Maximus

Existence is meaningless, it's up to the individual to create a meaning by which to live by.

Skepticologist

And what exactly does that mean, and how would one go about creating such a meaning>

__________________
"I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of."

Clarence Darrow

NotConvinced

It means what you want it to mean, and you go about creating it by going about creating it.



Does anyone else get hit with random thoughts every so often trying to pinpoint one thought or revelation that would be "the answer." Is it just part of our humanity to ask the question in the first place? The question, being kind of like a "42" answered question, one that in being answered let's you live out the rest of your life so much better than if it wasn't answered. You think of all the other people that have lived on earth before us, and in the end what did they accomplish? We might remember their name now, or what they did, or try to use their lives as inspiration, but what does that do for the person who's already dead?

It seems like so many times I'm on the brink of some big answer to some big question I don't know....and it always comes up short. Realistically there's no answering post in this thread that wouldn't have been answered the exact same way by someone else on earth, even if just in the U.S. And there's a an excellent argument to every attempt at a solution to every problem that people could post about on this board. I feel like I'm rambling, but there's someone out there who's reading this and follows the exact same train of thought it took me to write this whole post, and just thinking about that kind of connection, seems to make everything a little bit more worth while.

liviussteven

Everything that exists has a purpose... the fact that we don't know what each and every purpose is... is the meaningless part!

Buddha

Yes, existence is meaningless.

__________________
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission
Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite
All of which are american dreams

silent_enigma

If we had a specific purpose for existing it would be because a sentient god created us with a purpose in mind. And since we don't have the means to know if there is a god, or what it would be like, or what it might want us to do, it's safe to assume that more likely than not, we have no purpose. Otherwise we would have been told it.

The only "instructions" we have are those buried in our physical bodies giving us the instincts to live, reproduce, alter our environment, etc.

silent_enigma

Oh, and as it's been said, we have to settle on the purpose we want and is meaningful to us, knowing that whatever we do will only be temporary.

That being said, I'm adrift right now. I just exist.

AB517

For me

At the very least we are here to try and improve life for the next generation. We are here to experience life to its fullest but we must temper that with the responsibility to grant the next generation a better life then us.

We are here to insure that future generations are able to survive until we evolve into the next “human” possible.

The Earth is lent to us by our children, not given to us by our parents.
Again the word “balance” comes to mind.

Be Happy
Live Free
Prepare the Earth for those that follow thee.

Skepticologist

I think you've come about as close as anyone I've read in these posts to ascribing a meaning to life.

It's really not just all about us in the here-and-now, is it? After all, if all we do before we die is to enjoy ourselves, what is the value of our existence? Of course, our legacies will be temporary. But if our living on the face of the earth for the finite period we're afforded makes a positive difference for some other terrestrial inhabitant, and makes his or her life even a little more meaningul or enjoyable, then we will have left a meaningful, albeit temporal, legacy of which we can be proud. N'est ce pas?

__________________
"I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of."

Clarence Darrow

AB517

Yes, I forgot to include this.
Can I use parts from yours?

I would like to add this in mine:

“We are here to support each other through our struggles in life. We want to be a positive influence for some other terrestrial inhabitant (all types of life) to make its, his or her life even a little more meaningful or enjoyable.

If we can do these things then we will have left a meaningful, albeit temporal, legacy of which we can be proud”


Is this ok?
Thank you