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What's the point of life/living?


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I don't mean to be bleak or emo, but there really is no point. Nothing we do matters, as all life will end at some point. Everything we progress to won't stop the inevitable, unless someone was able to invent a serum to make humans immortal and invincible.

However, If there were a point, I'd guess it'd be to enjoy life while it lasts.

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In the grand scheme of things amongst the universe there really is no point to life. The meaning to life is what we decide to give it. From my perspective the meaning of life is in the legacy you leave behind for future generations of your species. You take the finite time you are given to live and use it to better yourself, your family, and your species as a whole and then when your inevitable demise comes you die knowing you left the world in a better position than when you entered it and secure in the fact that your legacy will live on in your children and that you did good for the collective whole of humanity.

I personally don't think humans will ever be able to avoid death forever. Sure as we advance we will develop even better medical care that will extend life and for some people post pone death for a very long time but one way or another everyone will die and its an inevitable fact. The way i see it, true immortality is achieved through your legacy. Good or bad its what you leave behind that will matter most and live on and that is where meaning of life for me is derived from. 

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Just adding that for the viewing pleasure of those who enjoy deeper philosophical questions. 

For me, the point of living is biological and social. Most life is centered around reproduction and continuing the genetic line. I do feel that there is a social purpose to life as well, and for me, the purpose of life is also about the connections me make and cultivate in our lives. 

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6 minutes ago, Jeric said:

Just adding that for the viewing pleasure of those who enjoy deeper philosophical questions. 

For me, the point of living is biological and social. Most life is centered around reproduction and continuing the genetic line. I do feel that there is a social purpose to life as well, and for me, the purpose of life is also about the connections me make and cultivate in our lives. 

I very much agree. At the very basic level for humans and pretty much every other living thing reproduction is the end game for most. 

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There's no objective meaning or purpose to life, it's just what you decide of it. Though, giving your life meaning is a bit easier said than done. For me, death is a constant threat looming over my head that reminds me that everything I do in life is ultimately pointless, and will all lead to ultimately the same ending. It's possible there is an Afterlife of some form, but I'm doubtful of it's existence, and if there isn't...Well, then there's no real reason to do anything. When I die, I'll cease to be, and all my thoughts and emotions and memories will go, I'll lose everything and I won't even be aware to care about it, it's practically the same as never having existed in the first place.

 Sure, I can make a difference while I'm here, even if just a small one, but does that matter? All my friends will die, and then they might as well have not existed either, and they won't remember me or anything about me. I could help people, make their lives better, lessen their pain, but once they die, what will that matter? It's the same as if they had died right when they were born, or never existed at all. Even someone famous, who's remembered for generations, everyone who knows them has died or will die, and will forget them too, as if they didn't really matter.

It's a pretty grim way of looking at the world, other people somehow manage to assign meaning to their lives, and even think their short life somehow creates more meaning, but I simply don't understand how. It's not as if I haven't tried to view this all in a more "Positive" light, but it just simply doesn't work for me. The thoughts are fake, and don't make sense to me. For me, thinking of things any way other than I do just don't make sense, I'm trying to assign my own personal meaning to something with no meaning, but it feels hollow and empty to me.

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You have to find a point to living. There is no preordained destiny for everyone, and it's not as if not living is an option. Because death pretty much means becoming a broken down meat computer and ceasing to exist. 

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1 hour ago, Azul Maya said:

To love and be a better person. Make friends, have fun, and enjoy life~ It's so simple! 

This, this, this, this, and this.

Nothing you do is meaningless. Life runs on the butterfly effect (some call it karma) where every action has an effect somewhere down the road. If you hadn't opened this topic to read this post, you wouldn't have read it. If you hadn't ever become a member of this forum, you wouldn't have opened this topic. If you hadn't had some sort of enjoyment of MLP: FiM, you wouldn't have become a member of this forum. See where I'm coming from? Life, and indeed existence itself, is a series of actions triggering subsequent actions.

Make the best of where life has put you. You don't know exactly how your actions now will effect the future LONG after your gone. But rest assured, they will effect it in some way.

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To live is to love: 

 

To work on something you had planned, to achieve your goal and have a family. 

Hard working to get the money so you can satisfy yourself. 

And finally, to die happily without any worries. 

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14 minutes ago, BasementSea said:

For me, death is a constant threat looming over my head that reminds me that everything I do in life is ultimately pointless, and will all lead to ultimately the same ending. It's possible there is an Afterlife of some form, but I'm doubtful of it's existence, and if there isn't...Well, then there's no real reason to do anything. When I die, I'll cease to be, and all my thoughts and emotions and memories will go, I'll lose everything and I won't even be aware to care about it, it's practically the same as never having existed in the first place.

First, that was a well thought out and constructed post. In some respects I agree that our impact is diminished when we die, by virtue of the simple fact that we are not here directly participating. I will say that ones influence does extend out beyond their passing. I knew a person who once told me when I was a kid that our present is built on the backs of others past. He was mostly referring to people who have accomplishments that leave a legacy. In the years that followed, I have expanded on that to be more personal -- less focused on the idea of 'Great Person History'. If I were to drop dead now, in the middle of typing this, two things would happen.

One -- you wouldn't be able to read this D: 

Two -- there would be people who would carry on at least one piece of information that I have imparted to them. 

We look at the world through our own filter, but it is also colored by the experiences we have with others. We may share what others have shared, and while the act of sharing wouldn't normally come with a verbal citation, the influence is still there. We do live on through or influence we have had with others. Sometimes it is more direct (traditions are a great example of this), sometimes it is subtle (lessons or nuggets of wisdom). Sadly there is a limit to this. 

Eventually this planet will 'die', so will our solar system and even the galaxy. Eventually there will be nothing but degenerate stars throughout the cosmos, then nothing but black holes. Eventually even they will evaporate ushering in what Cosmologist term the Dark Era which is about 10^92 years to ... well ... infinity. You have only sub atomic particles and photons scattered, unable to coalesce. There is a limit to corporeal knowledge and information. If you look at it through that lens, life has no permanent meaning. Yes all that goes out the window if there is an afterlife, but that is a different angle to this entirely since it is based on faith and speculation. 

Even through all that, I still think our impact has subtle ripples through time, and even though humanity may have a shelf-life, I ascribe meaning to and living, expiration date or not. :)

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10 minutes ago, Jeric said:

First, that was a well thought out and constructed post. In some respects I agree that our impact is diminished when we die, by virtue of the simple fact that we are not here directly participating. I will say that ones influence does extend out beyond their passing. I knew a person who once told me when I was a kid that our present is built on the backs of others past. He was mostly referring to people who have accomplishments that leave a legacy. In the years that followed, I have expanded on that to be more personal -- less focused on the idea of 'Great Person History'. If I were to drop dead now, in the middle of typing this, two things would happen.

One -- you wouldn't be able to read this D: 

Two -- there would be people who would carry on at least one piece of information that I have imparted to them. 

We look at the world through our own filter, but it is also colored by the experiences we have with others. We may share what others have shared, and while the act of sharing wouldn't normally come with a verbal citation, the influence is still there. We do live on through or influence we have had with others. Sometimes it is more direct (traditions are a great example of this), sometimes it is subtle (lessons or nuggets of wisdom). Sadly there is a limit to this. 

Eventually this planet will 'die', so will our solar system and even the galaxy. Eventually there will be nothing but degenerate stars throughout the cosmos, then nothing but black holes. Eventually even they will evaporate ushering in what Cosmologist term the Dark Era which is about 10^92 years to ... well ... infinity. You have only sub atomic particles and photons scattered, unable to coalesce. There is a limit to corporeal knowledge and information. If you look at it through that lens, life has no permanent meaning. Yes all that goes out the window if there is an afterlife, but that is a different angle to this entirely since it is based on faith and speculation. 

Even through all that, I still think our impact has subtle ripples through time, and even though humanity may have a shelf-life, I ascribe meaning to and living, expiration date or not. :)

Thanks, your post has certainly got me thinking. I agree that ones influences last beyond their death certainly. Even if you don't become famous or make a huge, obvious impact of any kind, little effects can add up. Giving someone a good piece of advice or a small act of kindness to someone in need can do more than anyone will ever realize, if it perhaps causes that person to make a change in their life they wouldn't have otherwise, then that will affect others as well. Someone who lived 200 years ago who nobody even knows the name of anymore, or remembers in the slightest, even though they're forgotten now, the world we have today is possibly still subtly affected by something they did. If they saved another persons life for instance, and that person went onto have kids. Maybe one of them wrote a book or something, that then inspired someone else to do something with their life...And on it goes.

 If you think about it, none of us will ever truly know how much of an impact we've made, even while we're still living, we probably don't know all the subtle little effects a choice we made years ago might have had. Even if we didn't do all that directly, a persons mere presence alone can possibly change something.

But everyone who has ever been affected by any choice made, any mistake, any loss or triumph, any act of kindness or cruelty...They'll all be dead someday. When people mention how I can change the world to me after hearing about my views of life, it often bothers me because they don't seem to realize I have thought of that. I know even if I don't become famous I can still change things, even if it's just directly changing one persons life, for better or worse. But everyone I interact with, directly or indirectly is just as doomed as me. My best friend will die one day, my parents will, if I have children they will, my old schoolmates will, or heck...likely some of them already have.

When thought of that way, it can almost seem like you have no affect at all. If we cease to be upon death...Then it all goes forgotten. If I made someone feel loved and cared for, they won't remember that in the end. On the other side, if I hurt someone and caused them misery, that will be forgotten as well. I don't just think this way because I will die...I think this way because everyone will.

Not that I think you were trying to change my perspective here, you're offering your own, and I agree. You can make differences in life, and I think that's a really good way to look at it. Despite my own views, I try to be kind or helpful when possible, as if I have to leave a mark on this temporary world, I'd rather it be a good one, whether that really matters or not. I don't have much of a personal meaning to my own life though, as I find it difficult to really assign or keep one. Maybe I'd be better off not trying to pick a meaning, and just going with the flow, or something like that.

 

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I believe that there is no "single" point of life, Life isn't pointless and everyone's probably' got multiple different reasons to keep going, 

I can't name all of mine...but off the top of my head... the fear of inexistence, curiosity for the future and love of my loved ones. 

There's bound to be a few more but those are the ones I can quickly think of.

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My point of living? I honestly don't know how to answer that, at face value.

I always think one's meaning for life should be whatever they want it to be, or possibly a potential goal or interest. Therefore, if i am to answer your original question it would be "Mostly to generate a positive net. value of happiness and share and make memories with loved ones".

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There is no definitive point to life. We are just here. I don't think that anyone should take that as a sign that there is no sense in living, though. There's so much to live for (not all of these will apply to every individual, I understand - some of them don't apply to me) - love, family, friends, entertainment, helping make the world around you better (because regardless of whether or not there is a "point", we exist, and so will other people after us. They should suffer less), a big one to me - learning/knowledge, etc., etc.

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The point of life, according to nature, is to reproduce as much as possible. That's why why adapt to female wants/needs as a male, to reproduce. There is no other point. It is just to reproduce. Nature makes us do it. We better listen, because we harm the world so much that it harms us, too. Praise the Sun. Hallelujah. *Drops mic.*

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