the meaning of the meaning of life

Bellator

Bellator

Catholic. Formerly StarshipEnterprise
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A big pet peeve of mine is when people ask "What is the meaning of life?". To this I reply: what are you asking? Has anyone stopped to think what is actually being asked here?

Can anyone tell me specifically what this question means? At first glance it appears as if it is asking for a definition of the word "life", but I'm pretty sure that's not it.

It might be synonymous with "what is the purpose of life", which makes more sense, but only in a theistic context. "Purpose" implies that some sort of consciousness had some kind of goal in mind. So this question is basically asking "what is the creator's goal in creating life". Completely irrelevant outside of a theist’s perspective.

I think it is just a poorly worded question asked by someone who wants one easy answer to everything.

Can anyone enlighten me?
 
FWIW, I think some people seek a reason to justify their existence. Some find it in religion, some find it in philanthropy, some find it in volunteer work. Part of being a social animal is that not only does a person need other people, but a lot of people *need to be needed* by other people.

I think the whole search for "the meaning of life" is just one way this internal drive plays out. You get to a certain age and it is no longer fulfilling to live a life of taking/receiving, you start thinking "what can I do to give back." What can I do, or think, or say, to give life a purpose, a reason for being, a reason to drag my silly a$$ out of bed in the morning. That way I am not *just* a thinking animal, but something greater than the sum of a bunch of organic parts.

Eh, then again maybe I've got it wrong.

It just seems to me a life lived without some sense of purpose or direction, is a wasted life. Tank up on whatever self-inflicted medication and induce a zombie effect all the way to the grave...such a person simply uses air and resources...like any other animal.

With a sense of purpose, drive, meaning or however one wishes to explain it, one then realizes that "life" is far better when lived for a purpose greater than the individual alone. It makes us just a little more than the animals. Just a little.
 
I think the answer to that question will never be given more fully, profoundly nor succinctly than Douglas Adams put it and Grey quotes above. But you are right SE, the question is more often flippant than deep. More a basis on which to deliver a sermon on a given paradigm than serious reflection on the great all. But how else could it be? If there is one question mankind will never answer it is that. Not having an answer makes most people either invent one or fudge the question, rework it into something palatable to their psyches. I have given it deep thought :p and can only conclude the answer to be "nothing". The meaning in the question is not fudged, I believe in infinity, because I cannot conceive, in that half walnut I call a brain, of a finite space. Infinity by its very nature is beyond reason.

tao
 
Hello Starship Enterprise,

IMO I am thinking that there are many answers to the same question depending on their age group, education and lifestyle.

So, yes you are correct in your analogy it is a loaded question, with no simple answer.

But we should all start with the acknowledgement of the creator. It was God’s idea to create all life on this planet from the gigantic creatures down to the smallest molecule.

It is life the that breathes, eats and breeds.

God Bless
Ian
 
Only Special To God said:
But we should all start with the acknowledgement of the creator.
Click to expand...

How so? Because you do?
"Should" is one of those words that people who have difficulty in accepting others have an opinion at least equal to theirs use a lot. Should. Its a big word in your sentence. One that if you stop to think about it could be construed as outright offensive. I acknowledge no creator.....and why "should" I? There is no conclusive evidence for one. On the contrary, all these people saying "should" who say there is being unable to provide a shred of evidence for one is a pretty damning bit of evidence to the contrary.


tao
 
I think some people are missing the point. The point is that "what is the meaning of life?" is a nonsensical question. Meaning? What kind of meaning are we talking about? If this "meaning" is not the definition of a word, then what is it?

Can anyone rephrase the question in a way that makes sense?
 
Perhaps another way of asking this question would be, "Do the choices you make matter for...yourself, your family, your community, the world?" And "why do they matter?"

I don't think it's so much an issue of whether life has meaning (there are nihilists, but I suspect that true nilhilists are few and far between, at least among mentally healthy people), but upon what do you base meaning...what matters to you.

2c
 
Tao_Equus said:
How so? Because you do?
"Should" is one of those words that people who have difficulty in accepting others have an opinion at least equal to theirs use a lot. Should. Its a big word in your sentence. One that if you stop to think about it could be construed as outright offensive. I acknowledge no creator.....and why "should" I? There is no conclusive evidence for one. On the contrary, all these people saying "should" who say there is being unable to provide a shred of evidence for one is a pretty damning bit of evidence to the contrary.


tao
Click to expand...


Hello Tao,
First off…. I did start my sentence off with IMO……I can not prove it to you Tao, it is a knowing knowledge that I was born with. I can not explain it to you and YES, I do believe! I do not need proof, I can feel it, I can sense and on rare occasions I have seen it with my own eyes.

I am sorry that you do not believe, I am thinking that you are like some people that will only believe when they are on their deathbed (but, there is still hope for you, Tao). I can not make you believe, I can pray for you, which I have already done and will do again. Maybe, that is why you are so angry all the time…..your heart is hard Tao, God is knocking but you have bolted the door so tight that I fear that you will not be able to open it even if you wanted to.

I used the word “Should” for non-believing people like you Tao, but you still took offense. I can not prove to you that God exists, I can only tell you that he does!
God is intangible, like the air that we breathe that keeps us alive.

Believing in God gives us hope, strength and courage to over come the trials and tribulations that are set before us each day and to make us better people. In those times, when we are feeling so down in our lives, when we have no one in our lives to love, when we have no food on our table to feed our children………those times Tao……….(there are numerous situations) in which we feel like no one wants us, no one loves us, and then we pick up the Bible, we read, we pray (for you maybe not). And for a few moments of reading the Bible, we have forgotten our troubles, we are given hope and thoughts about being truly loved and reminded that we are never alone. Also, there are reasons as to why each one of us is here. God does answer, I have told you that before, but I will repeat myself again because you are my elder and I respect you.

God answers our prayers, it may not be immediate, but you must be open to seeing the assistance that is being provided. (ie. You have no money in your pocket, and you are hungry and thirsty. Either, you will find money or someone will offer you food, things like that. Also, on rare occasions there are miracles (you know those things that you can’t see or explain) that do happen.

I am sorry that you are angered and offended. I did not intend either to happen. As, I am not angered or offended at the tone that you have spoken to me in. I like you am entitled to my opinion. I believe in God and you don’t. So, why are you here on a Christian Forum then? Unless, there is a glimmer of belief in your heart, but your mind will not let your heart believe unless it sees something tangible that you can eventually put your hands on.

I am sorry Tao, I really hope and pray that your heart will win the battle over your mind.

God Bless
Ian
 
StarshipEnterprise said:
Since when is this a Chrsitian forum?
Click to expand...


I did not see the Philosophy at the top of the forum until now!

I will be more careful in the future when replying.

I also didn't realize when you click on new posts that it is for all different religions and topics.

God Bless
Ian
 
lunamoth said:
Perhaps another way of asking this question would be, "Do the choices you make matter for...yourself, your family, your community, the world?" And "why do they matter?"
Click to expand...
I like this explanation. I think if anyone is going to ask something like this, they should just say it instead of attempting to make it esoteric by talking about meanings of lives.
lunamoth said:
I don't think it's so much an issue of whether life has meaning (there are nihilists, but I suspect that true nilhilists are few and far between, at least among mentally healthy people), but upon what do you base meaning...what matters to you.

2c
Click to expand...



So, I believe that any reason for your choices to matter is completely arbitrary. Does that make me a nihilist? I don't care if I am, I'm just not completely sure what defines one.
 
StarshipEnterprise said:
Can anyone rephrase the question in a way that makes sense?
Click to expand...
Well, since I am not inside your mind I can only guess at best what would make sense to you. That is part of the enigma of this question "what is the meaning of life?," because it means different things to different people.

I could ramble on about cognitive dissonance and ambiguity of language and other things to make my point...but in a philosophical sense it is about a person's quest to find a reason to get out of bed in the morning and participate in the greater society among other human beings.
 
greymare said:
Perhaps or perhaps not, Ian. Or is it just that it has all been done and said before and I know that no one likes a debate better than Tao.

Sorry, if I have offended your delicate sensibilites. :)
Click to expand...

You didn't offend me Greymare, I just think that maybe you need to work on your vocabulary a little more and think before you type. Besides just typing what you have crossing your mind in that flash of a moment. Your one line zingers just get boring after a while and they just stop being cute and funny (when you are really telling people how you feel). Now they are just old and tiring like the person that is writing them (who is hiding behind them because they really have nothing else to offer to the conversation/topic).

God Bless
Ian
 
StarshipEnterprise said:
So, I believe that any reason for your choices to matter is completely arbitrary. Does that make me a nihilist? I don't care if I am, I'm just not completely sure what defines one.[/FONT][/COLOR]
Click to expand...


Here's a quote from wiki, in case you are interested in nihilism:

the Mighty Wiki said:
Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following:

Objective morality does not exist.
No action is logically preferable to any other in regard to the moral value of one action over another.
In the absence of objective morality, existence has no intrinsic higher meaning or goal.
There is no reasonable proof or argument for the existence of a higher ruler or creator.
Even if a higher ruler or creator exists, humanity has no moral obligation to worship them.
The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.[1]
Click to expand...

More here: Nihilism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Only Special To God said:
Hello Tao,
First off…. I did start my sentence off with IMO……I can not prove it to you Tao, it is a knowing knowledge that I was born with. I can not explain it to you and YES, I do believe! I do not need proof, I can feel it, I can sense and on rare occasions I have seen it with my own eyes.

I am sorry that you do not believe, I am thinking that you are like some people that will only believe when they are on their deathbed (but, there is still hope for you, Tao). I can not make you believe, I can pray for you, which I have already done and will do again. Maybe, that is why you are so angry all the time…..your heart is hard Tao, God is knocking but you have bolted the door so tight that I fear that you will not be able to open it even if you wanted to.

I used the word “Should” for non-believing people like you Tao, but you still took offense. I can not prove to you that God exists, I can only tell you that he does!
God is intangible, like the air that we breathe that keeps us alive.

Believing in God gives us hope, strength and courage to over come the trials and tribulations that are set before us each day and to make us better people. In those times, when we are feeling so down in our lives, when we have no one in our lives to love, when we have no food on our table to feed our children………those times Tao……….(there are numerous situations) in which we feel like no one wants us, no one loves us, and then we pick up the Bible, we read, we pray (for you maybe not). And for a few moments of reading the Bible, we have forgotten our troubles, we are given hope and thoughts about being truly loved and reminded that we are never alone. Also, there are reasons as to why each one of us is here. God does answer, I have told you that before, but I will repeat myself again because you are my elder and I respect you.

God answers our prayers, it may not be immediate, but you must be open to seeing the assistance that is being provided. (ie. You have no money in your pocket, and you are hungry and thirsty. Either, you will find money or someone will offer you food, things like that. Also, on rare occasions there are miracles (you know those things that you can’t see or explain) that do happen.

I am sorry that you are angered and offended. I did not intend either to happen. As, I am not angered or offended at the tone that you have spoken to me in. I like you am entitled to my opinion. I believe in God and you don’t. So, why are you here on a Christian Forum then? Unless, there is a glimmer of belief in your heart, but your mind will not let your heart believe unless it sees something tangible that you can eventually put your hands on.

I am sorry Tao, I really hope and pray that your heart will win the battle over your mind.

God Bless
Ian
Click to expand...

Hi Ian,

Moi! Angry!! lol, if you think I can get angry over such inconsequentials then you have yet to get me. Short of putting words in my mouth nothing you say will even irritate, never mind anger me. I merely sought to point out to you that the sentence I quoted back at you, which is well seperated from "IMO" by the "but" you inserted, is in effect telling me and everybody else what you think they should think. Do you not think that arrogant? Do you think me too stupid to formulate my own opinions on such matters?

As for the way you talk to Grey... you appear to me not only be trying to tell us all what we "should" think but here you want to control what we say too! I think you should spend less time praying for me, or anyone, and a little more reflecting on what mutual respect really is. What strikes me on occasions such as this is the weaknesses in an argument being artificially propped up with "believe this", its stinks to me of a desperation to convince yourself, not me.

tao
 
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