What is the meaning of existence? is there one at all?

The meaning is whatever you make of it. Make your own meaning, don’t follow someone else’s.

@samanthabarnum a good answer…i dont reckon you can ever follow someone elses..not really…people have probably tried and failed

To make plastic

Humans exist because THE EARTH NEEDS PLASTIC

Life has no meaning. It is nothing more than biochemical fluke.

Either that or 42.

@evelyns_pet_zebra Hivemind!

its true you can never have enough plastic tatt

42

@Lightlyseared I often think that…but then what if its something tottaly random like we exist because if we didnt then baked beans wouldnt be invented

Us. All of us. We give life it’s meaning.

i think that we exist because if we didnt then we wouldnt…and that would be rubbish

and also something more boring and gaseous might exist insted

@Mozart that’s the answer to what is six multiplied by nine

Humans exist because that damn comet wiped out the dinosaurs. Had there been no comet 65 million years ago, the dominant life form now ruling the planet would look like this

For me, the meaning of life is to be happy.

The purpose of existence is for God to experience reality.

Reality is God’s way of experiencing everything.

This is why there is good and evil. God wants to know and experience (not just dream about) everything from the tiniest quantum fluctuations to the massive attraction between galaxies. It’s why babies cry. Why birds sing. Why pleasure is so sublime and why cruelty is horrible. It’s why love is eternal and life is not.

Its the real thing.

rofl @evelyns_pet_zebra that pic is awesome i wish i was a lizardwoman

To believe in a meaning for our existence is to believe in a plan. This plan would give us a reason for our existence but does however require us to believe in the existence of some higher deity. If you do not believe in God then you presumably do not believe in a plan. I say presumably because perhaps there is a way at looking at the development of mankind towards some final goal that does not require that God play any part in it. But I consider that would be taking an altruistic view of life, believing that we should act for the benefit of mankind, which is great and all, but hardly the reason for our existence.

@evelyns_pet_zebra
But they do rule the world!

@noodle_poodle If one could substitute the word “meaning” for ‘purpose’ then I would answer – To have fun.

And to help others to do the same.

@PerryDolia . . .Well put.

The meaning of existence is to exist and be/do the best you can be/do.

I might have some religious/metaphysical meanings I find in existence, but instead, I’d like to quote sci-fi author Isaac Asimov:

“It seems to me that when it’s time to die, there would be a certain pleasure in thinking that you had utilized your life well, learned as much as you could, gathered in as much as possible of the universe, and enjoyed it. There’s only this one universe and only this one lifetime to try to grasp it.”

Faith aside, we don’t know if there is anything after this, so I think we all need to just experience it all and die happy.

I will quote Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life:

I used to work in the Académie Française
but it didn’t do me any good at all.
And I once worked in the library in the Prado in Madrid
But it didn’t teach me nothing I recall.

And the Library of Congress
you would have thought would hold some key
but it didn’t and neither did
the Bodlean Library.

In The British Museum
I hoped to find some clue
I worked there from nine till six
Read every volume through

But it didn’t teach me nothing
about life’s mystery.
I just kept getting older,
it got more difficult to see.

Till eventually me eyes went
and me arthritis got bad.
So now I’m cleaning up in here
but I can’t be really sad.

Cause you see I feel that life’s a game.
You sometimes win or lose.
And though I may be down right now
at least I don’t work for Jews.

@teh_kvlt_liberal well, they at least rule CNN

My plan is to remain skeptical of all the people who claim to know the will of their imaginary friends in the sky and to tell me there is a plan to it all, when the truth is, life, and the universe, and everything, is a crap shoot.

Yes, there is. However, I can’t tell you what it is. You’re the only one who can do that. You’re the only one in your life who can make meaning. It’s not something someone else can do for you. I my opinion, however, only humans can make meaning. If you can’t make meaning, you really aren’t a person.

@daloon lurve to you for that lovely answer.

to make babies.

The meaning of existence is to make fun of your face.

Without a belief in something, the meaning of life is nothing more than to eat, drink, be merry, then collapse in a pile of used up chemicals.

Looks like this place is quite existentialist in nature..

I like to think that the meaning of existence is to experience it to its fullest.

to live learn and be happy

There is no meaning of existence. Our existence, that is to say not just creatures but intelligent thinking ones, is really a huge improbability, but due to the size of the universe we know it has happened at least once!

So we’re a fluke, pretty much. An accident. What is the purpose of an accident? It just happens, there is no purpose. And the same is true with life. There is no meaning to existence.

That said, given that there is no meaning, humanity has generally speaking done a pretty good job at striving towards the future. We love knowledge, we love learning about ourselves and why we are here and what the universe really is. Then again some people love cooking and eating Italian food with the same passion. Good on them!

My outlook is this: I exist, so I’m gonna take advantage of it. I communicate with other intelligent beings, like what I’m doing right now. I learn and experiment and explore the world around me, as well as observing explorations that I cannot do myself (yet), like watching documentaries about Antarctica or videos of Neil Armstrong in space. I create art, I take huge pride in knowing that despite our huge population, the item I have created with my own is completely unique and unlike any other object in the world. I spend a lot of time thinking and reflecting on my life in various ways, including talking here on Fluther, writing blog posts, thinking deep thoughts, and being with friends.

This outlook has helped me to deal with negativity in the world as well. Since life is a fluke and I don’t believe in any sort of afterlife, this life is the only one I have. I don’t want to waste it being angry at people, holding grudges, or doing things I don’t love to do.

@dynamicduo Since life is a fluke and I don’t believe in any sort of afterlife, this life is the only one I have. I don’t want to waste it being angry at people, holding grudges, or doing things I don’t love to do.

I couldn’t agree more. What is scary to me is that I can be in so much unrelenting pain that I even consider giving up this amazing gift. When I’m well, that thought scares the shit out of me. When I’m sick, sometimes I can think that permanent oblivion makes sense. Especially since I won’t be around to know I’m not around. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!

As it turns out, trees, whales, Barrack Obama, and every other life form on this planet is made of pure, concentrated evil.

Our purpose is to pollute, overuse, overpopulate, and destroy as much of our planet as possible to rid the universe of these uber evil supper beings.

I can’t do it by myself, I can only strangle 20 MAYBE 30 baby seals a day. If I neglect stomping on bunnies and torching trees.

Seriously, just leave a light on when you don’t need it. The little things can help.

The purpose (or meaning) is to survive. Nothing else, nothing more. Once you survive, it’s all up to you.

my friend and i had a conversation about this the other night. i think the best you can do is treat people well, stand up for what you believe in, and try to make the best of things.
as for a meaning of existence of the entire human race? i’m not quite sure there is one. i think it’s nice to think that the purpose of life in general is to co-exist peacefully, so if your personal meaning of life coincides with that one, you’re on your way to being successful at both.

Yes, existence means now. Non-existence is, to delineate, never. It is a tense, not a thing.

There is a Cherokee saying: ‘When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.’

Pleasure is the meaning of existence, as all human actions are done out of self-pleasure, & no, a selfless act is not possible because there is no emotional drive for it. Neutral (gray area) is not a emotional drive, it is a void.

@meatheadbox Of course, helping others is a pretty good way of generating pleasure for yourself.

wundayatta, The self-pleasure applies to anything you do, not just helping others. All your actions are done out of self-pleasure. Whipping yourself with barbwire would be an action done out of self-pleasure, even though it causes you pain, you obviously want to continue doing it.

@meatheadbox Just sayin’.