The purpose of life??

[Nammy]

Okay, I don't think this will fit in the philosophical forum, nor in the religion or any other forum and may have been discussed previously :

Many of us end up wondering-Why? What is the purpose of life? Okay-we were a result of evolution and are evolving to higher degrees of civilization(in some places!). BUT-we are all destined to die, leaving the next generation to carry on-why? If the answer is to enjoy life's bonuses and take pleasure in your children/creativity/knowledge as you progressively grow older...and if you're gifted-leave some good discovery,etc for others' benefits. WHY? what good will it do to continue populating the Earth? Where is this all leading to?

 

Don't give me any religous **** about-we are here to learn through experience and take our lessons to God, etc. I believe in the theory of evolution. and that is why this question-isn't it mindless to just keep carrying on this futile excercise of living and dying?

 

Any answers?

[Zythryn]

The purpose of life is to be happy. To make others happy and to enjoy your stay on the planet.

To follow your curiosity and try to make life a little better for yourself and those you care about.

Some follow a desire to create a masterpeice which will exist after they no longer do.

 

Here is a link where many shared their thoughts on the subject: http://hypography.com/forums/philosophy-humanities/1848-what-true-purpose-our-life-here.html?highlight=meaning+of+life

[ronthepon]

The purpose of all of currently existing life is to procreate, and give rise to the next generation of lifeforms.

 

The purpose of evolving life on the large scale is to exist and sustain itself.

 

If there is another real purpose, then I don't think that we can go into it without going into...

religous **** about-we are here to learn through experience and take our lessons to God, etc

:hihi:

[Nammy]

The purpose of life is to be happy. To make others happy and to enjoy your stay on the planet.

To follow your curiosity and try to make life a little better for yourself and those you care about.

Some follow a desire to create a masterpeice which will exist after they no longer do.

 

That is exactly what I'm asking-okay so we do some things to create happiness and some things to leave behind for others to enjoy, but why? Why is it necessary to continue this charade called life? What is the overall general purpose? We live-we die, then the next generation lives-dies and so on ad infitum...will we wait for the Sun to die out and then cease to exist? So what could any generation at that point of extinction (by natural causes) would have acheived?

[Nammy]

The purpose of all of currently existing life is to procreate, and give rise to the next generation of lifeforms.

 

The purpose of evolving life on the large scale is to exist and sustain itself.

 

If there is another real purpose, then I don't think that we can go into it without going into...:phones:

 

procreate and then some-FOR What? why exist and sustain at all?

[Buffy]

We are merely the mechanism by which genes ensure their survival.

 

So long, :phones:

Buffy

[Nammy]

We are merely the mechanism by which genes ensure their survival.

 

So long, :phones:

Buffy

 

Well said...at least some cohorent reason...

[Pyrotex]

Okay, ...Many of us end up wondering-Why? What is the purpose of life? ...WHY? what good will it do to continue populating the Earth? Where is this all leading to?...Any answers?

The proper answer is "mu". In the Zen religion, this vaguely translates as "the answer is to unask the question."

 

FIRST of all, what is a "purpose"? Start there before you go any further. Does "purpose" have any material existance in this material universe? If we open up a zebra or a molecule, will we find "purpose"?

 

"Purpose" is often confused with teleology.

Teleology Te`le*ol"o*gy, n. ...

The doctrine of the final causes of things; specif. (Biol.),

the doctrine of design, which assumes that the phenomena of

organic life are explicable only by purposive causes;

the study of mechanical design from deduced purpose

or usefulness.

[Webster]

So, we may speak of the "purpose" of a can opener is to open cans. Because upon examination, we observe that it is so damn useful to open cans with. We have used teleology to identify many ancient artifacts; we ask "what is it useful for?"

 

So. What is Life useful for? What are humans useful for? What are you useful for?

 

I say that "purpose" does not exist but it IS real. I mean, there is no such "thing" as "purpose" outside the human mind; it is in fact a mental ("linguistic") concept, like "honor" and "evil".

 

What happens when we attempt to apply a linguistic concept to a material entity? Is there "honor" among trees? Is there any "evil" within molecules of sucrose? Does it make sense to ask (without metaphor) "do mountains hate?" or "do galaxies have fear"?

 

Then why should it make any sense to ask "does Life have purpose?"?

 

If "purpose" is real only in the sense that it is manifested in the human mind, then it makes sense only to speak of the "purpose" that an individual (or a society) chooses.

 

"The essence of productive philosophy is to first understand that you are dealing with WORDS, not THINGS." (Nelson Thompson)

[Nammy]

FIRST of all, what is a "purpose"? Start there before you go any further.

"Purpose" is often confused with teleology.

So, we may speak of the "purpose" of a can opener is to open cans.

 

you (I may be wrong) are confusing the word "purpose" with the word "function" , I on the other hand mean "purpose" as in "aim" (oh the limitaions of language).

 

The "aim" of life may be anything you want it to be, but what is really the "final aim"? I mean what will life form have acheived in exisitng the way it is-is there any universal "aim" ("goal")?

[pgrmdave]

The question is an error - it's like asking why do rocks exist, or why does light move. To answer what the purpose of life is, we must look at what all successful lifeforms do. All life forms, regardless of intelligence, strive to reproduce themselves. Now, the question you seem to want an answer to is not "What is the purpose of life?", but "Why are we self-aware?".

[Buffy]

Who is having the "aim"?

 

We're all mad here, :phones:

Buffy

[sanctus]

Buffy, Im like your answer but it only shifts the problem, why do the genes want to survive (so nammy her answer isn't coherent to me)?

 

Now, nammy it seems that you look for an objectif reason of living I guess there is none, life can be seen (at least if you are atheist :phones: ) as just cause and effect over the past couple of billions of years (like the famous butterfly). So also pgrmdave's shifted question becomes meaningless.

But as others answered before me, there many subjective answers the one i like is "live so that when you are about to die you can look back on your life and be happy of what you have done". The advantage and the risk is that your judgements evolves as well so maybe I'm happy now about something I wont be anymore in ten years time.

[Buffy]

Buffy, Im like your answer but it only shifts the problem, why do the genes want to survive (so nammy her answer isn't coherent to me)?

Yup. And repeating Post 11:

Who is having the "aim"?

 

Its the egg! No question!

Buffy

[sanctus]

I have my personal subjective aim of evolution of mankind: being able to live an anarchy, ie evolve until the point where mankind's societies don't need anymore laws (neither written than implicit ones).

 

If this is the "universal aim" I let it decide the rest of mankind...:phones: As I said there are only subjective aims.

[Pyrotex]

you (I may be wrong) are confusing the word "purpose" with the word "function" , I on the other hand mean "purpose" as in "aim" (oh the limitaions of language). The "aim" of life may be anything you want it to be, but what is really the "final aim"? I mean what will life form have acheived in exisitng the way it is-is there any universal "aim" ("goal")?

Replacing "purpose" with other words or phrases doesn't get you out of your paradox.

 

There are no "aim" molecules in the universe; "aim" is linguistic.

Doubly so for "final aim".

There are no "function" molecules in the universe; "function" is linguistic".

 

Aim, function, goal all require an intelligent intention behind them. If the universe itself is not intelligent or goal-seeking, and if it contains no subset of atoms/energy that comprise an intelligent or goal-seeking entity, then it makes no sense to attempt to apply those words to the universe, or to Life, or to any particular subset of Life.

 

EXCEPT... for intelligent species of Life that CAN seek goals or final aims.

 

My purpose is to live a life worth living; a life that contributes love and reason to the world that I will eventually leave behind.

 

What's your purpose? :phones:

[Pyrotex]

...Its the egg! No question!

You just say that because YOU got some!!! :phones:

[Nammy]

Now, the question you seem to want an answer to is not "What is the purpose of life?", but "Why are we self-aware?".

 

If I did my subject would be just that (Why are we self-aware). I think I am unable to express myself clearly....I have been questioning the very "reason" as to why are we carrying on this charade of living. When every "live" thing dies at one point or the other, where will all this lead to? It seems meaningless to me that we are a result of evolution and will live along generations until extinction...in that case I am "self aware" but it is not providing any answers except the somewhat cryptic statement of Buffy.