<p>I was wondering: How many of you actually think about (or have thought about) the meaning of life?</p>
<p>I ask this due to an incident from my religion class last year. The teacher had asked us if we had any questions about anything at all and one kid said (kidding, I think) "What is the meaning of life?". Our teacher, true to his word of answering all questions, took a stab at answering, then asked us what our opinions were. This led to a debate because one girl said that no one our age even cares about the meaning of life, let alone thinks about it, because we're young and it's not important to us. I and a few others disagreed, saying that since everyone's alive that sort of question, no matter how old one is, is an important one. </p>
<p>So (as you might have guessed) I have thought about the meaning of life. I actually used to think about something like it when I was little, though it was more of a "Why are we here?" accompanied by an odd feeling of smallness. I still think about the meaning of life a lot, and I've even written about it because I do feel it's important to think about. Even at our age.</p>
<p>So, what do you think?</p>
<p>what did your teacher say?</p>
<p>This being a Catholic school, and he being Catholic, he said it was God, followed by reasons, ect. We were free to agree/disagree in a class debate, which turned into an essay assignment. This was pretty much the whole class (not this topic, but debating and asking questions with essays being the result). Best class ever. My religion teacher this year is a bit closed minded, and he wouldn't think to answer that question (or let it be asked).</p>
<p>I've thought about it. I've had long debates about it.</p>
<p>I don't think there is one all-encompasing one. Religious folks can make an argument for religion, anthropologists and biologists can say stuff like "We're social creatures naturally, so the real meaning of life is to help others and, hence, help ourselves"...</p>
<p>I personally don't have one at all. I don't think you need to, really; I for one would rather live my life focusing day-to-day and being grateful and happy that I am alive than wonder why I'm even here.</p>
<p>I think about it pretty much every time I see a stranger come and go, and I wonder about what his or her life will be like, and the fact that I will never be a part of it.</p>
<p>So, every day.</p>
<p>Then again I'm going to major in philosophy..</p>
<p>The argue for meaning of life is basically to survive and reproduce.</p>
<p>I believe there is no meaning of it. We all die one day and it doesn't matter how we act because sooner or later, we're all going to kill ourselves. (humanity)</p>
<p>"Then again I'm going to major in philosophy..".</p>
<p>I'm planning on doing that too. Explains why I think about it. A lot.</p>
<p>I guess it's achieving success, at least in the eyes of others.........</p>
<p>So I take it you're waiting for Godot too, eh? Yay, company!</p>
<p>There is no such thing as "the meaning of life." Life was not created with a meaning. It evolved. There is no meaning intended for humans. </p>
<p>That does not mean life is meaningless. We make our own meaning. We live for what ever purpose we determine. You can live just to live or live to be happy or live to succeed etc.. </p>
<p>And to CamaroLover who said we are all going to die one day, not to those who will reach singularity -- I'm hoping.</p>
<p>we're here to continue. we are milestones marking the highway's progress.</p>
<p>what is the highway? for some, it is god. for others, it is social status, or wealth, or family, or comic books. </p>
<p>we do not become what we follow, but we are associated closely with it.</p>
<p>will we see the end of the road itself? probably not. odds are that we'll stop just before we reach the conclusion, a few yards away from that last toll booth. that's almost always the case with death--we appreciate the road traveled and the travel itself, but never quite understand why. isn't that why we glorify the wise, the triumphant, the far-seeing? Because hot damn, they saw what was at the end of their road! they knew why they traveled. and how far they were going.</p>
<p>so what is the meaning of life? to me, it's following your own highway down a path that you'll never be able to fully predict. maybe it'll be straight, maybe it'll be crooked. maybe short, maybe long. maybe eventful, maybe not. maybe maybe maybe.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I was wondering: How many of you actually think about (or have thought about) the meaning of life?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I know.</p>
<p>42.</p>
<p>I'm a solipsist. It's hard to come up with a meaning of life when you don't know if anything exists. :(</p>
<p>"I'm a solipsist. It's hard to come up with a meaning of life when you don't know if anything exists."</p>
<p>But you exist, don't you?</p>
<p>I don't exactly understand, though, so that's why I asked the above question. What is a solipsist?</p>
<p>^Solipsism is rather bunk and utterly useless in dealing with day-to-day things... "I shot that man because he really doesn't exist! And you don't either!"</p>
<p>But anyways, I think there is no "meaning of life"... we make it up as we go just to get by and keep on living.</p>
<p>It's not so much I don't believe, as in I can't verify.</p>
<p>Also, I can't verify that I'm the one doing my thinking since how can I know that I'm not just being fed these thoughts (be it as a false sense of consciousness through random chemical reactions or existing in the more general sense)?</p>
<p>I will agree that, like most metaphysical beliefs, it's pretty useless in day to life. I just like to acknowledge that it's an assumption I have to make in my day to day life.</p>
<p>Isn't the meaning of life to get into a top 10 school?????</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
The argue for meaning of life is basically to survive and reproduce.</p>
<p>I believe there is no meaning of it. We all die one day and it doesn't matter how we act because sooner or later, we're all going to kill ourselves. (humanity)
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>That's just one theory, and highly unlikely in the face of modern science, physics, reason, and all religion. That view is a general view of atheists who don't know much about modern scientific research. After all, you say in your post;</p>
<p>1.The purpose of living, assuming there is a purpose, is to survive and reproduce.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There is no meaning of life [Contradiction, but whatever, it's not important]</p></li>
<li><p>We all will die one day and our souls will cease to exist.</p></li>
<li><p>Humanity will destroy itself through its own institutions rather than outside institutions, assuming a death of humanity is going to happen.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>All extremely unlikely cases.</p>
<p>What makes them so unlikely?</p>
<p>To say why would take at least a few hundred pages of deep analysis, citation of modern scientific research in the field of quantum physics, and etc. I'm just saying that don't take these as truths - they are very skeptical and if you care, research them on your own rather than accept them without extreme skepticism.</p>