Meaning of life

The meaning of life is a fundamental philosophical discussion of human existence, chiefly consisting of interpretations such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is the purpose of life?", and "What is valuable in life?" These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.

Note that these questions are all separate from the scientific issue of the boundary between things with life and inanimate objects.

Popular beliefs

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Below are some popular answers to the question of life's purpose. The responses overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories:

Survival and temporal success

...to love and find love
...to find the meaning of life
...to learn, invent, reproduce and to overcome the obstacles that are created in life
...to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you
...to be always satisfied
...to live, go to school, work, and die
...to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
...to participate and contribute to a given society by working, paying taxes, being a good citizen, and contributing to raise the collective quality of life.
...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to gain and exercise power
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to eat
...to sleep
...to ensure that all others after you remember your name.
...to prepare for death
...to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly.
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution)
...to protect and preserve one's kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution)
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
...to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension)
...to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauer's will to procreate)
...to find and take over all free space in this "game" called life
...to seek and find beauty
...to kill or be killed
...to live it. To simply keep functioning.
...to contribute to the human population, (having many children)
...Self-actualization, esteem, love/belonging, safety and physiological (Maslow's hierarchy of needs).

Wisdom and knowledge

The list is virtually an infinite number of things, places, actions, feelings, events, and encounters that we experience and which guides us with the knowledge to live life from our first breath to our last.
...to evolve
...to master and know as many things as possible
...to be without questions, or to keep asking questions
...to expand one's perception of the world
...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
...to understand and be mindful of creation or the cosmos
...to lead the world towards a desired situation
...to satisfy the natural curiosity felt by humans about life
...to enjoy all the enjoyable things one really want and available in the world and filled with joy in inner through out the journey of life
...To Live a Happy life.
...To Reproduce and create new life.
...to die.
... Simply to experience, it encompasses every aspect: there is work, school, sleep, travel and people.
...to 'be' that which we truly are, meaning, to manifest in the flesh that which we are deep inside
...to work out what the meaning of life is.
...to free your mind of the constraints of society, and find your own answer to the meaning of life
...to help others
...to step on the stones our forefathers laid and lay new ones for our offspring to advance upon
...to have the sure knowledge of death or that it man would not strive to leave his mark upon the earth.
...to advance or evolve metaphysically, through the process of metacognition.

Ethical

...to express compassion
...to follow the "Golden Rule"
...to give and receive love
...to selflessly love others more than yourself
...to work for justice and freedom
...to live in peace with yourself and each other, and in harmony with our natural environment (see utopia)
...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
...to serve others, or do good deeds
...to leave the world in a better condition than when you came into it
...to live an honorable life and die an honorable death
...to not forget the Mother Tongue and serve the Fatherland
...to just live, and not think about it
...to embrace a pedagogy of possibility.
...to think of the most positive meaning of life as possible and to make this meaning real

Religious and spiritual

...to worship the Lord (see Islam)
...to achieve a higher level of consciousness
...to reach a higher plane of existence
...to find perfect love and a complete expression of one's humanness in a relationship with God
...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
...to become like God, or divine
...to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever
...to experience personal justice (i.e. to be rewarded for goodness)
...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. to seek objectivity)
...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment, and atonement
...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
...to discover who you are
...to resolve all problems that one faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach oneself from all problems faced (see Buddhism)
...To prepare for the meeting with God
...To be tested to see whether you deserve to go to Heaven or Hell
...to be expecting the day of rapture and to know that heaven is real.
...To know that we have to make a choice. Choose the world and this temporal life, living it however we want, or knowing that this world is just a living example of what isn't eternal(death), a nothing-much, something not meaningful enough and instead see* that there is God (his whole creation of the world just for this choice) and something much greater that he could give you. (*seeing isn't just what your eyes and brain perceive of electromagnetic wave... its more to do with your mind, where you can 'visualise')
...to question the paradoxical nature of our existence in relation to the existence or nature of God until we find resolution.

Philosophical

...to give life meaning
...to think of the most positive meaning of life as possible and to make this meaning real / to give life the best meaning conceivable
...to end all suffering
...to seek universal truth(s)
...to participate in the chain of events which has led from the creation of the universe until its possible end.
...the logical interim meaning of life is to find the meaning of life and then follow it
...the meaning of life is in effort to find the meaning of life
...to achieve self-actualization
...to dominate others (see the will to power)
...all possible meanings have some validity (see existentialism)
...life in itself has no meaning, for its purpose is an opportunity to create that meaning, therefore:
- ...to die
- ...to live
- ...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
- ...nature taking its course (the wheel of time keeps on turning)
- ...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
- ...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever (see nihilism)
- ...life may actually not exist, or may be illusory (see solipsism or nihilism)
- ...to contemplate "the meaning of the end of life"
- ...to figure it out
- ...to understand oneself
- ...to question life itself
- ...to be challenged so as to learn lessons and evolve to a higher spiritual understanding.
- ...about both the process and the end results
- ...the intangibles that we seek
...to overcome fear, transcend ego, preach forgiveness and express gratitude.
...to fight and live until there is no fight left in our world

Other

...to find and follow an artistic passion
...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
...to participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
...to make conformists' lives miserable (see nonconformism)
...to make life as difficult as possible for others (i.e. to compete)
...to accomplish something that has never been done before
...to give blood to others that need it more (i.e. are dying)
...to be the dominant one
...to be a magician
...to partake and end drama
...to find ones true vocation.

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Scientific approaches and theories

Where scientists and philosophers converge on the quest for the meaning of life is an assumption that the mechanics of life (i.e., the universe) are determinable, thus the meaning of life may eventually be derived through our understanding of the mechanics of the universe in which we live, including the mechanics of the human body.

There are, however, strictly speaking, no scientific views on the meaning of biological life other than its observable biological function: to continue. In this regard, science simply addresses quantitative questions such as: "What does it do?", "By what means?", and "To what extent?", rather than the "For what purpose?".

Science and the five questions

But, like philosophy, science doesn't rest when it comes to asking and answering questions, and scientists have tackled each of the five interpretations of the meaning of life question head-on, attempting to answer each from the perspective of what exists, or in relation to the human being (for which science itself serves), offering empirical answers from relevant scientific fields...

What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?

Toward answering "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", scientists have proposed various theories or worldviews over the centuries, including the heliocentric view by Copernicus and Galileo, through the mechanistic clockwork universe of René Descartes and Isaac Newton, to Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, to the Quantum Mechanics of Heisenberg and Schrödinger in an effort to understand the universe in which we live.

Meanwhile, countless scientists in the biological and medical fields have dissected the human body to its very smallest components to acquire an understanding of the nature of biological life, to determine what makes us tick. Near the end of the 20th century, equipped with insights from the gene-centered view of evolution, biologists began to suggest that insofar as there may be a primary function to life, it is the survival of genes. In this approach, success isn't measured in terms of the survival of species, but one level deeper, in terms of the successful replication of genes over the eons, from one species to the next, and so on.

What is the significance of life?

The question "What is the significance of life?" has turned philosophers toward the study of significance itself and how it is derived and presented (see semiotics). The question has also been extensively explored by those who attempt to explain the relationship of life to its environment (the universe), and vice versa. Thus, from a scientific point of view, the significance of life is what it is, what it does, and what mechanisms are behind it. In psychology and biology, significance only exists within human and animal minds; significance is subjective and is an emotional function of brains, making it impossible to exist outside of people's thoughts and feelings.

What is valuable in life?

This question is a staple of the social sciences. The study of value has resulted in the fields of Economics and Sociology. The study of motives (which reflect what is valuable to a person) and the perception of value are subjects of the field of Psychology.

What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?

This question also falls upon social scientists to answer. They attempt to do by studying and explaining the behaviors and interactions of human beings (and every other type of animal as well).

Scientific analysis of teleology

One very promising idea about the purpose of life probably arose many years ago (it's a common statement that "biology debunked teleology a century ago"), although it has been further popularized recently. This "debunking" is said to have coincided with or resulted from advances in biological knowledge such as the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (i.e. the creation of the theory of natural selection). It is not unlikely however, that it was philosophized long before that teleology (perceived meaning or purpose) is an illusion that has no bearing on reality and that ultimately there is no objective purpose to anything.

The proposition follows basically like this: setting goals and finding potential goals in physical objects and abstract ideas is an instinct deeply seated in the primate mind, as it was a characteristic fashioned by natural selection; part of the evolution of humanity's ancestors. This instinct, which is the search for purpose (or "meaning") is often known as teleology. We, as human beings, are all innately teleological thinkers. Teleological thinking is useful in the natural (and modern) world, making it a favorable trait for species to have. However, when we use this instinct when thinking philosophically about life, the universe, and everything, it misfires and we come up with an unsolvable conundrum - one which doesn't really exist in the first place. Teleological instincts apply well to physical objects such as food (purpose: to eat) but fail when they are attempted to be applied to the more abstract, like subjective experience. The failure of teleology can be demonstrated not just with abstract concepts, but objects that serve no known utility to human beings. What, for example, is the purpose of an asteroid floating around light years outside of this galaxy? We can objectively explain the cause of things like space rocks, but we must conclude, if we are to embrace teleological thinking, that either a) far away asteroids have no purpose or b) purpose doesn't exist in objective reality.

The argument about teleological thinking as a result of natural selection is put forward in various books and articles. The best-selling author and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins puts forward the explanation in his Discovery Science video The Big Question: why are we here?.

This explanation of our famous (or infamous) teleological conundrum is to many the most probable, satisfying, and ultimate answer we have attained for the problem of the meaning of life, especially since it is falsifiable and can be backed up with specific scientific evidence, such as neurological research, while it is already supported by general scientific evidence, such as the evidence for evolution.

Entropy

Self-organization

Philosophical views

Value as meaning

In that they attempt to answer the question "What is valuable in life?", theories of value are theories of the meaning of life. Famous philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, and many others had clear views about what sort of life was best (and hence most meaningful). Aristotle, for example, believed that the pursuit of happiness was the Highest Good and that such is achievable through our uniquely human capacity to reason.

Atheistic views

Atheism's strictest sense means the lack of belief that a god or supernatural overbeing (of any type or number) exists, and by extension that neither the universe nor we were created by such beings. Atheism pertains to three of the five interpretations of the meaning of life question: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?" Because most atheists reject supernatural explanations for the existence of life, lacking a deistic source, they commonly point to abiogenesis as the most likely source for the origin of life. As for the purpose of life, there is no one particular atheistic view. Some atheists argue that since there are no gods to tell us what to value, we are left to decide that for ourselves. Other atheists argue that some sort of meaning can be intrinsic to life itself, so the existence or non-existence of god is irrelevant to the question (a version of the Euthyphro dilemma). Some believe that life is nothing more than a byproduct of insensate natural forces and has no underlying meaning or grand purpose. Other atheists are non-cognitivist towards the question, believing that talking about meaning without specifying "meaning to whom" is an incoherent or incomplete thought (this can also fit with the idea of choosing the meaning of life for oneself).

Existentialist views

Arthur Schopenhauer offered a bleak answer by determining one's life as a reflection of one's will and the will (and thus life) as being an aimless, irrational, and painful drive. However, he saw salvation, deliverance, or escape from suffering in aesthetic contemplation, sympathy for others, and asceticism. Søren Kierkegaard invented the term "leap of faith" and argued that life is full of absurdity and the individual must make his or her own values in an indifferent world. For Kierkegaard, an individual can have a meaningful life (at least one free of despair) if the individual relates the self in an unconditional commitment to something finite, and devotes his or her life to the commitment despite the inherent vulnerability of doing so.

Humanist views

To the humanist, life's biological purpose is built-in: it is to reproduce. That is how the human race came to be: creatures reproducing in a progression of unguided evolution as an integral part of nature, which is self-existing. But biological purpose isn't the same thing as human purpose, though it may be a factor thereof. Human purpose is determined by humans, completely without supernatural influence. Nor does knowledge come from supernatural sources, it flows from human observation, experimentation, and rational analysis preferably utilizing the scientific method: the nature of the universe is what we discern it to be. As are ethical values, which are derived from human needs and interests as tested by experience.

Enlightened self-interest is at the core of humanism. The most significant thing in life is the human being, and by extension, the human race and the environment in which we live. The happiness of the individual is inextricably linked to the well-being of humanity as a whole, in part because we are social animals which find meaning in relationships, and because cultural progress benefits everybody who lives in that culture.

When the world improves, life in general improves, so, while the individual desires to live well and fully, humanists feel it is important to do so in a way that will enhance the well being of all. While the evolution of the human species is still (for the most part) a function of nature, the evolution of humanity is in our hands and it is our responsibility to progress it toward its highest ideals. In the same way, humanism itself is evolving, because humanists recognize that values and ideals, and therefore the meaning of life, are subject to change as our understanding improves.

The doctrine of humanism is set forth in the Humanist Manifesto [1] and A Secular Humanist Declaration [2].

Nihilist views

Friedrich Nietzsche characterized nihilism as emptying the world and especially human existence of meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. The term nihilism itself comes from the Latin nihil, which means "nothing". Nietzsche described Christianity as a nihilistic religion, because it removes meaning from this earthly life, to instead focus on a supposed afterlife. He also saw nihilism as a natural result of the idea that God is dead, and insisted that it was something to be overcome, by returning meaning to the Earth.

Martin Heidegger described nihilism as the state in which "there is nothing of Being as such", and argued that nihilism rested on the reduction of being to mere value.

Nihilism rejects claims to knowledge and truth, and explores the meaning of an existence without knowable truth. Though nihilism tends toward defeatism, one can find strength and reason for celebration in the varied and unique human relationships it explores. From a nihilist point of view, morals are valueless and only hold a place in society as false ideals created by various forces. The characteristic that distinguishes nihilism from other skeptical or relativist philosophies is that, rather than merely insisting that values are subjective or even warrantless, nihilism declares that nothing is of value, as the name implies.

Positivist views

Of the meaning of life, Ludwig Wittgenstein and the logical positivists said: expressed in language, the question is meaningless. This is because "meaning of x" is a term in life usually conveying something regarding the consequences of x, or the significance of x, or that which should be noted regarding x, etc. So when "life" is used as "x" in the term "meaning of x", the statement becomes recursive and therefore nonsensical.

In other words, things in a person's life can have meaning (importance), but a meaning of life itself, i.e., apart from those things, can't be discerned. In this context, a person's life is said to have meaning (significance to himself and others) in the form of the events throughout his life and the results of his life in terms of achievements, a legacy, family, etc. But to say that life itself has meaning is a misuse of language, since any note of significance or consequence is relevant only in life (to those living it), rendering the statement erroneous. Language can provide a meaningful answer only when it refers to a realm within the realm of life. But this is not possible when the question reaches beyond the realm in which language exists, violating the contextual limitations of language. Such a question is broken. And the answer to a broken question is an erroneous or irrelevant answer.

Other philosophers besides Wittgenstein have sought to discover what is meaningful within life by studying the consciousness within it. But when these philosophers looked for a holistic definition of the “Meaning of Life” for humanity, they were stone-walled by the Wittgenstein linguistic model.

Logical positivism asserts that statements are meaningful only insofar as they are verifiable, and that statements can be verified only in two (exclusive) ways: empirical statements, including scientific theories, which are verified by experiment and evidence; and analytic truth, statements which are true or false by definition, and so are also meaningful. Everything else, including ethics and aesthetics, is not literally meaningful, and so belongs to "metaphysics". One conclusion is that serious philosophy should no longer concern itself with metaphysics.

Pragmatist views

Pragmatic philosophers suggest that rather than a truth about life, we should seek a useful understanding of life. William James argued that truth could be made but not sought. Thus, the meaning of life is a belief about the purpose of life that does not contradict one's experience of a purposeful life. Roughly, this could be applied as: "The meaning of life is those purposes which cause you to value it." To a pragmatist, the meaning of life, your life, can be discovered only through experience.

Pragmatism is a school of philosophy which originated in the United States in the late 1800s. Pragmatism is characterized by the insistence on consequences, utility and practicality as vital components of truth. Pragmatism objects to the view that human concepts and intellect represent reality, and therefore stands in opposition to both formalist and rationalist schools of philosophy. Rather, pragmatism holds that it is only in the struggle of intelligent organisms with the surrounding environment that theories and data acquire significance. Pragmatism does not hold, however, that just anything that is useful or practical should be regarded as true, or anything that helps us to survive merely in the short-term; pragmatists argue that what should be taken as true is that which most contributes to the most human good over the longest course. In practice, this means that for pragmatists, theoretical claims should be tied to verification practices--i.e., that one should be able to make predictions and test them--and that ultimately the needs of humankind should guide the path of human inquiry.

Transhumanist views

Transhumanism is an outgrowth of Posthumanism, which is an extension of Humanism. Like its ideological ancestors, it proposes that we should seek the advancement of humanity and of all life to the greatest degree of differed feasible equation. Although transhumanism makes no distinctions regarding anything as grandiose as "the meaning of life," it is different from humanism and posthumanism in its emphasis on the proposition that science should take the foremost role in the improvement of life. To the transhumanist, the meaning of life is necessarily indefinite and ambiguous, and should be left to the philosophical inclinations of the individual. Nevertheless, whatsoever an individual chooses to believe, transhumanism insists that there does exist a moral imperative common to all intelligent agents to improve their lives and, moreover, to advocate for the universal recognition of freedoms regarding an individual's choice of life enhancement. All living things should be free to choose, to the extent of their capacities, to improve themselves or not in any way they so desire, and no living thing should ever be given the opportunity to interfere in the personal development of any other living being unless for that being's own good (such as if the being's ignorance of some otherwise well understood principle or fact were driving it to unwitting self-injury).

To transhumanists, these principles extend greatly beyond more conventional lifestyle choices and freedoms of thought, and encompass such experimental and highly controversial subjects as morphological freedom and procreative beneficence. These are, respectively, the freedom to choose the shape and function of one's body and mind, and the freedom to do the same for one's descendants, excepting when to do so would in some way injure the descendants or the descendants' freedom to make the same choices. Transhumanists therefore advocate that all intelligent life forms have the freedom to access the tools and knowledge necessary to improve their lives however they see fit (and that these things must be made universally available), whether this be in simple manifestations such as the options of meeting basic medical and dietetic requirements, or more complex examples such as the options of undergoing genetic engineering or cybernetic augmentation. Transhumanists argue that improved people will necessarily have improved capabilities to seek out and answer questions regarding "the meaning of life" as they see it, more so than even humans do currently. The transhumanist programme, then, is essentially the programme that insists that all living things be granted the basic option to inquire after their own personal or social "meaning(s) of life" (including meanings that human beings are currently incompetent to comprehend) as much as it is physically possible to do so, and no less.

Theistic beliefs

There are many different interpretations to the "Word of God", and therefore many interpretations to the meaning of life. However, reaching Heaven in the afterlife can be seen as a universal meaning of life or goal for followers of Abrahamic religions. Also universal teachings, or meanings, to be followed in virtually all religions are "The Golden Rule" and simple living.

Relationship to God

Most people who believe in a personal God would agree that it is God "in whom we live and move and have our being". The notion here is that we respond to a higher authority who will give our lives meaning and provide purpose through a relationship with the divine. Although belief is also based on knowing God "through the things he has made," the decision to believe in such an authority is called the "leap of faith", and to a very large degree this faith defines the faithful's meaning of life.

Another belief of some Fundamentalist Christians is that humans have been placed here to settle a dispute between God and Satan. The belief is that Satan thought that he could be as good as God, and therefore become God. With this God threw Satan out of Heaven. Satan appealed to God to be allowed back in by saying that none could follow God, or believe he is God. With that God made a deal with Satan, that if there was one believer in every generation, then Satan would be cast down into the lake of fire.^{[citation needed]}

To "be fruitful, and multiply; fill the earth, and subdue it"

An example of how religion creates purpose can be found in the biblical story of creation in the Old Testament of the Bible: the purpose for man comes from his relationship to God and in this relationship he is told to "Be fruitful, and multiply; fill the earth, and subdue it" Genesis 1:28. This indicates that subsequent to the goal of being in personal relationship with God, the propagation of the human race, the care and population of the earth, and the control of the earth (but as man sinned, he lost the full ability to do so, characterized by the fact that animals are not under full control) are the first three commandments God has set for man.

Another Biblical example is given in Micah 6:8, which states "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." However, instructions given by God and the meaning of life (or the purpose of one's existence), are not necessarily the same thing.

To love God and neighbor

Another example, this one also from Judaism and Christianity, which agree broadly on two of their most important imperatives for life:

"The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength'." This is the 'first commandment' according to Jesus (Mark 12:28-31), and is also a quote from the central prayer of Judaism, known as the Shema (Deut 6:4-9).
"And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'." (Christianity: Mark 12:28-31). Judaism records this both in the positive sense (Leviticus 19:18: "Love thy neighbor") and the negative sense (Hillel, ""What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Law; the rest is just commentary")

Both of these commands are relational and are primarily concerned with knowing God in order to equip the believer to maintain a loving relationship with other members of the human race. According to Benedict XVI, the ultimate reason for loving God and men is that "God is love" (Deus Caritas Est) and men are made in his image. The Christian God, he says, is the Logos, (the Word: meaning and reason).

Reformed theology: glorify and enjoy God

The Westminster Shorter Catechism looked at the history of what God has taught man, and summarized it at its outset: "man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever". [3]

Worship God

Islam's viewpoint is that God created man for two purposes and these are 1) To serve and worship God by fulfilling all acts of worship prescribed by Him, and by keeping good relationship between human beings, even as God said in the Qur’an, “I have not created the Jinn and men but to serve me.” (Qur’an 51: 56). and 2) To be God’s Vicegerent on earth, even as God said in the Qur’an, “It is God who has created for you all that is on earth….And remember when your Lord said to the angels: ‘Verily, I am going to place a viceroy (mankind) on earth.’ They said: ‘Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, -while we glorify You with praise and sanctify You?” God said: ‘Verily, I know better what you do not know.’” (Qur’an 2: 29-30) This last verse refers to the time when God announced to the angels that He was going to create the first man, Adam (peace be upon him). Worshiping in Islam means to testify to the oneness of God in his lordship, names and attributes. All acts of worship should be exclusively for God, not through any intermediary nor with a hidden worldly intention. The term worship may be divided into two categories. That is the partaking of religious rituals, sanctioned by God or through working, producing, innovating and improving the quality of life, thus striving for the Creator. To Muslims, life was created as a test. Patience is seen as an integral part of the Muslim faith and character. How well one performs on this test will determine whether one finds a final home in Jannah (Heaven) or Jahenam (Hell).

[Ref: Imam, Abdul Jalil Ahmad, the Imam(Minister) of Rivervale Mosque, and religious adviser to the Islamic Council of W.A. 17th June 2002]

Sapiential meaning of life

In many esoteric strands of world religions, one encounters the meaning of life as "play".

The most notable of this is Hinduism's notion of lila (literally, "play"). This is the suggestion that the meaning of life is not a final goal which can be arrived at in time, but rather a sort of game in which every being is unwittingly playing. Although it is pleasurable or fulfilling to 'win' the game of existence (at the end of one's life or at the end of time), the game itself, like music, dance, or sport, creates meaning as it moves through time.

Similar ideas are contained in the hidden treasure referenced in hadith qudsi: "I (God) was a Hidden Treasure and I desired to be known. Therefore, I created creation in order that I might be known". In this esoteric Muslim view, generally held by Sufis, the universe exists only for God's pleasure. However, because the happiness of God is not dependent on anything temporal, creation works as a grand game with the Divine serving as the principal player and prize.

The Book of Job begins with God applauding over the piety of Job. Satan, says to God that Job is only faithful because he is rewarded accordingly, and asks permission of God to test Job. In his tribulation, Job suffers again and again without ever finding out the cause of his life's horrors. Instead, only God and the reader are allowed to know that the sorrows of life are merely a game played on the cosmic level. The game itself is incidental, yet at the same time the will of God in the creation of life.

A contemporary example of the sapiential approach to the meaning of life can be found in an online essay: "Soon You Will Understand...The Meaning of Life"

Spiritual and mystical views

Mitch Albom wrote about his dying professor Morrie and their last lessons together in the bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie in which some interesting questions were raised. Albom's life as a writer was until then in vain because he chased the wrong things in life: bigger houses, bigger cars, and bigger paychecks. No matter how big they were, they still could not fill his emptiness. The reality that we all have to confront eventually is the same thing Morrie realized when he learned he had Lou Gehrig's disease: that the world was as green and as alive as before he contracted the terminal illness. The world does not stand still nor come to an end just because you do. The professor's experience haunted the author in his ego-centric view of life, and inspired him to change. Albom learned from Professor Morrie that the true meanings in life are in the giving, the loving and the sharing of what you've had, which in turn live on by being passed down from generation to generation.

The Book of Light^[1] presents the nature of God and the purpose of creation. According to Michael Sharp, God is consciousness and the purpose of creation is to have fun (alleviate boredom). Creation exists "as a dream inside the mind of God" and we are all Sparks of the One Creator Consciousness. The Book of Light is a copyleft and available from [4]

The Urantia Book offers a point of view on the vast meaning of life by reconciling humankind's innumerable problems with discrepancies between creationism, evolution, cosmology, modern science, philosophy, history, theology and religion.

James Redfield gave his perspective on the meaning of life in his book The Celestine Prophecy, suggesting that the answers can be found within, through experiencing a series of personal spiritual insights. In his book God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution (2002), co-written with Michael Murphy, he claims that humanity is on the verge of undergoing a change in consciousness.

Another answer was given by Neale Donald Walsch in his trilogy Conversations with God, in which he asserts that the purpose of this present creation is for That-which-Is (God, Spirit) to know itself experientially rather than merely conceptually, by creating of itself a billion billion individuals who interact, and learn, and thus can rediscover, through actual experience, their divinity by experiencing and exploring it in this world.

Mythologist Joseph Campbell, in his famous The Power of Myth interviews with Bill Moyers, answered the question in the following way:

People say what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive so that the life experiences that we have on the purely physical plane will have resonances within, that are those of our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive..

The purpose of life in the words of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, renowned spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation:

One who knows, will not tell you! And anyone who attempts to tell you, please know that they don't know! But this much I can tell you... this very fact this question has arisen in your mind, you are lucky! Many people just live life without asking what is the purpose of life. This question itself is like tool, a vehicle for you to go deep into life... the quest for reality!

Mystical views

The view of mysticism varies widely according to how each speaker describes it. In general the view is broadly that life is a happening, an unfolding. There is no duality, it is a nondual worldview, in which subject and object are the same, the sense of doer-ship is illusionary. This view is central to Buddhism, and is also found in certain non-dual sects of Hinduism. Atheists such as Susan Blackmore and Sam Harris have recently advocated mysticism through rigorous meditation as the only reliable way of attaining sure knowledge of our subjective experience.

For a clear summary of one mystic's view on the meaning of life, see the article on Ramesh Balsekar, or the article on Mysticism.

Humorous and popular culture treatments

The very concept "the meaning of life" has become such a cliché that it has often been parodied, such as in the radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, later released as a novel, a television series, a film, and a computer game. As the story goes, an advanced race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings (mice) builds a gigantic computer called Deep Thought to find The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Seven and a half-million years later, the computer gives the answer: "42". After giving the answer to an (unsurprisingly) underwhelmed audience, Deep Thought explained that the problem with the answer was not the answer, but that no-one really knew what the question was. (It may be worth noting, that later on it is revealed to Arthur Dent, that the answer and the question cannot be known at the same time. In the book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, it is found that the question is: "What do you get if you multiply six by nine." The answer would be 54 in base ten, but 42 in base thirteen.) In reference to this series, "42" is commonly provided as an honest answer if someone feels the word "meaning" is too vague. Joe Bob Briggs miscommunicated this in one of his columns as "43". In one strip of the parody comic "Sev-space" it is inquired "why the number 47 constantly shows up on the monitor?" it is then stated that "42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything... But you get 47 if you adjust it to the inflation." This is an obvious reference to the "Star Trek" series where the number 47 is heavily featured [5].

Or maybe there is no meaning to life; that is, "What you see is what you get", as portrayed in the comedy film The Meaning of Life: you are born, you eat, you go to school, you have sex, you have children, you grow old (if someone doesn't kill you first), and you die, and in Heaven every day is Christmas. At the very end of the film, Michael Palin is handed an envelope, opens it, and says nonchalantly: "Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."

In The Simpsons episode "Homer The Heretic", a representation of God tells Homer what the meaning of life is, but as usual the one who really wanted to know (the viewer) is left disappointed. The dialogue goes as follows:

Homer: God, what's the meaning of life?
God: Homer, I can't tell you that.
Homer: Why not?
God: You'll find out when you die.
Homer: Oh, I can't wait that long.
God: You can't wait 6 months?
Homer: No, tell me now...
God: Oh, OK... The meaning of life is...[Theme music starts and the show ends. The creator's original idea was that a commercial would come after this scene and before the credits, thus having the commercial interrupt God's explanation to humorous effect]

In the Peanuts comic strip Charlie Brown explains he thinks the purpose of life is to make others happy, to which Lucy responds that she doesn't think she is making anyone happy, and—more importantly—no one is making her happy, so someone isn't doing their job.

Paul Gauguin's interpretation can be seen in the painting, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

In Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, Bill and Ted end up meeting God. Before being admitted into his presence, St. Peter (billed as The Gatekeeper on IMDb) asks them what the meaning of life is, and they reply "Every rose has its thorn. Every night has a dawn. Every cowboy sings a sad sad song.". These are the lyrics to the song "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison, a 1980s glam rock band.

Another popular belief is that the meaning of life is to die, according to comedians and other types of media. In a similar vein, antagonist Smith in the final part of The Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions, tells the protagonist Neo that "it was your life that taught me the purpose of all life. The purpose of life is to end."

In the movie Judge Dredd (1995):

Warden Miller: So tell me, Rico, what is the meaning of life?
Rico: It ends.

Conan the Barbarian, in the film of the same name, when asked, "What is best in life?" responds, "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." Here, the character Conan is quotes the twelfth century warlord Ghenghis Khan, who gave this answer in response to his friend's claim that what was best in life was "A fine hawk on the wrist, a clear day, and a fast horse upon which to ride". ( Refer to the novel _Ghenghis Khan_ by Harold Lamb for the exact quotation and context.)

In several different media, the theme of finding one's individual path is revealed. For example, Coelho's Alchemist and the movie City Slickers both present a similar theme: the meaning of life is an individual journey to find one's own "path". In this context, the "path", similar to what is defined in Buddhism as the "4th Noble Truth", is best explained simply as the overall way one chooses to lead their life. It is a different answer for each person, and the only obligation one has in life is to find his or her path.

Due to the apparently overwhelming "knowledge" of the MSN Messenger chat bot SmarterChild, its creators have claimed that the meaning of life is one of the most common requests from its users. The algorithm has since been tweaked so that instead of responding with a generic message, it replies with a humorous "ask Ken Ma" and a smiling emoticon. There has been speculation as to whether or not Ken Ma is a real person, whilst one common theory is that the name is an inside joke amongst the developers of the chat bot.

In his book A Man Without a Country, Kurt Vonnegut sums up life with the words: "We're all here to fart around. Don't let anyone tell you any different!" Although it could be said that he believes the meaning of life was stated best by his son Mark whom he quotes in two books, stating, "We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."

George Carlin has once said that the meaning of life is "to find a place to put all your stuff". In another skit he speculates the meaning of life is that the earth wanted plastic which humans pollute the world with.

One popular phrase is "The meaning of life is 'to live': it's in the dictionary[6]" which, although technically incorrect ("life" is a noun while "to live" describes a verb), has both a humorous meaning, and a more serious one, implying that the answer is to enjoy the ride.

References

^ The Book of Light: The Nature of God, The Structure of Consciousness, and The Universe Within You e-book accessed July 2006

Additional references

Dreams, Evolution, and Value Fulfilment, Jane Roberts, Amber-Allen Publishing.
Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement; by Anthony Robbins. Random House Publishing Group, 1987. ISBN 0-449-90280-3
The Science of Soulmates, By William Henderson, Booksurge 2002. ISBN 1-58898-611-X

Philosophy

Hanfling, Oswald [ed.] Life and Meaning: A Reader 1987, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-15784-0
Nozick, Robert. The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations 1989, New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-72501-7
Wiggins, David. "Truth, Invention, and the Meaning of Life" in Proceedings of the British Academy LXII (1976); reprinted in his Needs, Values, Truth (Aristotelian Society Series, Volume 6) 2nd edition, 1991, Oxford, Basil Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-17555-5
Andrew Kernohan. A Guide for the Godless: The Secular Path to Meaning 2006, Ourmedia: Open Archive.

Thaddeus Metz. Several professional journal articles on life's meaning [7]

External links

Order in info.Life is another form of order.
The Big Question: why are we here? - A probable and satisfying ultimate answer from evolutionary biology. Video with Richard Dawkins.
Can Life Have Meaning without God? (From the Secular Web library)
World Center for the Study of Kabbalah
Looking for the Meaning of Life, by James Leonard Park - A probable answer.
The Purpose of Life, by Hashi Mohamed - An Islamic perspective.
What is Life’s Purpose? The Meaning of life in Judaism
The FAQ of life - by Eliezer S. Yudkowsky, transhumanist
The Meaning of Life, or, What's it all About? - a world view, by anonymous
Life's Rational Meaning - science-based, holistic philosophy of life
The Way home or face The Fire - The Meaning of Life - A deeply religious view.
Why Life Extension or Why Live at All? Desire for life extension is rooted in the valuation of life.
Erwin Schrödinger "What is Life?"
Exploring Meaning through Modern Myths
Hedonism & Meaning of life
The Logic of Existential Meaning
Michio Kaku homepage [11]
Frank Tipler homepage [12]
Matti Pitkänen homepage [13]
Website for philosophical counseling supporting
the treatment of depression [14]
"In Love with Wisdom and The Meaning of Life"
The Answer to the Question Fred C. May Jr.
Where Is Meaning Found? - A Christian perspective.
"The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?" by Rick Warren - A Christian perspective.
What is the Meaning of Life? - From a Church of God perspective.
The Meaning of Life for Dummies - a revealing post from Andrea Ciulu's blog
Spiritual Heart Educational video film about the meaning of our lives and its realization.

[Michael_Sharp-1] The Book of Light: The Nature of God, The Structure of Consciousness, and The Universe Within You e-book accessed July 2006

[1]