What is the reason for life or living?

CerebralCortex

What is the reason for life or living? This question is bugging me but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to find the answer I keep ending up with 'why?' .:( There has to be a reason for us being here. Can anybody please enlighten me?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

it's marginally preferable to the alternative?

simu

Why does there have to be a reason?

wayfarer

simu wrote:

Why does there have to be a reason?

Just what I was going to say, what does it matter if there is a reason or not. The fact is that it can be great fun, even if it is meaningless, all the natural desires and instincts inherent to being human make sure of that

The_B_Man

as somebodys sig sez:
"im not livin, im just killin time".

eljono

Green Pringles

Altheus

Well, have you tried living a life on heroin, prozac, mushrooms and cocaine?


imho, I very much doubt we're here to try and figure out why we're here, once you stop trying out that fact maybe you'll enjoy and embrace life, and realise that the reasons aren't important, stay content and satisfied and do that for everybody else. That way everybody would be having way to good a time to even consider the matter of why we are here.

NotMe

CerebralCortex wrote:

What is the reason for life or living? This question is bugging me but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to find the answer I keep ending up with 'why?' .:( There has to be a reason for us being here. Can anybody please enlighten me?

It sounds like you don't want to be here. If you woke up tomorrow in paradise where you had everything you ever wanted would you ask yourself "why am I here?". No. Although you might ask "how the f*ck did I get here?". So the question you should ask yourself is "why am I not happy here?".

Slutmonkey57b

Only humans would be arrogant enough to assume that there must be a reason for them to exist. If there is a more pointless lifeform in the universe than humans, it has yet to make itself known.

The answer is, there is no reason. Have another beer.

fragile

Snowboarding

Neuro

CerebralCortex wrote:

What is the reason for life or living? This question is bugging me but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to find the answer I keep ending up with 'why?' .:( There has to be a reason for us being here. Can anybody please enlighten me?

Basically you're enquiring about that age-old chestnut, the Meaning of Life.

But there's a fundamental problem with the question:

What is the Meaning of Life?

It's a compound or loaded question; it presupposes that life has a meaning in the first place. If we're to be rigorous we must first ask:

Does life have a meaning?

And the answer, quite simply, is No. But this has not deterred people from applying an arbitrary meaning after the fact. This is the origin of nearly all organised religion, philosophy, music, poetry, literature, theatre i.e. the bulk of all the work ever undertaken in the humanities.

So why are you here? Simple really. Your parents asked the same question that you're asking right now and concluded (incorrectly) that the meaning of life was to have children. After all, that's what everyone else was doing at the time. How could 5 billion people be wrong? And isn't that the reason God put us on this earth?

But what your parents were actually doing was partaking in the biggest game of 'pass the buck' ever undertaken this side of the Big Bang. Instead of trying to figure out the problem for themselves they said:

"F**k it, let's have children and let them agonise over it for seventy or eighty years!"

There's no more selfish or egotistical an act as having children. Buy hey, that's just me...

Neuro

The_B_Man wrote:

as somebodys sig sez:
"im not livin, im just killin time".

It's from a song called True Love Waits by Radiohead.

0utshined

42 guys, it's 42

Lafortezza

CerebralCortex wrote:

What is the reason for life or living?

The vinegar stroke.

Sleepy

The_B_Man wrote:

as somebodys sig sez:
"im not livin, im just killin time".

It's a Radiohead quote. It was written for inclusion on the Bends but they were never happy with a studio version of it and eventually released it on the Live Kid-A era "I Might Be Wrong". Worth checking out...

Back on topic? There's no way we can tell if there is a reson. Personally I'm of the belief that there is none, that life's just a series of accidents and chance occurences, there is no great reason we're here so the best we can do is enjoy the ride as much as possible.

Gordon

What Sleepy said.

Moved from PI as this isn't a personal issue afais.

Neuro

0utshined wrote:

42 guys, it's 42

That's all very well, but what's the bloody question?

Gone West

its very arrogant to say that life definetly doesnt have a purpose. What proof do you have? Sure I could argue that life *might* have no purpose, but a concrete statement liek that is just way out of the ballpark

Gone West

42 is the answer to what? Lets start a 5 million year boards debate on what the question is. then the mice will be happy.

*note*: if you didnt understand that go read THHGTTG

CerebralCortex

Well thanks everybody I didn't think you would all reply so positively.
Snowboarding is way better than beer hands down.
Hint for future replies I don't drink, I refuse to drink something that for the effect it damages brain cells.
:cool:

CerebralCortex

wayfarer wrote:

Just what I was going to say, what does it matter if there is a reason or not. The fact is that it can be great fun, even if it is meaningless, all the natural desires and instincts inherent to being human make sure of that

What about when the fun ends and you have to face the no meaning and slave for your right to live?

Neuro

wayfarer wrote:

Just what I was going to say, what does it matter if there is a reason or not. The fact is that it can be great fun, even if it is meaningless, all the natural desires and instincts inherent to being human make sure of that

Some philosophers and certain religions, Buddhism for example, believe that these natural desires and instincts are actually the origin of suffering in the world...

"I know of no greater absurdity than that propounded by most systems of philosophy in declaring evil to be negative in its character. Evil is just what is positive; it makes its own existence felt. Leibnitz is particularly concerned to defend this absurdity; and he seeks to strengthen his position by using a palpable and paltry sophism. It is the good which is negative; in other words, happiness and satisfaction always imply some desire fulfilled, some state of pain brought to an end.

This explains the fact that we generally find pleasure to be not nearly so pleasant as we expected, and pain very much more painful. The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see whether this statement is true, let him compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other."

- On The Suffering Of The World (1851), Arthur Schopenhauer

You can read the whole text here.

fragile

CerebralCortex wrote:

What about when the fun ends and you have to face the no meaning and slave for your right to live?

It's when you face the fact that there is no meaning to life that the real fun begins

CerebralCortex

fragile wrote:

It's when you face the fact that there is no meaning to life that the real fun begins

That's purely opinion and personal perspective. Believing there is a void of non existence after we die makes experience of anything pointless.

Dades

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

Only humans would be arrogant enough to assume that there must be a reason for them to exist.

Touché

FuzzyLogic wrote:

its very arrogant to say that life definetly doesnt have a purpose. What proof do you have? Sure I could argue that life *might* have no purpose, but a concrete statement liek that is just way out of the ballpark

Agreed. This is a "philosophy" board - no answers - only opinions.

I 100% believe we have no "reason" to be here. That said - if there was - I believe it would probably be beyond our comprehension anyway.

And oh for a euro for every time I've read HHGTTG...
Just fantastic.

Dades

CerebralCortex wrote:

That's purely opinion and personal perspective.

All of this is purely opinion and personal perspective.

CerebralCortex wrote:

Believing there is a void of non existence after we die makes experience of anything pointless.

When you go on holidays, does knowing you have to go back to work afterward make it a pointless experience?

Kimbot

I believe that the meaning of life is just to go and make a go at it and see if you can make a big enough impression on people in the process.

A.S.H.

The Atheist wrote:

When you go on holidays, does knowing you have to go back to work afterward make it a pointless experience?

Well for me, I repress the fact that I have to go to work and generally just live it up as much as possible untill the morning I'm back in work. A holiday is used and needed to recharge the batteries and to remind yourself that there is more to life than work. Too many people Live to work rather than work to live. As regards Life I don't think there is any reason for, there is no answer and after you die that's it, I stop myself from fully comprehending the extreme futility of existance by either not thinking about it or drinking till I forget. I try to have fun along the way though.

Dades

A.S.H. wrote:

I stop myself from fully comprehending the extreme futility of existance by either not thinking about it or drinking till I forget. I try to have fun along the way though.

Just because something doesn't have a reason, doesn't mean it's futile.

To suggest life is futile is to suggest it's not worth living. And while there may not be a "reason" we are here there is nothing to stop us enjoying our turn, and from making it more enjoyable for others while we're here.

Neuro

A.S.H. wrote:

Well for me, I repress the fact that I have to go to work and generally just live it up as much as possible untill the morning I'm back in work. A holiday is used and needed to recharge the batteries and to remind yourself that there is more to life than work.

I'm always surprised that poeple don't negotiate for 40 days holidays per year instead of the standard 20 in exchange for a cut in pay before starting a job. It makes sense as these days what we really lack is not money, but time.

Dades

Neuro wrote:

I'm always surprised that poeple don't negotiate for 40 days holidays per year instead of the standard 20 in exchange for a cut in pay before starting a job. It makes sense as these days what we really lack is not money, but time.

Touché.

But if we weren't in work where would people find the time to get busy on message boards?

ctrl-alt-delete

if there is a meaning of life - it is to be here now - i.e. if you are reading this message, maybe this place has a meaning in your life, or maybe the meaning or path of your life requires for you to be here now.....this however opens up endless arguements about how life is random and not predefined...

so we live and so we die,
but thats not to say there's a reason,
so we ponder and so we try,
but thats not to say we find reason,
and so i hear the shadows cry,
theres never a meaning behind believing.

Kizen

For us to have a reason for being here does that not mean that we must have a use or funchtion to somebody or something out side of our little planet. I was reading a book called "The Infinit Book" and in it came up the idea of Universes being created by observers (eg. we would be considered observers, I think it's intelligent life in general). This would mean that Universes could be created for expariments.
Another theory is that Universes could be simulated on computers and again used for expariments or perhaps even entertainment for the "Obsevers", (entertianment tends to be one of the most lokerative of industeries).
We could then be just be here as an expariment or worse a created for entertainment.

Please shread these theories if you want to as I'm new to this and will learn form it.

Fysh

On the matter of universes....it could be argued that each sentient and conscious creature perceives a different subset of physical stimuli which it records as memory. Since it is highly improbable that two creatures will have the same set of perceptions, each individual creature may be assumed to have a unique memory which, because of the mind-body problem, be interpreted as being effectively a personal universe. As in, if you had to try and create the universe based solely on your personal experience, it wouldn't be the same as the one I created, etc. This is all down to perception, but hey.

As for creating universes....well, there are some theories that purport we will be able to create "bubble universes" within our own universe. And as soon as that becomes possible, it'll only be a matter of time before someone decides that Big Brother (only with an entire universe) is the next big idea in entertainment...

spyro_2001ie

Is there a reason for living, I belive the answer lies in the question.

Is the purpose of the universe to create life ?

If it is then were doing bang up job and were (as far as we know) the highest example of life, and can remain happy in the knowledge that were doing what were supposed to be doing. Living

However Life could be a by-product of a superior or grander function, and our universe is in exsistance for that purpose rather than creating life.

Still no matter what way you look at it, were here and do exsist and that means were present in some sort of process. So what it boil down to is that the meaning of life is to ensure there is still life after your dead and gone.

Make babies.

Sex and survival the fundementals of life.

fragile

spyro_2001ie wrote:

So what it boil down to is that the meaning of life is to ensure there is still life after your dead and gone.

Then surely the universe would be much better off without us as the rest of the species on this planet would stand a much better chance at survival if humans weren't around. I am talking about global warming, nuclear-fallout, hunting species to extinction, chemical warfare, destruction of the rain forests, poisoning of the oceans etc..
If the meaning of life is the proliferation of life then surely mankind is only getting in the way of things...

Dades

spyro_2001ie wrote:

Sex and survival the fundementals of life.

I don't think the fundamentals should be confused with a "meaning" or "reason".

Maybe due to a lack of a "reason" for life we are left with simply survival.

And I agree with fragile - long term survival might be safer in the hands (or paws) of animals...

Cy

42 is the answer to what? Lets start a 5 million year boards debate on what the question is. then the mice will be happy.

Maybe the question is "How many roads must a man walk down..."

I think Fragile and The Atheist might be on to something but basically life is just here to be enjoyed.
Even if there isn't an afterlife or any point to living, i'll take it anyway. i'm just having too much fun living to think about whether there's a point aside from enjoying it

Dades

Much as I have my reservations about certain thing American, I think they were on to something when their Declaration of Independence used the phrase:

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That about sums it up for me.

solo1

There is no "meaning" in anything other than what you ascribe to it. The very word "meaning" pre-supposes a brain through which something is filtered.

WHEELER4

I read a lot of responses that are Nihilistic.

The meaning of life, "Life is War". It is about survival. Who survives and who dies! Life is a battlefield. Nature kills off the losers. Nature rewards the winners.

Nihilism is a loser ideology. That is why most of those who are Nihilists end their lives in suicide.

God created us to "have being". "To be or not to be" is the question that Shakespeare wrote that answers the question. God brought us into being. Not to be is not a good. It is good "to be". Then, something sought our destruction so soon as we have received our "being". Life is war. Stupid and deceived people get killed and disappear from the face of the earth. Wise and righteous and knowledgeable people survive and receive immortality. All people have immortality. We live forever. Life is not about drinking-it kills and is a nihilistic response. Ours is to live well and to our duty. Life is War.
Survive it and you win. If you take wrong advice, you die.

Meaning is in the struggle. Meaning is given to by God. He loves all men and seeks their lifes. Life is about community. A community attached to the real essence and meaning of our lives, The True, The Good and the Beautiful--God.

doonothing

hmm.. the whole struggle thing you talk about is life, its not the reason that there is life, nor is it the reason we are living.
if you're not religious, then there appears to be very little meaning in life, besides the trivial matters which are important to us, eg family... (i say trivial as in we are talking about the meaning of life in general, a fairly hefty topic, regardless of how much you love your family)
id like to believe there's meaning..but, i dont...
maybe, there's no meaning, we're the result of the ever continuing process of evolution, and maybe human beings are the first creatures capable/big-headed enough to believe there's a meaning behind our existence..
but i dont like to believe that either... maybe meaning is individual, maybe the search for meaning is more meaningful than anything we can comprehend....

solo1

It is about survival. Who survives and who dies! Life is a battlefield. Nature kills off the losers. Nature rewards the winners.

Is that supposed to be more heartwarming than nihilism?

Stupid and deceived people get killed and disappear from the face of the earth. Wise and righteous and knowledgeable people survive and receive immortality.

Now you know that's not true! Surely you know someone who was quite nice who died young? And surely you know of Pol Pot, who died peacefully in his home some years ago of old age (bless)?

fragile

WHEELER4 wrote:

Ours is to live well and to our duty. Life is War.
Survive it and you win. If you take wrong advice, you die.

Nobody survives life, we ALL die you muppet

WHEELER4 wrote:

Meaning is in the struggle. Meaning is given to by God. He loves all men and seeks their lifes. Life is about community. A community attached to the real essence and meaning of our lives, The True, The Good and the Beautiful--God.

Why am I not surprised that your location is in the USA :rolleyes:

hang on, could it be? is this George W.Bush posting under the alias Wheeler4? it certainly sounds like him..

Dades

WHEELER4

I had assumed you were just a troll, but having looked at your history I see you are actually for real.

I've a question: How many losers did you kill in your career as a marine?

Meaning is given to by God. He loves all men and seeks their lifes.

Especially those of African children. Are are they losers too?

Peddle your crazy someplace else. Don't patronise those on this thread who are secure enough in themselves not to require an agenda from the twisted character you describe.

WHEELER4

Everything is Nature is there for a purpose; i.e. pigeons, ants, rats. They all have a purpose. Theirs is to clean up the environment. They are the cleaners. I have yet to find a purpose for Mosquitos but then .... maybe their purpose is to spread disease to check otherwise uncontrollable populations.

Everything in Nature has a purpose. Every Human being has a purpose. First, it is "to be". To have being. To have being is Good. How can we have spiritual immortality if we don't have physical existence first? That is kind of hard isn't?

My big toe doesn't say, "I am not the Brain or the Heart or the eye so I am just going to off meself". The body needs the big toe. Everything we have we need; even the tiniest insequential part. One can say that One blood cell is unimportant but if all the cells thought so, then where would we be--dead.

Life is hard. That is a famous ancient Greek saying--"The good comes through the Hard". The Hard life makes us better. The law of Thermodynamics is just as valid in the human sphere as it is in the physical realm. Only by putting "energy" in does the world turn, once energy stops, then entropy sets in.

Us, humans are both physical and spiritual. It is the higher ideals that give us meaning and it takes struggle to reach the higher ideals. The True, The Good and the Beautiful.

Dades

Buddy, maybe you should change your name to WHEELER3 because I think one of your wheels is missing.

WHEELER4

What is the meaning of life? It is to have communion with God. God created us to have community with Him. To enjoy the good life.

All human beings are immortal. Death is only a door. Only Christianity explaines this thoroughly.

God is Good. Nothing evil lives with Him. Through envy of the devil, us, humans entered into a path of corruption and evil, thus seperating us from God. We are truly homesick and homeless without God. Our nature is fallen. Jesus is the door to return to this community with God. Our meaning in this life is to experience and build the community of God.

Nature is beautiful. Nature is evidence of the nature of God. God is beautiful and in this he created us to share in His life.

doonothing

whoa..
i didnt realise christianity explains it thoroughly...
*runs to change entire belief system*

trinitylucan

I take it this is a genuine question and though you might feel corny asking it, it is in fact the most common base question of humanity. Most people do not sincerely address the question and prefer to sidestep it with facetious responses or cynicism.
Theres lots of distractions in life to avoid addressing this question - and many of them are good in of themselves, like snowboarding or travelling, and others are necessary like working or cooking. Then theres the spaces in between. These can usually be filled with some other noise to avoid the question such as the TV or 'talking ****e' as we say in Irl But the question remains
Did you ever see the enthusiasm of a greyhound chasing the rabbit on the track? Running with boundless zeal! And for what - a mechanical replica of another animal. Pathetic?
But what drives us - at the end of the track will you be left disappointed with the prize?
The fact is there is only one lasting reason to life, to our existence. THere is only one shape that fills the vacuum and the longer we spend focussed on perishable pursuits like work or travel or art or even relationships the more is will seem to fail to satisfy and feel like you are chasing the wind.
The answer is a reality to me but is so surrounded with gunk and rejectable nonsense that it is often quickly dismissed.

This is my first ever visit to a boards enviornment or chat room = I think I'll shut up for now and see if I'm making any sense!

Dades

trinitylucan wrote:

This is my first ever visit to a boards enviornment or chat room = I think I'll shut up for now and see if I'm making any sense!

Congratulations to you! Welcome to the snake pit.

Most people do not sincerely address the question and prefer to sidestep it with facetious responses or cynicism.

The problem here is you are assuming that because the question exists, so must an answer.

Many posters including myself see the question as knee-jerk human concept. A need to think that our lives are not as fleeting and meaningless as a light that blinks on and off in the night. IMO a "meaning" to our existence exists in people's minds in the same manner a belief in an afterlife does. It's a comforting concept.

But seeing no meaning in the human sense of the word does not have to leave you cold. It can leave you freer to use your existence to the best you can. To make it better for others while you're here, and ideally for those that follow you.

And if you do not believe in an afterlife (as you have to realise - many do not), then all we are left with are "perishable pursuits like work or travel or art or even relationships". Well, I'll happily concentrate on perishable pursuits, content in the belief that our time as bi-peds is the one shot we'll ever get at anything.

The fact is there is only one lasting reason to life, to our existence.

Speak up then. Surprise us!