Purpose of human life

[Alfieri]

Do you believe that humans are like animals, in the sense that we were just brought into this life to find a partner, reproduce, and then die?

Or do you believe that we were given a more developed conscious for a larger role in life?

I feel like the more our conscious develops, the more stress we are giving ourselves through anxiety and overthinking. Emotions and concerns that literally prevent us from progressing forward because we would rather stay in bed and eat ice cream after a break up. However that is just me. Maybe you guys feel the opposite, that life isn't so simple and that these emotions are an obstacle to help us overcome and achieve a greater purpose in life.

 

[Shiny Bunnelby]

To be honest, I'd stay in bed and eat ice cream all day forever, but that's beside the point.

I don't believe we have an objective purpose in life, but thanks to our awareness, it doesn't mean we can't make a subjective one for ourselves. Want to go childless and travel the world? Do that ****. Maybe being an astronaut means everything to you. Go for it.

The purpose that I have given myself is to stay fit, demonstrate healthy habits around my kid so that she may pick them up for herself, and give her a heart of empathy so that she is capable of love and comfort for the family she decides to have, be it friends, a traditional family, or a bunch of cats. Either way, I want to be an awesome mother and teach her to be an awesome person.

Another would be to always support my fiancé, whether he and I remain together for life or not. He will always have an ally in me.

And lastly, I want to master my hobbies and make wonderful pieces of work to share with others. I want to paint, master the piano (perhaps the violin, as I own one), and basically touch a person's heart without speaking to them.

I gave myself purpose and I intend to fulfill it.

Our lives aren't written for us. We just have an empty book and a pen. We decide the content of those pages. Sometimes we are given moments of inspiration, and other times we face writers block.

 

[Megan]

Considering that infinity holds infinite possibilities, it was bound to happen for a species to exist that's able to think on their own. I think that the concept of evolution applies to pretty much everything, may it be a living being or an inanimated object, like stars. There's a point where everything started, the time it has to develop and finally that point where it has to leave the stage making place for the next best thing. It's just, that nows our time to shine, that's all.

In my opinion the question of the meaning of life is only the tip of the iceberg, being just a smal piece of the whole truth that's life (and sorry, but it's not 42 :P). Just the truth is so complicated that people purposefully have to place a rational question as a somewhat protective wall until they are able to understand the whole "truth". Another example of a protective wall made by humankind is god who is used as an explanation for everything, people cannot explain. Or moral; in an infinite space where everything is possible, there's no higher moral who decides what's right or wrong, since everything is able to balance itself out by itself.


In the end it's not important, wheather humankind succumbs to its emotions, develops something greater thanks to them, or even gets rid of them; either way, there will be losses and gains.

 

[Alfieri]

In my opinion the question of the meaning of life is only the tip of the iceberg, being just a smal piece of the whole truth that's life (and sorry, but it's not 42 :P). Just the truth is so complicated that people purposefully have to place a rational question as a somewhat protective wall until they are able to understand the whole "truth". Another example of a protective wall made by humankind is god who is used as an explanation for everything, people cannot explain. Or moral; in an infinite space where everything is possible, there's no higher moral who decides what's right or wrong, since everything is able to balance itself out by itself.

Yes I'm definitely with you on that. I guess as an agnostic, I don't have a religious barrier to comfort me when I think about why I was put into this earth. I'm a naturally curious dude who is fascinated by the real origin of existence lol. Even with science, trying to date back everything is indeed complicated so it does make sense that many of us would like to make up our own set of rules just to rid ourselves of curiosity.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

I don't really think there is a purpose of life in general. It feels like a cool experiment. It's fascinating what was produced.

Assigning purpose to things is a human construct.

 

[Phantom1]

Hmm. Well, I think the purpose of life is not dying. Which is always a good start.

And babies. All the babies. Fluff overpopulation.

 

[S u m m e r y]

As cliched as this is going to sound, but there is no purpose to life, Life is what you make of it, that's it.

 

[twocows]

I've always been of the mind that your purpose is whatever you want it to be. Do what you want to with your life.

 

[Demon Tea]

My theory is the purpose of life is to experience Finite-ness
I believe we came from an infinite existence into this realm to experience all this to forget to just live
And experience everything we can highs and lows of living as human. Think about the eternal life we all would get Ina way bored of being limitless and eternal so we choose to live this finiteness then die and wake back up to the infinite. That's my philosophy tho. All in all tho life is to experience.

 

[Entermaid]

It's interesting to think about organization for the highest level to the smallest.

International groups/laws/councils, national groups/inst./laws/councils, local government/social groups, groups of friends and extended family, immediate families units, individuals, organs, tissues, organelles, cells, nuclei, molecules, atoms.)

The Earth began, only containing single cellular atomic compositions. Is there a why? Maybe. It's interesting to think of how evolution, of higher cellular organization required competition and cooperation at the smallest unit of organization.

To answer why we are here, if at all any purpose, we should seek to explain if there is a reason as to why atomic competition and cooperation exists inherently. Is it necessarily inherent? Are chemistry/physics systems of laws/rules that have always existed?

Is competition, war, reciprocal altruism not only in our nature, but in the nature of the atoms that we are formed of, are we an extension of this process at the macro level?

 

[Flygonite]

I actually have a few ideas behind this, so this may be rather winded. Hope you don't mind.

Our original purpose of life is simply to reproduce as the first replier said. We developed the ways that we did for reasons of adapting. Every living thing does some form of reproducing. Even the smallest of individual cells manage to perform some sort of mitosis. However, I personally believe that is our goal in this life.

I think we are very spirtual beings. Our spirits have gone through many different life cycles as various different things. (This is actually a shared idea between many big philosophers). Our main goal is to make it to the after life which is called "Salvation". In religion it plays the heaven figure. You can't really reach this salvation without being an intelligent life form in that state. Of course, this idea is flawed because that's saying that humans are the smartest based on what we do, while certain animals have some really intelligent tactics. I think it needs to go beyond natural survival, which is why humans are really the only one's that can reach this state.

Anyways, as a human, if you committ murders or things like that, then you haven't become earning of 'salvation' and ultimately get reset back on this Earth as a different individual.

-This section is against religion, if you are going to get mad, I'm warning you now-
I don't view religion as a real thing. However, there is some truth in it. It would be so dumb to have all these different religions with different expectations to getting to 'heaven.' Some Islamic person who was rased off the Karan (butchered spelling) shouldn't take the blame and be sent to Hell because he never understood Christianity and vice versa. Religion, to me, is a way of getting closer to your spiritual self, so you become closer to your salvation.

I then view heaven as the same general idea of the movie "When Dreams May Come" (RIP Robin Williams :( ). In the movie, his "heaven" is with certain family members from a scene his wife painted. That is his take in heaven. You ultimately go into heaven with a general mindset of what it will look like, and that is how it is originally portrayed. You then go deeper into it and heaven sort of shifts into the general heaven that it is, whatever that looks like. I obviously wouldn't know.

I know I sort of rambled off topic. Apologies. But it all went into my general idea, and I wanted to get it all down on paper.

 

[Gexeys]

Interesting point because really our sole purpose as animals, just like all animals is to survive and reproduce. But looking from it as a humanistic point of view? there isn't really, it's just our life and we've just adapted so highly that we ponder these questions that don't need pondering. There was never any more purpose in life than to reproduce. However, you can really set you own purpose in life, dreams and aspirations all fall into this and I think life for humans is all about person goals and setting our own paths.

 

[Oryx]

I'm always suspicious of people that say "life is what you make of it". It tends to turn into a hypocritical stance. Sure, do whatever you want with your life, as long as it's something I approve of is the unspoken ending to that position. If my existence has no objective purpose why are you chastising me for being an unemployed, talentless, unpleasant person? If I want to be like that it's none of your business.

"Life is what you make of it" turns into "Life is whatI think you should make of it, that is get a job, have lots of skills and be nice to everyone". It's originally an open ended and technically correct position that is sullied by the limitations placed on us by the expectations of society.

If people 100% believed in that position they would have no objection to taking the lives of others. Life has no purpose, I can be a murderer if I want to. It doesn't matter if I killed someone, their life has no defined meaning either.

"Life is what you make of it" doesn't imply total freedom. It says that your purpose in life is what you choose it to be. It doesn't mean no one can judge you for your purpose being shortsighted and unambitious, and it doesn't mean that no one can judge you for your purpose being to harm other people. That's simply not what that phrase means. It means that there is no singular purpose to all life, and that you decide your purpose by the way you live your life. Nothing more.

 

[Oryx]

I'm a nihilist. To me it doesn't matter if you use your life to do "good" or "bad" things. It's all pointless. Combine your definition with my views and my first post is what you get. Objectively I can't be proven wrong because there is no evidence that our actions have any impact on our fate. We all die, one way or another. There is no known God to judge me. Certainly, you can do it, but that means you are holding others to the ideals you decided you believe in. It's deciding that what you have made of life is the "right" decision. I don't think that right or wrong matters whatsoever.

As for the murder example, I can concede one thing: personally I don't think it matters if I died today of a slit throat tomorrow or in 50 years from old age. My life has no inherent worth so it's irrelevant. But since other people don't think that if I kill them when they really don't want to die I have violated their existence. As such I'm open to repercussions from that.

If an individuals existence doesn't affect others right to life, no matter how terrible you deem it, it doesn't really matter what they do. Yes you can judge from your own personal opinion, but that does not encompass the idea that life has no pre-defined purpose or meaning. As such right and wrong is only subjective. If you did actually think that you would be indifferent to the choices a person makes.

I knew you would respond to me.

I wasn't referring whatsoever to your beliefs. I was referring to your assumption that saying "life is what you make it" and also judging people for making certain life choices is inherently hypocritical. It is not. Your beliefs about your life are irrelevant to whether or not that claim you made is true.

 

[moon]

Personally, I think humans are animals just as much as animals are animals, yeah. It takes only a few clips on youtube of animals from different species becoming buddies or saving each other to understand that there's something universal about life. Sure, we fight for our lives against each other, we swat flies without a second thought, we eat deer just like lions eat antelopes and we overall care more about humans than about animals (there are exceptions of course but). Because that's what we're programmed to do, secure the ongoing life of our species, our race, our family. Ourselves. But we all seem to come from the same beginning and we are all Earthlings. I really do believe that if there is anything "more", there's some kind of mother nature, mother Earth. Just something, not an actual mother, mind you.

Some years ago I really thought that humans were something special. Chosen or higher or something. Nowadays I just think we were lucky with evolution, to become so independent and aware of our nature and biology as we are. I don't mean lucky lucky though, hmm. You might want to think that someone or something chose humans to evolve further and build machines and explore the universe like we do, or you might want to believe that it's chance or randomness that things became like they did.

To me, that's all the same thing.

Life is hard to define. Evolution/religion is hard to grasp and fully believe and understand. It's because we're part of it, maybe. We are something, experiencing the universe through endless forms of itself, of this life we speak of. :) Beautiful thought, imo. So yeah. Humans are humans and it's not magical or anything that we build machines and write stories when no other animal does. Uh, I feel like I'm really bad at explaining what I really mean. But when I said I don't mean lucky lucky, I mean that luck and chance is probably a human construct. Imo it doesn't matter if we're here because of chance or fate, in the end :)

 

[£]

I remember one of my many idols in modern philosophy had this to say on life:

"Life's what you make it, so let's make it rock"

I couldn't agree more. What a true modern take on the classic "Carpe Diem" phrase that has been passed on. I think in years to come, the latter will be forgotten as the art of making life rock will clearly click with our modern philosophers.

 

[Entermaid]

"It people can make their own choices in life because there is no objective purpose then as long as they aren't somehow compromising your wellbeing it doesn't matter what they do."

How do we make our own decisions?

For every action, even frivolous ones, there are causes that can explain them.

When we make a decision, we are influenced by inherent (genetic, anatomical, brain functions) and environmental factors (parenting, location, social interactions, tv, physical limitations (gravity)).

Going back to greater organization, overtime, humans have become more and more organized, deemed a social animal, more and more does environment, and the wants/needs of the collective become imperative to our own success (want/needs like freedom.) We tend to not murder and steal for our own payoff as we would in the "state of nature" or unorganized state, since we will be purged or ostracized from the system.

Much like a defective cell or organelle that doesn't follow instructions is purged from our bodies system, or at least the body attempts to do so, or at least tries to redirect (reform) it. In that way control of governing bodies protects the entirety of the body.

In that respect globalization of government, international coalitions and governments/laws will hopefully continue to strengthen as central organization is vital to the system.

But why is the vitality of the system important?

To preserve myself and future generations of offspring. A purpose merely gives reason to why we perform an action, but there are obviously short-term and long-term purposes. We sorta get the short-term purpose to higher organization, leaving progeny, more proficiency, ect. However, we don't know what intermediary step to a long-term purpose of why we compete and increase central organization as a collection of atoms. (If there is exists a long-term purpose that is.)

 

[twocows]

If people can make their own choices in life because there is no objective purpose then as long as they aren't somehow compromising your wellbeing it doesn't matter what they do.

Or that of others, but yeah, pretty much. That said, it doesn't mean that sitting and staring at a wall for 80 years will be as fulfilling of a life as having fun or accomplishing things. Nothing says you HAVE to do either of those latter options, but generally you'll enjoy life more and get more out of it if you do.

 

[Oryx]

I'll keep this simple Oryx. It people can make their own choices in life because there is no objective purpose then as long as they aren't somehow compromising your wellbeing it doesn't matter what they do.

It depends on what you mean by "doesn't matter". It matters to me if a family member is destroying their life because I love them and want them to be happy and be around. It matters to me if a coworker is slacking off and putting his work on other coworkers because it brings morale down in my team and allows him to skate by without having to do as much work as the rest of us. Saying "life is what you make it" in fact means what you do in life means more, not less - because it's all we have. If you're not happy in life but you're religious and fulfilling your "purpose" so you believe you'll go to heaven, then this life doesn't mean much at all - but if you make nothing of your life (note that this is generically stated: 'making something' means many different things, before you go off on your personally-targeted angry rants) when you believe there's no higher purpose, you are left with nothing.

Plus, there's a large difference between something being morally wrong and believing one decision would make people in general happier/more fulfilled/better than another decision. That's all I'm going to say on your anger that you can't let go that has nothing to do with this point and everything to do with who made it. If you have more to say about what a horrible person you think I am feel free to take it to PM.

 

[BadPokemon]

The purpose of humans is to serve God, worship Him, and spread the Word of God.

And have babies because if we don't have babies, there will be no humans.