"Why are we here?" the philosopher said.

Do you believe that human existence is pointless? Are we just an infinitesimal accident in an infinite scheme of things? Or, do you believe we have a purpose? If you do, what do you think our purpose is?

The topic titles as of late are largely reminiscent of thread names from Chit Chat...eh.

I think the bigger question is: what point is there to determining there is no point? Our existence is what we make of it, no? If there is a purpose, we find it or make one for ourselves if we cannot -- otherwise, why live at all?

Heheh, I like to add humor in my discussion thread titles. :3

I honestly believe that there is a larger purpose to us as a species. However, I don't think we know nor will ever know what that purpose is; so essentially it's up to us to make a life for ourselves, like LoudSilence said.

I think a person's "purpose" is largely up to the individual. Also, I don't believe in the concept of "human existence" because each individual person has his or her own existence, and what that person wants to do with it is up to him/her. Likewise, how important a person's existence is depends entirely on how important it is to that individual.

I loved the title of the thread. I believe we were created for a purpose. God has a plan for each of us...it is our choice to follow it. We were made to love Him and have a relationship with Him.

The purpose of every human and animal is to reproduce. That's what we do. We continue the life forms so Earth can continue to prosper. I guess if you took Earth out completely then no. But for the basics of keeping Earth stable, you need all the humans and animals to release carbon-dioxide and all that. The world couldn't function without us.

There is no inherent meaning to human existence. But you exist anyway. So the best you can do is make something of that existence.

"The meaning of life is to give life a meaning"

Whether human existence itself has a meaning in the grand scale of things I can't really say. However I do find it fascinating how we all came to be in the first place. How our planet is located juuuust the right distance away from the Sun in order to sustain life and how evolution slowly but surely led to us humans plodding around, of course this could be argued by saying we are just being millions of years of biological trial & error and nothing more. I haven't really answered the question here have I.

I don't think humans have a purpose as such, but we definitely are going to be the major catalysts to what ends up happening to this planet, whether it be good or bad probably bad.

I believe that the purpose of the human existence is given by the human that lives it. Like a canvas. A canvas by itself doesn't mean anything until it's painted on.

A purpose? Well... we can ponder all day long and make philosophical arguments thanks to the way we evolved, but aside from that, we are not much different from other living beings on the planet. We are born, we age, we die... To sustain our bodies throughout our lives we eat, drink, sleep and then of course we seek a partner to procreate. Things surely have changed and become more complex and diverse with the advent of society, the technological advancements, the higher quality and span of life and so on.
I don't think there is a scheme, and certainly the whole universe won't miss our entire galaxy, let alone us, so yes, in the greater scope of matters, we are close to being pointless.
I myself haven't got the slightest idea of what I want to do with my life. I just display a certain interest towards something, toy with it, and then, when I'm bored, I quit.
Differently from me, there are lucky individuals out there who, at a young age, already knew what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives and just followed through.
In the end, I don't know how to give you a definite answer, but I don't think we possess an inherent purpose, we can just assume that during our lives we will find one...

Ultimately, I believe that we're here by coincidence. Everything in this world happened because coincidences that occurred prior led to what we know today. Life itself is a coincidence. We ourselves have to give meaning to our coincidental existence. Without it, we don't have much to live for. That's why we do the things we do and wish the things we wish. We need to validate our existence the only way we know how.

If you really want to delve deep into my mind, I'd go on to say that I don't believe this is at all real. But that's a little too philosophical for this philosophical discussion, in my opinion.

I don't know for certain if we're here on the basis of sheer coincidence, or whether our existence was of planned deliberation, though there's no evidence to suggest the latter. Even if life has no "intrinsic" value, it is ultimately up to oneself to make one's life meaningful! Who's eye is beauty in? It's in the eye of the beholder! Likewise with any other evaluations or meaning of life questions. Any sort of meaning and purpose in one's individual existence has to be subjective! So yes, even if we are here by chance, I think our lives can still be filled with meaning and purpose.

If each individual is merely a "coincidence", with there being over 7 billion human beings, wouldn't you say that those are too many coincidences for our entire species to be a "coincidence"? In other words, human life actually does have a purpose, but we have not discovered it yet? Though, I do agree with the previous poster in stating that the meaning of life is entirely dependent upon the individual considering there's no evidence of whether our existence was for a reason. As someone who doesn't believe in God, and I do not mean this to offend anyone's religious beliefs, but I don't believe in creationism being the reason for our existence. Existentialism is an interesting topic, by the way.

Human life represents a sliver of a sliver of Earth's history.

Here's a timeline for perspective.



Perhaps we are a bit anthropocentric in our beliefs that the Earth was designed to usher in human life given our brief existence relative to the Earth's history in its entirety. Though, that doesn't rule out, necessarily, the deliberate intervention of any intelligent being(s)/force(s) in the evolution to human life. For, physics and chemistry, the laws of nature necessary for life to exist and evolve into more complex structures, must have some derivation? In discovering why atoms operate they way they do, holds a key component to why natural selection, higher organization, ect, exist, and thus, why humans exist.

Our purpose is... To achieve what we want. [Of course, we are still limited to laws & human rights]

I want to be a boxer - I SHALL BECOME A BOXER!
I want to be a writer- I SHALL BECOME A WRITER!
I want to be both - I SHALL BE BOTH!

We don't need a "high" purpose in life, as long as we are happy. If you want to aim high, be sure it will make you happy or it's pointless!

Dominick AKA Dom said:

Our purpose is... To achieve what we want. [Of course, we are still limited to laws & human rights]

I want to be a boxer - I SHALL BECOME A BOXER!
I want to be a writer- I SHALL BECOME A WRITER!
I want to be both - I SHALL BE BOTH!

We don't need a "high" purpose in life, as long as we are happy. If you want to aim high, be sure it will make you happy or it's pointless!

Click to expand...

Though you have to consider the billions of people around the world that don't have alternatives but to work medial jobs that are arduous and low-paying.

In order for you to pursue your goals, it is required that production, agricultural, and other services are performed. Further, jobs that are hard work, but a bit higher paying are also necessary, sometimes they are not considered fun, but rewarding and purposeful in ensuring the needs of others. Such as, tax accountants, doctors, legal specialists, EMT, corrections ect. Not all of those jobs are necessarily fun, they are high stress, risk, ect. and provide services to others.

Many people would love to write, act, sing, paint/draw, play a sport of for a living (hobbies), myself included, but if too many people were to do so, as a career, seeking happiness in a hobby, in that it doesn't produce a product required for social institutions to function, then we would have an issue.

That is why we have formal education and parents stress the importance of careers. Careers allow for us to explore those hobbies in our free time and allow us to live our lives with less stress, and ultimately, more happiness. For, if the stress upon hard-work in difficult positions was absent, stability and order would deteriorate and chaos would ensue. The existence and time for hobbies or any passtimes, outside of work, would not be a priority if services such as sanitation, garbage, argriculture, electricity, government structure, ect. were not provided in our every day lives.

Life is not solely fun and games, and, it is not possible to for it to be so, some fun and games can only exist when other, less entertaining or sexy careers are fulfilled. It's funny how janitors have a stigma of being unintelligent and/or less important persons of status, but, in fact, they give us freedom. Things to consider as we define our own purpose. Balancing the fun and joyous things in life with the arduous and tedious work ethic. Perhaps, individuals should engage in both productive careers/work and creative/athletic hobbies and interests if we are to increase the happiness of ourselves and others.