# Why continue life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 16, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865 "2011-03-16T01:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/41 "2011-03-16T10:52:14Z")
To quote the great philosopher Van Morrison: > [@](#): > > It ain’t why, why, why, it just is. from [here](http://www.lyricstime.com/van-morrison-summertime-in-england-lyrics.html). ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/42 "2011-03-16T12:01:41Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Do we know the alternative that it beats? Don’t you have to no longer exists as you to know the alternative? Are you willing to take the chance that the alternative (which nobody has apparently seen) is better than what you’re experiencing now? I’m not. That’s too big a bet for me. ---
**Author:** ![Alex0987654321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Alex0987654321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex0987654321)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/43 "2011-03-16T12:03:44Z")
To be the best and enjoy life to the fullest ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/44 "2011-03-16T12:22:50Z")
It is my belief that Existence itself is purpose. To exist and help others to have a good life is a pleasure. I enjoy seeing a smile on the face of some one else.There is so much good to see, one just has to look at a smiling baby, a happy puppy etc.; to me that makes life worth while. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/45 "2011-03-16T12:27:40Z")
I continue life because I have an instinct to. Those who came before me who did not have that instinct did not live long enough to reproduce. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/46 "2011-03-16T13:02:39Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > Why would you NOT need a reason? What would be the purpose of living without a reason to exist? I like being alive and I’d like to keep doing so for as long as I can. While here, I’m doing my best to find what happiness I can and try to help others do the same. Family and heirs may come into play, but they certainly don’t have to. If you really need a reason beyond that, good luck to you. > [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > If you have no one to continue your being here on Earth, why not move on to what’s next? Simple. I don’t think there _is_ anything next. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/47 "2011-03-16T13:17:00Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I recieved my high school diploma and I recieved my college degree. I didn’t commit suicide and I won’t commit suicide. I, philosophically, can’t commit sucide. > I’m talking about a hypothetical individual who is set on committing suicide. He or she has this intention before high school. (He \*could \*have commited suicide before graduating from high school and people would say, well, high school is mandatory in the United States so it isn’t that out of the ordinary to hear of a high school student committing suicide.) > > Committing suicide before graduating from college? Thinking people might ask, Why did he go to college? Why did he, exercise, I suppose, his free will to apply to a college of his choice, take the time to write out the application essay, and, once accepted, enroll. Why spend four years on campus if you’re going to commit suicide? > > Why? sorry. I thought the smilie face indicated I was kidding. Obviously, I haven’t committed suicide yet. I think the answer to your question is (honestly) why not? What would cause a person to want to die one day over the next? There is something deeper, more fundamentally wrong with that person. Logic can’t be used to understand any decisions about life and death when someone takes there life and there is no obvious reason (terminal illness, for example) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/48 "2011-03-16T13:45:37Z")
Don’t you want to learn who wins this season of _Survivor_? ---
**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:** [March 16, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/49 "2011-03-16T13:53:32Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > sorry. I thought the smilie face indicated I was kidding. Obviously, I haven’t committed suicide yet. > > I think the answer to your question is (honestly) why not? What would cause a person to want to die one day over the next? There is something deeper, more fundamentally wrong with that person. Logic can’t be used to understand any decisions about life and death when someone takes there life and there is no obvious reason (terminal illness, for example) Arguments _against_ suicide are usually of dubious logic, but they seldom get challenged because there is an unwritten rule that only upbeat messages are acceptable. The example of someone going to college before committing suicide is not inherently irrational. In fact, it’s not even a complete argument. Plenty of people set objectives before they die, what’s the issue with saying: “Right now I’m living just to get \ done. When it’s finished, I’m finished”? Another thread on SD right now is about the meaning of life and as usual many are simply saying that it is the pursuit of happiness. Let’s say that this makes sense. So, if “pursuit of happiness” is a rational reason to live, why is “escaping suffering” not a valid reason to die? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/50 "2011-03-16T14:14:36Z")
[Joy de vivre.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joie_de_vivre) [David Clayton Thomas’ take.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDWQ8w829tY) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/51 "2011-03-16T14:44:15Z")
It’s a quote from Babylon 5, but it struck me to the core anyway. “We are the Universe, manifest, trying to figure itself out.” I need no further purpose than that, and maybe a healthy dose of hedonism thrown in. I have no heirs, certainly, and while I have nephews and nieces, I don’t live for them. I wonder about parents who live for their children anyway! All too often I’ve seen what happens when the child doesn’t live up to their expectations. Better to love your children as much as possible and raise grown-ups you respect and could even admire. Honestly, I think I was born in a great time and live in a pretty darn good country. Easy access to birth control, don’t have to get pregnant, don’t have to get married, all I have to do is make enough money to put on my table. Sure, there’s some things I wish were different, but another spring is coming soon and another year and I look forward to every little adventure. It’s all we get! What’s the alternative? ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/52 "2011-03-16T14:45:39Z")
No one knows happens to our individuality after death, yet we all die someday. Why not stick around as long as possible just in case there is no individuality left after the death of your body? (My personal opinion as I don’t believe in souls and think once my brain is dead and gone, so am I). ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/53 "2011-03-16T14:51:28Z")
To experience wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/54 "2011-03-16T16:45:13Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > The example of someone going to college before committing suicide is not inherently irrational. In fact, it’s not even a complete argument. > Plenty of people set objectives before they die, what’s the issue with saying: “Right now I’m living just to get \ done. When it’s finished, I’m finished”? And what’s the issue with saying: “There is a purpose in recieving a high school diploma. Even if I’m then going to go to college just so that I can commit suicide.” ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/55 "2011-03-16T17:05:49Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > If you have no family, and no heirs, what is the purpose of existence? If you have no purpose or meaning apart from perpetuating the species, then what’s the point of perpetuating the species at all? If life, in and of itself, isn’t worth living, then what makes you think that creating more lives is worthwhile? Life has whatever meaning and purpose you choose to give it. The same is true of your children, and their children. Some people find it tremendously fulfilling to raise a family. That doesn’t make it the be-all and end-all of the entire human experience. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/56 "2011-03-16T17:08:16Z")
There was a similar thread about a year ago in which I gave the following repsonse > [@Question on the meaning of Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-the-meaning-of-life/536933/78): > > I’m largely an athiest, but have developed the following world view which, whether or not its accurate, seems to work pretty well in its ability to give me a fullfilling life. > > I imagine the whole universe like a fixed tapestry in space/time. The notions of past and future are largely irrelevant. The fact that my 13th birthday happened is fixed in the tapestry and is no less real now than it was then. My goal in life is to make the tapestry as pretty as possible over the 80 odd years I have that I can influence its shape. I do this by trying to maximize the happiness of those who I can influence, myself included. Based on this view I would probably take you up on your 6-month memory free holiday as my pleasure would also be recorded in space/time regardless of whether I remember it. I don’t fear death because my life will stand on its own as it is/was. > > When I’m feeling particularly philosophical, I believe (again without proof, but just for the fun of it) that my consciousness is basically the attention of the universe to this particular point in the space/time framework, and that this same attention is also displayed in all other people (maybe animals and possibly even rocks?), and so by assisting in their happiness I assisting my own as well. > > This provides me with a pretty strong basis for morality, and gives my life meaning without resorting to a divine god,unless you view god as universal attention in which case its pretty impersonal. I may be totally off base but if it makes me feel good, do good, and hurts no one else then who can complain. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/57 "2011-03-16T17:14:15Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > And what’s the issue with saying: “There is a purpose in recieving a high school diploma. Even if I’m then going to go to college just so that I can commit suicide.” Sorry I don’t get your argument. I had thought that your hypothetical person was going to college for some important reason, prior to dying. Going to college “just so that I can commit suicide” doesn’t make any sense to me. Could you spell out your argument please? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/58 "2011-03-16T18:08:09Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I don’t plan on dying. Same here. Dying’s for chumps. > [@Anaamika](#): > > It’s a quote from Babylon 5, but it struck me to the core anyway. > > “We are the Universe, manifest, trying to figure itself out.” I like this. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/59 "2011-03-16T18:14:11Z")
> [@Clu-Me-In](#): > > A robot can do that in my place Robots pay taxes? ---
**Author:** ![Clu-Me-In](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clu-Me-In](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu-Me-In)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865/60 "2011-03-16T19:49:54Z")
Just wanna thank everyone who responded in whatever manner. I lost my only son 5 years ago today, and every once in a while, I think of my life and find it completely joyless. My apologies to those who thought my question was denigrating childless individuals and couples. It was not. I was selfishly just thinking of myself alone. Mods, if you want to close this topic, you may. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-continue-life/574865.md?page=4)