happiness
achievements
material goods
love
struggles
religion
self-respect
others
I am just curious as too what people think the meaning of life is or even if they think such a question is worth an answer. I have been reading "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl and his book was an attempt to answer that question. Frankl simply thinks there is no one answer to this question.
Life is.
Meaning is a creation of mind.
Purpose is also a creation of mind.
You are !
Those who develop meaning, do so from a lack of awareness of one's true nature.
Thank you for your answer.Quote by: Bright Garlick
In my opinion the provisional meaning of each individual's life is whatever makes their time on this planet worthwhile and productive. I don't believe in an ultimate, absolute meaning of life.
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Does life have to have meaning?
Economic Left/Right: -0.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.18
http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
Only enough to give me a good reason to wake up every day.
The Forum Rules
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
[John F. Kennedy]
The principal value of debate lies in the development of logical thought processes, and the ability to articulate your positions publicly.
[Senator Dick Clark of Iowa]
The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.
[Terry Pratchett]
In responding to your question, let me start by modifying it a little and ask; "What is the point of life." If you pose this question to a person residing in the jungles of the Amazon or in a village deep in the forests of the Congo today or even a European living in the pre-civilization era, they would probably say something to the effect of; The point of life is to survive, hopefully, to procreate and finally, to ensure my children have a good chance to do the same. To me, that is the most fundamental point of life. Now, attaching another meaning to it or to demand a more complex reason comes from having subverted those initial challenges and prompts a redefinition of the question such as you have put it. With the odds of survivability, procreation and, security closer to our favor, one starts to believe that perhaps there is more to life than the aforementioned challenges. This is where it becomes tricky and, in fact, impossible to find a universal answer to that question. Universally speaking, and outside of fundamental reasoning as I have stated it, your question cannot be answered except to say that it is a definition that one has to come up with on their own. And, hopefully, that meaning puts into consideration the satisfaction of those primary reasons for the sake of one’s self and the society at large. I will offer up one caveat; it will probably help to find out why one asks such a question in the first place while trying to find an answer.
I don’t know if any of that made sense but that is how it came to me as I was typing up a response. For me, I believe that the purpose of life is to make way for the future. In surviving, allow the same for others. In procreating, try to be responsible. And in securing your children’s future, extend the same to as many as possible. You do this knowing that you are a part of the world as much as it is a part of you.
There isn't any single, objective meaning to life, it means as much as each of us decides that it means and nothing more. We all have to determine, on our own, what life means to us and live our lives as we see appropriate.
As such, I couldn't answer your poll because you didn't include "none of the above".
There is nothing demonstrably true that religion can provide the world that cannot be achieved more rationally through entirely secular means.
I think that's covered in "others" Cephus.
the meaning of life is to search for and find a meaning to life
If evil is my enemy, then I will fight against it. If evil is on my side, then evil is my friend. If it is simply the way of all human nature, are we then all evil?
You're all wilfully missing the point. The meaning of life is, of course:
42.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
The tree of liberty is hungry. Let's feed it well in the next election.
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