# One Small Question: The Meaning of Life **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829 "2010-03-18T00:57:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/1 "2010-03-18T00:57:41Z")
Ok, I lied. It’s a biggie. But, what’s your take on how life or some superior life force works? What if people’s bad acts, including white collar crimes, were punished in a timely fashion such that it was clear NOT to step over the line? What if Gosh had a working relationship with the creation known as “Mankind” such that our role here was clear and undisputed? Isn’t that the way it was supposed to work when Adam and Eve were created? I’m not saying some superior life force must do everything for us nor should it honor every whim like a vending machine. But, there should be some semblence of justice passed down from above, or we shall surely go astray - dragging countless innocent ones along with the few bad apples. Nonetheless, empires rise and fall all in their time (as-if by design, IMHO); however, human nature never really changes, does it? So, what conclusion have you reached that gives you peace of mind about all of this? Maybe I’m going out on a limb, but I suspect the SD has an opinion or two to share on the matter! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/2 "2010-03-18T01:02:52Z")
The purpose of life is to reproduce. This is seen in pretty much every organism on this planet. The _meaning_ of life exists as much as a supreme being watching over this whole clusterfuck. Life and humanity were accidents in the universe, we were not placed here to accomplish anything. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/3 "2010-03-18T01:11:05Z")
The neat thing about the meaning of life is that everyone gets to work it out for themselves. Some of us do that well and get relative satisfaction out of it. Others dither and bother and end up bitter and ready to die. Some of us just plug along doing what we think is the next right thing for us and don’t think much about it at all. Others of us spend their whole lives trying to tell others what the meaning/meaninglessness of life is. Some who subscribe to others’ meaning of life are happy; others aren’t. Some of us subscribe to the meaninglessness of life and are happy; others aren’t. How clear is this? We all get a choice! Hurray! ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/4 "2010-03-18T01:12:20Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > The purpose of life is to reproduce. This is seen in pretty much every organism on this planet. The _meaning_ of life exists as much as a supreme being watching over this whole clusterfuck. Life and humanity were accidents in the universe, we were not placed here to accomplish anything. Yes, Covered in Bees, this is a very interesting viewpoint. From that perspective, then Man is simply assuming it has some greater purpose than any other organism. I do sometimes wonder if anything separates us from the other animals (despite what academics might say about this)…other than having an air conditioned cave! ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/5 "2010-03-18T01:14:10Z")
Afterthought: Ever hear “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him?” ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/6 "2010-03-18T01:16:52Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > The neat thing about the meaning of life is that everyone gets to work it out for themselves… Yes, we each have to come to some acceptance or personal understanding to not lose our minds. Sometimes, I guess I think too much about this. It is hard for me to accept what I cannot change, but…like I have much of a choice? ---
**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:** [March 18, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/7 "2010-03-18T01:17:57Z")
Leave the world in a better condition than when you entered it, and never hesitate to have fun. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/8 "2010-03-18T01:18:37Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Afterthought: > > Ever hear “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him?” No, but is this some way of saying don’t start digging into philosophy? You’ll just open a Pandora’s Box of unanswered questions that spiral out of control? That’s my interpretation… ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/9 "2010-03-18T01:19:51Z")
> [@](#): > > then Man is simply assuming it has some greater purpose than any other organism Yep. Our ability to think has given us an overglorified sense of accomplishment and that we therefore are somehow different from other animals with no real evidence for such an assumption. We eat, drink and breathe. We all have the same basic needs to sustain life. We’re all made of the same stuff. So where exactly do people get the idea that we’re here for a reason? > [@](#): > > I do sometimes wonder if anything separates us from the other animals (despite what academics might say about this)…other than having an air conditioned cave! Yes there are minor and major things that do separate us from other organisms, but that would be why we have our own classification in the animal kingdom. On a fundamental level, we’re not here for any more special reason than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/10 "2010-03-18T01:25:47Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > The purpose of life is to reproduce. > [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Life and humanity were accidents in the universe, we were not placed here to accomplish anything. Don’t you think you are contradicting yourself there? ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/11 "2010-03-18T01:27:25Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > No, but is this some way of saying don’t start digging into philosophy? You’ll just open a Pandora’s Box of unanswered questions that spiral out of control? That’s my interpretation… That’s my way of saying don’t ever let anyone else try to tell you what the meaning of life is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/12 "2010-03-18T01:33:07Z")
It really doesn’t matter whether life was created 6,000 years ago or 4 billion – one person’s existence is an eye blink in time. Over the long run everything works out. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/13 "2010-03-18T02:02:08Z")
No, you’re all wrong, the Answer is Forty-Two, admittedly, we don’t know what the _question_ is, but… ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/14 "2010-03-18T02:58:08Z")
I’m going with “The chief end of man is to love God and enjoy Him forever,” from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/15 "2010-03-18T13:15:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: > > “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." -Matthew 22:34-40 ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/16 "2010-03-18T13:44:26Z")
The meaning of life is like a banana: It’s tapered at both ends and yellow. Which is to say it’s meaningless. Unless, of course, you want to apply meaning to it through interpretation… knock yerself out… ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/17 "2010-03-18T13:49:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/18 "2010-03-18T13:50:55Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > The meaning of life is like a banana: So Kirk Cameron was right! Wow, it’s like the last puzzle piece just clicked into place. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/19 "2010-03-18T14:00:24Z")
The meaning of life? Hmmm. You can’t make people happy. You can make yourself happy and offer others the opportunity to be happy through just being happy yourself and being yourself when you are with or around them. There is no magic-bullet kiss. There is, however, through self-happiness and self-confidence the possibility that this other may someday think of kissing you. You may have moved on by then though, but since you’re happy, its all good. Doing for others, without being asked, is sexy. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829/20 "2010-03-18T14:06:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > So Kirk Cameron was right! Wow, it’s like the last puzzle piece just clicked into place. That’s why I’m here… to make sense out of gibberish. (Or vice versa) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-question-the-meaning-of-life/532829.md?page=2)