Atheists: What's the Purpose of Living?

Thoreau

Thoreau

Valued Senior Member
Ok, Atheists. I've been putting the Theists in the spotlight for the past few threads. To be fair, I decided that it was time to turn the tables.

So, in this thread, I ask what is our purpose, as human beings, in this world? Why do we exist?

Christians obviously - for the most part - believe that our purpose on Earth is to believe in and serve God (and Jesus, since they are one in the same), and to ultimately obey his laws so that, in the end, we can go to Heaven and sit "at the right hand of the father".

Obviously, me and my fellow atheists/agnostics/deists/free-thinkers do not feel the same way since it is clear that we do not follow the dogmatic beliefs of Christianity. So, what - in your opinion - is the purpose of living?

As I digress, I feel that maybe I should instead ask, "Is there a purpose in life"?

In my eyes I feel that, unlike the Christians, our purposes may vary person to person, whereas all Christians lives' purpose are the same.

As for myself personally, if there is a true purpose in my life, I feel it to be simply to live a happy life and to take care of not only myself but also of those around me so that life itself may continue with as little resistance and contraint possible, ie with as little suffering as possible.

So, I ask again:
A) Is there a purpose to life?
B) If so, what is that purpose?
 
And for the sake of discussion, please, I only ask that no one simply state "reproduction". That's an all-too-obvious answer that, though is true, does not equal the over all question. Life produces more life... but why? To survive? Obviously. But again, why? Why must we survive?
 
there is no one purpose to living. one's purpose is personal and personally defined which, like you said, varies from person to person.
 
To irritate religious people! :D They know they can't fool all the people all of the time so they keep fooling some of them some of the time.
 
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Someone should have told us we got debunked.

I didn't realize we got the evidence we were asking for.
 
Mind Over Matter said:
The Irrational Atheist
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Thanks, massively helpful:
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:shrug:

The new atheists do not even have an intellectual foundation as the atheists of the past have had.
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Really?
Then again, many current theists are in the same boat on that score.

However, the "old" atheists have pretty much been debunked and no longer relevant to modern philosophers.
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Right. :rolleyes:
 
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Everybody watch the southpark episode "Go God Go" its hillarious.

At some point, religion is destroyed and athiests take over the world. 500 years after this event, there is still war going on. Instead of people saying "Oh my god" they say "Oh my science" and athiest groups are fighting eachother stating ones science is superior than the others.

Also, beavers evolves to have human-like capacities and they are also a apart of an athiest group. The episode is hillarious.


Someone should have told us we got debunked.

I didn't realize we got the evidence we were asking for.
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"The Evidence we were asking for" think of the implications that would result if you got the "evidence you were looking for" similarily why should anybody believe

The universe just exists.
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Those who arent open to the idea of god existing. Well, You guys let culture inherited belief systems pretty much sway you to the extent that you'd rather believe in nothing than something. "God doesent have to be the entity in organized religion systems" why not look at god as the source? You know why, because athiests would have a hell of a lot harder time debunking god if looked at this way. If god is automatically associated with organized religion concepts and you invalidate it based on this association alone than you are allowing man made constructs to alter your intution.

If there is no purpose to living...

Why is there a will in nature to reproduce? Especially with complex organisms like us? Why is there even information in our dna to survive?

Are you guys saying that intelligence can come from self replicating manifestation out of no where and this is somehow a more convincing argument than god being in existance??

We can always say that god doesent exist, but what proof or argument is there that excludes god?

My theory is that athiests do it knowing there isnt any emperical proof and they like to associate religious people with the "cranks" who similarily have no proof so they can bust there nut and make others feel stupid when they have no idea what they are talking about??

Tis about right?
 
420Joey said:
"The Evidence we were asking for" think of the implications that would result if you got the "evidence you were looking for" similarily why should anybody believe
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One implication...there would be something to believe.

Those who arent open to the idea of god existing. Well, You guys let culture inherited belief systems pretty much sway you to the extent that you'd rather believe in nothing than something.
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This is often phrased as atheists being in denial, or better yet, some odd hatred of a god. It's also a big incorrect stereotype. Let me ask you, how can you believe in something without having a reason to believe it?

"God doesent have to be the entity in organized religion systems" why not look at god as the source? You know why, because athiests would have a hell of a lot harder time debunking god if looked at this way. If god is automatically associated with organized religion concepts and you invalidate it based on this association alone than you are allowing man made constructs to alter your intution.
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As gods disappear into a deist type of existence, then yes, it gets more difficult to really be able to say yes or no to their existence. The Christian god is a lot easier to debunk than some "the universe is god".

If there is no purpose to living...

Why is there a will in nature to reproduce? Especially with complex organisms like us? Why is there even information in our dna to survive?
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Usually those that lack the desire or ability to reproduce don't pass on that trait.

Are you guys saying that intelligence can come from self replicating manifestation out of no where and this is somehow a more convincing argument than god being in existance??
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Out of nowhere, no.

We can always say that god doesent exist, but what proof or argument is there that excludes god?

My theory is that athiests do it knowing there isnt any emperical proof and they like to associate religious people with the "cranks" who similarily have no proof so they can bust there nut and make others feel stupid when they have no idea what they are talking about??
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So, being that there's no evidence as you said...you expect someone to believe anyway. That makes sense.
 
The purpose of life is to invent a purpose for itself- that's just evolution at work, any beings which didn't see a purpose to eating and surviving mostly died off a long time ago. On the other hand, I know plenty of people who don't find meaning and purpose in their lives, and aren't satisfied with the day-to-day pleasures they have and which others deem to be perfectly sufficient for them. So for many of the people I know, even many who believe in a higher power, the purpose of life is to try and minimize their own pain, while sustaining themselves enough to not be committed to psych units by doctors who think it's their right to play God, until they get old and croak.
 
I'm starting to think that most of you theists would end up on antidepressant medication if it was somehow proven that God didn't exist and that there was no afterlife in heaven. You all carry on about how utterly meaningless life would be without those things. Perhaps this says something about why you're theists in the first place. The rest of us just get on with life and enjoy all the things that it has to offer, and it offers a lot. I personally have so many hobbies that I am enthusiastic about that it seems impossible for me to ever be bored. I love this experience that we call life and intend to make the most of it. The idea that it's all ultimately meaningless just because we wont be around forever is completely retarded.
 
Rav said:
I'm starting to think that most of you theists would end up on antidepressant medication if it was somehow proven that God didn't exist and that there was no afterlife in heaven. You all carry on about how utterly meaningless life would be without those things. Perhaps this says something about why you're theists in the first place. The rest of us just get on with life and enjoy all the things that it has to offer, and it offers a lot. I personally have so many hobbies that I am enthusiastic about that it seems impossible for me to ever be bored. I love this experience that we call life and intend to make the most of it. The idea that it's all ultimately meaningless just because we wont be around forever is completely retarded.
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It's not so much about not being around forever. It's that there comes a point when the usual life-as-it-is-usually-lived becomes boring, all the enjoyments become weary, stale, flat and unprofitable.
Heaven help the hedonists, and the epicureans too, for sooner or later, they will get bored.
 
Rav said:
I'm starting to think that most of you theists would end up on antidepressant medication if it was somehow proven that God didn't exist and that there was no afterlife in heaven.
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That's exactly what would happen. People need their fantasies in order to justify enduring all the boring stuff, whether it's the fantasy of a glorious afterlife or the fantasy of a beautiful lover. I'm just one of those types who strongly believes that when one gives up on their personal fantasies and wants to call it quits in life, we ought to let them do exactly that, it's not our place to judge or intervene. The reality is quite different though- you either accept programming to desire other peoples' fantasies, invent your own fantasies, or endure life without enjoyment, but any other choice will see you drugged and electroshocked against your will until you've chosen one of the above three.
 
I am Christian, but I have another reason for living, that may apply to atheists, it is to change the world, to make an impact.

It would be pretty sad to get lost in the flow of time and just be another sheep, my reason for living is to change the world, make it different then before I came into being. To make your mark in history, a significant mark that people will remember you.

The strive towards that is my reason for living, I want to make a difference. Idealist eh? But nonetheless a reason.
 
Shogun said:
I am Christian, but I have another reason for living, that may apply to atheists, it is to change the world, to make an impact.

It would be pretty sad to get lost in the flow of time and just be another sheep, my reason for living is to change the world, make it different then before I came into being. To make your mark in history, a significant mark that people will remember you.

The strive towards that is my reason for living, I want to make a difference. Idealist eh? But nonetheless a reason.
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lol. it just never stops, does it? so as a "christian" you just want to do anything to make an impact for the purpose so that others will "remember" you??? does this sound anything like jesus? i see not a hint of anything idealistic in your post. all i see is a desire for prestige and vanity. this is not all bad within some limits but what i don't understand is how a christian who would be more familiar with the humility of christ as well as his teachings to not be superficial would see things this way. you say you want to change the world and leave it different but you don't say why or how. just to make it different so that it's noticeable that you changed it?

it doesn't matter what it is or what it's for???

what a fucked up world. this is no different than a desire to be famous just for it's own sake. if you wanted to make a difference and had the right motives, then you would just do it.

an important question to ask yourself, what if your deed did make a good difference but you would not be remembered or known, would that stop you? what is your real priority or motivation?

do you know that there are even anonymous philanthropists?

actually this is the problem with the world, it's backwards. that's fuking stupid and unfortunately a lot of people past and present have thought in such a shallow way. it's a power trip. a person or people's should get due credit or even compensation for their level of contributions or accomplishments and it would be wrong if they didn't recieve that but also just trying to do something just for ego is not very ethical either.

what one does is what is most important and if it is appreciated, they may be remembered positively by the world. but it is backward to try and be remembered so therefore do something for that sake and in order to do that, one must make a mark on the world. for instance, one doesn't cure the sick to be famous but because they are sick! one shouldn't donate to charity to look good but because it is for a good cause! alternately, sometimes people do try to get the attention of the public because they think they have an important message but being famous is not their main goal. they are acting as a messenger.
 
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