any suggestions for the meaning of life?
religious, physical,harmonic or anything is cool

Noone knows for sure, if there is a surety, and that is the problem. I hope one day I can learn or figure out what it is, if there is an it.

I believe that this was figured out some time ago: the answer is 42.

Noone knows for sure, if there is a surety, and that is the problem. I hope one day I can learn or figure out what it is, if there is an it.


i never asked for the exact answer i know nobody knows, im trying to make a list of possibles and choosing which is best for me :)

There is no meaning in life, but there is a desire to experience life.

good point :D

There is no meaning in life, but there is a desire to experience life.

For some. Some, like me, are tired of it. Douglas Adams said it best: "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

Some suggestions (taken from wikipedia article on 'Meaning of Life'):

* survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension)
* reproduce
* naturally evolve, or contribute to the gene pool of the human race
* technologically evolve, or actively develop the future human
* "Live long and prosper", or seek happiness and flourish
* enjoy life to the fullest, experience pleasure or celebrate
* follow our dreams, acquire a sense of achievement, or fulfill our destinies
* gain and exercise power
* compete, or co-operate, with others
* accumulate wealth
* leave a legacy, such as work to be remembered for
* serve others or do good deeds
* give and receive love
* seek and find beauty
* express compassion
* work for justice and democracy
* live in peace with each other
* live in harmony with our natural environment
* search for truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
* relate, connect, or achieve unity with others
* seek freedom, either physically, mentally, financially, or spiritually
* serve, or worship, God
* achieve union with God or the Divine
* become God, or God-like
* live until you die; there is no universal or celestial purpose, existence has no meaning beyond which an individual chooses to give it
* seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
* learn a series of lessons and find enlightenment
* fulfil some combination of the above

Meaning can only be ascribed to things via intelligent beings, as well as being inherently subjective. Ergo, there is no objective meaning of life.

The meaning of life is contained negatively in its opposite, that is, death. Nothingness, non-existence, is completely meaningless, not simply chaos or nonsense, but *unmeaning*. Death is a horizon that represents our finity, our limitations, the borderline that separates consciousness from externality. The universe, taken as a totality, is also meaningless. We cannot hope to simplify the equation-- it's an equation with two unknowns. We cannot hope to capture an infinity within a box without falsifying it. Science is unequipped to answer this kind of question, yet I am continually surprised by the number of people who place their truth so blindly in it. This is properly a spiritual question, similar to the prime mover question or 'Why is there something rather than nothing?'

Hey, I completely agree, PrinceJames. You're a good writer and it's been a pleasure getting to hear your thoughts since I've joined this forum. :)

For some. Some, like me, are tired of it.
Well, then you are as good as a zombie. :D :eek:

JoeTheMan:

I am honoured that you would think as such. Thank you. Do know that the feeling is mutual, also.

Oh this is getting a little sappy, though I do agree with both of you, Prince and Joe. You both have brought me out of my shell a little, and I thank you for that. I like your insights.

Avatar, I try to be a better zombie each and every day. :confused: :D

Non-Logical, I think you have a nice selection to choose from. Joe's wikipedia list gives a lot to choose from. Let us know if you decide on one or a combination of several.

For me, it's simply contentment. Notice that I didn't say "happiness", because I see that as intermittent, whereas "contentment" tends to mean "over the long haul".

Baron Max

I think,especially at my age when its all i think about, my meaning of life is:.......to reproduce :p

For me, it's simply contentment. Notice that I didn't say "happiness", because I see that as intermittent, whereas "contentment" tends to mean "over the long haul".

Baron Max

Max your'e starting to sound like a buddhist ;)

I don't know anything about Buddhism ...is that a new kind of Tex-Mex food??? :)

Contentment is not something that you read in a book in order to know it. If you ain't content, you'll sure know it.

Contentment is the feeling, the knowledge, that if Europe and Africa were to suddenly sink beneath the oceans, it wouldn't affect your life in any drastic way.

Baron Max

Glad to see you didn't include Australia in that statement.
Although the way things are going, I might agree with you if you did.

The universe tries to reach unity, maybe that's the meaning of life, to become more whole, gather more knowledge unite with it. Love, or magnetism is the power which makes things want to unite.

Newsflash: the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.
And it is united as it is, because the energy is one.

Newsflash: the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.

that's right: consciousness. because you refuse to believe me, unity is not attained, instead there is repulsion, separation, creation, expansion. for the same reason, the entire universe "expands" (perhaps).

listen to the infinite wisdom of etc: the "expansion" is accelerating because the universe is coming closer to its goal. just as with gravity, or if you see your best friend after a long time, you'll run and try to unify. you also try to unite with food. but some things you consider to be anti-you, like this computer in front of you, so when you touch it, there is repulsion, consciousness, a will to be avatar. the atoms in your body do not accept your existence. material things can't be united, so the universe continues to exist.

a spiral was created and the beings are trying to come closer and closer to the center, closer to themselves. but the center remains an aim forever because infinite cannot be reached. the center is already everywhere at the same time. you are the center. when you were in the unconscious, you created me to say some things to you, but you don't remember it anymore since you have become a body, a person. you have forgotten yourself. the self is unification. unification is destruction, nothingness. you wanted to be, and being requires consciousness, separation.

yey, humans are the only ones capable of unification in the universe. the universe came from unity and it will return there. but there was no big bang. the center is everywhere. the self is everywhere. the goal has already been attained, it always was. the goal is the cause. the cause is the presence. it is you.

why did we create the everything?
so that we would wonder why we created it?
or so that we would have fun?
or so that it would try to unite again?

no... we separated everything from unity so that unity would be real. it was a necessary and instant consequence of the ever existing unity.

thank you for your great insights

any suggestions for the meaning of life?
religious, physical,harmonic or anything is cool
This is it. The real story.
You asked and now is the time for the Truth.

My pet carp has been naughty as of lately, what with flying off for weeks and leaving a pile of carp crap on the hood of my Volvo.

So I told him that if he wanted his nightly 'bones', that he would have to perform a task for me.
He had to devise a way to crap out a hologramic universe of Madness, dominated by the dangerously insane that lasts but a moment and seems to last forever. He had to make it 'colorful' (interesting), too, for my pleasure.

And there you be! This is your 'meaning'.. hahahahaha....

He gets his bones, and you, for better or for worse, are the product of Romulus the First, sitting within the southwest corner of a steamy pile of Carp Crap on the hood of my fukking Volvo!

nameless: thats pretty funny. thanks for story. everyone likes the unexpected.

non logical idea guy: i attempt to pursue meaning by taking insights from various theories, philosophies, absolutes. while i adopt primarily existential views (not the negative kind, that is just misinterpretation), maybe some buddhist principals, theories regarding particle interactions, and biological meanings such as reproduction etc. i always have a tendency to accept scientific inference because i find it refreshingly objective. if you get the chance, read 'into the cool' by eric schneider and dorion sagan. It discusses a strictly scientific meaning to life in general (being the organized chemical interactions that we are) relating to the second law of thermodynamics: entropy. I have only just purchased this book but am already very interested. it looks at what all life does...break down energy gradients. i like this theory because it is based on a commonality of all life forms which to me is absolutely necessary in considering any kind of meaning to life (even if its not a meaningful meaning...). the theory should take into consideration the aspectual shape of life as a collection of all life forms from the beginning until now. anyway, if you read the book let me know what you think. again, while i do believe in the truth of this principal. it is a basis from which to move forward with. so, after i can acheive a scientific explanation for my existence, i acquire meaningful theories that give human life purpose, or my individual life for that matter. these are equally justified but should be considered seperately. for instance, i might say that the scientific purpose for life is to break down energy gradient, but my meaning for humanity is going to be more along the lines of pursuing ultimate knowledge, exploration, development, creation of AI ....whatever. so, each level of existence carries with it different meanings just as individual cells have a different purpose than the organ that they coordinate to form.

the meaning of human life gets more interesting when you realize what conscious intelligence is. i mean we are quite literally an organized representation/expression of the universe or of existence. its known fact that we are made of elements which were born in the core of stars meaning we have been forged out of the fabric of the inatimate substance of our universe. so that means that we are the universe observing and learning about itself. what does this mean? well i'm not sure but we are capable of subjective thought which leads me to believe that there is likely something more to life than the purely meaningless interaction of matter. anyway, explore the realities around us, on all levels, from all perspectives.

http://something4ayla.bravehost.com/identity/index.html

I don't know anything about Buddhism ...is that a new kind of Tex-Mex food??? :)

Contentment is not something that you read in a book in order to know it. If you ain't content, you'll sure know it.

Contentment is the feeling, the knowledge, that if Europe and Africa were to suddenly sink beneath the oceans, it wouldn't affect your life in any drastic way.

Baron Max


? It would affect your life completely. Your countries economy would slump drastically, employment would decline, trade, tourism, etc, etc..animals would become extinct, eco systems the world over would change, oceans would rise and you'd have lost nearly every friend your country ever had.

Would it still not affect your life?

Ahh, the meaning of life!

God.

Like “ the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water” our miniscule cells go about their business oblivious to the whole that is us.

God wants to express itself, to look upon it's creation and be more than simply physical and chemical rules. To have free will and be complete.

To be at one.

To have a playstation

It would affect your life completely. Your countries economy would slump drastically, employment would decline, trade, tourism, etc, etc..animals would become extinct, eco systems the world over would change, oceans would rise and you'd have lost nearly every friend your country ever had. Would it still not affect your life?

But most or all of those things could happen even without Europe and Africa sinking beneath the waves! And that's my point ...there would be some changes in the world, but overall, life would just keep right on going. We'd wake up in the morning, go to work, work all day, come home, eat dinner, watch tv, then go to bed. What changes?

And even if you knew "The Meaning of Life", what would it change in your own life? You'd still have to go to work, work all day, ........, go to bed. What changes?

Baron Max

Contentment is the feeling, the knowledge, that if Europe and Africa were to suddenly sink beneath the oceans, it wouldn't affect your life in any drastic way.

Baron Max

Max, you dissapoint me.. :( ..., im sure you meant that if Europe, apart from the bit inhabited by John Smith and .... :D See what i mean? :m:

Well, no, John ....'cause I know that ye're a very good swimmer! :)

Baron Max

But most or all of those things could happen even without Europe and Africa sinking beneath the waves! And that's my point ...there would be some changes in the world, but overall, life would just keep right on going. We'd wake up in the morning, go to work, work all day, come home, eat dinner, watch tv, then go to bed. What changes?

And even if you knew "The Meaning of Life", what would it change in your own life? You'd still have to go to work, work all day, ........, go to bed. What changes?

Baron Max

Well what changes is - you now know the meaning of life so life now has meaning.
If you know that meaning then you might not have to work or go to bed or eat or shit or even breathe. The meaning of life could be death in which case you'd be running for the bottle of pills or the nearest gun shop. If it was love and procreation then you'd be concentrating on finding a partner and getting laid [fair play you'd still have to eat and sleep, etc but meaning changes everything]. If the meaning of life was to become a bird God, to follow migrating birds and learn their language and teach them the laws of life. Well, that is then what you would concentrate on doing.

Meaning can only be ascribed to things via intelligent beings, as well as being inherently subjective. Ergo, there is no objective meaning of life.

I would think that meaning exists whether intelligent life forms understand it or not. It is afterall the relationship between one or more 'things'. The meaning of life is the relationship of 'life' to everything it can have a reltionship with (grass, water, photons, poo, UV rays, gravity, ... etc.). The answer is not necessarily useful.

I suspect people confuse the question of the 'meaning of life' with the 'purpose of life'. IMO, the latter question for life on earth is conceptually simple; although, it doesn't necessarily mirror the purpose of other life in the universe.

)))))the most profound way to grasp what Meaning of life is is to understand the aliveness of Nature

if there was one period i guess in human history that has engendered such sense of alienation, and utter sense of meaningless ness it is the last 400 years of mechanistic and materialistic science. where Nature is 'dis-spiritied' psychologically. It is explaind away as being 'dead'. Then all becomes dull, flat, a Wasteland, a machine, and we beome cogs in it

Then that same mechanical culure holds out 'sweets' to 'add meaning' to its 'mechanical life it fascistically imposes'. Consumerism is a big big 'sweet'. but does it really satisfy? might do when you unwrap your shiny new gadget, but MEANING isn't that, and soon the novelty wears off....then you want a new one...then a new one. if you wanna see how this works and the SECRET manipulations regarding this, checkout all about Edward Bernays!!!

REAl meaning is the living/dying/regenerating exploration of a living/dying/regenerating Nature,

What does "meaning" mean?

1.To act as a symbol of; signify or represent

I don't think existence is symbolic of anything else.

2.To have as a purpose or an intention

I don't think there is an intended outcome to the universe.

Those are traditional definitions. When it boils down to it, meaning is merely a relationship between 'things'.

And the meaning of life is what? The relationship between everything?

Life and everything it can potentially relate to. It becomes kind of a crazy question to ask :)

Crazy question. If you really think about it if there is a meaning to life; by this I think you mean purpose, then it wouldn't be life any more would it? I mean we wouldn't be as free and much of it's sanctity will be taken away. The greatest gift in life so far has been the many different viewpoints.

The greatest gift in life so far has been the many different viewpoints.

And that's also been the cause of most, if not all, of the deaths by violent means. So, sure, maybe the term "greatest" is appropriate ....but we should be sure to make others aware that "greatest" doesn't mean only "good".

Baron Max

"Life in itself has no meaning. Life is an opportunity to create meaning. Meaning has not to be discovered: it has to be created. You will find meaning only if you create it. It is not lying there somewhere behind the bushes, so you can go and you search a little bit and find it. It is not there like a rock that you will find. It is a poetry to be composed, it is a song to be sung, it is a dance to be danced"

(http://www.carnatic.com/karmasaya/index.php?)

Streched,

To add to that. Life is energy, a constant explosion and transformation of energy, and energy by all practicality and definition is when a particle attains Free State. Thus life has no predisposed meaning by all its limitations and liberations. States of our energy are consciousness, sub-consciousness, and death. Not to be confused with gas, liquid, and solid. There is just no preparing for life, and no one knows how to finish it, primarily because no one was given an instruction manual before entry. And to My Buddhist compadreys there is no re-entry either, just as long as memories aren't transferable. Its here for a moment and gone forever; life. The universe to me is more interesting, just think; there is actually no limit to space time, perhaps the same reason why there is also no limit to our imagination. Imaginations are units of energy too and thus occupy space. Just think of all the galactic and petit stars of the exploding open world, our eyes should be bleeding from seeing such beauty. Just think, the universe is infinite and yet I sit down worrying about how to pay my rent. I guess that's Life; no rules, just limitations.

What does "meaning" mean?

1.To act as a symbol of; signify or represent

I don't think existence is symbolic of anything else.

2.To have as a purpose or an intention

I don't think there is an intended outcome to the universe.

Meaning arises in context. Meaning is information; interprited data. Information is something we are aware of, data is something we are not aware of. We are conscious of information, but data is subconscious.

If there is meaning in life, there is no free will. Free will and meaning in life are mutually exclusive.



To answer the original question, the closest I've come to an answer is "To make choices."
As long as we live and as long as the universe is without meaning, we continually make choices. Once we die, if we die, we cease to make choices because we are not conscious to do so.

"To make choices" isn't redundant with "to live", because the latter adds no context to the original question. The former does add context and therefore information, becoming the slightly more gratifying answer of the two, without reducing abstraction to be too unambigous. (Ambiguity is a good thing, because it gives us more choices, while remaining logically sound.)

Hi devils_reject,
"Just think, the universe is infinite and yet I sit down worrying about how to pay my rent. I guess that's Life; no rules, just limitations."

* Pure bliss. :D

If there is meaning in life, there is no free will. Free will and meaning in life are mutually exclusive.

I don't know how you can make that claim? For example, if the "meaning of life" was getting to Los Angeles from New York City, there must be a gazillion ways of doing so ...isn't that "free will"?

Just because you know the meaning of your life, doesn't limit your ways/methods of getting there, does it?

The other thing about "meaning of life" that bothers me is the general attitude that there is but ONE "meaning of life". Why can't we each have many different "meanings" during our lives? Why do we assume that the "meaning of life" for someone 18 years old is going to remain the same throughout his life?

Baron Max

Happiness