Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The Meaning of Life

Today I have decided to tackle a light subject that I wrestle with almost constantly. By that I don't mean I contemplate it daily, but it has certainly been a subject I have given thought to a lot over my years on this earth.

Is the meaning of life to multiply and ensure our genetic immortality? No. I refuse to believe that a biological function is the meaning of life. That would put us on par with every other life form that reproduces and lets face it insects can lay thousands of eggs at one time and are better at reproducing then we are.

Is it to do God's will (whatever God you follow)? No. My religious beliefs have evolved to the simple form that I believe in spirituality, but nothing else. Since way too many wars and bad feelings have been created by different people following god's will, this is not the meaning of life.

Is to have the most toys? No. Again this ultimately becomes an empty pursuit and I think evidence of this is Bill Gates the richest man in the world wants to spend his life trying to give back to the world. The pursuit of the toys is what consumes people, once you have them you try to find something else, power, fame or philanthropy.

So what is the meaning of life? I have often said that it is trying to enjoy oneself as much as possible and to do it in such a fashion as you try not to harm others while doing it. But even that seems hollow somehow and a little too lonely perhaps. Plus it is almost impossible to live a life and not hurt someone else (intentionally or not - a broken heart is a hurt).

So again I'm left wondering what is the meaning of life. I think that each of us may have to define it for ourselves, but personally I wish there was a greater goal that we had as humanity. When I was younger and we had the space race and we were talking of exploring under our oceans I felt like we had that. Watching Star Trek (especially STNG) I felt that same felling. I think the meaning of life is to move forward and find ways to make the world a better place. I hope that tomorrow is better then today and I realize it may not be, but then maybe the next tomorrow or the one after that will be better.

The meaning of life then is to try and improve the world and make it better, to care for your friends and family, to stand up for what is right and live life to its fullest.

4 comments:

  1. You're right, it would seem as if life had much more meaning overall if humanity was working toward some sort of common beneficial goal. Nice casual topic =P

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  2. Cshiana - As you know I occasionally enjoy doing some lighter subject matters. Maybe next I can tackle what occurs after death.

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  3. The Meaning Of Life according to Jeff----

    Food, Friends, Family and Fun!!!

    Freedom used to be there too, but lately freedom has been taking a lot of hits.

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  4. Jeff- When I was younger we had the four "F" club, it was find 'em. feel 'em, f*&^ 'em and forget them. Yours sounds much nicer.

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