What is the purpose of life?

bobcat said:
Over the years, I have learned to view life with a more Darwinian perspective. Biological organisms evolve and just do what they do, and the ones who do things that ensure their survival for a subsequent generation will continue, providing they adapt to the current environment. Those who don't will die off. Procreation is built into that rule. I wouldn't call it a purpose, but it is a necessity.
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Just as Necessity is the mother of invention, so invention is the provider of purpose.
 

OldFeller said:
Just as Necessity is the mother of invention, so invention is the provider of purpose.
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Well, if one views the natural selection product as "inventions", then it implies an inventor, and if there is an inventor, then obviously it points to a purpose. But again, it's a subjective viewpoint.
 
bobcat said:
Well, if one views the natural selection product as "inventions", then it implies an inventor, and if there is an inventor, then obviously it points to a purpose. But again, it's a subjective viewpoint.
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There are two ways to consider the question of life's purpose. Yours is to try and answer from a perspective that humans can't reliably answer and mine is to consider what gives our individual lives purpose. What nature does and why is not up to us to decide. But we can decide what will give our own lives purpose.
 

OldFeller said:
we can decide what will give our own lives purpose.
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I wouldn't argue with that. The problem with the question is that it usually carries a hidden agenda. Not always, of course, but most of the time, I think. I myself have always had a purpose, but I always decided what that was, usually to the disappointment of my father. My mother was more of a find you own way type of person.
 
JustDave said:
It would seem that most people make the time, including some of the classical philosophers. I dabbled in it, but it's no longer a high priority. The question itself is loaded, and I believe a logical fallacy. I think it's the one called begging the question, as it makes the unwarranted claim that life has a purpose, and then demands to know what that purpose would be. Who says there's a purpose?

Life is a chemical process involving the duplication of DNA. All those chemicals going about perpetuating life have no sense that they are doing something. They just react the way chemicals do. They cannot plan to evolve or create, and they have no agenda.
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Not a fallacy itself, but as you say, it already assumes there is a purpose. There may or may not be one Purpose, only many different ones we might have in common. Pleasure, happiness, being virtuous, love children, God, wealth,, etc. ??
 
OldFeller said:
There are two ways to consider the question of life's purpose. Yours is to try and answer from a perspective that humans can't reliably answer and mine is to consider what gives our individual lives purpose. What nature does and why is not up to us to decide. But we can decide what will give our own lives purpose.
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Agreed, which was my comment at the beginning of the thread.
 
bobcat said:
Over the years, I have learned to view life with a more Darwinian perspective. Biological organisms evolve and just do what they do, and the ones who do things that ensure their survival for a subsequent generation will continue, providing they adapt to the current environment. Those who don't will die off. Procreation is built into that rule. I wouldn't call it a purpose, but it is a necessity.
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Yes, and because Evolution in the end always favors the superior, overall progress ensues.
There are those who believe we are wonderful evolving organisms going who knows where --maybe to Nietzsche's superman, or maybe godlike creatures (the purpose of life).
Or there are those who say we are robots --just carriers of these improvements --no better than the proverbial camel nodding at two savory herbs equidistant from his nose. He's stuck, a broken machine, can't make up his mind, he dies in that position (no purpose in his life).
Or maybe not.
 
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gruntlabor said:
Yes. but because Evolution in the end always favors the superior, overall progress ensues.
There are those who believe we are wonderful evolving organisms going who knows where --maybe to Nietzsche's superman, or maybe godlike creatures (the purpose of life).
Or there are those who say we are robots --no better than the proverbial camel nodding at two savory herbs equidistant from his nose. He's stuck, a broken machine, can't make up his mind, he dies in that position (no purpose in life).
Or maybe not.
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It is my understanding that it isn't the superior that survive, unless it's interpreted differently. It is those that can adapt and are able to reproduce that survive. The dinosaurs were superior in many ways, but they couldn't adapt. Apparently the lowly Opossum's relatives managed it by having an omnivorous diet, they didn't need a lot of calories, and had frequent litters.
 
The problem with asking 'what is the purpose in life'; it assumes there is a purpose of life. Life "is". A rock sitting on the side of the road doesn't have a "purpose", it just is. While a rock and a human may not seem equal, both are comprised of atoms and exist because of certain processes. Rocks exist because of geological processes, and humans because of biological processes. Humans can attach 'meaning', but that's only a human concept.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
The problem with asking 'what is the purpose in life'; it assumes there is a purpose of life. Life "is". A rock sitting on the side of the road doesn't have a "purpose", it just is. While a rock and a human may not seem equal, both are comprised of atoms and exist because of certain processes. Rocks exist because of geological processes, and humans because of biological processes. Humans can attach 'meaning', but that's only a human concept.
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I agree that a rock maybe doesn't have a purpose. But is it impossible that the objective purpose of a rock is that life has something to stand upon?
 
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Jazzy1 said:
What is the purpose of life? To make your own memories and to live your life how you wish, or to leave fond memories of yourself in the minds of others?
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One of the truly glorious gifts given to us is that we get to set our own meaning to ourselves, and to things. As such, there is no overbearing meaning to life, imo. Well, other than continuing to live. I have the full intention of being here tomorrow. ;)

Still, we live in a society, and societies have rules, customs, and norms - and we have to reel in our wants and needs a little in order to be respectful and a decent person, imo. However, once you're in your living room, and the door is closed, you get to choose. Some will choose wisely, some not.
 
JustDave said:
It would seem that most people make the time, including some of the classical philosophers. I dabbled in it, but it's no longer a high priority. The question itself is loaded, and I believe a logical fallacy. I think it's the one called begging the question, as it makes the unwarranted claim that life has a purpose, and then demands to know what that purpose would be. Who says there's a purpose?

Life is a chemical process involving the duplication of DNA. All those chemicals going about perpetuating life have no sense that they are doing something. They just react the way chemicals do. They cannot plan to evolve or create, and they have no agenda.
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I totally get looking into the question philosophically. I was being subjective and thinking of all the self-help books out there, with the title " What is the Purpose of your Life? " And they talk about, baking could be the purpose of your life, art could be the purpose of your life, music could be the purpose of your life, etc.
 
As I understand the meaning of life, it's to procreate 2x +++ of you and your mate.
There is a lot of misconception of what life means. Some think Forever! ..... :ROFLMAO: ........
Live today, gone forever, is that a thought for wisdom to ponder?
 
LoveTulips said:
I totally get looking into the question philosophically. I was being subjective and thinking of all the self-help books out there, with the title " What is the Purpose of your Life? " And they talk about, baking could be the purpose of your life, art could be the purpose of your life, music could be the purpose of your life, etc.
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Why should anyone have to tell one that he is here for a short time and gone forever. only replacing his self makes sense.
Haven't heard of my 10 grandchildren having kids; yet. Finger crossed, any day?
 
In the long term (billions of years) nothing in the Universe will survive in its current form. Stars including our own Sol will expand into bloated giants destroying their own solar systems. Many larger suns will go nova and explode. The Universe will continue to expand until objects become so far apart they are invisible to each other. Cosmic Heat Death will move everything to or very near absolute zero until there is no longer enough variance for working energy. All of this is where my remark about increasing entropy (disorder) comes in to play.

The Universe becomes very quiet, very cold, very dark.......but (according to the laws of thermodynamics "matter can neither be created or destroyed") the Spacetime Universe will still be there. What happens next is something I would really like to know as would every Astrophysicist currently alive.
 
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Llynn said:
In the long term (billions of years) nothing in the Universe will survive in its current form. Stars including our own Sol will expand into bloated giants destroying their own solar systems. Many larger suns will go nova and explode. The Universe will continue to expand until objects become so far apart they are invisible to each other. Cosmic Heat Death will move everything to or very near absolute zero until there is no longer enough variance for working energy. All of this is where my remark about increasing entropy (disorder) comes in to play.

The Universe becomes very quiet, very cold, very dark.......but (according to the laws of thermodynamics "matter can neither be created or destroyed") the Spacetime Universe will still be there. What happens next is something I would really like to know as would every Astrophysicist currently alive.
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It's really easy to understand, the open ness of an unimaginable area of space, just waiting for space time to happen.
It won't cease to exist; it will simply happen. Sort of Thinking ya know what's going on, your first mistake. Thinking one has
to prove its flat is totally crazy! Believing one can understand it all is foolish. Galaxies when observed in their past spin in
all kids of different directions. All stuff spins and moves in sort of circulars around stuff.

Of course, it's sort of easy to get that nothing moves in a purr fect
circular orbit! I sort of believe the Universe that I am aware of most likely is in an orbit!
Not a flat plane, just orbiting something as a whole around whatever else's orbiting other stuff.

Most likely the rule of the Eternity we call whatever is "orbiting stuff make stuff keep on keeping on.
Because of Vibrating energy waves.

Energy changes form but it remains a vibration.
 
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LoveTulips said:
I totally get looking into the question philosophically. I was being subjective and thinking of all the self-help books out there, with the title " What is the Purpose of your Life? " And they talk about, baking could be the purpose of your life, art could be the purpose of your life, music could be the purpose of your life, etc.
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Whatever one believes the purpose of life is, it's a subjective claim. There's nothing wrong with subjectivity. Just don't say it is objectivity.
 
As I recall from earlier studies, the Hopi say that our bodies are Earth’s borrowed clay, shaped for a time, and then softened back into her embrace.

I always liked that, as it rings true with how nature works, and it helped me to see that death is never an end. It is just a gateway to the next incarnation. Perhaps that could be interpreted as the "purpose". Life is a kaleidoscope of creativity, and in a philosophical sense, it's purpose is to express itself in endless ways with the resources left from the departed.

Life is infinitely creative because it has to be. The more diverse, the better chance of survival.
 

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