what is the purpose of life?

[file cabinet]

i was chatting with someone about this..
she said the purpose of life for her is to be 'happy' (not necessarily cheerful or anything but to not be miserable.. essentially)..
I personally don't know what the purpose of life is.. I live it everyday but I don't see any substantial reason why every day I get up and 'do my thing' ..
I guess I'll just say for now that I live for myself... I live for myself because that's the only person I want to take care of (for now).. I don't seem to have a reason to live any other way.
what is the purpose of life.. and why

[euterpenc]

To find God or oneself.

[file cabinet]

To find God or oneself.

why?

[Trolsk]

You create purpose in life.

[euterpenc]

I have to. I'm pushed to.

"The greatest priveledge of life is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell

[euterpenc]

You create purpose in life.

That too. Life has no purpose until you give it one.

[file cabinet]

does purpose matter?

[Chukamuk]

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!
-Conan

42...The meaning of life, the universe, and everything
- Douglas Adams

The meaning of life is that it stops.
- Franz Kafka

Take your pick.

[Daniel]

To derive as much satisfaction from it as you can.

[Star]

To pay for all the sins of your past life as an evil dictator.

[ApeTheDog]

What is interesting to me is that everybody always has an answer to that question. It appears to be one of the first questions people who think they're deep and philosophical aim to answer.

It's an interesting question. The answer to it is always stated with a lot of confidence - there is never any doubt that what they are saying is, indeed, the purpose of life - which is strange because it's a question I don't think we can know the answer to.

For me, I think that if we have a purpose, we won't know what it is until we've served it. Chances are great that we have no purpose at all, though. Purposes aren't natural things. A rock has no purpose. It just is. People can give it a purpose. Time has no purpose. It just is. We just are. We try to give ourself a purpose.

Hmm. And in that light, I suppose if we want to give ourself a purpose, much like the purpose of the rock can be to hit a bird with so that we may eat it, or the purpose of time is so that we don't have to be stuck in an infinite loop - then the purpose of life is just so there'd be some other people running around to entertain us.

[purple13]

to conquer/break free of ourselves.

[s0978]

does purpose matter?

Seems to. Nobody seems to ever say "no purpose, period." Seems we need to assign purpose or meaning to life, otherwise we go jump off cliffs and such.

I'm with Hush, I think you make up your own, it's a process of fiction.

My made up purpose in life is to make up purposes and meanings and significances. To signify.

[melancholeric]

To contribute to the survival of the species, whatever it takes.

That's all there is to it.

[Lee]

The purpose of life is fulfilled by the mere virtue that you exist and are capable of asking the question. The purpose is self-fulfilling. Anything further is simply a persons own desires.

[SheepDog]

"one thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean shit."

-Curly

[nBT]

Hmm. And in that light, I suppose if we want to give ourself a purpose, much like the purpose of the rock can be to hit a bird with so that we may eat it, or the purpose of time is so that we don't have to be stuck in an infinite loop - then the purpose of life is just so there'd be some other people running around to entertain us.

humans have consiousness and imagination (ok some humans)
the question why we have this, never applies
next comes: what do you do with it
consiousness creates humans. it creates emotions, morality, thinking, etc.

what is the purpose of giving purpose to life?
are we self-fullfilling?

another thought,heading towards God. if a human gives purpose to a stone, a meaningless thing, is there another person who gives us purpose?

[coffeezombie]

To create new ideas for the benefit of the human population.

[Pierce]

The purpose of life and a reason to live are not the same. Reasons to live seem driven by instinct at a base level and driven by goals at higher levels. Consciousness seems to want to transform the reasons to live into a meaningful purpose. Our purpose changes or evolves (from our point of view) as we go through life. A simple purpose might be to experience pleasure and avoid pain. And then to escape the constraints of parental authority and establish one's own identity. Perhaps to find mate and bear children will emerge as a seeming purpose. And then to provide for, nuture and protect one's family, and expanding on that, to provide a service to humanity, or conversely, to serve oneself by pursuing the accumulation of wealth. To gain the respect and admiration of one's peers can become a powerful validating purpose.

While the degree of fulfillment varies in time and depth (a teenage boy's angst to own his own car -- his vehicle to freedom and autonomy -- is of much shorter duration than, say, raising a family or making a significant contribution to humanity) they are all transitory and their sense of fulfillment fleeting.

The nagging sense that we have a larger, unfilled, purpose lurks in the background for many of us (though I hasten to say, not all, lest I incur the wrath of some adamantly self-declared purposeless soul). George MacDonald expressed the longing as a separation from our origins (God). Home is ever so far away in the palm of your hand, and how to get there it is of no use to tell you. But you will get there; you must get there; you have to get there. Everybody who is not at home, has to go home. Like a migrating fish or bird, we search for home, a place we once knew or perhaps our ancestors knew. Man's fall from grace and God's purpose of redemption is a much more compelling motif than is given credit among those who scoff the the superficialities of religion.

[Sir Isaac Lime]

To live

[Anti__F]

Why are people having the idea live has a purpose.
If it had a purpose, live was created for it.
Nothing suggests live was created.
So nothing suggests live has a purpose.

Live got to you, take it and give it your own meaning.
Taste it.

[Claverhouse]

To create new ideas for the benefit of the human population.
That's just silly. :)

As with continuing the species it begs the question of Why ?

Cos God Chose to create us, is good enough for me.



Claverhouse :ph34r:

[Sir Isaac Lime]

That's just silly. :)

As with continuing the species it begs the question of Why ?

Cos God Chose to create us, is good enough for me.


That sounds like an equally silly answer

[Wilde Mutton]

This question has always annoyed me... I made a list of sorts to slightly depict what I have been given as responses from whenever someone has made it a point to ask this question. The list isn´t exhaustive as you´re bound to notice; indeed I might have missed some of the more basic arguments and I have not dealt with any item whatsoever but rather named and not given them taxonomic consideration or conceptual shifts.

1. Purpose from within
The humanist point of view. Includes comments about the continuation of the species (even when meant to apply to other organisms; the argument is specific, but most certainly not specistic), about "entertaining" or otherwise living for other human beings, and whatnot.
The somewhat more existential comment about soul-searching (whether that search yield results or never end), with emphasis on the journey made as being the unit of measurement.
2. Purpose from without
Plan of God, a godless plan, or God without a plan. Also, gods or godlike creatures and forces such as nature (which brings us back to #1).
Whatever people say it is.
3. A purposeless existence
No purpose.
No existence.

To walk out of one´s front door without first clearly and systematically clearing in one´s head all the questions which plague the would-be traveler...is analogical to jumping into questions such as these when it should be established what is meant by purpose, life, death, other people, God, bathtubs...

[Pierce]

I like the idea of merging the purpose from within and the purpose from without. Where my plan and God's plan converge seems an ideal mode of being. It also seems that this requires a great deal of change on my part, but God just keeps being God.

[Wilde Mutton]

What are your God´s demands that they do not change and your designs that change? Is the form of life of which you speak a negotiation of sorts or a synthesis? Does your God have but partial control of your life or do you depict him as such that he has made you someone who has plans which coincide with his? If that is the case, why has he given you plans to begin with? Or is it that he has given you an impression of your plans as separate from his (if so, you could only really claim "purpose from without")? Or is it to something else that you refer?

[CosmicDust]

I don't think I'd stick to a "life purpose" if I came up with one, and don't believe in purpose as something externally imposed by the divine. I have no reason to believe there's a reason why I exist. I can come up with some general dreams, but am not convinced that I will be able to realize them. So I may make some short-term projects or goals inspired by the dreams so as to ease the passage of time...in fact, easing the passage of time could be said to be one of those general long-term goals, with the dream/hope that I will become wise and able to benefit others directly or indirectly with that wisdom.

[euterpenc]

There is no purpose until you give it one. The reason is that two people had sex.

[Lee]

I have always wondered if the universe is some kind of living entity that is simply trying to figure itself out... hence us.

[Sir Isaac Lime]

I have always wondered if the universe is some kind of living entity that is simply trying to figure itself out... hence us.

thats a pretty cool thought.

It definatly seems like the universe is "up to something". It keeps getting larger and more complex - faster and faster.

Also, I tend to think of nature as self-replicating across scales. The smallest of organisms have a sort of "plan" - I would think of the collective universe as a whole, another sort of living organism.

[Lee]

hmm... it would seem that the universe is an introvert.

[Pierce]

What are your God´s demands that they do not change and your designs that change? Is the form of life of which you speak a negotiation of sorts or a synthesis? Does your God have but partial control of your life or do you depict him as such that he has made you someone who has plans which coincide with his? If that is the case, why has he given you plans to begin with? Or is it that he has given you an impression of your plans as separate from his (if so, you could only really claim "purpose from without")? Or is it to something else that you refer?
I think of God as Father. The fatherhood of God is a fascinating concept. Considering the paternal and maternal natures of God and even the romantic nature, I find fascinating. Imagine a perfect father, mother and lover and there you have my concept of God -- only he has no body (our gender concepts are not very useful). As a father, he is easy to please, but difficult to satisfy. As a mother, he is nurturing and comforting. As a lover, he is passionate and companionable. As for his plans and purposes, I am constantly amazed. I don't even pretend to understand him, and yet I do sense direction at times, and his joy at my successes and his disappointment at my failures. It's all very personal and mystical, but it's honestly how I perceive God.

[PiccoloNamek]

Normally I would say the main, nay, the only purpose in life is to reproduce our genes... but as humans we have the ability to break away from nature's set path and choose our own purpose.

[nBT]

i like the word

enough

spoken in here. or accenptance of your incompotence. i think this typically is a problem religion has all the answers for, any religion. and reason, also mentioned before has yet to 'prove' religion.

appearantly a purpose of INTX's is to figure out the universe.

[2ds]

i thought for an intp it was supposed to be cogito ergo sum ?
(i think i have that right)

-2ds

[euterpenc]

Normally I would say the main, nay, the only purpose in life is to reproduce our genes... but as humans we have the ability to break away from nature's set path and choose our own purpose.

That's probably very close.

[Lee]

Normally I would say the main, nay, the only purpose in life is to reproduce our genes... but as humans we have the ability to break away from nature's set path and choose our own purpose.
Nature does not have a set path.

[philonightmare]

For me, the purpose of life is to live in a way that fulfills one's sense of being human. If that sense be seeking knowledge, being promiscuous, being loyal, or being religious, then those actions or ways of living life are what give meaning to the living. Without life, one could not find meaning within actions such as those since there would then be no purpose if you're say, dead.

(Let's not mention life-after death scenarios...that would enter in another dimension to whether this life is meant to have a purpose or if the "next" one is the ultimate "purpose-giver")

[Circe]

Nature does not have a set path.
From observation, nature has a cycle.

[Lee]

From observation, nature has a cycle.
Nature does not look ahead or plan its moves, it is simply the result of psysical laws. Any cycle observed is simply those laws creating the and destroying similar systems consecutively. It is not a cycle, a cycle implies that it returns to the beggining every cycle but nature defines no begginings, every "cycle" to which you refer is inherently new and different, it only shares similarity.

And "cycles" stop all the time, new ones emerge, they change with time. Even if you say that nature has a "cycle" it still does not mean that nature has a purpose or an intended goal, you are simply amthropomorthisizing a rule based sytem. You can not defeat natures "purpose" because natures purpose is to passively exist, you are thus at its whim regardless. Any action we take fits within natures "intentions" because we are bound by natures rules.

[Circe]

Nature does not look ahead or plan its moves, it is simply the result of psysical laws. Any cycle observed is simply those laws creating the and destroying similar systems consecutively. It is not a cycle, a cycle implies that it returns to the beggining every cycle but nature defines no begginings, every "cycle" to which you refer is inherently new and different, it only shares similarity.

And "cycles" stop all the time, new ones emerge, they change with time. Even if you say that nature has a "cycle" it still does not mean that nature has a purpose or an intended goal, you are simply amthropomorthisizing a rule based sytem. You can not defeat natures "purpose" because natures purpose is to passively exist, you are thus at its whim regardless. Any action we take fits within natures "intentions" because we are bound by natures rules.
Nature has a cycle - is an example of anthropomorphism?? :blink:
Yes, I neglected to add, nature sees and hears everything too.

"Cycles" do not cease, it is in continuance. What or who determines where the beginning or end is of "nature's cycle"? I do not "know" nature's "purpose", if indeed it even has a purpose. You seem to already "know" nature's purpose, since you already expressed it - perhaps on its behalf - this appears to be a better example of anthropomorphism to me. Thank you for the lesson!

[Lee]

Nature has a cycle - is an example of anthropomorphism??
Sorry, that was not in reference to a cycle, it was in reference to the idea of nature having a purpose.

[Lee]

I guess what I mean is that you cannot break away from nature's set path, nature is a system of rules and we are bound by those rules... if you wish to assign purpose then it is simply to exist, we cannot break the rules, we are necassarily part of the system whether we choose to be or not.

As for cycles, well, it doesn't matter. Cycles, no cycles? it makes no difference, the situation is the same regardless.

[Aryan]

The purpose of life:
ADD a bed, SUBTRACT the clothes, DIVIDE the legs, and MULTIPLY

"THAT" is the purpose of life! http://forums.intpcentral.com/images/smilies/cheers1.gif

http://forums.intpcentral.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Pierce]

Here's an interesting piece:

A man saw a ball of gold in the sky;
He climbed for it,
And eventually he achieved it --
It was clay.
Now this is the strange part:
When the man went to the earth
And looked again,
Lo, there was the ball of gold.
Now this is the strange part:
It was a ball of gold.
Aye, by the heavens, it was a ball of gold.
- passage 35 from The Black Riders and Other Lines (1895)

[Dman]

Hmm…getting strong feeling of déjà vu…

Oh yeah, here’s why – http://www.intpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3468&page=4&pp=10

Let’s look at a little excerpt from that thread –


It’s to survive long enough to pass on your DNA, or help others pass on their DNA, and assist subsequent offspring in surviving to pass along their DNA, in an effort to ensure survival of the species. Why? Because we’re hard-wired for it. That’s how we came into existence. If we truly felt there was no purpose to life, we would end that process and thus end our species.

That should answer all questions about the purpose/goal of life.

The end.

[Wilde Mutton]

Dawkins has received objections, but so far none of the ones that still remain true to the belief of the value of empirical study have been able to perfectly refute his "survival machines" (could be because most of the critical comments he has come across so far have stemmed from the fact that his theory has been misunderstood). Kant might do the trick though. There´s no ending this epistemological war, Dman, and until there is, we are going to have to put that last chapter on hold.

[Asmodiel]

A teacher of mine said it best, I think: "The purpose of life is to learn, grow, and to enjoy; and in the process of accomplishing those things, pass that knowledge onto your child, and in that event you will have fulfilled the purpose of propagating the species".

I agree with that statement. So it should come down to five things:
(not in any order)

1. Learn
2. Grow
3. Reproduce
4. Teach
5. Enjoy

[Sir Isaac Lime]

Reproduce. Pffft

[Sally]

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, for Tomorrow We Shall Die.

[MasterMerk]

Rock and Roll, baby.

[Circe]

..what is the purpose of life.. and whyThe purpose - to keep guessing.
Why? - Life, as is deemed to be "known through one's application", continues to be one big guessing game.

[kafkaesque]

Reproduce. Pffft

Amen.

[coffeezombie]

Reproduce. Pffft

My INTP genes are very likely to die out as well.

[cuspuser]

did anyone say "to live" ... i'll look later ...

[javalady]

I firmly believe that the purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God in this world, and be happy with him in the next.

Are there any other conservative Catholics on this list?

Just wondering. I know that INTP's tend toward agnosticism-- that was true of me for a very long time, but I found the arguments in favor of theism, christianity, and Catholicism quite compelling, so I changed my mind and my life.

Now I fear someone will want to discuss this and I won't have the time... but I'll try.

Oh, and is anyoen else in this group interested in books on science and religion? My current favorite is "Modern Physics and Ancient Faiths" by Stephen Barr.

[BHZA]

According to the Bible, or least my understanting through tuition, we are here to make the choice to either obey and 'love' God and receive eternal 'life' or face 'death' and 'suffering' in the devils domain. Thus; we are apparently here to make some kind of decision not by concrete logical facts but by a leap of faith and trust in something that cannot be proven.

This teaching have always bothered me because it is backed by the premise of reward should you obey and backed by threats of gloom and doom should you decide to ignore or disobey Gods instruction. Why would God (and Jesus) want to threaten us in order to drive us to accept his 'rock solid' salvation plan?

The question that haunts me is Why? Why are we here and why are we what we are? Why is God so pertinent about our salvation - does he know something we do not?

Damn; I wish God would have given us the choice to either take the blue pill, or the red pill...

[Garyincinci]

The purpose of life is easy....

To find meaning.

It's different for each of us. Some find meaning in god, others in drugs...but the purpose of that meaning is to get through the day.

Therefore the goal of the purpose of life is to find a way to get through the day without the suffering of life tearing you to shreds.

[Sackanaka]

The purpose of life is easy....

To find meaning.

It's different for each of us. Some find meaning in god, others in drugs...but the purpose of that meaning is to get through the day.

Therefore the goal of the purpose of life is to find a way to get through the day without the suffering of life tearing you to shreds.

:)Sounds like what I believe. Everyone must answer this question, regardless of directly stating it or not. It is the theme running across the majority, if not all, of humanity asking this question and reaching different answers. If we didn't constantly search meaning then I would think that we would be static creatures, at least mentally. Even saying "life has no meaning" has already meant that life has been given a meaning. Either people must answer this or the word "meaning" must be reassessed and redefined upon a consensus.
Of course, this is a rather catch-all kind of statement and thus not really controversial or exciting, but maybe that's what garyincinci meant by "that's easy..."

[cathmc]

Are there any other conservative Catholics on this list?

Just wondering. I know that INTP's tend toward agnosticism-- that was true of me for a very long time, but I found the arguments in favor of theism, christianity, and Catholicism quite compelling, so I changed my mind and my life.

I'm curious - were you raised Catholic? Or in another Church? Or with no particular religion?
I was raised in a strict conservative Catholic family. When I was in college I still practiced but only in progressive parishes/groups. I sponsored someone who was converting and in the classes it was pretty interesting how things that made 'cradle Catholics' absolutely shudder were very appealing to adult converts. The best example - confession. The converts were saying 'wow, that's fabulous, you can unburden your conscience to a priest in the confessional'. Meanwhile the cradle Catholics all had some traumatic story about being yelled at by a priest in confession or something. It seems like sometimes people who come to Catholicism as adults can see it more positively than those of us who were beaten over the head with it all our lives.

Anyway, it's been years since I practiced any kind of religion. And I vehemently disagree with the Catholic Church on most social issues.

[javalady]

Hi, CathMC!

I was raised Catholic. In college, I used to tell my future husband to "say hi to God for me" when he went to church... sarcastically.

I respect your willingness to ask, instead of simply dismissing my point. Very intp of you!

[euterpenc]

There is no purpose for life. This is a very over-asked question. That is the answer. There is no more guesswork. Life, in itself, is meaningless. You can give it a purpose or meaning, but beyond that, there's nothing. That is why not all people believe in God, or religious enlightenment. Then that must not be the purpose for life, because all life doesn't do that.

[Trolsk]

Nihilists are suckers.