What is the purpose of life?

[lightbulb27]

Best answer gts MHO. I thought this was a good exchange...

It's oriented to the question of with or without God...

but you can answer yourself...

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Metaethics drives me nuts. For centuries, philosophers seemed to have debated this topic endlessly with no resolution in sight.

This might be a simpleton view from one admittedly not well-versed on the subject, but I always related morality and even the purpose of life to health.

Especially when we take mental health into account, a person striving to optimize their mental health is not going to benefit from acting maliciously (especially if they have a functioning conscience), from wasting away their potential, from debauchery, from being a tyrannical leader who inspires fear rather than trust, from deceiving others, from being absent loved ones, or a sense of belonging in a community.

Another angle is harmony. To live in harmony with ourselves and others aligns with what we conventionally deem as moral behavior and fills us with a sense of purpose.

Public safety is another angle and a subset to harmony and health. Consider the original trolley dilemma and its variants, like the fat man variant. The reason we should never condone the fat man variant is because it would pose a public safety crisis if we did. Society would likely fall into panic and disarray if we condoned pushing perfectly innocent people off of bridges for whatever reason.

Above all else, I see morality as a social concept, and governed by objective standards with or without God. I relate it to architecture. There are many ways to design a building but there are objective standards -- principles of structural integrity -- which, if violated, will tend to cause the building to collapse before it's even completed. Such is the case as I see it when we begin to condone immoral behavior: society will collapse.

[Thecuriousbird]

There is no direct definition of life or an answer to the purpose of life. Life is an experience, filled with joy and pain, happiness and sadness, challenges and ease, ups and downs depending on decisions one makes. The question you ask is highly philosophical and raises questions about our nature, our main purpose or achievement of life.
Most people who are alive including those who lived, chose to believe in a higher power (God) which serves a great purpose and achievement. While others chose to live their lifes and believe that death is the final end and life is just a temporary experience.





Depending on your age, such questions can be a sign of early or mid stages of depression, particularly if they come along with suicidal thoughts.

Sometimes depressed individuals are unaware if they recently had suicidal ideation, but it can be as simple as just asking oneself or others questions such as "What is the easiest way one can die" which is within itself a suicidal thought


Depression comes with a variety of early signs & symptoms including but not limited to;

Insomnia (Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep)
Hypersomnia ( Over sleeping )
Loss of appetite
Decreased/increased body weight
Constant sadness
Difficulty experiencing pleasure
Lack of energy & motivation
Loss of interest in activities one usually engaged in
( If you are familiar with those symptoms, make a quick search about the symptoms & early stages of depression, if you find that they match your daily life or had them on multiple occasions, don't hesitate to seek help )




Suicide rates are increasing and we're just one month in this year, the main problem is that these individuals barely seek help, and if they do, they usually give up too fast. Never hesitate to seek help if you are ever feeling depressed or feel like you can't take it anymore.

Hope you have a great year

[fafylone]

In Islam, the purpose of life is to worship and obey Allah, the one God. Muslims believe that Allah created them to live according to His guidance and teachings, found in the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.

Living a good life means being kind, honest, and helping others. Muslims believe that how they live their lives will determine what happens after they die. So, they try their best to follow Allah's rules and do good deeds.

By praying, fasting, giving to charity, and being good to others, Muslims hope to become closer to Allah and go to paradise after they die. The goal is to live a life that pleases Allah and leads to happiness in this life and the next.

[BarryLiverstone]

Correct in Christianity the meaning of Life is to worship God and use His gifts to love others

[fafylone]

@BarryLiverstone In Christianity, God is understood as a Trinity: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit, while in Islam, Allah "GOD" is believed to be indivisible and without partners. Both religions emphasize monotheism and the worship of one God, though they have different understandings of God's nature and attributes.

[BarryLiverstone]

Correct. Much like in your family you will have minor disagreements.. I’m sure you would feel together against another family who hurt you. Yes both religions have God is the all powerful and we just have minor disagreements with how He is represented.

But the bottom line is today you prayed to God (many times) and I also prayed to God. Only one God heard both of us and He loves both of us. If we can start there then we can see a value and purpose in life.

[HaveNoName]

@BarryLiverstone @fafylone

Perhaps this might resonate with both of you.

https://youtu.be/7d16CpWp-ok?si=AjBw-XMiXA_Yi1hw

[BarryLiverstone]

Saw it. But the video claims the Quran is the only book. But the Bible is also a holy book

[lightbulb27]

@BarryLiverstone And even the Koran/Mohammed noted the Bible and it was the first. Can't say it's the only book. Their view is generally..."Mohammed was last and greatest prophet". That be false in my view, but I get that view.

[sage2021]

I've thought about this long and hard. I don't know the answer as to why are we alive and here in the first place. That was God's creation.

But as far as to why we are here, it is to help one another. To help one another to get through this life we are experiencing.

[TenderFantasy]

Well from what I've read in Biology text books, it's to:

Survive and reproduce.

If you're trying to get a philosophical or metaphorical answer out of me, not today thanks, haha.

[TenderFantasy]

Okay fine. I think it's also very much to be happy.

[lightbulb27]

cool. watch video and see if adjusts your answer... it challenged me.

[strateguy632]

biology books NEVER claimed that as a PURPOSE.

[imtiaz45]

The purpose of life is a profound and subjective question, often rooted in individual beliefs, philosophies, or religious convictions. For some, it may involve seeking meaning, personal fulfillment, or spiritual enlightenment. Religious perspectives often attribute purpose to divine plans or adherence to moral principles. Philosophically, purpose might be self-defined through the pursuit of knowledge, relationships, or contributing to societal well-being. Existentialists argue for creating one's purpose in an otherwise inherently meaningless universe. Ultimately, the purpose of life varies widely among individuals and is shaped by cultural, philosophical, and personal perspectives, reflecting the diverse and complex nature of human existence.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9kRoJKgpkpg

[DJB72]

To worship. Everyone worships something. Be it false gods and idols like the Golden Calf, Baal, or anything else that sets itself up between us and God in such an obvious way, or Richard Dawkins, Charles Darwin and the "science" club who simply worship nature the way the Greeks and Romans did just under different names.

Some guys worship their car or their sports team. You can't convince me anyone who has seen a rock concert hasn't witnessed idolatry.

Venus and Aphrodite and the temple of Vesta all had sex as their central form of worship. Tell me that isn't just a 2000 year old version of Only Fans and Pornhub?

In marriage we're designed to mimic the Trinity by worshipping God as Husband and Wife with God as the centre.

Everything we do - even answering questions on GAG is worshipping something.

[LemonJuicee]

In my experience, I guess to fuck up as much as possible, but also savor the good moments in between

[lightbulb27]

Mistakes are guaranteed. Bob Ross made "happy mistakes". My rule is, just don't make them big ones... and learn!

[ObscuredBeyond]

To know where you're going, Who made you, get right with Him, and ideally, get others to want to as well. And if you can establish a large family and homestead to further suit that purpose, then that's even more ideal.

Alas, a lot of us won't ever live up to those ideals.

[RebelinSteel]

There is no purpose to life. We are born by chance, we wander through life some times by chance, sometimes by us deciding what we want to do, we create aims, we create our own dreams. We live life, we die we either become worm food or ash. That’s it, there is no god, no afterlife, we live, we die. In between it we should live life, help others and try being nice to each other. What is the purpose of any animals life, to reproduce and keep the species going through life and evolve.

[normalice]

The purpose of life is to conquer death. Religion simply says "we already did that," so we feel like it's conqured without it actually being conqured. But until we figure out how to last forever we are only really pretending to be alive.

[Dargil]

Like camping in the Great Smoky National Park: Leave it better than you found it. No philosophy here.

[jshm2]

The purpose of life is to live it, and prove you would make the decisions you did.

If God just threw everyone into heaven and hell based on what he knows you would do, there could be a possibility of injustice. But that you live your life, and get judged after it, means you have no recourse.

[Siri137]

You see, this is what I don't understand; the insistence that many people have that life simply cannot be purposeless, that it must be "for something". Why? Why must that be the case?

[Siri137]

Life has no "purpose". We're just here, and that's it. Make the most of it while it lasts, because it's not going to last long, and then you'll be dead for the rest of eternity.

[lightbulb27]

a good answer. I'll have to mull on that. I think there's implications. I think you end up at "it's the purpose you make for it. I wonder if different personalities feel a need to have an answer... I've met people like that. others can "let go and let be" more easily.
The question I have with not having things in perspective is the resulting emotions it can bring, which can result in errant behaviors.

[Paris13]

We Are ALL God's Children and he Created Us for His Own Purpose. Life is What You Make It. xxoo

[IslaTheWitch]

to live it

we decide how we want to live it

[Elena_Stewart]

Unfortunately there is no purpose. It's just a simulation. But we create a purpose so that we can continue to live.

[slatyb]

Purpose means "created to meet the need or desire of some conscious entity." There's no evidencence that we were created by such an entity.

[strateguy632]

the real purpose is related to potential and abilities so a person needs to look inside what abilities? and bring to fruition.

[rachel776]

from Mr. Rogers

[JayBones]

The purpose of life is just that. To find a purpose. We are the Universes pets. He didn't put us on this flat earth zoo to just mate spawn and die. I mean he watches it anyway but his favorites do much more than that

[Sonorous]

The meaning of life is life.

[lightbulb27]

not making sense to me.

[Sonorous]

The meaning of life is to be.

[D_Bone_Steak]

My penis... I flop it down upon them and they then know.

[Billlewis]

My purpose in life is to please the female, period.