T06:47:03Z")
> [@pianodave](#): > > What’s the meaning of life? Don’t know if or how many threads on this have been posted before. > > My best guess is that if there is meaning, it’s to do good works and spread happiness. . I agree. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like the first: Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself. All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands.” - Jesus Christ [Matt 22:37-40] ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/5 "2015-12-04T08:21:55Z")
42 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/6 "2015-12-04T08:38:00Z")
I think the term meaning of life is too vague. You’ll get responses about why you’re here, why anything exists, what you should spend your life doing, what principles you should live by, why living things exist and more. Plus people who don’t even try to answer the question 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/7 "2015-12-04T08:38:19Z")
> [@](#): > > In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in His cosmic loneliness. > > And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done.” And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close as mud as man sat up, looked around, and spoke. Man blinked. “What is the purpose of all this?” he asked politely. > > “Everything must have a purpose?” asked God. > > “Certainly,” said man. > > “Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this,” said God. > > And He went away. [Bokonon 1:2-4](http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/personal/bokonon.html). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/8 "2015-12-04T12:57:51Z")
> [@pianodave](#): > > Hi SD, > > What’s the meaning of life? Define “life” as it is being used in your sentence. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/9 "2015-12-04T13:43:23Z")
“The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time. There ain’t nothin’ to it, any fool can do It!” James Taylor ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/10 "2015-12-04T14:09:36Z")
Meaning depends on context, and the meaning of life would depend on the context too I guess. In this case “meaning” seems to mean something like “quest”, as in what am I supposed to do and what am I supposed to achieve. And in this case your “meaning of life” will depend on your level of development and your life situation. Ultimately I think the meaning (or quest) of life is “Self Realization” in the Eastern sense, or what’s called “Enlightenment”. But before you can get there you need to do all the mini-quests… Another perspective is of course the Big Three. The Good, The True and The Beautiful. Find out what is true, do what is good, enjoy or create that which is beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/11 "2015-12-04T15:10:59Z")
Life is a game. Sometimes a computer game. Life is a cereal. It tastes like cinnamon Life used to be a magazine, but now it only shows up now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/12 "2015-12-04T15:17:32Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > 42 I knew someone would beat me to it. ☹ You have to make your own meaning to life. Seriously. There is no inherent meaning. It’s what you make of it. It’s up to you. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/13 "2015-12-04T15:19:39Z")
> [@Micah 6:8](#): > > He has shown you, oh mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? It is to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/14 "2015-12-04T15:32:31Z")
The concept of what gives meaning to life I feel is what drives me in my senior years. I feel compelled to attain higher levels of existence, not always an easy task when even identifying what I percieve to be higher levels of existence is not always so clear. I have come to the conclusion that the best I can do is play a supporting roll. Whatever I can do to contibute to the great collaboration where all humans work together for the good of the earth will place me at that higher plane I am comfortable with. For me this means keeping my oversized ego in check and helping others where ever I can. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/15 "2015-12-04T15:45:04Z")
I tried being a vegetarian for seven years (including being a vegan for six months), but a prime rib sandwich, au jus, on a toasted garlic bun turned out to be the meaning of life. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/16 "2015-12-04T16:29:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Life is a game. Is life just a game where we make up the rules, while searching for something to say? A couple pop culture answers to the OP: > [@](#): > > M-hmm. Well, it’s nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations. or > [@](#): > > Be kind, don’t smoke, be prompt, smile a lot, eat sensibly, avoid cavities and mark your ballot carefully; avoid too much sun, send overseas packages early, love all creatures above and below, insure your belongings and try to keep the ball low. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/17 "2015-12-04T17:03:04Z")
Life is a game. The rules are hidden out of sight. Nobody knows who is actually playing it. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/18 "2015-12-04T17:06:34Z")
To be happy. And the way to be happy is to make other people happy. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/19 "2015-12-04T17:34:05Z")
There is no meaning of Life. It just is. So decide what meaning your life needs and create it. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388/20 "2015-12-04T17:43:22Z")
The meaning of life should be custom-tailored to each individual, by each individual and for just that individual. In an ideal world, there are 6-7 billion meanings of life… give or take for those too young, etc, to tailor the meaning to themselves. . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-life/739388.md?page=2)