What's the point of it all? (not as bad as it sounds I swear)

[Grovygrunge]

I don't mean this in a depressing, "why go on" sense more in a..."I wanna know what you guys think and how you see the world sense".


- Do you think there is a point to life and existence?
- If so what is it?
- If not why? and how does it make you feel?


I just like seeing how people respond to these kinds of questions, it's usually interesting and eye-opening, so feel free to share.

[Dr. Prower]

I don't feel that there a pre-set purpose to life, like some people believe. I think the purpose of living is defined by you. I will say that since there's no guarantee as to what comes after death, that the meaning of life could be considered "live while you can, because you only get to do it once."

[Grovygrunge]

I tend to think the same, somewhere along the lines of a the point is to find a point. A lot of people don't like to see things that way though which is understandable.

[Gone forever]

I don't feel that there a pre-set purpose to life, like some people believe. I think the purpose of living is defined by you. I will say that since there's no guarantee as to what comes after death, that the meaning of life could be considered "live while you can, because you only get to do it once."

I feel relatively the same with a few exceptions.

First, the world defines and molds you, but only as to the shape provided by your personality.

Second, I believe there is no real purpose just the same but that in order for life to have meaning to yourself through others that it must have a purpose. So we will spend a lifetime trying to find a morsel of happiness to believe our life is complete.

And third, I believe that the world will keep spinning regardless of whether or not we find purpose, whether or not we receive life after life, so I have abandoned the search for purpose in life and picked up the search for the purpose in my desires.

I'm sorry if it got a little gloomy and confusing at times, it's just what I believe and would be happy to explain anything in greater detail if needed.

[CrazyCat]

Nah, and I like it that way. No pressure to meet preset expectations that don't take into consideration each person's way of thinking, and may cause added stress because they go against a person's individual beliefs.

Just do what you want as long as it doesn't interfere with other people's lives.

[Teiko]

I hold to a concept that life's meaning is whatever you assign to it. i don't believe there is any objective purpose to life (other than mother nature's purpose which is to reproduce). I personally believe that with such unique intelligence, it should be our purpose to try to learn as much as we can about the universe (maybe even beyond). It is our gift and we should use it to it's full potential (although 90% of humans choose not to which is a shame).

[anoni]

I hold to the belief of absurdism and relativism. Basically they go under these concepts.

Absurdism:
  The idea of absurdism is that people tend to dedicate a whole bunch of their life to find a meaning in something that inherently they won't be able to find, the search of meaning is in a sense "absurd". Basically the idea is if the universe has a point, it would not be able to be understood by humanity and the search of this point in meaning is simply an exercise in futility.

Relativism:
  Yet people still have some meaning in their life, even if the universe doesn't have a true meaning to humans. The explanation for this is through relativistic perceptions on reality. The idea is that a human may have a meaning that is true to his reference frame, but not necessarily true to any other reference frame, it's his own subjective meaning to the universe, he creates a meaning.

So the combination of the two philosophies basically state that, while there may not be a true meaning to the universe, people can still find meaning to their own perception of the universe.

[juliet]

The point of life is to live.

Do what makes you and only you happy and find your peice. Don't let other people effect you. Just be happy.

[Grovygrunge]

I hold to the belief of absurdism and relativism. Basically they go under these concepts.

Absurdism:
  The idea of absurdism is that people tend to dedicate a whole bunch of their life to find a meaning in something that inherently they won't be able to find, the search of meaning is in a sense "absurd". Basically the idea is if the universe has a point, it would not be able to be understood by humanity and the search of this point in meaning is simply an exercise in futility.

Relativism:
  Yet people still have some meaning in their life, even if the universe doesn't have a true meaning to humans. The explanation for this is through relativistic perceptions on reality. The idea is that a human may have a meaning that is true to his reference frame, but not necessarily true to any other reference frame, it's his own subjective meaning to the universe, he creates a meaning.

So the combination of the two philosophies basically state that, while there may not be a true meaning to the universe, people can still find meaning to their own perception of the universe.

I have two things to say about this:


One: I'm pretty sure I could say my way of viewing this subject fits in with these two ideas.


Two: You sound like an intelligent guy, and that to me is awesome

[Poli "Lissy" Drax]

The way I see it, there is no reason for existence for any of us. There's no plan from the get go, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The fact we exist at all, in my mind, is a miracle of random chance, statistics and scientific accidents, or perhaps some form of other power. Either way, it is something that has happened, and really, that means we should embrace it.


A random opportunity shouldn't be missed, so even if we have no reason to exist, we can find a reason to live and enjoy ourselves in our own way.


Knowing or feeling this gives me a sense of purpose and realism, and allows me to think about things in a way that weighs up the fact we have this time to spend and only one chance to spend it how we like. Some people don't like this view, and I 100% respect that. Tis simply how I am.