What is the meaning of Life?

[pocaracas]

Or.. what is the purpose of being alive? What difference does it make if someone is alive or not? What should hold someone out from committing suicide if there is no meaning or purpose to this pathetic of an excuse of time on this shithole of a planet?..

Each one of us is the result of millions of reproductions of beings who refused to commit suicide.
You owe it to them to carry on.
It is your duty.

Failure to comply results in death. Now... You don't want the powers that be to kill you, do you?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Or.. what is the purpose of being alive? What difference does it make if someone is alive or not? What should hold someone out from committing suicide if there is no meaning or purpose to this pathetic of an excuse of time on this shithole of a planet?..

We assign our own meanings to our own lives, of course. The fact of death doesn't render life meaningless, any more than the period at the end of a sentence renders it meaningless.

Death is a matter of punctuation, not significance, in my view.

[Brian37]

Or.. what is the purpose of being alive? What difference does it make if someone is alive or not? What should hold someone out from committing suicide if there is no meaning or purpose to this pathetic of an excuse of time on this shithole of a planet?..

We assign our own meanings to our own lives, of course.  The fact of death doesn't render life meaningless, any more than the period at the end of a sentence renders it meaningless.

Death is a matter of punctuation, not significance, in my view.

Yep, it is simply one part of nature, accepting that does not mean life is all doom and gloom.

[The Grand Nudger]

Well said, Thump.

[Brian37]

I love the old sitcom Night Court, there was one episode where the court house caught on fire and they all got stuck in the basement, and Bull took it all in stride and said with a smile on his face "Death is simply nature's way of saying you aren't alive anymore."

NO that is not saying be happy and never feel pain or have fear of course. But even though it was a joke in a Sitcom, I took it as meaning " Don't take everything seriously in every context, be willing to laugh at life and everything in it"

[Jenny A]

It's the wrong question. Life is not the product of an intelligent plan. Even if it were there's no reason why you shouldn't object to that plan. People raise pigs for food. It's a purpose and a meaning. But if I were a pig, I would reject it. Even if you think people are part of a plan, what makes you think such a plan is for the greater good of people?

The sane question is not what is the meaning of life, but rather, what should I do with the life I have.

[robvalue]

If there is an external meaning to some other agency, we don't seem to have any way of knowing what it is. And even if there is one, I don't know what the big deal is. "Big Dave" is watching us from reality #452 and is betting we'll all die out within another 500 years. Great, I feel so much better.

God is testing us to see if we do a bunch of stupid stuff he wrote in a book! What meaning is that? That's bollocks. That devalues life if anything.

Meaning, I would say, is entirely subjective. As such, we make our own meaning. And we mean a lot to other people. This life is probably all we have, so each experience matters. You can kill yourself, sure. Or you can have some experiences, then die. Depressed though I am, I'm still thinking positively enough to say while life is bearable I'll go ahead and have these experiences and make the best of them. And hopefully be a positive impact on other people's lives, adding something to their meaning, as I go.

[ignoramus]

Matey, if we can't find any meaning in this one short lived existence on this earth, then we're fucked, because we sure as hell ain't gonna find any meaning when we dead and buried for eternity.

The 3 most important things for my happiness.

Some good food
A good shit
Good sleep

Everything else is logistics.

[Brian37]

Matey, if we can't find any meaning in this one short lived existence on this earth, then we're fucked, because we sure as hell ain't gonna find any meaning when we dead and buried for eternity.

The 3 most important things for my happiness.

Some good food
A good shit
Good sleep

Everything else is logistics.

If you can get or already have those things, you are doing great, and certainly far better than alot of people in the world. I only get mad at those who have those things and or more and don't understand how good they have it. The ones who have it and understand at the same time, I have no problem with. I think some simply use their success, not all, but many, use their projectionism as an excuse for their own greed.

We are not clones of each other and just because one person lives life one way, does not mean other people want the same thing. We only need the basics, like food, shelter and emotional support, if you have that, you have what you need. If you cant be happy with what you have, you'll never be happy with what you can get. Relationships are far more important. You cant take it with you in any case.

[God of Mr. Hanky]

Or.. what is the purpose of being alive? What difference does it make if someone is alive or not? What should hold someone out from committing suicide if there is no meaning or purpose to this pathetic of an excuse of time on this shithole of a planet?..

I make my own reasons to live each day, even when it's what I plan on eating next. If you are totally alone and there's nobody else to live for, but are warm and enjoy pain-free days with adequate food, and stimulating entertainment, then why would you want to give up?