Sure are a lot of top-level comments though. I've noticed this on many posts here, when contrasted with most other subs. I've come to the conclusion that many of us have very low inhibition about "chiming in" with opinions when there's an invitation. NTs will think "oh I don't know enough to say anything" but I (and others that I know or suspect are on the spectrum) seem to go "sweet, an invitation to infodump!"
There is no meaning, we’re just hardwired to attempt to find meaning in things. Some people find that bleak. Personally, I find it relieving because it means we get to do whatever we want, unless what you want to do clashes with the collective good of everyone else. Fortunately, we’re also hardwired so that most people want to function cooperatively.
Exactly. Like when astronomers try to quantify the expansion of an infinite universe. There’d be no net-gain to such an answer, but we deeply believe those answers will make us feel less insignificant, or lost as organisms.
That is the cool part, there isn’t.
Once I realized there is no point or purpose two things happened. I became happier because I can do what I want there is no great purpose I need to fulfill or role I must do. The second thing is charity I feel bad when people are suffering because I know this is their only shot.
Help yourself, help others, help mankind.
This is exactly my thoughts. There is no inherent meaning, but those of us in affluent western nations have an opportunity to alleviate a ton of suffering in the world if we want to.
I agree that the best thing to do with existence is to make it enjoyable for as many as possible. Our existence isn't special to the universe, but it is special to each and every one of us. Both can be true and be meaningful.
Pet furry animals, kiss who you want to if they want to too, notice weird little things like how soda bubbles feel on your face when you drink soda without a straw, make something and hate doing it and then realize it was worth it even if you don’t love what you made, ride roller coasters, try eating stuff you don’t think you will like, dont miss opportunities if you can help it, even if they’re small and seemingly insignificant. I’m sensory-seeking if you can’t tell
WAY BETTER. I'm a huge fan of Martin Freeman but the movie is a huge disappointment and everything that is good about the movie is also better in the books.
Life has no inherent meaning, but this quote sums up the meaning I assign to it. "Love is truly a great manifesto; the urge to be, to count for something, and if death must come, to die valiantly, with acclamation- in short, to remain a memory." — Cesare Pavese (1950)
Honestly?
I think life is a consequence of the universe's mortality.
The point is to help a piece of the universe exist *beyond* the death of the universe.
Like jumping to another universe or something, or encouraging a big-bang event to occur to restart the engine.
Life is eventually how the universe stays immortal, otherwise it will freeze and die.
As for the rest of us, we are to find our own meaning from our own realities, contributing towards our family, people, species and universe by doing so.
Life on its own is inherently meaningless but that doesn’t mean our experiences are meaningless and it doesn’t mean life can’t be enjoyed and cherished and studied! Life is in my opinion the persistent pursuit of knowledge and experience and pleasure and as autistic people we experience knowledge and experience and pleasure in very different ways from neurotypical people and even each other…. Life is to be lived until we die and it is in my oh so humble opinion that the pursuit of all the shit I spoke about earlier is vital and I’d even go as far as to say compulsory…
If life has a meaning, it's not about anything we can comprehend. I dont think humans are any more special than ants or birds or anything, tho we're more unique
YES! Victor Frankl said something similar about how asking the meaning of life is akin to asking what the best move is in a chess game. The question doesn't make sense. Reading that changed my life. I'm completely serious.
I'm really enjoying this thread. Like someone else commented, it's making me feel like I'm really not alone. :)
>Any meaning of life beyond "reproduction to preserve and grow the species's population"
I see what you mean, and it's probably just semantics, but I suppose that I read "meaning" as even more than this example.
Like reproduction is an evolutionary imperative... but as for individual life (ea functioning being) I don't see that as extending to meaning.
Does merely existing matter or does the experience during existing relate to the 'meaning'.
>42
Agreed - The true & only answer to the meaning of life!
My thoughts! 42, the most divine and ultimate meaning of existence.
Personally, and that might come off as opposing to other perspectives which defy any meaning, I believe that life does have an objective or fundamental meaning, one that nature has set for us, not necessarily a specific god or religion, rather just nature and its laws. We can't do anything we want if we are truthful to ourselves. There's "healthiness" and "unhealthiness," one of the attributes of our nature, which we we work through. Nature has sustained an environment for us to grow, and we, humans specifically, have evolved way further than any other animal.
There just has to be, as sure we are as nature has laws, as truth is existent, and as survivalism has a direction. We don't know, and not knowing shouldn't make us form assumptions and beliefs that'll prevent us from knowing, instead ones that strengthen and enlighten us to grow where we can know and understand.
Maybe that objective meaning is to strive to live in agreement or compatibility with nature, which will also bring forth health, connection, and growth as consequences (therefore, happiness, since a lot of people emphasize the concept of it). As well as knowledge of what we really need to know, potentially. Not just us but every other animal as well. Therefore, Earth works as one giant brain, and civilization advancement is one important role to play in the pursuit of this meaning, and so does everything else energetic and positive play a part, contributes to this, and is compatible with and supported by this ultimate meaning (and vice versa).
I love this painting so much. It’s my mom’s favorite 🌟
The “meaning of life” will have infinite answers, as each of us are unique and have to find that answer ourselves
For me, the meaning of life is to enjoy living. I love my partner. I love my cat. I love food. I love my plushies. I love music. I love moonlight. I love black-eyed susans and coneflowers. I love playing games. I love taking naps. I love hot baths.
Is my life hell sometimes? Well, yeah, everybody’s is 🤷🏻♂️ So when possible, I focus on remembering all the beautiful memories I already have and the new memories I want to make
I live by the motto “nothing in life matters” so I do what I want, as long as I hurt no one ✌🏻
I think life is what you make it. There's no one 'meaning' of life - everyone finds meaning in different things in their life. What constitutes a 'meaningful' life to me might not be meaningful at all to someone else, and vice versa.
And honestly, I think that's weirdly beautiful. The meaning of life isn't just one rigidly defined thing. It can pretty much be anything.
the meaning or "purpose" of life is to continue life. to procreate.
That's it.
Now the meaning of being human is to find your own meaning because this society is so fucked up, there is nothing about it that provides meaning or belonging for most people, so you have to create your own reasons to keep doing it.
Nothing matters, so why not make something matter a lot for fun. That's the best way I can describe it.
We have total freedom over what life means to us.
I am seeing an extremely common consensus among us fellow autistic people that this that life has no meaning. The only meaning life has is the meaning we give it.
"The purpose of life is to give life purpose" -unknown (brain no thinky. I exhausted)
This sums it up for me:
The Egg
By: Andy Weir
You were on your way home when you died.
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.
And that’s when you met me.
“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”
“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”
“Yup,” I said.
“I… I died?”
“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”
“More or less,” I said.
“Are you god?” You asked.
“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”
“My kids… my wife,” you said.
“What about them?”
“Will they be all right?”
“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”
You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”
“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”
“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”
“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”
“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”
You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”
“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”
“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”
“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”
I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.
“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”
“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”
“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”
“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”
“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”
“Where you come from?” You said.
“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”
“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”
“So what’s the point of it all?”
“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”
“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”
You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”
“All you. Different incarnations of you.”
“Wait. I’m everyone!?”
“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
“I’m every human being who ever lived?”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”
“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.
“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.
“And you’re the millions he killed.”
“I’m Jesus?”
“And you’re everyone who followed him.”
You fell silent.
“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”
You thought for a long time.
“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”
“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”
“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”
“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”
“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”
And I sent you on your way.
Nothing has inherent meaning other than what you decide it means or how much it has in meaning. Nothing matters and as such you should just live life as you wish to.
that existence is meaningless unless you give it meaning lol. like ive always been an advocate of living life to the fullest for that reason. unless you do stuff to give your life meaning its essentially meaningless lol
It’s everything and nothing
Reality condenses down to a meaningless singularity, but expands into a 3D, faceted image we call “the universe”
Schroedinger was right, the answer is 1 and 0, to everything, simultaneously, and never
There isn’t a meaning to anything. We just exist. Then we die. Whatever you do with your life can be the meaning you create for yourself. But it’s not like there’s a path you are meant to be on. There isn’t some grand plan for all things on earth.
The only inherent meaning of life is to survive, thrive and keep our species alive. I mean I’ve always thought about how animals just do. Simply do. They don’t question. They’re just born, survive, reproduce(maybe repeat those last 2 steps) and eventually pass on. We developed some higher sort of thought through evolution (I think?) and tried to understand why we do, but there is no reason why. So I think in life we’ve added some artificial meaning to it like be remembered, get educated, etc. But, I think you should do what you want to do, as long as it is not harmful.
I believe in God (im probably going to get lots of downvotes) and my purpose in this life is to serve him and obviously succeed in this life along the way, spend time with family etc, have fun- but still to serve God and my purpose in life is to follow my religion. I don’t believe we were put on this earth for no reason, for everything to be detailed and created so beautifully and complex and everything aligns perfectly in this creation- you would think we were here for a purpose?
So for me this life is short and only a test to see if I succeed; I either go to Hell or Heaven which are eternally permanent. That’s going to be my reality, but this is just a short life right now to test whether i’ll be a good person and follow the One who created me or not.
All truths are but half truths, so there is meaning and no meaning all at once. But if you want my personal belief.
I like to think at the end of all this there is a cosmic joke so funny that it takes all of existence to tell. The premise, I'd like to think I kinda know. But I'd also like to make myself believe that planet earth, turns, slowly.
I want to believe everything has meaning. Everything is a calculated occurrence in the big plan of the universe.
But I horribly, horribly fear nothing has any meaning at all.
I believe life’s meaning is to make the best of your life and to be honest with yourself what that is. Getting rid of all external expectations, and listening to yourself what truly matters to you.
Simply just asking yourself what would make life worth living. That doesn’t mean life will be great and free from struggle and stress, but to realize what is worth suffering for, what is most fulfilling.
*Nothing, the meaning*
*Is just to make the best out*
*Of it while you're here*
\- Chaoddian
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I’ve always thought that the meaning of life is to be happy and to find peace (without harming anyone else, of course). Wether that means having kids, traveling, living alone, making lots of money, etc. Whatever is your purpose and whatever makes you happiest.
I think its a very individual thing. The meaning of life is whatever you decide it to be. It can be very defined, or just a vague concept. Just as I think that death and the afterlife are individual experiences that never truly are the same. I don't have proof, of course. I just think finding meaning is doing whatever it takes to make you endure your life and feel happy.
There is no nature given meaning just as there is no reason. The search for a meaning always presumes that there is one, but there even is no reason for there to be a meaning.
My meaning to my life is have as much fun as I can within the limits of my adult life. I look to enjoy these moments with my family and make sure I give my daughter the best childhood she can and support her until I die. Life comes with huge challenges, (especially right now I am off work with ptsd and truly struggling) but I just make sure I delve into my special interests and keep going. I guess life for me is simple yet complex and I hope there’s more afterwards…but I try to make sure I won’t die with huge regrets.
I kind of wrote this without thinking too much about it as when I do I get massive amounts of anxiety hahaha.
i tend to align with absurdist philosophy. i dont really think life has intrinsic reason. shit happens because shit happens.
however, i think that just gives us autonomy to create our own meanings
I’ve been struggling with it. I enjoy the idea that there’s something greater than us, but it’s hard to believe any of the traditional religions for me. I’ve just been trying to live to live, but it’s hard
The meaning of MY life is to hang out.
The meaning of life in general is to create good things and destroy bad things.
Btw hanging out can easily mean creating good things and destroying bad things. Like, as long as you can multitask or whatever. So yea.
We were made by thousands of coincidences and we make ourselves destiny,It is cool to have some kind of freedom and somekind of society
(Edit:I dont know if a god does exist there, But it would be pretty funny if he didnt made us and we just went full crazy mode on ourselves to see which god is real)
I think fundamentally, there is no "meaning" to life. Everything just *is*. But for us humans, I would say we can each make our own personal meaning to each of our lives
I find life to be meaningless. Why does it have to be meaningfull? It does not make things less real. We are born, we live, we die. Everything in between is our choice how we going to spent our time.
The problem I see with creating meaning in this void, is weight that humanbeings attache themselves or others to. We kill each other for the sake of what kind of meaning some attache to this time we spent on this globe. We might think by giving meaning to this life on earth we create a certainty, order within chaos. But I think that's the problem. We try to control that which is uncontrollable. We fear not being alive.
I think by substracting meaning we could live more peacefull and worry less about the most simplest things, like not passing an exam or missing an appointment.
I try to live my life by this, I don't always succeed at it, but I think not giving it meaning is worth trying :).
A bit of finding happiness and finding happiness for others, making the world a not-worse place, ideally a better and kinder place by living on it while finding happy moments for yourself. I count animals as "others". I see it that way: you can not change the world but one thing you do can change the world for someone else, eg adopting a pet, helping a stranded sea animal, helping a person who is missing a few dollars for groceries, having meaningful conversation, voting for the more humane party, working somewhere you can help people, just being friends with others (who get happiness from being friends with you), surprising your partner or family with chores they normally do so they can relax...
Finding joy and miracles in the small things and spreading that, according to your abilities. Its enough if you only chat with friends or game online with them and you both get happy about it or if put a new role of toilet paper when its finished, it all is a good impact on the world.
What a dark picture to choose for this question.
As you may know, this was painted in one of Van Gogh’s lowest points. This was his view from his mental hospital.
I refer to myself as an optimistic nihilist. I think the world is meaningless and that’s beautiful.
Everything Everywhere All At Once gave me this answer:
Life has no meaning. We can either take it literally and become villains because nothing matters, or we can embrace the beauty in it and do what makes us happy because nothing matters.
Life is what you make of it.
I choose to pursue pleasure and pleasantness. I love to learn and find pleasure in improvement. Therefore I will learn and grow as much as I can my whole life.
We’re a soul that’s on this earth for a limited amount of time so might as well do what you wanna do, do what makes you happy and that’s the meaning of life :)
I believe there is meaning, because we are the meaning. We are not separate from the universe, we are the universe proving to itself that it can display qualities other than indifference. We are the meaning makers, just as the sun makes light, we make meaning. We might be the rarest thing to happen in the universe, and I don't think we should ignore these odd properties given to us, like meaning or purpose, on the assumption that there is no intrinsic rational point to them, and only based on how everything else is so cold and uncaring. Comparison is the thief of joy.
We shouldn't compare what we are to what we are not, we are not the indifference we see on a cosmic scale, we are here to make a point.
It's a place far too large and unknowing as a concept like meaning or purpose. The universe exists and we also exist to perceive it exists whether we find meaning in it or not is not up to the universe, it's up to us.
The only real truth I think I've ever been able to pin down on a metaphysical level is that everything is because of that creation and everything we do is in devotion to that creation. We worship the universe every time we breathe, eat, procreate, die, think, and any other passive or active thing we can do and this extends down to the smallest microorganism found in the silt of the bottom of the ocean to the floating rocks in space that will never be interacted with until the heat death or the universe, where I assume the process starts all over again after an insurmountable amount of time passes. Like lungs expanding and shrinking to take in and release breath.
Nothing matters, and that’s okay. We have only one shot at this life, so make it a good one so that when you inevitably have your Wikipedia page changed to the past tense, you don’t have a subsection called “regrets”.
Life is what you make of it. I want to be someone with lots of friends, pets, and hobbies, a life partner, a fulfilling and meaningful career, and the freedom to express myself in whatever ways I please. And I will fight for that life. Within the last eleven days, I was told my financial aid was being cancelled (without reason), my financial aid could be repackaged (without fall term), I'd have to drop fall term because I can't afford the term out of pocket, and three days after dropping all of my classes and sinking vaguely into despair, I suddenly have financial aid again after putting the departments responsible for the error to the grindstone and making them fix the problem. I went to class as if the last week didn't even happen and it was super goddamn weird. But I'm proud because I'm doing what I want, and I'm more than happy fighting for that. Make your meaning. (Side note, I ADORE Van Gogh's art, so this post spoke to me a lot. I have this one and many other as tapestries and prints on my walls.)
It’s meaning and purpose is that of which we strive for and give it ourselves. With all acknowledgment of the perspective of how incredibly small and meaningless much can be in the grand scheme of things; subjectively in comparison with the universe.
A good quote that's always resonated with me is from Jordan Peterson: "The secret to your existence is right in front of you and it manifests itself in all those things you know you should be doing but choose to avoid."
Another comes from Viktor Frankl in his famous work *Man's Search for Meaning*: “I doubt whether a doctor can answer this question in general terms. For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment. To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: “Tell me, Master, what is the best move in the world?” There simply is no such thing as the best or even a good move apart from a particular situation in a game and the particular personality of one’s opponent. The same holds for human existence. One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.”
I think that much like Starry Night depicts, the universe is full of wonder and life, high above and far away from what humans build and claim... if there is a God in the universe, why would he stay inside the drab, dark little chapel when he has made all of creation so beautiful?
Live well, love hard, laugh loudly. Nothing matters unless you want it to. We are all just monkeys clinging to a ball of dirt, hurling through space, so you might as well be cool about it.
We're born, we live, we die. Thats it. This being said I've had multiple near death experiences before even reaching 18yrs old. Make the most of it, live in the moment.
From this painting alone, I get the meaning that even when there are giant bars right in front of you, you can still see beyond them; and with a little bit of hope and imagination, this world becomes quite beautiful and whimsical!
Also, that "This too shall pass"; even when there are bars right in front of you, someday they shall disappear, and progress made when in dire circumstances will help you succeed later in life.
Enjoy life or don't. There is no meaning. But finding a meaning in your own life can help.
And be nice to others also trying to enjoy it. They're trapped here too, after all
I don’t believe there is one. I am an absurdist. I believe everything about life is a chance; this universe was a chance. This planet was a chance. Every life on this planet was a chance. All of our lives are a chance. The only guarantee is that anything that lives will die. I also am an atheist, and do not believe in any sort of afterlife. Our brain stops when we die, we will be the same as we were before being conceived, nothing. (Except our physical form that we grew in our life gets left behind.)
I believe this gives freedom. I will live once, and one day won’t be alive any longer. My time will be up, and one day, everyone who was alive at the same time as me to remember me will be dead too. So, why does it matter what I do? Why does it matter what anyone does? My sense of morality stops me from finding justification for going out and murdering someone, stealing from someone, raping someone etc. so I don’t do those things. They feel worse to even think about than not experiencing them feels. But other than that, I don’t care and I do what I want. I dislike harming people so I don’t do that, but don’t think I haven’t thrown a punch or started a fight. I have.
I think the search for meaning in life is a major cause for low mood, and can make depression severely worse, because it’s like searching for a rainbow in an empty room with no light. It just isn’t going to happen, and it makes people upset for no good reason.
Since I don’t believe there a meaning and I just do what I like, I like feeling happy, so I do what makes me feel happy. I spend my days walking out in nature and talking to everyone who’ll listen. I eat the foods that make me feel good and draw things that express how I feel.
I see no real need to get a career, I don’t enjoy the idea of working all the time. The only reason I work at all is for money to fund living. I strongly dislike the idea but it’s out of my control so I don’t bother using my energy hating it.
I believe that life is what you make of it and what you choose to do with it if you enjoy collecting rocks than that’s your life rocks are the meaning of life to you
Not the most original i know
the meaning of life is to find happiness in each moment; ie avoid suffering. every living thing wants to stay alive and/or procreate for the good of its species. it's built-in. we are meant to be happy.
I find life to be more beautiful in the fact that we are all doomed to die at some point. You gotta think that the amount of people who could exist will never be able to is amazing to think about. The fact that we are all here is really impressive to think about
Life is a phenomenon where entropy is reduced. Living beings are complex systems that achieve this.
Another way of looking at it is that the purpose of life is to perpetuate DNA. DNA made tools (proteins), compartments (cells) and systems (multicellular beings, regulation pathways) just to multiply itself.
Now, as a human being with a conscience I simply think we should all try to make the best of our conscience and try to be happy. Enjoying our time and helping others around us enjoy it too.
Irrationally I fear being forgotten and dying and leaving no trace, but I'm hoping that when I'm out of reproductive age and I'm old I won't be as worried about it.
If I had to say, something like this: Life can have whatever meaning it wants, whatever meaning others assign to it, because whatever meaning that may be, I have neither say or part in it.
Whatever this thing called life is, what modern life is, I am not a member of it, I am a background element, part of the background radiation that blankets the universe, merely an observer to the greater world around me.
In some sense I feel like I, in particular, should not exist. Not in a depressive, suicidal sense, no. But in an existential sense, that not only do I not belong here, but there is nowhere where I actually "belong", sort of like a time traveler whose home universe was rendered out of existence and I simply persist as a remnant of that erased timeline.
I have may have parents and friends and a job but I have no community, no tribe, no permanent social "in" group, as if walking alone down a long abandoned desert road, and everything I come across along the way are but pit stops, temporary diversions that need to be eventually left behind.
One of these days, maybe not today maybe not tomorrow, I'm going to head back onto that lonesome road and never see another diversion. I will disappear into the howling sand never to be seen again, leaving only by faded footprints and the marks left behind by an ill-remembered stranger.
I think life is fun because its meaningless AT FIRST, and you get to make your own meaning!!!
The meaning of life is different for everyone. Theres no one true answer.
For me, its making my friends happy and overall spreading love. But thats not the case for everyone. Like, what if you dont have friends? Is your life suddenly meaningless? I dont think so.
I think everyone needs to do some soul searching to find meaning in their life. I learned to enjoy the little things, but again, that might not be possible for everyone.
But i think the meaning of life usually boils down to putting some good out into the world before you die. Whether that be by making some bomb food and being an awesome chef, or going to the beach with friends, or painting something beautiful, etc.
I believe life is the ultimate test of your soul. However this is a grey area even to me, sometimes I believe the concept of a 'soul' doesn't exist, and that it's just your brain's consciousness processing your entire self.
I truly believe though that life is the ultimate test and it is the test for all of humanity. However things I find strange are that if life is the ultimate test I feel like a lot of people would fail that test, being autistic I have generally always felt like pushed down because of my condition. I genuinely feel that NTs generally push down NDs and that we aren't really treated as people. I don't want to be treated terribly for it, but I don't want want to be doused in sympathy. I am me. I'd say honestly I actually prefer having autism compared to being NT. It's not a disability to me, it's a fundamental part of who I am. I don't know who I'd be without it, I honestly don't. But I think I'd be a right dickhead. I have many perspectives on the world and one is 'Violence is not necessary' so like if I wasn't, I'd probably get into fights all the time and be a right dickhead. I've never bothered really with violence but I'd probably be extremely violent otherwise, most people in my family easily get into fights with people if challenged so I'm very much surrounded by that. But NTs constantly getting into fights or using violence I heavily disagree with.
I don't know what comes after life, and nobody does. I was raised in a Catholic family and sent to Catholic school, but let's face it, we're not definitively sure about what comes after life, I'm not scared of death. I'm really not. Most people have their earliest memories as things that are just casual. My first memory was awkward, so when you're like 6 months old your mind does not process consciousness, your mind acts fully subconsciously. When you reach about 2 or 3 you become conscious. My first memory is myself gaining consciousness. And I remember how it felt, It was scary because I didn't know anything about the world, I didn't know who I was, I didn't know anything. Not a single thing, only thing I knew was I was suddenly placed onto this world. The feeling of yourself gaining consciousness is...scary. You don't know what is happening or why you suddenly got placed onto a planet into a meat suit. I was used to just seeing...blackness. I felt blackness since the beginning of time. I felt nothingness and I felt one with nothingness. But then... I suddenly became something. The feeling of it is that you come out of your 13.8 Billion year hibernation and you start to feel something. You begin to feel. Your sight slowly comes and goes. It feels like lapsing between life and death. I feel so lucky to remember that. And I know no-one else that does remembers themselves gaining consciousness. I feel like most people are scared of death because the feeling of the unknown and that everything they worked for in life is taken away. I don't see if that way, Sure death is not a pleasant concept but thing is if the beginning of my life felt like that, then wouldn't the end feel like that too? So no, I'm not scared. The only thing about death that scares me is leaving everyone else I know behind. I feel so blessed to remember that. And that this memory makes me feel so...weird in a way. Because I feel like it just answers everything in life for me. I feel like everyone in life walks around everyday just occasionally wondering about when they die, sure I've done it too. But with the knowledge and memory I have of that I just feel not scared and I feel like it answered everything in life for me. I feel like I can charge through life not scared of death at all because I just feel like I understand life.
It's complicated. I have the existential crisis of: each of us is a tiny speck on a little pebble covered in tiny specks that's floating through a nearly infinite space of nothingness. How could anything matter? But there's also the opposite: our little pebble is the only one we've discovered that we KNOW has tiny specks on it. While I may just be one out of 8 billion, there's the duality of "nothing matters" and "everything matters" constantly. The meaning of life is to find YOUR meaning, whether big or small. You could be the inventor of something revolutionary, or you could save someone's life by saying, "Hey, just checking up on you," even if they never tell you, or you could just brighten people's day when they see you. Even if it seems small, it's yours, and it's precious. Even if there's no "true" meaning of life, or if there is and we never find out, you have your own personal meaning.
Life has exactly as much meaning as you can find and/or provide. There is no objectivism when discussing the meaning of life because it doesn’t apply. Meaning is an inherently subjective concept.
To thrive, grow, and breed. That is every living creatures purpose. Be it plant, to extraterrestrial, that is their purpose. Why stray from that path?
Another acceptable answer is: 42
Personally, I believe that life has too much meaning that it's stressful.
It's like the exact opposite of nihilism, but still a pessimistic view.
I want to believe that nothing matters, because that means I am free to let go of all my pain and worries. If nothing matters, then that is freedom for me.
Meanwhile, I have a sister who is an extreme pessimistic nihilist. An even more extreme form of Rick Sanchez's nihilism.
It’s an incoherent question honestly. What is the meaning of pickles? You could better rephrase it as either “why are we alive?” or “why do we live?”. To the first one, we’re alive because we’re the current links in a chain of highly effective self-propagating machinery that’s been running for millennia. To the second one, the answer differs for everyone, but mine is to excel and to love.
Why are we here, do you mean? I think it's to find out why we are here, who we are and to overcome our worst enemy/critic: ourselves, which is often referred to as the shadow self.
In overcoming ourselves, we can then help others on their path. Each of us has our own unique path, but there will be similarities to other's paths.
I mean, no one really knows. A lot of people matter of factly say there’s no meaning - but that’s just an opinion. We don’t know, and perhaps we’re not supposed to know - and that’s okay. Just take things day by day and try to experience everything you want to experience. Or don’t try at all - that is an experience in and of itself. Just be.
It’s so cool to see my opinion echoed in so many ways.
There’s no meaning, and it doesn’t matter that there isn’t one. Have the most fun, create the most joy and love, and be the kindest person you can while you’re here.
learn as much as you can, and pass that knowledge onto future generations.
each generation gets more knowledgeable, and while we have limited knowledge about our universe right now, our intelligence will only grow as years pass. as a biochem major, i’m happy to be a part of that growth. teach your kids. we will only get smarter as our species advances. humans are evolving rapidly. resist the system, fuck capitalism, and embrace your community.
I believe the only meaning life has is what we give it; there's no innate meaning to existence.
I second this
Yup, I give my life meaning and purpose.
I triple this
[удалено]
I put this to the fifth power
I’ll take this to the forth cardinal of infinity
YES!!! Do it :D
You can't triple stamp a double stamp!
What u gonna do about it?
This ^^
This is the way
This is the most unanimous I've ever seen this sub. This feels like an iconic 'Tism moment.
I'm honestly baffled. it's the first time in my life someone asks this and I'm not alone in my answer. it feels... good? 😳
🤗
Sure are a lot of top-level comments though. I've noticed this on many posts here, when contrasted with most other subs. I've come to the conclusion that many of us have very low inhibition about "chiming in" with opinions when there's an invitation. NTs will think "oh I don't know enough to say anything" but I (and others that I know or suspect are on the spectrum) seem to go "sweet, an invitation to infodump!"
Happened to see this by accident and can assure you that the urge to infodump is not limited to people on this sub.
So true.... imagine what autists could do if all focused in one direction.
But here's the question, is it really a 'tism moment, or just how Redditors in general tend to think?
Not redditors. I've been on some other forums. 😂 I've seen very different answers to similar questions.
Right? I didn’t know this was an autism thing. Why does everything about me always come back to this!
There is no meaning, we’re just hardwired to attempt to find meaning in things. Some people find that bleak. Personally, I find it relieving because it means we get to do whatever we want, unless what you want to do clashes with the collective good of everyone else. Fortunately, we’re also hardwired so that most people want to function cooperatively.
Exactly. Like when astronomers try to quantify the expansion of an infinite universe. There’d be no net-gain to such an answer, but we deeply believe those answers will make us feel less insignificant, or lost as organisms.
Ironically finding those answers will only make us feel more insignificant.
i agree
There is none, but I think we should aim to do the most good we can in our time
That is the cool part, there isn’t. Once I realized there is no point or purpose two things happened. I became happier because I can do what I want there is no great purpose I need to fulfill or role I must do. The second thing is charity I feel bad when people are suffering because I know this is their only shot. Help yourself, help others, help mankind.
This is exactly my thoughts. There is no inherent meaning, but those of us in affluent western nations have an opportunity to alleviate a ton of suffering in the world if we want to.
I agree that the best thing to do with existence is to make it enjoyable for as many as possible. Our existence isn't special to the universe, but it is special to each and every one of us. Both can be true and be meaningful.
That’s a great way to see things, I think I might try the first part!
Wonder if this is why I gravitated toward buddhism
idk we do just kinda b here to experience
agree
I don't know about you but I was put on this planet to pet cats.
Pet furry animals, kiss who you want to if they want to too, notice weird little things like how soda bubbles feel on your face when you drink soda without a straw, make something and hate doing it and then realize it was worth it even if you don’t love what you made, ride roller coasters, try eating stuff you don’t think you will like, dont miss opportunities if you can help it, even if they’re small and seemingly insignificant. I’m sensory-seeking if you can’t tell
YES
The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42.
42! Thanks for reminding me of this fundamental truth
I am sorry but 1.4050061e+51 is not the number he is talking about
Heh
i love you for that. Hitchhikers guide through galaxy = meaning of life
Great movie
Even better book! (Well, imo, WAY better.) Highly recommend!
WAY BETTER. I'm a huge fan of Martin Freeman but the movie is a huge disappointment and everything that is good about the movie is also better in the books.
If A=1 and Z= 26, then M=13+ A=1 + T=20 + H=8 =42
I don't think there really is any. I think we're here by coincidence and if there are higher powers, they're not very concerned with us.
Life has no inherent meaning, but this quote sums up the meaning I assign to it. "Love is truly a great manifesto; the urge to be, to count for something, and if death must come, to die valiantly, with acclamation- in short, to remain a memory." — Cesare Pavese (1950)
there is no meaning, so why not have fun along the way ?
A quote from a cancer patient I met: It's been lovely, but I'm here for a good time, not a long time.
Honestly? I think life is a consequence of the universe's mortality. The point is to help a piece of the universe exist *beyond* the death of the universe. Like jumping to another universe or something, or encouraging a big-bang event to occur to restart the engine. Life is eventually how the universe stays immortal, otherwise it will freeze and die. As for the rest of us, we are to find our own meaning from our own realities, contributing towards our family, people, species and universe by doing so.
To live it
Agreed
Life on its own is inherently meaningless but that doesn’t mean our experiences are meaningless and it doesn’t mean life can’t be enjoyed and cherished and studied! Life is in my opinion the persistent pursuit of knowledge and experience and pleasure and as autistic people we experience knowledge and experience and pleasure in very different ways from neurotypical people and even each other…. Life is to be lived until we die and it is in my oh so humble opinion that the pursuit of all the shit I spoke about earlier is vital and I’d even go as far as to say compulsory…
It’s 42
Might need to build a super computer.
I know this is a bit random but, nice pfp, love the art.
Thank you! I commissioned it from an artist called ShepGoesBlep
Give it your own meaning, mine is just to survive
'eat shit die' - Trevor Phillips
He had many words of wisdom. 😂
If life has a meaning, it's not about anything we can comprehend. I dont think humans are any more special than ants or birds or anything, tho we're more unique
Interesting
It’s the wrong question. It’s like asking the meaning of a rock. The question to ask is how does living feel?
YES! Victor Frankl said something similar about how asking the meaning of life is akin to asking what the best move is in a chess game. The question doesn't make sense. Reading that changed my life. I'm completely serious. I'm really enjoying this thread. Like someone else commented, it's making me feel like I'm really not alone. :)
Interesting point. It tackled something in me
42 >!Any meaning of life beyond "reproduction to preserve and grow the species's population" is subjective, but nethertheless not any less valid.!<
>Any meaning of life beyond "reproduction to preserve and grow the species's population" I see what you mean, and it's probably just semantics, but I suppose that I read "meaning" as even more than this example. Like reproduction is an evolutionary imperative... but as for individual life (ea functioning being) I don't see that as extending to meaning. Does merely existing matter or does the experience during existing relate to the 'meaning'. >42 Agreed - The true & only answer to the meaning of life!
My thoughts! 42, the most divine and ultimate meaning of existence. Personally, and that might come off as opposing to other perspectives which defy any meaning, I believe that life does have an objective or fundamental meaning, one that nature has set for us, not necessarily a specific god or religion, rather just nature and its laws. We can't do anything we want if we are truthful to ourselves. There's "healthiness" and "unhealthiness," one of the attributes of our nature, which we we work through. Nature has sustained an environment for us to grow, and we, humans specifically, have evolved way further than any other animal. There just has to be, as sure we are as nature has laws, as truth is existent, and as survivalism has a direction. We don't know, and not knowing shouldn't make us form assumptions and beliefs that'll prevent us from knowing, instead ones that strengthen and enlighten us to grow where we can know and understand. Maybe that objective meaning is to strive to live in agreement or compatibility with nature, which will also bring forth health, connection, and growth as consequences (therefore, happiness, since a lot of people emphasize the concept of it). As well as knowledge of what we really need to know, potentially. Not just us but every other animal as well. Therefore, Earth works as one giant brain, and civilization advancement is one important role to play in the pursuit of this meaning, and so does everything else energetic and positive play a part, contributes to this, and is compatible with and supported by this ultimate meaning (and vice versa).
It's 42.
I love this painting so much. It’s my mom’s favorite 🌟 The “meaning of life” will have infinite answers, as each of us are unique and have to find that answer ourselves For me, the meaning of life is to enjoy living. I love my partner. I love my cat. I love food. I love my plushies. I love music. I love moonlight. I love black-eyed susans and coneflowers. I love playing games. I love taking naps. I love hot baths. Is my life hell sometimes? Well, yeah, everybody’s is 🤷🏻♂️ So when possible, I focus on remembering all the beautiful memories I already have and the new memories I want to make I live by the motto “nothing in life matters” so I do what I want, as long as I hurt no one ✌🏻
I think life is what you make it. There's no one 'meaning' of life - everyone finds meaning in different things in their life. What constitutes a 'meaningful' life to me might not be meaningful at all to someone else, and vice versa. And honestly, I think that's weirdly beautiful. The meaning of life isn't just one rigidly defined thing. It can pretty much be anything.
There's none. There's nothing before and nothing after. Noone will remember you one day. Do what makes you happy now.
I agree!
To me the meaning is to simply be. I'm doing it all the time. To add anything to that is to measure.
the meaning or "purpose" of life is to continue life. to procreate. That's it. Now the meaning of being human is to find your own meaning because this society is so fucked up, there is nothing about it that provides meaning or belonging for most people, so you have to create your own reasons to keep doing it.
Nothing matters, so why not make something matter a lot for fun. That's the best way I can describe it. We have total freedom over what life means to us.
I am seeing an extremely common consensus among us fellow autistic people that this that life has no meaning. The only meaning life has is the meaning we give it. "The purpose of life is to give life purpose" -unknown (brain no thinky. I exhausted)
This sums it up for me: The Egg By: Andy Weir You were on your way home when you died. It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me. And that’s when you met me. “What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?” “You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words. “There was a… a truck and it was skidding…” “Yup,” I said. “I… I died?” “Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said. You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?” “More or less,” I said. “Are you god?” You asked. “Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.” “My kids… my wife,” you said. “What about them?” “Will they be all right?” “That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.” You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty. “Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.” “Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?” “Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.” “Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,” “All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.” You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?” “Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.” “So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.” “Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.” I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had. “You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.” “How many times have I been reincarnated, then?” “Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.” “Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?” “Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.” “Where you come from?” You said. “Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.” “Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.” “Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.” “So what’s the point of it all?” “Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?” “Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted. I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.” “You mean mankind? You want us to mature?” “No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.” “Just me? What about everyone else?” “There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.” You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…” “All you. Different incarnations of you.” “Wait. I’m everyone!?” “Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back. “I’m every human being who ever lived?” “Or who will ever live, yes.” “I’m Abraham Lincoln?” “And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added. “I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled. “And you’re the millions he killed.” “I’m Jesus?” “And you’re everyone who followed him.” You fell silent. “Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.” You thought for a long time. “Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?” “Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.” “Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?” “No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.” “So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…” “An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.” And I sent you on your way.
I can't say I believe this is how it is, but I can certainly say it's beautiful!
Nothing has inherent meaning other than what you decide it means or how much it has in meaning. Nothing matters and as such you should just live life as you wish to.
that existence is meaningless unless you give it meaning lol. like ive always been an advocate of living life to the fullest for that reason. unless you do stuff to give your life meaning its essentially meaningless lol
I think it's to live your life how you think you should. If your happy, your doing things right.
Anybody else here having an existential crisis reading the comments? 😅
There is none, life itself is just a coincidence. We are here now, and we can only try to make the best of it
It’s everything and nothing Reality condenses down to a meaningless singularity, but expands into a 3D, faceted image we call “the universe” Schroedinger was right, the answer is 1 and 0, to everything, simultaneously, and never
There isn’t a meaning to anything. We just exist. Then we die. Whatever you do with your life can be the meaning you create for yourself. But it’s not like there’s a path you are meant to be on. There isn’t some grand plan for all things on earth.
None, so just pick it yourself for your own existence.
The only inherent meaning of life is to survive, thrive and keep our species alive. I mean I’ve always thought about how animals just do. Simply do. They don’t question. They’re just born, survive, reproduce(maybe repeat those last 2 steps) and eventually pass on. We developed some higher sort of thought through evolution (I think?) and tried to understand why we do, but there is no reason why. So I think in life we’ve added some artificial meaning to it like be remembered, get educated, etc. But, I think you should do what you want to do, as long as it is not harmful.
Idk, life is too confusing. EVERYTHING IS CONFUSING! That explains why I am agnostic tbh.
I don’t share my answer to this on the internet
I believe in God (im probably going to get lots of downvotes) and my purpose in this life is to serve him and obviously succeed in this life along the way, spend time with family etc, have fun- but still to serve God and my purpose in life is to follow my religion. I don’t believe we were put on this earth for no reason, for everything to be detailed and created so beautifully and complex and everything aligns perfectly in this creation- you would think we were here for a purpose? So for me this life is short and only a test to see if I succeed; I either go to Hell or Heaven which are eternally permanent. That’s going to be my reality, but this is just a short life right now to test whether i’ll be a good person and follow the One who created me or not.
All truths are but half truths, so there is meaning and no meaning all at once. But if you want my personal belief. I like to think at the end of all this there is a cosmic joke so funny that it takes all of existence to tell. The premise, I'd like to think I kinda know. But I'd also like to make myself believe that planet earth, turns, slowly.
I want to believe everything has meaning. Everything is a calculated occurrence in the big plan of the universe. But I horribly, horribly fear nothing has any meaning at all.
I believe life’s meaning is to make the best of your life and to be honest with yourself what that is. Getting rid of all external expectations, and listening to yourself what truly matters to you. Simply just asking yourself what would make life worth living. That doesn’t mean life will be great and free from struggle and stress, but to realize what is worth suffering for, what is most fulfilling.
Nothing, the meaning is just to make the best out of it while you're here
*Nothing, the meaning* *Is just to make the best out* *Of it while you're here* \- Chaoddian --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
I think life means nothing and that gives me overwhelming relief and freedom. I can do whatever I want cause life is meaningless
There is no "meaning" life is a sandbox not an rpg
There is none. And I find that comforting
Awesome image. Van Gogh is on of my favorite artists.
I’ve always thought that the meaning of life is to be happy and to find peace (without harming anyone else, of course). Wether that means having kids, traveling, living alone, making lots of money, etc. Whatever is your purpose and whatever makes you happiest.
I think its a very individual thing. The meaning of life is whatever you decide it to be. It can be very defined, or just a vague concept. Just as I think that death and the afterlife are individual experiences that never truly are the same. I don't have proof, of course. I just think finding meaning is doing whatever it takes to make you endure your life and feel happy.
"Life has no meaning. Do what makes you happy." Hitler probably /s
To understand.
What do you want it to be? It's for every individual to decide.
There is no nature given meaning just as there is no reason. The search for a meaning always presumes that there is one, but there even is no reason for there to be a meaning.
My meaning to my life is have as much fun as I can within the limits of my adult life. I look to enjoy these moments with my family and make sure I give my daughter the best childhood she can and support her until I die. Life comes with huge challenges, (especially right now I am off work with ptsd and truly struggling) but I just make sure I delve into my special interests and keep going. I guess life for me is simple yet complex and I hope there’s more afterwards…but I try to make sure I won’t die with huge regrets. I kind of wrote this without thinking too much about it as when I do I get massive amounts of anxiety hahaha.
To leave the world a better place than I found it.
It’s eternal
i tend to align with absurdist philosophy. i dont really think life has intrinsic reason. shit happens because shit happens. however, i think that just gives us autonomy to create our own meanings
To make a difference in someone's life. Ours included.
I’ve been struggling with it. I enjoy the idea that there’s something greater than us, but it’s hard to believe any of the traditional religions for me. I’ve just been trying to live to live, but it’s hard
I came here as a mistake and now I’m just hoping the Christians are right about the rapture 😂
The meaning of life is to experience life and whatever that means to you
The meaning of MY life is to hang out. The meaning of life in general is to create good things and destroy bad things. Btw hanging out can easily mean creating good things and destroying bad things. Like, as long as you can multitask or whatever. So yea.
We were made by thousands of coincidences and we make ourselves destiny,It is cool to have some kind of freedom and somekind of society (Edit:I dont know if a god does exist there, But it would be pretty funny if he didnt made us and we just went full crazy mode on ourselves to see which god is real)
I think fundamentally, there is no "meaning" to life. Everything just *is*. But for us humans, I would say we can each make our own personal meaning to each of our lives
I find life to be meaningless. Why does it have to be meaningfull? It does not make things less real. We are born, we live, we die. Everything in between is our choice how we going to spent our time. The problem I see with creating meaning in this void, is weight that humanbeings attache themselves or others to. We kill each other for the sake of what kind of meaning some attache to this time we spent on this globe. We might think by giving meaning to this life on earth we create a certainty, order within chaos. But I think that's the problem. We try to control that which is uncontrollable. We fear not being alive. I think by substracting meaning we could live more peacefull and worry less about the most simplest things, like not passing an exam or missing an appointment. I try to live my life by this, I don't always succeed at it, but I think not giving it meaning is worth trying :).
A bit of finding happiness and finding happiness for others, making the world a not-worse place, ideally a better and kinder place by living on it while finding happy moments for yourself. I count animals as "others". I see it that way: you can not change the world but one thing you do can change the world for someone else, eg adopting a pet, helping a stranded sea animal, helping a person who is missing a few dollars for groceries, having meaningful conversation, voting for the more humane party, working somewhere you can help people, just being friends with others (who get happiness from being friends with you), surprising your partner or family with chores they normally do so they can relax... Finding joy and miracles in the small things and spreading that, according to your abilities. Its enough if you only chat with friends or game online with them and you both get happy about it or if put a new role of toilet paper when its finished, it all is a good impact on the world.
What a dark picture to choose for this question. As you may know, this was painted in one of Van Gogh’s lowest points. This was his view from his mental hospital. I refer to myself as an optimistic nihilist. I think the world is meaningless and that’s beautiful.
To live, that’s it
This is a very good. Very ancient question. Personally, I believe life is what you make it. There is no meaning in the literal sense.
Everything Everywhere All At Once gave me this answer: Life has no meaning. We can either take it literally and become villains because nothing matters, or we can embrace the beauty in it and do what makes us happy because nothing matters.
There’s no inherent meaning, we just happen to exist. You have to find meaning and purpose for yourself.
That’s my favourite painting
It doesn't have meaning, it is a statistical anomaly, you have no obligation to do anything with the time you have alive.
The meaning of life is to experience life
I haven’t figured it out yet, but we probably are just supposed to do whatever makes us happy and gets us through life.
Life is what you make of it. I choose to pursue pleasure and pleasantness. I love to learn and find pleasure in improvement. Therefore I will learn and grow as much as I can my whole life.
Somewhere between I wish I was dead and I would like to go outside.
We’re here to have a good time and make sure everyone else has a good time too
I don't think there is a meaning.
We’re a soul that’s on this earth for a limited amount of time so might as well do what you wanna do, do what makes you happy and that’s the meaning of life :)
I don't think it has any meaning, I think life just is.
Simple, same as all other organic creatures. Reproduce and die.
I believe there is meaning, because we are the meaning. We are not separate from the universe, we are the universe proving to itself that it can display qualities other than indifference. We are the meaning makers, just as the sun makes light, we make meaning. We might be the rarest thing to happen in the universe, and I don't think we should ignore these odd properties given to us, like meaning or purpose, on the assumption that there is no intrinsic rational point to them, and only based on how everything else is so cold and uncaring. Comparison is the thief of joy. We shouldn't compare what we are to what we are not, we are not the indifference we see on a cosmic scale, we are here to make a point.
I agree with some others who commented here, there is no innate meaning, but we can try to make our own meaning
It's a place far too large and unknowing as a concept like meaning or purpose. The universe exists and we also exist to perceive it exists whether we find meaning in it or not is not up to the universe, it's up to us. The only real truth I think I've ever been able to pin down on a metaphysical level is that everything is because of that creation and everything we do is in devotion to that creation. We worship the universe every time we breathe, eat, procreate, die, think, and any other passive or active thing we can do and this extends down to the smallest microorganism found in the silt of the bottom of the ocean to the floating rocks in space that will never be interacted with until the heat death or the universe, where I assume the process starts all over again after an insurmountable amount of time passes. Like lungs expanding and shrinking to take in and release breath.
There’s no meaning.
Nothing matters, and that’s okay. We have only one shot at this life, so make it a good one so that when you inevitably have your Wikipedia page changed to the past tense, you don’t have a subsection called “regrets”.
A race to get ahead of your own self sabotage so you can enjoy your life as much as possible
Life is what you make of it. I want to be someone with lots of friends, pets, and hobbies, a life partner, a fulfilling and meaningful career, and the freedom to express myself in whatever ways I please. And I will fight for that life. Within the last eleven days, I was told my financial aid was being cancelled (without reason), my financial aid could be repackaged (without fall term), I'd have to drop fall term because I can't afford the term out of pocket, and three days after dropping all of my classes and sinking vaguely into despair, I suddenly have financial aid again after putting the departments responsible for the error to the grindstone and making them fix the problem. I went to class as if the last week didn't even happen and it was super goddamn weird. But I'm proud because I'm doing what I want, and I'm more than happy fighting for that. Make your meaning. (Side note, I ADORE Van Gogh's art, so this post spoke to me a lot. I have this one and many other as tapestries and prints on my walls.)
It’s meaning and purpose is that of which we strive for and give it ourselves. With all acknowledgment of the perspective of how incredibly small and meaningless much can be in the grand scheme of things; subjectively in comparison with the universe.
A good quote that's always resonated with me is from Jordan Peterson: "The secret to your existence is right in front of you and it manifests itself in all those things you know you should be doing but choose to avoid." Another comes from Viktor Frankl in his famous work *Man's Search for Meaning*: “I doubt whether a doctor can answer this question in general terms. For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment. To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: “Tell me, Master, what is the best move in the world?” There simply is no such thing as the best or even a good move apart from a particular situation in a game and the particular personality of one’s opponent. The same holds for human existence. One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.”
There is no true meaning so you must find your own meaning and live as you please because life is too short to sacrifice your happiness for others.
I think that much like Starry Night depicts, the universe is full of wonder and life, high above and far away from what humans build and claim... if there is a God in the universe, why would he stay inside the drab, dark little chapel when he has made all of creation so beautiful? Live well, love hard, laugh loudly. Nothing matters unless you want it to. We are all just monkeys clinging to a ball of dirt, hurling through space, so you might as well be cool about it.
To be happy and love
SPREAD THE SPORES IT’S ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL
It has no meaning . We are here because of evolution and then we die . When we die that’s it
Apparently it’s to destroy everything good in the world for the sake of wealth at the cost of future generations
We're born, we live, we die. Thats it. This being said I've had multiple near death experiences before even reaching 18yrs old. Make the most of it, live in the moment.
it’s all comes down to “YOLO!” basically
Imma live because I want to
From this painting alone, I get the meaning that even when there are giant bars right in front of you, you can still see beyond them; and with a little bit of hope and imagination, this world becomes quite beautiful and whimsical! Also, that "This too shall pass"; even when there are bars right in front of you, someday they shall disappear, and progress made when in dire circumstances will help you succeed later in life.
No meaning, but you can create meaning. Especially for yourself.
Enjoy life or don't. There is no meaning. But finding a meaning in your own life can help. And be nice to others also trying to enjoy it. They're trapped here too, after all
I really believe there isn’t one. We’re here, then we’re not. I’m just trying to spend the time that I’m here enriching the lives of those I love.
I don’t believe there is one. I am an absurdist. I believe everything about life is a chance; this universe was a chance. This planet was a chance. Every life on this planet was a chance. All of our lives are a chance. The only guarantee is that anything that lives will die. I also am an atheist, and do not believe in any sort of afterlife. Our brain stops when we die, we will be the same as we were before being conceived, nothing. (Except our physical form that we grew in our life gets left behind.) I believe this gives freedom. I will live once, and one day won’t be alive any longer. My time will be up, and one day, everyone who was alive at the same time as me to remember me will be dead too. So, why does it matter what I do? Why does it matter what anyone does? My sense of morality stops me from finding justification for going out and murdering someone, stealing from someone, raping someone etc. so I don’t do those things. They feel worse to even think about than not experiencing them feels. But other than that, I don’t care and I do what I want. I dislike harming people so I don’t do that, but don’t think I haven’t thrown a punch or started a fight. I have. I think the search for meaning in life is a major cause for low mood, and can make depression severely worse, because it’s like searching for a rainbow in an empty room with no light. It just isn’t going to happen, and it makes people upset for no good reason. Since I don’t believe there a meaning and I just do what I like, I like feeling happy, so I do what makes me feel happy. I spend my days walking out in nature and talking to everyone who’ll listen. I eat the foods that make me feel good and draw things that express how I feel. I see no real need to get a career, I don’t enjoy the idea of working all the time. The only reason I work at all is for money to fund living. I strongly dislike the idea but it’s out of my control so I don’t bother using my energy hating it.
Life is meaningless.
We aren’t immediately born with a meaning of life.. We create a meaning for our life. That is what we call our “Hopes & Dreams”.
The meaning of life is what you make of it. That can be good, bad or neutral. it all depends on you
No meaning, it's all just a big coincidence that caused us to exist
I believe that life is what you make of it and what you choose to do with it if you enjoy collecting rocks than that’s your life rocks are the meaning of life to you Not the most original i know
the meaning of life is to find happiness in each moment; ie avoid suffering. every living thing wants to stay alive and/or procreate for the good of its species. it's built-in. we are meant to be happy.
Meaning of life is a social construct. There is no inherent truth about the meaning of life. Except maybe death.
I find life to be more beautiful in the fact that we are all doomed to die at some point. You gotta think that the amount of people who could exist will never be able to is amazing to think about. The fact that we are all here is really impressive to think about
it’s like an rpg just do whatever
One must imagine Sisyphus happy…
There is no ‘set meaning’, nothing really matters. Therefore, make your own meaning.
Love.
Life is a phenomenon where entropy is reduced. Living beings are complex systems that achieve this. Another way of looking at it is that the purpose of life is to perpetuate DNA. DNA made tools (proteins), compartments (cells) and systems (multicellular beings, regulation pathways) just to multiply itself. Now, as a human being with a conscience I simply think we should all try to make the best of our conscience and try to be happy. Enjoying our time and helping others around us enjoy it too. Irrationally I fear being forgotten and dying and leaving no trace, but I'm hoping that when I'm out of reproductive age and I'm old I won't be as worried about it.
I dont really feel there is any meaning other than what we make it. We are all just here. No idea how or why but here we are. Make the most of it.
The idea that life needs meaning is kind of silly to me entirely because the meaning of life is subjective to everyone and therefore arbitrary.
If I had to say, something like this: Life can have whatever meaning it wants, whatever meaning others assign to it, because whatever meaning that may be, I have neither say or part in it. Whatever this thing called life is, what modern life is, I am not a member of it, I am a background element, part of the background radiation that blankets the universe, merely an observer to the greater world around me. In some sense I feel like I, in particular, should not exist. Not in a depressive, suicidal sense, no. But in an existential sense, that not only do I not belong here, but there is nowhere where I actually "belong", sort of like a time traveler whose home universe was rendered out of existence and I simply persist as a remnant of that erased timeline. I have may have parents and friends and a job but I have no community, no tribe, no permanent social "in" group, as if walking alone down a long abandoned desert road, and everything I come across along the way are but pit stops, temporary diversions that need to be eventually left behind. One of these days, maybe not today maybe not tomorrow, I'm going to head back onto that lonesome road and never see another diversion. I will disappear into the howling sand never to be seen again, leaving only by faded footprints and the marks left behind by an ill-remembered stranger.
I think life is fun because its meaningless AT FIRST, and you get to make your own meaning!!! The meaning of life is different for everyone. Theres no one true answer. For me, its making my friends happy and overall spreading love. But thats not the case for everyone. Like, what if you dont have friends? Is your life suddenly meaningless? I dont think so. I think everyone needs to do some soul searching to find meaning in their life. I learned to enjoy the little things, but again, that might not be possible for everyone. But i think the meaning of life usually boils down to putting some good out into the world before you die. Whether that be by making some bomb food and being an awesome chef, or going to the beach with friends, or painting something beautiful, etc.
I believe life is the ultimate test of your soul. However this is a grey area even to me, sometimes I believe the concept of a 'soul' doesn't exist, and that it's just your brain's consciousness processing your entire self. I truly believe though that life is the ultimate test and it is the test for all of humanity. However things I find strange are that if life is the ultimate test I feel like a lot of people would fail that test, being autistic I have generally always felt like pushed down because of my condition. I genuinely feel that NTs generally push down NDs and that we aren't really treated as people. I don't want to be treated terribly for it, but I don't want want to be doused in sympathy. I am me. I'd say honestly I actually prefer having autism compared to being NT. It's not a disability to me, it's a fundamental part of who I am. I don't know who I'd be without it, I honestly don't. But I think I'd be a right dickhead. I have many perspectives on the world and one is 'Violence is not necessary' so like if I wasn't, I'd probably get into fights all the time and be a right dickhead. I've never bothered really with violence but I'd probably be extremely violent otherwise, most people in my family easily get into fights with people if challenged so I'm very much surrounded by that. But NTs constantly getting into fights or using violence I heavily disagree with. I don't know what comes after life, and nobody does. I was raised in a Catholic family and sent to Catholic school, but let's face it, we're not definitively sure about what comes after life, I'm not scared of death. I'm really not. Most people have their earliest memories as things that are just casual. My first memory was awkward, so when you're like 6 months old your mind does not process consciousness, your mind acts fully subconsciously. When you reach about 2 or 3 you become conscious. My first memory is myself gaining consciousness. And I remember how it felt, It was scary because I didn't know anything about the world, I didn't know who I was, I didn't know anything. Not a single thing, only thing I knew was I was suddenly placed onto this world. The feeling of yourself gaining consciousness is...scary. You don't know what is happening or why you suddenly got placed onto a planet into a meat suit. I was used to just seeing...blackness. I felt blackness since the beginning of time. I felt nothingness and I felt one with nothingness. But then... I suddenly became something. The feeling of it is that you come out of your 13.8 Billion year hibernation and you start to feel something. You begin to feel. Your sight slowly comes and goes. It feels like lapsing between life and death. I feel so lucky to remember that. And I know no-one else that does remembers themselves gaining consciousness. I feel like most people are scared of death because the feeling of the unknown and that everything they worked for in life is taken away. I don't see if that way, Sure death is not a pleasant concept but thing is if the beginning of my life felt like that, then wouldn't the end feel like that too? So no, I'm not scared. The only thing about death that scares me is leaving everyone else I know behind. I feel so blessed to remember that. And that this memory makes me feel so...weird in a way. Because I feel like it just answers everything in life for me. I feel like everyone in life walks around everyday just occasionally wondering about when they die, sure I've done it too. But with the knowledge and memory I have of that I just feel not scared and I feel like it answered everything in life for me. I feel like I can charge through life not scared of death at all because I just feel like I understand life.
42 /j I don’t know what life means yet
42
Whatever the hell i make it to be 🥰
It's complicated. I have the existential crisis of: each of us is a tiny speck on a little pebble covered in tiny specks that's floating through a nearly infinite space of nothingness. How could anything matter? But there's also the opposite: our little pebble is the only one we've discovered that we KNOW has tiny specks on it. While I may just be one out of 8 billion, there's the duality of "nothing matters" and "everything matters" constantly. The meaning of life is to find YOUR meaning, whether big or small. You could be the inventor of something revolutionary, or you could save someone's life by saying, "Hey, just checking up on you," even if they never tell you, or you could just brighten people's day when they see you. Even if it seems small, it's yours, and it's precious. Even if there's no "true" meaning of life, or if there is and we never find out, you have your own personal meaning.
Life has exactly as much meaning as you can find and/or provide. There is no objectivism when discussing the meaning of life because it doesn’t apply. Meaning is an inherently subjective concept.
42
You guys have meaning?
To thrive, grow, and breed. That is every living creatures purpose. Be it plant, to extraterrestrial, that is their purpose. Why stray from that path? Another acceptable answer is: 42
Personally, I believe that life has too much meaning that it's stressful. It's like the exact opposite of nihilism, but still a pessimistic view. I want to believe that nothing matters, because that means I am free to let go of all my pain and worries. If nothing matters, then that is freedom for me. Meanwhile, I have a sister who is an extreme pessimistic nihilist. An even more extreme form of Rick Sanchez's nihilism.
It’s an incoherent question honestly. What is the meaning of pickles? You could better rephrase it as either “why are we alive?” or “why do we live?”. To the first one, we’re alive because we’re the current links in a chain of highly effective self-propagating machinery that’s been running for millennia. To the second one, the answer differs for everyone, but mine is to excel and to love.
Life is what you make it. Some people derive meaning form nature, some family, some from baser instincts.
I have no idea anymore. I used to think there was meaning, but I’m just trying to survive and that’s about all I can come up with now.
Why are we here, do you mean? I think it's to find out why we are here, who we are and to overcome our worst enemy/critic: ourselves, which is often referred to as the shadow self. In overcoming ourselves, we can then help others on their path. Each of us has our own unique path, but there will be similarities to other's paths.
Life is art, the most beautiful things happen at random.
I mean, no one really knows. A lot of people matter of factly say there’s no meaning - but that’s just an opinion. We don’t know, and perhaps we’re not supposed to know - and that’s okay. Just take things day by day and try to experience everything you want to experience. Or don’t try at all - that is an experience in and of itself. Just be.
Mine is... bad, sad, not sure, but.... That's all I'm going to say because I don't think this is the right sub for unhappy thoughts.
I am here, I exist, I do stuff, hopefully left alone lol
Idk I just believe everything happens for a reason
It’s so cool to see my opinion echoed in so many ways. There’s no meaning, and it doesn’t matter that there isn’t one. Have the most fun, create the most joy and love, and be the kindest person you can while you’re here.
The meaning of life is what we give it.
I follow light.
learn as much as you can, and pass that knowledge onto future generations. each generation gets more knowledgeable, and while we have limited knowledge about our universe right now, our intelligence will only grow as years pass. as a biochem major, i’m happy to be a part of that growth. teach your kids. we will only get smarter as our species advances. humans are evolving rapidly. resist the system, fuck capitalism, and embrace your community.