h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I want to know, what's the meaning of the life? are we what we think we are? are those things happening right now? am I watching TV?.
A lot of things came to our minds when we ask ourselves what's the meaning of the life?.
Please someone answer me.
Thanks!

Is English your first language? I went to your home page looking for a clue, but couldn't find one.
Otherwise what is the significance of the placing of "the"?
What life are you referring to?
"the life" is intriguing. Much more interesting than your other questions.
Put something on your home space, even if it's only "Hi" so that we can chat.

Are you using drugs? What kind?

Well, if you look at it from a scientific point of view, the meaning of life is to reproduce in order to preserve your genes. In other words, the meaning of life is SEX! I could live with that But to myself, life is simply the time you spend before you die, so why not just use it to have fun. Having fun seems to me to be the only reasonable way of wasting your life.

Life itself has no meaning. You must give life meaning. A simple way of doing this is to leave this world better place than when you entered it. This gives your life meaning.

I know that this is simplistic, but I need more information to expand further.

I know some ppl where simply them leaving it would make it a better place. But in general making the world a better place, is quite a wide definition.

Oh, I think it's pretty self explanatory.

How does one go about making the world a better place?

Mostly Harmless said " leave this world better place than when you entered it".... I reckon there is a few people, who could turn this world into a better place by simply leaving right now

Anyway, the meaning of my life is: fun.
Life is too short to be serious...

Chili, still a child...

Chili and Xanatic,
You are right, sadly there are some people who could make the world a better place just by leaving it.

Zorpheus,
There are thousands of ways to make the world a better place. You could help clean up the environment, help reduce crime, help battered women, or by simple being the best person you can be. Look at the people that you think made the world a better place and with that as a guide, see what you can do. It doesn't have to be big, just something to make your little corner of the world better.

Maybe you could help, the people that would make the world a better place just by leaving, to fulfill that goal.

Oh and Xanatic, your right it is a wide definition. But, that's because not everyone has the same talents, not everyone can be a Mother Treasa or a Knight battling bad guys. Some people are suited more for a support roles. Supporting the knight and make sure the Mother Treasas can go on thier missions.

Mostly

OK, I know I don't have anything up in my personal space yet. Don't worry, it'll get there - eventually.

When you ask a question like "What is the meaning of Life", you have to think about what you are trying to ask, and exactly what you mean by "What is the meaning of Life". In effect, it's just as broad a question as "What's the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything". So before you can sit down and start to think about the meaning of Life (or Liff, depending on your perspective ), you have to define what you mean by "Life". And even, in some respects, what you mean by "meaning".

Do you want an empirical definition of Life?
Do you want to know what exactly is our purpose of "being here"?
Do you want to know why we are here?
Or how we got here?

(Usually the question of "Why are we here" is asked by people who believe in some greater being, ie God, because people who do not believe in a Creator of some shape or form do not believe there is any purpose, per se, for anything.)

You might want to define "Life" as just "being" (as in the verb, not the noun), and breathing, and, well, living. You might want to define "meaning" as a purpose, or definition. Or you might not want to take it apart, but define the thing as a whole. The "meaning of life" as an answer to what, ultimately, am I supposed to do with myself. (Does it, cosmically speaking, matter if I don't get up and go to work in the morning ).

Unfortunately, there really isn't an answer to this. The answer is what you make of it. Yes, leaving a world a better place than when you entered it IS good, and it IS noble. But does that mean that it's the reason why we're here? Some religions say that the meaning of life lies in the observance of God's laws, and in loving and serving God. If that's not for you, then just keep searching.

A lot of people see self-fulfillment as a reason d'etre, and it's w onderful thing. You just need to keep in mind that just because something is good, doesn't mean that it's the answer. Otherwise, you could very well say that the entire universe expanded from a tiny speck of dust, all so that I can help an old lady cross the street. That's good, but what happens after that? It's been done. Keep on doing good deeds, and cleaning up the world? But there's so much, and it's so vast - you'll never even scratch the surface, let alone make a Dentarthurdent. So that's not necessarily the answer.

Could it be? Sure, it COULD. But you have to decide for yourself.

Personally, I am a firm believer in God and religion, and my own opinion is that our reason for being here on Earth is so that we can follow God's Will. That includes, in my belief, the betterment of the world, ourselves, and the people around us. To me, that answers a lot, because it does not matter how much of the Earth I clean up, or how many people I do nice things for. There's no quota to fulfill, no record to set, no overwhelming pile of wrongs to right. When I die, there is no "unleft things to do", because it was never MY responsibility to do them. The argument that there's too much to do can't stand up against this belief, because even if I don't change the world, I have done my best.

In the end, I think that's what counts.

MH- I guess I was looking for a quick-fix solution to making the world a better place but after thinking about it I came to realize that there isn't one deed to fix all things and make the world a better place (I wish there was though). I just get fed up seeing all the crap that goes on in the world and feeling helpless because anything that I can do won't even scratch the surface of the problems (hell, not even the surface of one of the worlds many problems) with this world.

BTW (I caution you I'm going to go on a rant here)
I would love helping some people make the world a better place by leaving it, but unfortunatly some cops, judges, and liberals in general would have a problem with my vigilante actions.
For some reason these people beleive that rapists, murders, pedophiles and all around bad people need to be locked up for a short time, at the publics expense, instead of putting a bullet into their head as soon as they are found guilty and ridding the world of the scumbag.

Sorry, but I think that would make the world a better place.
Wow do I sound like a wacko?

Another interesting perspective is that the purpose of Life is to be happy and create happiness. We can do both of these by doing good deeds and helping people.
By simply being happy, we can often spread happiness. Smiles are contagious.

Zorpheus,

Don't hold back, let me know how you really feel.

There isn't just one thing you can do to make the world a better place. (I going to be very Zen here) Every action is like a stone thrown into a pond sending waves out, soon affecting the whole pond. Your choice is if your stones are going to be a good action or bad.

I try to make most of my actions good. I don'y always succede , but I try.

I'm distressed - aren't we going to have *any* replies from people who are going around trying to make the world a worse place? I mean - there must be lots right? Otherwise all the well-meaning people in h2g2 and this conversation would have already converted the world into some sort of utopia...

I guess we all have different ideas about what would be 'better'. Plus there's a large quantity of ineptitude and accidental damage...

Please understand I am explaining my own point of view. I don't believe we are put here to obey God's will, nor to make the world a better place. For other people, these make the most sense.

To me, the meaning of life is that we are here to *experience life.* Life has its own meaning, and doesn't need any theological or philosophical embellishment.

Think on this. Not only are you alive. You are luckier than that. Out of all the forms of life you might have been, you were born human. This means you have access to unprecedented amenities to help you on your journey, plus you will live a reasonably long time. You are incredibly lucky to be able to ask the question, "What is the meaning of life." And by asking it, you have in part already answered it. The question is part of what life is all about.

Life is about loving others. It is about sunrises and sunsets. It is about flowers and happiness. But it is also about tragedies and consequences. It is about car wrecks, and missed appointments, and errors in judgment you can never take back. It is about rich desserts, and lousy meals, and alcohol. It is about unanswerable questions and feelings of confusion. All these little things make up the fabric of life. These are what life is about. Tears and laughter.

We are put here for no other reason than to live. Questioning life and assigning meaning to it (or refusing to) is part of what we must do here. But in the end, the only thing guaranteed to us is that we will live.. until we stop living.

So why does life end? Why do we die, when we could experience life forever? The answer is simple. If nobody ever died, the universe would eventually run out of room to put more people in. This would mean less individuals could experience the incredible gift that is life. The turnover is part of life, and deciding what you will do with the limited time you have is the game of life.

I don't need God or science or anything else to live, or understand life. I only need life. It is. And that's enough.

I hope that makes sense.

Life is like a sewer - what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

Previous post should be credited to Tom Lehrer - originator....

Very nice answer Fragilis.