what is YOUR meaning of life???

T

the sage

Guest
after being on these forums for a little over a month or so, i've started to get a feel of each person's opinions, beliefs, and attitudes... any ways to the point

what is your meaning of life?

i pose this question to the any non-theist on this board. i don't mean to discriminate.. but the meaning of life for every theist is the same, to serve god, to gain acceptance into some heavenly existence.. yeah that's great i don't want to hear it :rolleyes: ... but for you atheist or just any non-theist i would love to learn what you see as the meaning of life? or maybe you see that there is no meaning to life and we humans overanalyze this? either way express it :bugeye:
 
Flores

Originally posted by Flores
Just like the tree's result is its fruit, the fruit's result, too, by means of the seed, is a future tree. Yes, just as the aim and result of this life is eternal life, one of its fruits too is thanks to the Ever-Living Giver of Life and worship and praise of Him and love for Him. And just as this thanks, love, praise and worship are the fruit of life, so are they the aim of the universe.
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thank you for your opinions flores.. but like i said in the first post this is exactly what i didn't want to hear... but thank you nonetheless
 
You're welcome, and when you get a better answer, PM me.

PS. When you create future threads asking people to state their opinions, it's nice to state your own opinion also. Even if it was humble or a starter. It's kindda weird to ask others just like you for the moon when you can't climb on a toddler stool.
 
Originally posted by Flores
It's kindda weird to ask others just like you for the moon when you can't climb on a toddler stool.
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:confused:

i did not criticize you for not "reading the directions" i posted for non-theist responses only.. heck i respect your opinions and have nothing rude to say to you at all.

why is it that you feel you have to personally attack me, saying i cannot even climb a toddler stool?
 
Originally posted by the sage
why is it that you feel you have to personally attack me, saying i cannot even climb a toddler stool?
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Okay, I have outgrown this nonesense, just state your own life purpose, set the damn bar, that's all I ask?
 
Let's see here.....

One could get horribly emotional here or one could be indifferent to the subject. Now mind me not as try to tread between the two in a fine line...i'll fail eventually but Do ro do not, there is no try

Life to me means...well it doesn't mean anything. At a age where youthful indiscretions are abundant and the feeling of near immortality reigns far and wide in the care free mind, life holds little to no meaning...but the scary part i dread to look upon is maybe it would still be that way in years to come. Even in my thirties i will still be barren and deviod of a meaning to life....how will i go on then, i mean i have been pretty stable so far lacking any and all purpose to this existence. However, it strikes me could i be confusing the meaning of life with the purpose of life. Surely i could be, it would be a tension release to think of such. Hell even if i was doing such i don't even have a clue as to what is the meaning of life...but you know what many don't.

So i sit here in the blue glow of the screen thinking hmmmmm......I have no purpose and i have no definition to classify life.......so what makes me go on then......

I lay back, grab a cold one and say..."fuck it".....i don't care to know because the more i try to grasp a hold of the meaning the farther it slips....i'll just let it meet me in the middle of the road somewhere waiting to be picked up....till then....i'll toss aside the thoughts and enjoy the free ride.
 
Originally posted by Flores
Okay, I have outgrown this nonesense, just state your own life purpose, set the damn bar, that's all I ask?
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actually i have no life purpose or meaning... i'm still searching.. that's why i asked the question in the first place
 
The question of “the meaning of life” makes no sense unless there was a creator who established some goals for life to achieve. If there was no creator then there can be no meaning. The term ‘meaning’ implies communication.

What you should have asked, and this applies to non-believers, was what is your “purpose in life”, or your objective.

I have two objectives –

1. To solve the problem of death since without life everything else is irrelevant.
2. Once death is resolved, then for now my short term objective is to explore as much of the universe as I can. And I can’t see much beyond that for the moment.
 
Hey Chris you wrote:The question of “the meaning of life” makes no sense unless there was a creator who established some goals for life to achieve. If there was no creator then there can be no meaning. The term ‘meaning’ implies communication.

Why does there need to be a creator who establishes some goals? Why are our goals not enough? Why can we not 'communicate' our own personal meaning, express it in action which we inevitably project out into the world?

"What you should have asked, and this applies to non-believers, was what is your “purpose in life”, or your objective"

The definition of 'meaning' is what is intended, what is signified, or understood. The definition of 'purpose' is intention or plan, the object for which something exists or is done intentionally. There are many people believers or not whom know their purpose but not their meaning. I do believe it is possible to identify ones meaning and express it, or rather we express our meaning through our actions whatever they may be. I don't believe anything outside ourselves can decide our purpose or meaning.

You wrote:
1. To solve the problem of death since without life everything else is irrelevant.

Wow you are ambitious:D

I think the death-factor gives our life incredible meaning and contrast. To live forever would be a bore, there would be no intensity to what we experience.

The meaning of my life changes and is determined largely by what I am experiencing from moment to moment. I find that when I examine my experience I am also examining my meaning. My life purpose is to finish the remainder of the five books I have decided needs writing. If I die before that happens then my life would not have been without purpose or meaning because the focus of my life is the drama of living; having lived the drama is enough for me, my actions, passions, desires, traumas, memories all give my life a meaning because I have experienced and continue to experience. The meaning and purpose of my individual life is only important to myself and those whom I directly or indirectly affect, outside of that or in the larger scheme of things my life is unimportant, purposeless, meaningless and irrelevant. In the larger scheme or things, there is no ultimate meaning or purpose that we can decipher if there be any to decipher.
 
Originally posted by the sage
or maybe you see that there is no meaning to life and we humans overanalyze this? either way express it :bugeye:
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exactly my belief. life has no meaning, and any meaning we deem it with is superficial.
 
Cris is right in that 'meaning' must be actively set.

We all choose our own meaning. Some choose religion. Some choose Truth. Some choose Happiness. For some, the search for meaning is itself the meaning of life.

Objective meaning? Maybe it exists, but there's no way of knowing. It's not possible to distinguish true objective meaning from self-consistent subjective meaning.
 
Lucy,

Let me put it another way. There is no meaning or purpose to life except what you assign for yourself.

I think the death-factor gives our life incredible meaning and contrast.
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No it just means your life is very brief, transitory, and essentially pointless.

To live forever would be a bore, there would be no intensity to what we experience.
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Then develop an imagination, you’ll have time. The alternative to life of course is that you simply cease to exist and that is really meaningless.
 
Chris:There is no meaning or purpose to life except what you assign for yourself.

We have no disagreement here.

On death you wrote:No it just means your life is very brief, transitory, and essentially pointless.

Brief and transitory but for me that does not make it pointless.

On life everlasting you wrote:Then develop an imagination, you’ll have time. The alternative to life of course is that you simply cease to exist and that is really meaningless

Unless life-everlasting also includes everlasting youth it would be a real drag. I have an imagination but it does not include the myth of the eternal. I have no fear of death, do not worry about death, the knowledge of death only intensifies the moments I am living.
 
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Forgive me here for having to fall back to a movie quote, but I'm going to:

"Well all I'm saying is I wanna look back and say I did it the best that I could when I was stuck in this place, had as much fun as I could when I was stuck in this place, played as hard as I could when I was stuck in this place, dobbed as many chicks as I could while I was stuck in this place."

I think that comes pretty close.
 
My top priority is making sure I eventually become food for a predator. I'm not deluded into thinking thats not why I'm here and I accept my role with pride.
Me and cris clearly have very differing view points. I can't see the dignity in avoiding death and stealing my body from the earth that owns it, JMO. I also disagree with "without life everything else is irrelevent". The universe deserves to be for the sake of itself, if anything, intelligent apes poking and prodding it rapes it of its majesty. I do believe however, that non-civilised wild life living by the laws of nature is a pretty accessorie, adding to the greatness of the universe. But once life reaches human like power it becomes ugly and unnecesarry.
Again, just my opinion.

The meaning of life engraved into all of us is breeding but I can see around those instincts by using reason. Its unlikely I am worthy of passing on my genes. Its extremely unlikely that ALL my ancestors were so I think I'm cheating by existing. The least i can do is make sure I make a good snack for a powerful competent organism when I'm ready. And I will. None of this grave shit for me.

This honestly sums up my strong views on the meaning of life so if you attack it expect to be attacked ;)
 
I can't see the dignity in avoiding death and stealing my body from the earth that owns it
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The transhumanist suggestion is that (one day) you could avoid death and still return your body to the Earth.
 
Lucy,

Unless life-everlasting also includes everlasting youth it would be a real drag.
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The aging process is a disease to be cured like any other. Sounds like you quite understandably do not want to experience the debilitating diseases associated with aging.

I have an imagination but it does not include the myth of the eternal.
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How do you know it will become a myth? Anti-aging research is growing at a very rapid rate with many researchers predicting that unlimited lifespans should be become a reality in the near term. Current experiments on animals show extended lifespans of double and triple.

I have no fear of death, do not worry about death,
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I’m not sure why you think these are issues. I don’t think you have thought this through properly yet. The loss of life when there is so much to do and learn is simply an unacceptable outcome.

the knowledge of death only intensifies the moments I am living.
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If you enjoy life so much then why do you want to die?

The claims of lack of fear or no worry about death are usually the result of someone who has been conditioned to accept the inevitability of a short life as if it is a good thing. There can be nothing good about not existing.
 
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