The Purpose of life

There was a discussion in North Vancouver about the purpose of life.


While there already is a post here before about the meaning of life, the topic is so broad that the discussion can go many ways.

Someone suggested that the purpose of life was previously defined by religion.  God made us and the purpose of human life is to serve God and to do what God wanted us to do. 

However, since the Reformation, there was the change to more self reflection rather than to listen to the church and with enlightenment; the secular influence put the God given purpose in question.

It is now up to us to figure out what we are here for.

As individuals, we can look at maximizing our pleasure in our lives, making the most of our time in this world, do something of significance.

However, the question of "what is the purpose of my life" is different from "what is the purpose of human life".

A person who deliberately considered what are the pressing problems in this world, how it can be solved, then map out the steps required to do it, and then embark on a course following these steps, is living a life completely different then someone who live for the pleasure of the moment with no thought for tomorrow.

While whether the one life is better than the other is a value judgement, we can at least accept that the first one is more purposeful and productive.




Martin, the moderator, suggested that another way at looking at the purpose of life is what makes life significant.  We tend to want significance in our lives.

Is this a matter of personal pride? Or wanting approval and praise from others?

Maybe it is because we value our time on this earth and we do not want to waste it and therefore look for something significant to do so that we can have something to show for our life when we are at our death bed.

Children do not seem to question the purpose of life.

Is it possible that as we grow, we get involved in the complexities of what it takes to get something done and become constantly entangled in working towards goals that are further down the road?  That we convince ourselves that delay gratification is the necessary sacrifice to achieve those goals?

All of a sudden we found ourselves continually doing things we don't necessarily wanted to do and then ask the question, what is the purpose of life?

May be the question is invalid.  It is nonsensical to ask what is the purpose of a dog's life, or a tiger's life, or that of any other animals.  They are just there evolved from their ancestors millions of years ago and so how are we any different?