Purpose of Life?

[Reyaj]

I guess I've got to age where I'm starting to think more and more about this stuff... For most of my life my primary focus has been women but is there a bigger picture here? I'm wired tonight for some reason so I went on facebook looking up random people I knew from my past. Most are married and most have children.

What's the alternative to starting a family? I guess to travel, try to score poon from girls. Maybe have some hobbies... but will any of these really fulfill you?

Has anyone here read the real Bible? Is there some higher meaning we should be seeking? I'd like to hear what all of your outlooks are on life and what you feel you are trying to accomplish on this earth. Cause I have no $#*($ clue...

 

[ChristopherColumbus]

You are asking the right questions. They lie at the heart of our existence, and must be resolved one way or the other. I think it helps to start looking at what others before us have done and said in the spheres of art, philosophy and religion. In many ways it is a journey, and then every journey has a destination.

 

[Bible_Belt]

If you are going to read a paper bible, the one you want is the Zondervan NIV. New International Version is a common translation, which can be read for free on many sites: https://www.biblegateway.com/ Zondervan is a publisher, who compiles their own footnotes. They have the best footnotes by far, extremely in depth. I don't go to church, but have occasionally been dragged there by girlfriends. As soon as the preacher finally mentions the verse he is going to discuss, his 45-minute sermon will cover about two sentences of footnotes, which I can read in a few seconds. At big churches, the preachers don't even write their own sermons. They buy them and read a script.

I liked about the first half of the Old Testament, through about the time of Saul, but the end gets pretty boring. As far as the new testament goes, I liked the gospels, but Paul gets on my nerves. Misinterpreting Paul's writings and taking them out of context is responsible for most of the shortcomings of Christianity.

I enjoy Christianity as a philosophy. I actually find it quite similar to other world religions in its central themes. Taoism comes to mind. My ex-wife converted to Islam, and I still talk to her occasionally, She explained that Muslims view both Moses and Jesus as divine prophets; they just add Mohammed as the third and final prophet. ISIS, who have the most strict interpretation of the Koran, are an end times cult who believe Jesus is coming back to Earth to lead them to victory. We can't talk about things like that on television; it would confuse the old people.

 

[Serenity]

I don't believe there's any greater purpose that applies universally. I believe we create our purpose or lend purpose from someone else who has created one.

What will fulfill someone cannot be answered objectively in a specific way beyond the basic needs. What makes one person feel fulfilled will not make another person feel fulfilled, meaning fulfillment is entirely subjective.

It makes sense that most people are in relationship/married with kids, reproduction is the most important factor to continue the existence of life. It's a pretty common purpose of life to reproduce as life wouldn't be sustainable without it. That's as objective as I believe it's possible to be about it.

Anyways, I would recommend creating your own purpose in life. The answer is within you, not somewhere out there.

I looked at it the wrong way before and I only found a void, there was no purpose to be found as long as I believed one objectively (meaning even without people) existed. People are required to attribute purpose, so without people there is no purpose and any purpose is created by people. I create my meaning of life, what I want to accomplish with my time in life.

 

[amazingswayze]

Well, we are all just organisms. That means our cycle of life in essence is not much different from a cat, a dog or a mouse. Most scientists will tell you that our purpose here in life is to survive and reproduce. Now, it's up to you if you want to spread your genes around because it has far bigger implications as a human being but in general, I can give you my philosophy in three words;

Survive then thrive.

 

[Smartone84]

Hey man. I see that you're 38. May I ask have you ever been married or in a serious relationship before? What's your backstory

 

[speed dawg]

I guess I've got to age where I'm starting to think more and more about this stuff... For most of my life my primary focus has been women but is there a bigger picture here? I'm wired tonight for some reason so I went on facebook looking up random people I knew from my past. Most are married and most have children.

What's the alternative to starting a family? I guess to travel, try to score poon from girls. Maybe have some hobbies... but will any of these really fulfill you?

Has anyone here read the real Bible? Is there some higher meaning we should be seeking? I'd like to hear what all of your outlooks are on life and what you feel you are trying to accomplish on this earth. Cause I have no $#*($ clue...

Considering there is zero logical explanation for how we are here, and even less explanation of how we still are here......that lends me to believe there is no rational explanation for WHY we are here. The Bible is the only book to transcend time, and Christianity is the only religion based on TRUE, observed examples of the supernatural. We aren't just organisms. Even the most primitive of humans know that.

What's the meaning of it all? Your guess is as good as mine. But giving of yourself to others is one of the few things in this life that really fulfills anyone, they are lying if they say different. That, and proving things to yourself and yourself only. Those two things, and human relationships, seem to be all that really matters. Money and other things seems to be the result of wisdom.

 

[Dingo]

Interesting question....

As I've gotten older and seen good friends pass away I have asked that same question.

For me...

The Purpose of Life it to Matter.

Make your life felt.... in whatever way you can. Don't look back and be that guy that could have just as easily not existed.... a waste of air.

It's a very personal thing....

 

[speed dawg]

For me...

The Purpose of Life it to Matter.

Make your life felt.... in whatever way you can. Don't look back and be that guy that could have just as easily not existed.... a waste of air.

Pretty dangerous thought process there, in my opinion. A lot of terribly evil people mattered, throughout history...

 

[GoodOne123]

Over the years, I've changed my answer to this question multiple times.

I've come to think the purpose of life is nothing. And by that I don't mean do whatever you want, but that the answer to the question is a void, an empty vessel. In other words there is no answer to the question.

We have a subjective idea of what the answer is based on our own perceptions, upbringing etc. But that is only based on our perception of reality, based on our sensory inputs e.g sight, sound, feel, taste, emotions. There is no evidence, and never will be, that our perception of reality is the real reality. We can't possibly know what is really happening beyond our sensory inputs, since this is all we have.

Therefore, the true reality is not accessible for us, therefore we cannot find the true meaning of what the purpose of life is. This is because we only have everyone's unique perception of reality to base the answer on, therefore producing a vast number of answers. All of which are not the true answer to the question, because none are based on the true reality.

 

[ZTIME]

Good question yet you would need to quantify it by understanding who's purpose your asking about.

Do you believe in a god like entity who has predetermined a set path for you, or set rules you must abide by to create your after life?

Do you seek the approval of others and desire to see your purpose through their eyes?

Do you seek an existence on a universal front connecting yourself to your surroundings?

Each of these questions will absolutely lead you on a different path, yet all paths lead to the same end.

Yet at that end we must seek solace in knowing that whichever path we chose, we allowed ourselves to experience it with all of our senses.

Seek no woman to make you happy and seek no purpose which demands judgement from others. Seek to live every moment like it's your last opportunity to truly enjoy your surroundings.

There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path. "Buddha"

 

[Tenacity]

I guess I've got to age where I'm starting to think more and more about this stuff... For most of my life my primary focus has been women but is there a bigger picture here? I'm wired tonight for some reason so I went on facebook looking up random people I knew from my past. Most are married and most have children.

What's the alternative to starting a family? I guess to travel, try to score poon from girls. Maybe have some hobbies... but will any of these really fulfill you?

Has anyone here read the real Bible? Is there some higher meaning we should be seeking? I'd like to hear what all of your outlooks are on life and what you feel you are trying to accomplish on this earth. Cause I have no $#*($ clue...

Well, my opinion is that at the end of the day....there IS no purpose to life because everything to this life is an illusion made out of dirt.

Think about it.

- Everybody on this forum, everybody you see, and everybody in the world will some day die. Their body will decompose and turn into dust, leaving only bones remaining.

- Everything you see around you, from the computer you are typing on, to the chair you are sitting in, is nothing but DUST. If you blow it up you will see exactly what I'm talking about, it turns into nothing but DUST.

So in my opinion, life is nothing but an illusion. We all only take this seriously because we have been programmed to take it seriously by those in positions of power, because us "taking life seriously" benefits them in some form or fashion.

Imagine if we all stopped working tomorrow, the economy would fall. So they had to create this game of capitalism along with using the media to PROGRAM us to "needing" various material things that make us go out and continue to produce...produce....produce.

This life is nothing but an illusion. If you want my opinion, go after what YOU desire in life and design this life the way YOU see fit, as long as you don't step on someone else's rights. But do not take this so seriously. This is something I'm still working on myself, but I'm getting better at not taking this shyt so seriously because ONE DAY I will be DEAD AND BACK TO DUST.

 

[ChristopherColumbus]

Ha ha.. seems we are turning into a society of solipsists. If you can't see it, or prove it, it doesn't exist.

So what of the idea of freedom, what of the idea of rights, what of self-determination? They are ideas right? If you believe in these ideas, why write off other ideas such as meaning and purpose?

I think our thoughts have been polluted by the status quo. People feel it is safest to believe what the majority believe. So much for 'red-pill' thinking... ha ha

Reason, and the search for meaning, is just as much an instinct as other desires.

 

[Serenity]

Imagine if we all stopped working tomorrow, the economy would fall. So they had to create this game of capitalism along with using the media to PROGRAM us to "needing" various material things that make us go out and continue to produce...produce....produce.

Well, this isn't quite accurate. The economy would fall, but it would bring negative consequences to far beyond those in power. If there's nothing produced then nothing can be consumed, which is bad as humans need to consume certain things for our survival. Beyond that there's a lot of things produced for the comfort of the masses.

It is true that media (advertisement) would ideally have us believe we need their product, this is in some cases true but in many cases not true. Many of those things might be convenient and make our life easier, but they're not needed in a survival sense of things.

Capitalism isn't really created by people in power, those in power just learned to take personal advantage of trading. Trading existed long before economically powerful people. Trading became a thing because it takes a lot to produce everything ourselves, so we produce one thing that others need/want and trade it for what we need/want. Since it's not practical and very time consuming to directly trade physical goods, someone made money to serve as a universal currency that can be traded for all goods.

The consequences of the economy falling has some very bad implications for everyone, we would be panicking wondering how the fvck we would survive the next 2 weeks. No supply of food, water goes down, electricity goes down, no gas for our cars meaning limited transportation. In the most extreme case not "taking life seriously" could be fatal.

This was all pretty off-topic, but my point was that I would rather have a couple of filthy rich people than being anywhere near a dense population when infrastructure collapses.

 

[ZTIME]

Aahhhh, we have the opinion of hope and faith. A little convoluted yet the argument the same. We're often fooled by the fact that hope is a beggar.

We want soo much to believe that the rules of society or the upbringing we struggled through have some significance to life. Like we paid the price and are owed something in return.

We'll become dust, because the rules of life are based on an elemental chart that pre dictates our faith.

Hope is the man that walks through the fire believing it's a trial. Faith is the man leaping over the fire who never gets burned.

Not a religious faith..... That's a crutch. A true faith in what you as a man can do. Beggars hope for enlightenment. A faith born man leaps and deals with what's on the other side.

Putting yourself in a box is begging to some day escape. Leaping over the box is having faith that there truly is more to life on the other side of the conforming box.

You all choose......the "box" or something else.

 

[daddymonsterpoodle]

Our lives have less purpose than the bacteria in a handful of dirt. On any sort of time scale or size scale we are less than a grain of sand in the tiniest flicker of time.

Even the most close-minded of religious mutters must acknowledge there is more than our tiny blue marble and that there was a time before man.

To think our tiny little lives matter is the height of arrogance and ego.

Whether you breed or don't breed, marry or don't is all irrelevant. Do what makes you happy.

 

[Bible_Belt]

everybody in the world will some day die. Their body will decompose and turn into dust.

That dust is called humates. All life that has ever existed on Earth is in one of three forms: living, recently dead, or humates. "Dust" is worthless. Humates power all plant life, including agriculture. They made the food you ate today. Maybe life is spiritually meaningless, but as a practical matter, we are all going to become some good fertilizer someday.

 

[Presto.er]

I'm a nihilist. You should try it.

Life is meaningless, nothing matters, everything is chaos, and nothing is relevant. Throw a bit of existentialism in there and you can get:

1. Find what has intrinsic meaning to you, and if it gives you meaning- do it. (With the understanding that just because you place significant meaning to your actions it doesn't make them meaningful in the eyes of the universe (or other people for that matter).
2. The world is a crazy chaotic place. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. It's just nonsense. No morality, no meaning, no karma, no plan- just the universe at work.
3. When you die, you're worm food- so do try and enjoy your time while you're here.

And that's it. The truth is a bit bitter, and can take some getting used to- but the truth will set you free.

 

[ChristopherColumbus]

The world is a crazy chaotic place. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. It's just nonsense. No morality, no meaning, no karma, no plan- just the universe at work.
3. When you die, you're worm food- so do try and enjoy your time while you're here

Why should you try to enjoy yourself in that kind of miserable reality? Is that perhaps the last dogma?

Some people who take a meaningless universe seriously, and find the misery too much, sadly just go ahead and commit suicide.

But most have other instincts at play that hold them back. Our moral instincts and our aesthetic moments get the better of us whatever our logic might say.

 

[speed dawg]

Why should you try to enjoy yourself in that kind of miserable reality? Is that perhaps the last dogma?

Some people who take a meaningless universe seriously, and find the misery too much, sadly just go ahead and commit suicide.

But most have other instincts at play that hold them back. Our moral instincts and our aesthetic moments get the better of us whatever our logic might say.

Agreed. No matter how cynical one may claim to be, none of us can deny the basic human longings we all experience, and the moral obligations we feel. To deny them is laughable.