What is the purpose of life?

[Cosmic Nordic Supremacy]

Please, answer the big why to your best ability. Go head and post your best (or worst) thoughts. :)

[NordicPower]

A few thoughts...

We are here to learn, grow, and progress. The underlying reason for this is because as children of God, it is expected that we should one day grow up and become Gods ourselves. So earth is something of a school or training session. Creativity of all sorts - quite unique to humans - is god practice. If I'm writing or painting, I am creating a universe, a microcosm. As above, so below.

[Magister Eckhart]

"This is our purpose: to make as meaningful as possible this life that has been bestowed upon us; to live in such a way that we may be proud of ourselves; to act in such a way that some part of us lives on."
-Anon.

[Talvi]

To serve the Earth. :D
I think that the Earth is a big organism and everything on is it some sort of a process to "serve" the Earth.

So peoples lives dont really matter the way we wish they did, but somehow humans got fucked up and feel the need to have a meaningful life from and individuals point of view. So in order to be in peace with oneself people start looking for a meaning for their lives, though probably there isnt one.

[Libertas]

The purpose of life is whatever purpose you decide to give it.

Religion is a crutch if you require it. Nothing more.

If you think Mother Nature is benevolent or other than neutral just remember the floods in Brazil or Australia or assorted earthquakes and tsunamis around the world which slay thousands upon thousands.

We owe the Earth nothing. We don't ask for birth or death.

Nature does not care for us and would swat us like flies.

[Talvi]

The purpose of life is whatever purpose you decide to give it.

Religion is a crutch if you require it. Nothing more.

If you think Mother Nature is benevolent or other than neutral just remember the floods in Brazil or Australia or assorted earthquakes and tsunamis around the world which slay thousands upon thousands.

We owe the Earth nothing. We don't ask for birth or death.

Nature does not care for us and would swat us like flies.

Cant say that the human is benevolent or neutral towards anything at all.
What has killed more people anyway? Natural disasters or human activity?

If anything I think nature is trying to eliminate the most unnatural thing on this planet... which was probably an accident anyway.

[Tolleson]

Eat, drink, screw. Why complicate things? :D

[M.I.A.]

To do whatever makes you happy.

[Óttar]

To slaughter your enemies, spread your genes, and make you and your allies fat with the spoils of war.

No?

[Lithium]

If some day I understood it, I will tell you :D

[Murphy]

To glorify and serve God.

[Magister Eckhart]

To glorify and serve God.

I think that requires some elaboration, or do you suggest we all go into the cloisters? :p

[Psychonaut]

V30tyaXv6EI

[Baron Samedi]

V30tyaXv6EI

Was wondering who was going to post this. :D

I'm not surprised it was you, Psy.... Hahaha.

For me, especially now that I'm being skeptical about the concept of "external" deity and all..... Life is about making the most of this consciousness that you have been "given".

If you love to paint, then make it your life's work..... Focus on little else but your bliss.

[Bloodeagle]

To evolve away from this material plane, one generation at a time.

[Psychonaut]

I cannot speak for all, but I can speak for myself. My purpose in life is the accomplishment of the Great Work (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Work), which is the summum bonum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summum_bonum). As with all things in my understanding, this goal is itself constantly in process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_philosophy). However, I have come to a point that I feel confident in putting forth a generalized scheme by which I intend to accomplish this. To understand the diagram a few definitions may be necessary. The Great Work, as I see it, wisdom (-osophy) of reality (onto-). Since the universe presents itself to each subject as a dyadic system between the self (auto-) and the rest of the world (cosmo-), I take a two fold approach. Furthermore, I have found that with any subject there are two modes from which it can be approached: an internal, experiential mode (-nautics) and an external, analytical mode (-ology). It is, I think, at the intersection of these two epistemological modalities that wisdom is found. Neither is in itself complete without the other, and neither can alone lead to the goal. So, that being said, my system looks a bit like this:

http://www.theapricity.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6824&stc=1&d=1295385561

[Magister Eckhart]

Alright now this has become a serious thread, so I suppose I have to rejoin seriously.

The purpose of life is the elimination of spiritual ignorance with the ultimate end of abandoning all that is base and animal for the realization of the Divine in the self. We are divine in our core, rational and imbued with the power of Gods, to reach this divinity is the highest accomplishment of living in this world.

[Loddfafner]

To glorify and serve God.

To serve cake.

[Magister Eckhart]

To serve cake.

The cake is a lie.

[Adalwolf]

To do whatever makes you happy.

I'm pretty sure that if more people had this attitude, we would be living in societies full of psychopathic maniacs.

[Black Sun Dimension]

What is the purpose of life?

Create more life.

[Grumpy Cat]

http://www.usernetsite.com/humor/how-evolution-happens/eat-survive-reproduce.jpg

[CyrustheVirus]

Colonizing other planets and spreading to the farthest stars would be nice.

[askra]

if i knew the answer, i would be a billionaire now!

[ironman]

I am composed of the formal and the material; and neither of them will perish into non-existence, as neither of them came into existence out of non-existence. Every part of me then will be reduced by change into some part of the universe, and that again will change into another part of the universe, and so on for ever. And by consequence of such a change I too exist, and those who begot me, and so on for ever in the other direction. For nothing hinders us from saying so, even if the universe is administered according to definite periods of revolution.

Marcus Aurelius meditations

Book 5. 13.

[Oreka Bailoak]

^Reading your quote reminded me of one of my favorites.

"Observe how all things are continually being born of change; teach yourself to see that nature's highest happiness lies in changing the things that are and forming new things after their kind."
-Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius - Meditations

So I think the purpose in life is to have a family, kids, and to make the world a better place during your lifetime.

[Stygian Cellarius]

I thunk on this once.

What can Life-matter do that non-Life-matter cannot? It can DO things!

That is the fundamental difference. The infinitive? "To do". So that is a good starting point. If there is a purpose, it is to DO some-THING!

One interesting attribute of Bio-matter is that it has anti-entropic tendencies. Although eventually, Life-matter will succumb to the inevitability of entropy. NOTHING can circumvent entropy. Except one thing.

IMO the most unique feature of Life is that it is the only medium in the universe that can transfer information through time completely isolated from the effects of entropy. All other information mediums will eventually scatter their information content throughout the universe when they themselves fall under the yoke of entropy.

Not Life-matter.

Now of course I am talking about the information contained in our genomes. Genetic information is the only information | no | the only THING in the universe that is not affected by entropy!

But what for? And for whom? I don't know. All I know is that information is to be sent into the future to some future intelligence that will understand its meaning. Humans in particular are the "chosen" hosts because we are the only Life-matter that has evolved conscious-thought. What does conscious thought have to do with all this you say? Conscious thought is the ONLY means of genome preservation beyond the natural life-cycle of a star system. It's the only means of circumventing the death of a Star by leaving the planet of origin. Remember, "all" things succumb to entropy.

Life preserves information against entropy in general.
Conscious thought preserves information against entropy in respect to its effects on the planet of habitation.

So now we know the purpose of Life and of Conscious Thought! :D

But the genome gets scrambled every generation and it mutates. What possible information could be preserved?

I'm not sure, I believe that some of it remains intact. Whatever DNA we share with our most distant ancestor―that's where we wanna look!

K, that's my theory. Although, I don't believe a word of it. I just thought it was neato. :lol:

[Agrippa]

Create and preserve life - especially that of genetically related variants and lifeforms.

To achieve a higher niveau and grade of adaptiveness beside other things for humans, the social and cultural species, for its survival on a high level.

For humans, the goal should be progress, from one generation to the next, so their chance for survival being increased, as well as their understanding of the world in which our species was thrown. That's my opinion.

[Sabinae]

On a global level, Agrippa's "create and preserve life" is the actual essence, along with progress and deeply knowing the world we live in.

On a personal level... I cant answer it, im still struggling :)

[Baron Samedi]

Gettin dat bomb-ass pussy!

[Aces High]

Well not exactly being gods...but Englishmen which is the next best thing,our mission on earth is to educate the lesser peoples in the ways of civilisation,fair play and how to behave like gentlemen and to know and respect our queen and heirs.
If we earn a bauble here and a bangle there for our endevours then so be it,i think it a fair return for bringing people out of the stone ages.

Thats an Englishmans purpose in life.

[BeerBaron]

Purpose? why does there have to even be one? well i think humans should advance as far as possible, and use technology to kick us along the evolutionary ladder at a faster pace.

biologically speaking our purpose is to reproduce, just like every other living thing on this planet, thats really about it no god necessary (or wanted)

[Breedingvariety]

Life has no purpose. Life is the context in which all purposes exist.

"What is the meaning of life?" is better question. But to answer that, first the question "what is life?" needs to be answered.

if i knew the answer, i would be a billionaire now!
You just answered- to be a billionaire.

[Logan]

42

[Cato]

Reverence God and the gods, and help men. Short is life.

Marcus Aurelius.

[Blossom]

ATM I'm an epicurean.

[Laudanum]

We'll probably never know.

[Cato]

ATM I'm an epicurean.

Stoicism is better; Epicures only believe in sensation and materialism. ;)

[Blossom]

Stoicism is better; Epicures only believe in sensation and materialism. ;)

True, but it was just as I felt at that right moment. My thoughts about life may change a lot during a day depending on the day ofc. But yes, I should look for a more permanent one..but I guess I'll just wait things to happen, things that actually bother me so in few months I may be able to decide at least for some time my position. Though I recognize be somehow in the middle road between epicureism and stoicism. A golden mean.

[Cato]

Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.

Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man - yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned to thee, live rationally, and part with life cheerfully, as drops the ripe olive, extolling the season that bore it and the tree that matured it.

Very little is needed to make a happy life.

Etc.

[Blossom]

Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.

Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man - yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned to thee, live rationally, and part with life cheerfully, as drops the ripe olive, extolling the season that bore it and the tree that matured it.

Very little is needed to make a happy life.

Etc.

Reminds me of...Heraclitus (though its Marcus Aurelius). Dinamism...I wonder if there's a connection. Sorry for my philosophy gap, I should read more but no time..

[Cato]

Reminds me of...Heraclitus. Dinamism...

That's more of Marcus Aurelius, who was a Stoic. The Stoics were very well aware of Heraclitus: To God all things are beautiful, good, and right; human beings, on the other hand, deem some things right and others wrong.

[Blossom]

That's more of Marcus Aurelius, who was a Stoic. The Stoics were very well aware of Heraclitus: To God all things are beautiful, good, and right; human beings, on the other hand, deem some things right and others wrong.

Yes, knew it was Marcus Aurelius, but just said the philosophy of itself, reminded me of Heraclitus' dinamism..:) against Parmenides' impossibility of change and move, for example.

[Cato]

Yes, knew it was Marcus Aurelius, but just said the philosophy of itself, reminded me of Heraclitus' dinamism..:) against Parmenides, for example.

Heraclitus was a great deal like Lao Tzu, who also taught about the harmony of opposite forces. :)

[Star Valley]

Everyone has their own purpose. It can never be defined.

The purpose of life itself is to LIVE. To really LIVE every moment and excel to be the best that you can be plus more. To learn who you are through the journey and appreciate your unique and special gifts, presence, self. The purpose also exceeds our present knowledge. So it is to exceed limitations and voyage beyond what anyone else has done before, it is to die in peace as a soul that has conquered and overcome, with the knowingness of fulfillment and self-awareness.

[Chronos]

My signature. Besides that quote, i'd recommend reading some of the greats of philosophy, and world history. That will give you a great start to forming your own philosophy of life. This endeavour will take years though, so as Augustus would say, "hasten slowly".

[TheBorrebyViking]

To go coon bashin'? I think it is.

Y8exKN4pJw

I've done my share of gassing jews,
I wanna go someplace where I can lynch some spooks,
I'll shoot any nigger that I can find,
It's the only thing I know that gives me peace of mind

[Lady L]

It's simple; The purpose of life is to live your life to the fullest to find out your purpose. Always go for it, never back down, and just be you while doing all these things. Follow your heart, make your best movements with the cards you are dealt. So, to sum it up the purpose is to find the purpose ;):D

P.S. and like TheBorrebyViking said ..to go a coon bashing ..;)

[ficuscarica]

Love God with all that you are and your neighbour as yourself.

[Kalitas]

REPRODUCTION!!:D

http://www.theapricity.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=479&pictureid=3849

[Solin]

The purpose of life is to wonder what is the purpose of life:D

[GeistFaust]

What else is the purpose of life then to wonder and ask such broad and fundamental questions such as what is the purpose of life. :p I think that in large part, that is a natural sense, the purpose of life seems to converge on the reproduction of different species. At the same time we should not forget that just as life is concerns the reproduction/birth of new things based on the models of older archetypes it is also concerned with death.


It could be said that life is split into this fluid dichotomy between life and death which is vibrant, dynamic, and full of potential. This dichotomy is not something we can analyze through the abstraction of thought or the idealization of self through action. It is not something which can be received by our senses or sensibilities concerning the empirical world.


It is something which floats and suspends itself in the imagination seeming morphing its shape into so many different forms. It seems to be lost within itself, but it can't help escape being materialized or anthropologized to some extent. I think it is this morphing through self and non-self, which is the most intrquing and mysterious thing about life.


Its a point or "propositional thought" which one can not fix to a certain point, but instead its the point from which all thoughts and ideas depart. Its the point from which all other points, questions, and answers concerning the empirical nature of life rise and they all depart from this central point only to return to it. In this sense you can say the purpose of life is quite general and broad, which means it can only be seen in a cyclical manner.


That is life is the cycle of giving and taking back by "constructing" upon itself new forms and variations of life, and improving and advancing upon the "model" of these forms and variations. This model is determined by certain special mechanism and operations in nature, which I think Schoepenhauer sums up well in the Will to Live.


All consciousness and being is being driven to a final point within a cyclical process. I don't know if their is meaning to be found in it or if this meaning is something merely subjective whether it be determined by empirical observation or the imaginations action and mediation between and through the thoughts and actions of our everyday life.


Our senses give us the material upon which we think and act, but that which we process is something which we all process in context of the I. That is all other forms of consciousness and empirical beings in life are filtered and processed from the unique stand point and perspective of the I. It is the I, which is shaped by this self-consciousness, only in the sense that this self-consciousness is regulated by the will to live that is possessed within the I.

I think the will to live in the I takes its form in bio-chemical, neurological, and the brain's reaction to its own internal environment. An internal environment which is influenced in great by the external environment, which surrounds the body, and which in turns affects and influences the way we think and act in accordance with this internal environment.

Life is too dynamic and vibrant to fix a point of meaning to it, and there are too many varying modes of "opinion" and "desire" in order to make a true and objective statement about the meaning of life. This makes life appear meaningless, as if a void illusion, which manifests itself quite fallaciously as some great manifestation in the all encompassing presence of phenomenon and empirical matter.


All is nothing under this phenomenon and empirical matter, but yet it is being driven by a source or catalyst of life which predetermines and pre-dates it. I think a fundamental question and problem arises from the presence of phenomenon as we sense it. This question concerns us not in a mere abstract manner, but in a manner which involves our actions.


That is to say this is not a question that should or can be pondered in merely a philosophical or theoretical manner, but something which is pondered upon in the actions of the ordinary man. Its something which shapes his thoughts, actions, and imagination, which all in a sense reflect his sense of self in a given environment and natural situation.


This sense of self projects itself to the environment and natural situation of a man, but man can not find himself in the nothingness of the illusion which is life without filtering this broad sweeping format through his own consciousness. His consciousness in the sense I just spoke of it is the self-consciousness, which regulates and mediates thoughtful abstraction and concrete action.


That said, even though all draws itself back into the source of its being in an anthropologized manner, there is a certain creativity and imagination which can produced through abstraction and action upon the forms of the empirical world. That is a more abstract, metaphysical, and ontological format can be uncovered through this "dual" process of abstraction and action which distills itself in the structures which point us to this fundamental question of questions of what is the purpose and meaning of life.


That said in the end this abstract, metaphysical, and ontological format can only take on meaning when it relates directly to the empirical world through the senses, thoughtful abstraction, or empirical forms as they present themselves in the imagination. The purpose of life is merely something which arises from sensibility and wonder concerning the nature of life, which is quite broad and general.


That said the fundamental difference in things and in self allows us to more fully contemplate and penetrate the mystery of this broadness and general feeling, which can be expanded, but only in relation to the causal and dynamic forces within space-time in correspondence to the potentiality or capacity of a being or thing.


The uniqueness of the purpose of life lies in the I, and the Is ability to differentiate self from environment and the empirical. In the process of this differentiation that the I should differentiate the multiple phenomenon from self, and categorize the fixed states of beings of nature.


It is this uniqueness of the I, which allows for a more ontological and metaphysical perspective to be drawn around our sense experience of life, and life in general as it remains in a state we can merely acknowledge it to be in.

All centers around the I, but the I is not the source of this center point which it takes, but merely departs and is departing back to the source from which all things revolve in an rather asymmetrical manner. This has all been said in a rather broad sense, but it gives specificity and uniqueness to such a broad and fundamental question, which has been asked as the one above. If I were to get more specific than the question about the purpose of life would be too simple, and that it is about reproduction.

[Feral]

42. :P

[Phil75231]

If there is a purpose, it's Suffering Alleviation and Suffering Prevention. While finding happiness does have its place, some definitions of "happy" cause suffering for others. The same logic applies to the fact that while we do have a duty to help the poor and needy, we have no duty to provide them with a middle class lifestyle (or even upper working class one).

[TiberSeptim]

Life has no purpose. A fact. ;)

[Olaska]

to enjoy it!!

[Europa]

to enjoy it!!

Yes,exactly!And not to waste it spending so much efforts and time to write/copy paste ten pages of philosophical thoughts about it's purpose like five posts above...

[Ville]

Grasping true uniqueness of life is a gift granted to few rather than many.

And, only some of these few can transform their existential angst into the sense of burning purpose; perhaps nature limits this privilege because the gifted inevitably get too close to what other “normal” mortals consider madness.

[GeistFaust]

Yes,exactly!And not to waste it spending so much efforts and time to write/copy paste ten pages of philosophical thoughts about it's purpose like five posts above...



I did not copy and paste that by the way, and enjoying life is overrated, because there is little to enjoy about it.

You wake up, go to work, and eat then that is it. If you enjoy yourself too much you are bound to cause yourself pain and confusion.

[Furnace]

the purpose of life is to procreate then die :ranger:

[GeistFaust]

If there is a purpose, it's Suffering Alleviation and Suffering Prevention. While finding happiness does have its place, some definitions of "happy" cause suffering for others. The same logic applies to the fact that while we do have a duty to help the poor and needy, we have no duty to provide them with a middle class lifestyle (or even upper working class one).



Suffering alleviation and prevention is important, but we will construct temporary forms of relief at times for certain matters. Life is a wasteland more or less, and mankind is the twisted branch that can never be made straight. I think happiness is clearly a subjective thing, which is based on the bio-chemical effects certain behaviors or actions have on the brain.


All life is determined by the mechanism of pleasure desires or urges. The overarching necessity of pleasure in life derives it from infancy, when we come dependent on the other self for survival. Pleasure is synonomous for survival, and gives us the energy to survive, while suffering tends to negate this will to survive within us.


That said overcoming the inner tensions and suffering of life has the potential one in the context of surviving life. That is what which threatens to kill us could be an energy source from which we reach higher levels of consciousness and ways of living life. That said I think life is a train wreck from which only the strong and forceful can arise from as legendary heroes.


Its all too random and crazy to fix an appropriate understanding as to what is going to happen next, so being strong and conscious of the various possibilities does not necessarily guarantee survival. Its just increases the probability of such an event occuring, but in retrospect life is a convergence of forces ascending within a natural hierarchy to ever greater heights within in nature.


That is they ascend in order to survive, reproduce, and then die. All the rest is extra stuff, which hinges on a person's capacity/potentiality and there willingness to abstract and apply that capacity/potentiality to their actions in life. All that appears necessary to us is just an illusion more or less, and takes on the form of passion and desire.


These passions and desires are determined by the basic mechanisms which operate in our brains and mind in order to survive, reproduce, and prepare for death. They always give us the illusion they can satisfy us fully or that we can reach a conclusive point in life, but in the end it all becomes meaningless and pointless to do such a thing. I suppose this can lead to frustation, but at the same time I suppose that is the blessing of old age and death, since it ends all of that once and for all.

[Mordid]

To m@sturbate so hard... that one day I bend my c#ck in half....

[GeistFaust]

That sounds a little counter-productive and self-deleterious Mordid, but I suppose nature and life can be that way at times.

Its the times when nature is counter-productive and self-deleterious, which makes me thing its a void and meaningless abyss.

I think its during this time that the reality of self-consciousness is uncovered and revealed in all its nakedness.

[European Loyalist]

We have been granted our existence by nature and it is our duty to exist as natures laws dictate. We are tribal/pan-tribal animals and it should be kept/returned to that way. We are rationally interested and driven towards being productive in the names of ourself, our family, and our tribe/pan-tribe and it should be kept/returned to that way. We are intimately connected to nature and our environment, and it should be kept/returned to that way.

I am waiting for the day when the overwhelming weight of the great scientific knowledge that we have discovered about ourselves and our earth will utterly refute and prove the modern liberal conception of civilization as unnatural and harmful and return us to the state in which we were intended to be in by nature.

[2Cool]

Just like every other organism on Earth, it's to procreate and make sure we pass on our genes.

[Teyrn]

Now this is a topic to be thought about.

I think that, in a nutshell, the purpose of life is to discover the purpose of life. Or for each person to find meaning for his or her life outside of and apart from preconceived notions. Life's a journey of discovery about yourself. :)

[larali]

Now this is a topic to be thought about.

I think that, in a nutshell, the purpose of life is to discover the purpose of life. Or for each person to find meaning for his or her life outside of and apart from preconceived notions. Life's a journey of discovery about yourself. :)

That's kind of it for me... if I feel like I've solved my own mysteries, passed on my knowledge to my children and younger generations, and been productive toward the well being of the entire universe, then I can die happy.

[Barreldriver]

I have no logical answer regarding the purpose of life, yet. I stress yet as that is something that I aim to tackle in the future as I strengthen my abilities in the field of logic.

That aside, my own personal perhaps illogical inclining is to reclaim my grandfather's farm in Tennessee and to owe as little in debt as I can to others, that is enough purpose for me to keep me going in life for now. Such a thing of course does not at all satisfy a question as to why I am here, just why I continue to be here.

[Teyrn]

That's kind of it for me... if I feel like I've solved my own mysteries, passed on my knowledge to my children and younger generations, and been productive toward the well being of the entire universe, then I can die happy.

Yes, you used your life's experiences to gain knowledge and wisdom and pass what you know onto your children- and hope that they learn. If you don't have children then pass along what you've learned to others. :)

[larali]

Yes, you used your life's experiences to gain knowledge and wisdom and pass what you know onto your children- and hope that they learn. If you don't have children then pass along what you've learned to others. :)

Or... just drink beer. that works too.

[Drawing-live]

The purpose of life is discovering what a fucking joke plaid on us by nature or some intelligent creature this thing called life is/was.

[SaxonCeorl]

There is no objective "point" to life; just enjoy yourself.

[larali]

There is no objective "point" to life; just enjoy yourself.

well... it would be nice.

[Phil75231]

There is no objective "point" to life; just enjoy yourself.

I don't want to nitpick, but "enjoyment" for some people could be all sorts of hideous things (serial killing, pedophilia, etc). If "enjoying yourself" by itself is the answer, then why not include these things?

It is for this reason that - while it is important to enjoy ourselves, it's more important to at the very least, not add to the misery of this world - and better yet, prevent and/or mitigate suffering, to the extent that you are not exploited.

So while the morally legitimate kinds of enjoyment are clearly necessary, to truly serve our purpose, we have to help out others to at least a reasonable extent - or as said before, do not add to their miseries.

[Cato]

After some reflection I think that I can say that God gives us the chance and potential but what we do with life is entirely up to us and that our life's purpose is largely self-created, limited by one's own capabilities, desires, initiative, and so forth.

[Leadchucker]

To serve cake. Cake or death? (If you know the skit you'll get it.)

[Lithium]

The purpose of life is to find your own path, learn from the past and living in the way you want.