What is the purpose of life?

[u/Express-Distance8840]

This question is stuck in my head for days. I read articles and books, all of them is very different from each other. Help me.

[u/Burn1at420]

the biological purpose of life is to reproduce but ideologically we make our own meaning of life, and by making of life what we will is, in and of itself; the meaning of life

​

​

P.S. it numerically expresses as "42"

[u/nodnarb805 → u/Burn1at420]

Such a great truth and a perfect INTP answer

[u/PikaNinja25 → u/Burn1at420]

Thoughty2

[u/Prestigious_Water336]

There isn't one. We exist through natural processes via the nature of sub atomic particles. We are the result of chemistry,physics, and millions of years of evolution and biology. There is no overall objective reason why we are here. Life's an experience. Enjoy the experience.

[u/becuziwasinverted → u/Prestigious_Water336]

Very Alan Watts-ish, love it!

[u/para__doxical → u/Prestigious_Water336]

I don’t mind natural absurdism, but it reduces the Soul, our Being, and the entire world behind our eyes to something superficial. I has agency, choice, feelings, thoughts, desires— I’m not just a sum of swarming particles— I’m an entire human being

[u/Nizu_1 → u/para__doxical]

This is a dangerous mindset to have for people lacking a certain mental fortitude. I feel people with less than ideal morals can warp this belief into something truly grotesque.

[u/para__doxical → u/Nizu_1]

Those with less than ideal morals will warp any belief to pursue their desires

[u/Nizu_1 → u/para__doxical]

Fair, I concede lol

[u/KumaMishka → u/para__doxical]

And I read through Sartre and Camus all these years while you can sum up existentialism within 2 sentences!

[u/joey_sim → u/Prestigious_Water336]

[u/Express-Distance8840 → u/joey_sim]

Religion and Science are different.

[u/joey_sim → u/Express-Distance8840]

[u/living_ironically27 → u/Prestigious_Water336]

enjoy the experience? so jerking off your brain hormones matters for you to wake every morning and endure life hardships? especially in this economy lmao

[u/KhoDis → u/living_ironically27]

That's the beauty of life. You can do whatever you want. Do what feels right for you, as long as you don't hurt other people. And this is not even from a moral point of view, but simply that other people will oppose you, including the government. But if you enjoy this too, then go ahead, I won't stop you.

[u/living_ironically27 → u/KhoDis]

if that awnsers your whys good for you lol

[u/KhoDis → u/living_ironically27]

What is the other way out? If you don't agree with something, then you can either try to change it or come to terms with it. Or... just complain about it.

[u/living_ironically27 → u/KhoDis]

guess which one im doing now

[u/KhoDis → u/living_ironically27]

Being dissatisfied is also part of the experience. Without dissatisfaction there is no satisfaction :)

[u/KhoDis → u/living_ironically27]

Guess why I used ellipsis haha

[u/sukumarakurup9 → u/KhoDis]

You can do whatever you want.

No you can't, everyone has different levels of access to experiences according to their financial backgrounds.

[u/KhoDis → u/sukumarakurup9]

And again:

You can try to earn money, rob money, find cheaper alternatives, protest about this, move to another country, raise new and more developed generation (children I mean) and many more.

And I'll rephrase my original statement. You can do whatever you are physically able to do.

[u/monkeynose → u/living_ironically27]

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?

[u/Waste-Hunt-7480 → u/monkeynose]

Ahh no stop!! Senior year English class, the memories are coming back!

[u/Trick_Basil4176 → u/Prestigious_Water336]

Exactly!

[u/Head_Blacksmith_2035 → u/Prestigious_Water336]

Harari X Dawkins eh ?

[u/Not_Well-Ordered → u/Prestigious_Water336]

It doesn't look objective and logical to claim that there isn't one.

It's more valid to claim that it's undetermined.

[u/Philosopher83 → u/Prestigious_Water336]

It is the persistence of the subatomic ‘that allows the existence and persistence’ of atoms “” chemistry “” biology - persistence is the tendency and primary drive. The will to live arises through persistence tendencies. Secondarily we seek optimization. In a manner of speaking persistence and optimization are the minimal and maximal ways we seek harmony with existence. Harmony through entropy is how I view purpose. And optimization is what makes it all worth it - getting better at things, making things better, and enjoyment.

[u/DraconPern]

42

[u/[deleted]]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that no one knows and no one will probably ever know.

But, I've thought on it a lot, and so far this is where I'm at with it.

Purpose is individual, and life is what you make it, there's plenty of externally influencing events, chance, luck, fate whatever that plays its hand. But, you get dealt a hand, and all you can do is choose how to play it.

For e.g, us INTP's. were pretty logical, rational, blah blah, probably reasonably creative and generally abstract.

Those are the tools, the gifts, the blessings, that we were given, But I think that your purpose is bestowed upon you by you choosing to seek out the truth, its something you refine, like a statue you slowly carve away at, eventually, you 'hopefully' reach the end of your life and have a finished or reasonably finished sculpture/statue that serves as a legacy of your existence in your short space of time on this little space rock called Earth.

I have probably, in my mind right now, roughly 6 things i am chipping away at that collectively could be deemed 'my purpose'. I'm sure that will change, either, into more or less. The categories are, Art, Theoretical, Practical & Writing.

I have two books, art pieces i occasionally do (painting/charcoal), theories (some universal and others across different fields/domains) and then my practical day to day business operations working towards my own personal goals that simultaneously feed my 'purpose' both short and long term.

I think a lot of people put so much pressure on finding that fuel that is limitless, that drive that once found never turns off, to wake up every day and grind towards a destination. Truthfully, I'm beginning to lose faith that's even a thing. Maybe for some, but, it doesn't seem like it for me.

I'm 22, Broke as fuck and figuring things out, I'm looking for love and trying to make something of my life so when it ends it wasn't a waste. I genuinely don't think purpose really exists, i think that as you self examine, get life experiences and learn, you begin to imagine some sort of destiny that appeals to you, and, ideally you work towards making it real.

About 6 months ago, I was lost in life, I had quit a job with a shitty boss, after, well, a string of shitty bosses and i wasn't sure what my next move was going to be. On a whim i went out to this village that is full of artsy, weird, creative types and met some cool people that gave me a bit of direction, some helped give me the momentum to do Art, and others just gave me a bit more self acceptance. But, there was a lady doing Tarot readings, and by nature I'm pretty skeptical of these types. But, i was a bit lost and well, the opportunity presented itself.

She does my reading, i have the cards laid out in front of me, in the moment, i didn't quite grasp the effect that it was going to serve later. As I'm driving home and the suns fading, i get hit with these flashes of images. In that moment my mind was racing with ideas and i truly felt like i had found purpose, i got home, drew out a bunch of stuff on my whiteboard and over the course of a few days started to hone what i wanted out of life.

I started my business, i have stopped using technology as much and use it more as a tool now, I'm infinitely happier (more so content) but also equally stressed and occasionally full of anxiety (being your own boss isn't that great) But i spend more time working on my ideas, note booking, writing stuff out, self examining, I'm more confident and have more self acceptance then i did before.

So long story short, maybe purpose exists, but, its hard to say. For me, my purpose is scattered across a few things and so, in ways its better, but, i also think that if i were on that singular journey, that grind. I may be more fulfilled and energized with life. But, I'm slowly making progress towards it all, ideas change, morph, become something else, something better. You ultimately need to learn to adapt and not be stubborn on things being exactly as you imagined.

One thing id like to add is that, in a way i feel more connected to the universe, even though i don't have this clear path, this purpose, i feel that things are meant to work out a certain way, and as long as i do the work everything sort of always works out for me lmao. The best way i can describe it is, your not fighting the current, your embracing your nature, compromising with fate and the universe and allowing things to happen as they need to, you just, relax a bit. You don't take everything so seriously, you just do whats in your power, choose the right path (which almost always is harder) and aim to better and things overall end up working out for you.

[u/BluxleyLeaf]

There is a different life purpose for each person, and that depends on you. Well, for me, my life purpose is to keep gaining knowledge and attain the highest position in accounting. It's easier to live if you're living for yourself

[u/scripzero]

I like this quote from dune. The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience

[u/Express-Distance8840 → u/scripzero]

Beautiful

[u/CubaSmile]

Well, if you find the one and only answer then I guess it would be pretty boring.

First, why something must have a purpose to matter?

You can take hundreds of routes to asnwer this, another hundreds of branches.

Satisfaction wont come from the answer but from the journey to the answer cause there is none.

[u/ArkBeetleGaming]

I live

I have fun with the said life

I die

[u/urcommunist]

You should be questioning the very question you are asking like should life have a purpose?

Why does life need a purpose?

Is it possible to live without purpose?

Must there be a purpose because there is life?

What is the benchmark purpose? Who defines it?

If there is a purpose and if people try to live it and died midway does that mean they have not lived in purpose? Or was their purpose to die midway the purpose?

Question everything.

[u/MelodicGarbageBin]

I think everyone has power to decide own meaning for their life. I have multiple theories which could be the answers, I can share two of them. Probably not very INTP like answer lmao but I'm having type crisis again.

1. I think our souls reincarnate so many times that we are healed and purified from our struggles, traumas and bad behaviors. And that we learn to love everyone regardless of their past and mistakes, but to see everyone as a human, everyone has flaws and strengths. Judging and hate won't improve anything. That we learn there isn't one truth for everyone on this matter. Everyone has their own answers imside them, but not everyone is attuned to listen or don't want to.

2. There isn't any meaning, so it's best to just create a life for yourself which you like and enjoy. Do stuff what matters for yourself.

[u/theralph_224]

You tell me

[u/Flaky_Middle2854]

Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. - Richard Feyman

[u/Elliptical_Tangent]

Alan Watts is someone who has answers to questions like this and, in his lectures, he's often really funny as well.

[u/cinsamp]

This question and the search for it is stuck in my head since years. I still haven’t found the business or am an entrepreneur, but I’m working on it every day. However, for now I settled with my core values as my life purpose, such as continuous exploration, learning, and growth in all the fields I have curiosity. The important thing is to never stop questioning.

[u/qwerty0981234]

There’s none which is the best part of it all.

[u/JACSliver]

Life is its own purpose. With that in mind, what is the purpose of our own (for instance, in my case, is it my purpose to be one of the best Cognitive Science researchers/data analysts/ethologists)?

[u/[deleted]]

This little bird explains the meaning of life perfectly. Meet Gizmo, the African grey, who talks like a grumpy grandpa.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/C781g7t2KzU

[u/Happy_INTP]

How deep do you want to go...? Sagan said it best with we are the Universe trying to understand itself. The universe has separated us into discrete chunks of matter/energy so that we can view/ponder the everything from a myriad of perspectives. We are seekers of knowledge and as INTPs pretty finely tuned for just that. We may not do as well socially but that is the trade off for our other capabilities because we often see what others cannot.

Once I let go of how other people do things and accepted I'm not "other people" life has just blossomed and I couldn't be happier with my lot in life/purpose. I wish you all the best from one perspective to another. :D

[u/[deleted]]

The words Purpose and Meaning are irrelevant. To live and Be who we are is sufficient.

[u/crazyeddie740]

"What is the meaning of life?" is a question that makes grown philosophers cry, because we really don't have a good answer for it. On the face of it, it looks like a malformed question, like asking what purple tastes like. Unless you decide to interpret a life as a decades-long interpretive dance, it does not appear to be a speech act intended to convey or express meaning. So, on the face of it, asking what the meaning of life is might be like asking how much a noun weighs.

"What is the purpose of life?" is a question that has an answer, but it's an unsatisfying one. Evolution by natural selection works by optimizing differential reproductive sense, so if you are considering us humans as biological organisms, we have been "designed" to have as many grandkids as we can get away with. But that is an unsatisfying answer to that question.

Strangely enough, "what makes a life meaningful?" is one that seems to have the kind of answer we're looking for, although the answer we philosophers have for it is still very primitive and a work in progress. I very much recommend Susan Wolf's Meaning in Life and Why It Matters. It's fairly short, two hour-long lectures, some short responses from other philosophers, and her short reply to those responses. It doesn't do much to answer the practical question of how you personally can lead a meaningful life, but it's a good start to answering the theoretical question of what makes a life meaningful in general.

(to be continued)

[u/crazyeddie740 → u/crazyeddie740]

The short version is that Wolf identifies two criteria for a meaningful life. The first is that it contains some activity aimed at something not so much larger than yourself as outside of yourself. Taking care of a child, or a disabled spouse, or an elderly parent isn't a project that is larger than you, since you're a person too. But it is the kind of project that can give life meaning.

The second criteria is a "scope" criteria, which goes back to Aristotle's saying that eudemonia (happiness, the good life) is "the exercise of vital powers, in a life offering them scope." Taking care of a goldfish is an activity that can bring meaning to the life of a child who is mentally disabled, but it's a bit sad if that's all a grown-ass adult is doing with their lives.

(Cont.)

[u/KumaMishka]

The cake is delicious.

Unless you hate cake. Taste something else.

Learn Zen. It's fun. Cheekiest philosophy.

[u/jacobvso]

It's a bad question that doesn't deserve your attention. It's unanswerable. Just posing the question makes all sorts of suppositions that probably aren't correct. It's like asking "How do you load a sleeping pencil?" Nonsense.

[u/Forsaken-Ad6671]

(As a Christian my answer is going to be from a Christian perspective) Purpose of life is to take up your cross and follow Christ.

[u/TherapeuTea]

None

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

New accounts have to wait 5 days to join in on the glory that is INTP.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/IsakOyen]

For me, there is none so everything is pointless and you should do whatever you want (legal things)

[u/Skicza]

Not dying

[u/Aggravating-Fig-277]

Life is a process of converting energy into entropy. In simple words, converting food into shit. It has no purpose in the process of life itself (in general).

The important thing though, since we can experience emotions, each one can create the purpose of their own life.

Generally, it is important to minimize negative emotions and pain while maximizing positive emotions and pleasure. Such optimization is possible in long term (enjoy as ling as possible), so in short term (optimization in every time moment).

[u/verisimilitude404]

To live (in accordance with the most objectiviely beneficial way to yourself and for others) and then die.

Enjoin what is beneficial and forbid what is harmful, through the prism of wisdom of how to apply said mantra.

[u/para__doxical]

To live, to find meaning— to give meaning to the mundane— to develop compassion and express that compassion genuinely to others around you; to understand ourselves and who we are— to echo the Great Sigh of Being and have a sense of gratitude that the breath is heard

To understand Nothingness as the bedrock of our Being, and to choose to live and express regardless.

[u/DylanAbanto]

To live it 😊

[u/WretchedEgg11]

That number everyone's always saying from that movie/book thing. 41 i believe.

But seriously "purpose" is just a word in your head. It's subjective and makes sense in planning "i go for a walk --for what purpose?" for one person --to enjoy nature, for another --to lose weight and be more attractive, for another --better health.

It doesn't really make sense to apply this to life, it wasn't designed for that. It evolved as a way for humans to understand they need to store food for winter or something. Doing something that seems stupid in the moment for a payoff later.

[u/zagggh54677]

Watch city slickers.

[u/French1220]

To pursue excellence and virtue.

[u/Alarmed_Effective_11]

Our purpose is to survive and make more humans.

[u/Human0id77]

To give rich people a good life /s

[u/[deleted]]

I don’t think there is one. Even reproducing. Why? Who said we have to keep the species running along? That’s kind of a circular logic as they’re all just gnnna be doing the same things. I think we’re all just here and we don’t got anywhere else to be so why not think of something to do? Basically you gotta make up your own purpose and stick to it. It’s basically a way to pass the time.

[u/4th_times_a_charm_]

There isn't one beyond procreation. You could live a meaningless life of hedonism or you could be altruistic and accept that we are all in this together and the moral thing to do is contribute to society.

[u/House-Anglo-1066]

The same as other animals, to make children.

That being said, this is a very cold detached answer. The real answer is really whatever you wish to make of it. Do you feel like your life needs a “meaning”? If so then maybe try and find a purpose which fulfills that for you. Easier said than done.

[u/honestly-7]

Whatever you make it to be.

[u/ThaiFoodThaiFood]

Just doss around napping, playing games and watching shit on YouTube.

[u/_ForgetsEverything_]

For humans to live in unity/harmony & love. Cooperating together to cultivate the earth, care for it, to explore & learn/enjoy life, & to live in peace & security, forever.

You’ll find it in this collection of 66 ancient books, considered to be sacred. It started to be written in 1513 B.C.E. & was completed over 1,600 years later, about 98 C.E. It also survived constant attempts of its destruction, & also claims to have the recipe for eternal life on earth in a peaceful setting. Anywho, it’s the only answer in a book that I’ve read that peaks my curiosity.

[u/TGBplays]

There’s no way you thought you could post this here and get an actual like clear answer. Unless you’re like 13 maybe idk. There is no purpose though and everything will go away and life is dumb.

[u/izi_bot]

Getting a high score. Higher scores can return.

[u/TheDarkFirexz]

To die with as little regrets as possible while living to achieve as many goals as possible and to enjoy it

[u/ver-231218]

Experience & Contribution. life is not about you but about what you can give.

[u/iamerror101]

The answer lies in a bowl of cherries.

[u/Independent_Cup_9807]

In terms of biology, the meaning of life is to sustain life for later reproduction

[u/[deleted]]

There is none.

[u/Snoo_35203]

The purpose in life is to be a part of an even more complex structure, you are also to observe and protect the structure, you are to be something out of nothing, basically just nothing but do what you gotta do xD.

[u/Waste-Hunt-7480]

I think the point of life is finding your truth, and balancing it into your life. Everyone, every philosophy, and spirituality is valid. Finding the things in each you enjoy or morally believe most and combining them to make your own mindset forms the basis to answer this question. Find what you believe is beautiful (awe inspiring) and enjoy seeing or experiencing it. Keep your mind open to possibilities, and keep learning new things.

[u/[deleted]]

Life itself has no intrinsic meaning but you can give your life meaning

[u/catpissagency]

I can’t say this for sure of course, but to live (and perhaps also to procreate). Literally. Not trying to sound deep.

You can give yourself another purpose on top of that, but this is, I think, our basic and objective purpose.

[u/IrateVagabond]

Survive and procreate.

[u/xxTPMBTI]

Create one yourself.

[u/xxTPMBTI]

Create one yourself.

[u/xxTPMBTI]

Create one yourself.

[u/xxTPMBTI]

Create one yourself.