Question on the meaning of Life

Great Debates
1

First of, I’ll start by getting it out in the open that I’m a Christian, and so therefore it should go without saying what I believe to be the meaning of life.

Yet, I’m interested in hearing some other explanations for the meaning of life.

Now I have talked to some athiests I know personally, and the general consensus there seems to be, “for the memories.” Now I don’t know what the consensus here is, but in case it matches the one I have found most used, I’ll get my retort written out now, just to save us all some time. It goes as follows:

Alright, so basically lets pretend for a moment, that I have some magical power, and posses the uncanny ability to do anything I want. Now, I tell you that you need to go take some time, and come up with, either on paper or just in your head, the greatest world or existence you can think off, and I’ll send you there for a month, or a year even. It can be anything, you have all the sex or drugs you want, you can be invincible, or perhaps even ask to be granted pleasures you could never have imagined in your human form; anything you want. Create your ‘heaven’. Now, as mentioned, I’m gonna send you there, but only on the condition that after this time period is over, you will be forced to return back your life here, with no memory of what has happened. Now, would you accept my offer? I’m sure most of you would. I’m sure I would.

Yet you see, with the condition being that you would have no memory of it when you return, means that it may, theoretically, have already happened too you.

As I’m sure you can see by now, this is a relation to those who say the meaning of life is in the experience; because after you die–it really wouldn’t matter. It is utterly meaningless if that’s what the point of life is. Which, if you accept that, as I’m sure most of you have, only leads you to the statement made by Dostoevsky–“If God does not Exist, everything is permissible.”

It crumbles any existence of morallity, which in turn crumbles any reason for trying in any way to be moral. You will still say, “I am following the rules of society because I’m not the only one who lives here” Yet, as we have already concluded, its all meaningless(their time here as well as yours), so you shouldn’t worry about the rules of society. Why live a hundred years and be bored the whole time? You have to take what you want, never compromise, and please yourself in every possible way, for as we have said, times short-- and life’s in the experience.

If anyone else has some different opinions on what the meaning of life is, be sure to lay it on me. Otherwise, lets bring on the rhetoric.

2

blink

Who said life had to have a meaning?

3

What is the meaning of a row of dominos?

Things are happening. We’re among them. Objectively speaking, there is no goal to the system as a whole - the wheels just turn because they have momentum.

However, the magic of evolution has developed a way to convince us not to do stupid things and die, and to convince us to eat fruit and not dirt. This mechanism is pleasure and pain, which involve an internal state called ‘happiness’. Human biology and psychology dictate that, er, we’re happier when we’re happier. Therefore it stands to reason that one should seek happiness.

Personal happiness, specifically. But humans are pack animals, and mixed with that we have developed a degree of sympathy and empathy for others. (Other humans, mostly.) So, to maximize our own happiness, we need to balance how our actions effect the happiness of others, so that we won’t feel sad about them feeling sad. (And also so they don’t try to run us out of town on a rail.)

So there’s your ‘meaning’: be happy, and be nice.

4

I have never heard this.

Why don’t you go ahead and stick to what you believe, and let others speak for themselves. This isn’t a Chic Tract, where you can set up a straw atheist man to knock down.

5

The fact that life doesn’t have a supernatural morality inherent in every action, or a supernatural meaning doesn’t mean there can’t be objective morality or objective meaning.

Meaning in my life is derived from what i can learn, as learning pleases me. When I find a woman who I enjoy spending time with sufficiently, I’m sure she will be added to my “meaning,” and as for morality… Do unto others is just as applicable, even if some supernatural being didn’t say it.

Honestly, if you need a greater power to threaten you to prevent you from being a dickwad, that’s fine… But I’m not a dick wad because i have morals of my own.

6

A-T-H-E-I-S-T.

Other than that I don’t have much to say to this. There’s no reason life has to have an objective purpose or objective morality. The meaning we choose to give it is plenty, as far as I’m concerned.

7

Heh, I only skimmed the OP before replying, and mostly ignored his ‘retort’; I shall answer it now: In the context of my prior reply, happiness is happiness and sadness is sadness now. The fact that you will die later doesn’t effect this in the slightest, and is therefore completely irrelevent to your current happiness level, at least directly.

People can have fears about the future, and of death, of course. (Theists too - in fact such fears are probably among the main reasons theism exists.) Fears of the future encourage people to adjust their behavior to minimize such worries, to keep those worries from reducing happiness. Some people do this by finding or inventing god; some people do this by planning for their retirement. Whichever works, one supposes. Also if one fears negative consequences then they will take fewer dangerous risks, avoiding future unhappiness and thus reducing their present worry about it.

Which makes the ‘meaning’: be happy, be nice, and be mindful of the consequences.

8

Personally, I subscribe to Victor Frankl’s (greatly paraphrased) idea that the meaning of life is to find your meaning of life.

I don’t know what brings meaning to your existence - I’m not you. I know the things that bring meaning to MY existence, and those might be different than yours. They might be the same. I don’t know you, so I don’t know.

And I don’t know what happens after we die (I suspect a whole lot of nothing). And neither do you. You THINK you know, you’ve been told that something happens, but you really don’t know 'cause there’s no proof.

So, in terms of morality - if this is all we have, what’s the point of making it ugly for ourselves and others? What’s the point of doing mean things to other people? It tends to make one’s life more difficult - even sadistic psychopaths, who get joy and meaning out of hurting others, have to live with annoyances like prison and cops and things.

So, really, let’s all be nice to each other 'cause why not? It makes this existence more fun, that’s for sure.

9

I’d think it stands to reason that we can’t help but seek happiness, not that we should seek happiness. Where did that “should” come from?

10

We can’t help but follow some path that at least at a subconscious level is calculated to bring happiness. This path need not be optimal - it may include acting like a passive-aggressive jerk in a subconsious plea for attention and love that completely backfires.

One should try to find the most optimal route to happiness possible. While remembering to be nice and mindful of consequences.

11

I fidn it amusing you’re answering something you ingnored…however that works.

12

I saw the thread title and the answer leapt to mind - I couldn’t restrain myself! My happiness demanded I speak!

13

I think it’d be worth you telling us what you believe to be the meaning of life.

14

Perhaps you missed the part where I said If you don’t believe this, then let me know what you believe. And seeing as to how you have failed to make even **make ** an argument, my “straw man” is looking pretty metallic at the moment.

15

Seriously - why does life have to have a meaning? What is a “meaning of life” anyway?

I do not believe that I was put on this earth with any particular purpose to fulfil (or not fulfil).

I do believe that, since I am here, it would be nice to have my existence be in some small or large way a net positive for myself (while I am here) and for the rest of the people who also happen to be here and who will be here after I’ve left.

Why does there have to be more meaning than that?

16

I basically agree with this, I was wondering how this is supposed to stand to reason.

17

The worm wishes to understand the meaning of dirt. And why there is so much, and why it is so good. It obviously was created for the sole purpose of pleasing the worm.

But the question that the worm has asked about the dirt, cannot be answered in a way that would be meaningful to the worm. The basic assumption of the worm is wrong. The real answer is much bigger than can be understood by the worm.

18

From the OP, I am not sure what a “meaning of life” is supposed to look like. To say the meaning of life is “for the memories” or “in the experience” isn’t to say what the (or a) meaning of life is, but rather is simply to describe it somewhat vaguely.

So, I’m asking the OP: What’s a meaning of life?

19

I’ve never heard anyone give the “memories” answer either, and I’ve talked to a lot of atheists.

The answer to your OP is that you’re presuming that life has to have a “meaning.” Atheists do not. As far as I’m concerned life is just a fluke of chemistry with no meaning at all.

(This is where the theist always says, “then why don’t you kill yourself?”).

20

Well an abstract idea generally doesn’t look like anything, so I’m not sure I can help you out on that one.

A meaning of life however, is self explanatory. Your really thinking about it too hard, but I’ll try to help you out. Meaning, or purpose= the reason for which something exists or for which it has been done or made.

Life is essentially being.
So to reiiterate, whats the reason for which our ‘being’ exists.