Question: what is the meaning of life
Comments
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yes well done 🙂
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i have watched the tv series and read the book (the movie is a terrible remake)
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agreed, the movie was bad. Although Adams was part of making it until he passed away =:< Read the rest of the trilogy, all six of then. well the sixth being "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe" and now it seems there is a seventh *shakes head* but not by Adams (see link 1) below). I have not read that yet.
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#And_Another_Thing…
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ultimatezeus
42 !
*the next day*: good to see that @Yusuf expanded on my answer as I had planned to the next day.
So bottom line (in my opinion?) is that life is what you make it. Biologically speaking though the meaning of life is to make sure your genes (DNA) is passed on through time.
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There are a lot of ways to answer this question, and I think just about everyone would have a different answer. In a strict biological sense, the point of our existence is to reproduce and pass on our genetic information to create the next generation of our species. However, as humans we have a very rich life experience, with thoughts, feelings, senses which all affect the way we interact with the world around us. As conscious beings, you could say we create meaning in our own lives. We have the brain power and the resources to do so many things. My own view could broadly be summed up as ‘do what makes you happy in life, as long as you’re not hurting others’.
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42! (But then @Dirk beat me to it. So, here is some homework. Go read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. OK, maybe watch the movie that will also do, or at least play the game http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/infocomjava.html )
What made you think there was any meaning to life? What is the meaning of “tomato”? What is the meaning of “ghost”? What is the meaning of “velocity”? — Are these meaningful questions?
It might be best to think of “life” as a road trip. There are fun parts, there are boring parts. There are some bumpy unpaved parts, some parts with lots of traffic where everything goes slowly. Some turns and twists, some choices and some cliffs, some people you meet along the way, and some you lose after a time. All we know is that at some point this trip will finish, so make sure you are enjoying yourself along the way.
🙂
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Renee has a very good point, the meaning of life from a developmental point of view is to reproduce to pass on genetic information…it also helps if you can evolve efficiently to survive environmental changes too. From a reproductive perspective, humans are very inefficient, and despite a baby being born every 5 seconds around the world, based on current numbers, our rate of reproduction is now less than replacement so that means that overall, each couple is producing less than one child… we need two, one to replace each parent!
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Like Dirk said it’s 42 – I love Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! Seriously thought, I agree with Renee and Elise, from an evolutionary/scientific point of view it’s all about passing on our genetic information and reproducing.
Of course though, as human nature dictates, we want to be able to answer what our purpose is – this isn’t just a scientific question (and as Yusuf points out, it might not really be scientific at all), but definitely one that is quite philosophical as well.
So I guess from the more philosophical point of view, I’d say the meaning of life is what you make of it. I believe in the doing the things that you want to do, and pursuing the things that interest you. I really like the idea we have meaning because we are part of this system known as the universe and we get to exist as humans for a very brief time so iust getting to be part of this of this system and exist in it is pretty awesome, and we should really make the most of that.
This question has been around since humanity first evolved, and it has been the subject of much discussion and debate and I think this isn’t going to stop anytime soon. I also think the answer is quite personal – your experiences, your thoughts and your opinions will be very different to someone else, so you might have very different ideas of what life means to you.
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