What is the meaning of Life, as we know it.

[alxfamlaw]

I mean doesn't ever confront you why you are here? Why we were put on this particular planet. I have thought about this issue a lot lately because of the fact humans have evolved so quickly to where we are at now, it begs the question "What is the meaning of life?"

[Fishteacher73]

This has been brought up in a few other threads, but possibly to have it singled out as a specific thread may get some interesting ideas.

 

The answer to that obviously stems a lot from ones personal beliefs (ie to do Gods will, etc.) Putting the theology to rest, what else is there?

 

The best theory I have seen because it is elegance and its simplicity, is the concept that life evolved as a machine to replicate DNA. There fore DNA is the driving force of life and not a tool of life. The elegance comes to play in the fact that it therefore gives reason for life, without all the mystical mumbo-jumbo. We are here (ALL life is here) to replicate our DNA. This falls in line with abiotic genisis of life and gives us a reason for existence without causing a moral highground to stand on. Beautiful.

[alxian]

but life existed before meaning was required to define it

 

would not any answer therefor be used to enslave people to whatever answer was given?

 

life, biological process by which the living convertes energy until it no longer can? isn't that good enough?

 

or you could be looking for a purpose to life, life being a complex energy conversion system.. probably will only leave very heavy metal and gases that are virtually chemically inert one to the other.. no more energy conversion possible.. no more life.

[sanctus]

Very nice answer fish, I also heard somewhere that we are just here to keep the DNA immortal. As you said beatiful, we're DNA's slaves ;)

 

By, the way I moved the thread to the philosophy and humanities section, as I think it belongs here (and not in philosophy of science).

[Fishteacher73]

Very nice answer fish, I also heard somewhere that we are just here to keep the DNA immortal. As you said beatiful, we're DNA's slaves ;)

 

In a very true sense, sanctus....We are limited and controlled by our DNA. It determins our form (and therfore function) and determines our needs (in a biological sense). We can not escape its demands and orders. We have done a bit of work in sabotaging some of its uglier edicts (genetic therepy) but still have not mastered even beiing able to escape its most detrimental demands, much less being able to alter its basic course.

 

Yes, we are slaves to our DNA.

[Freethinker]

Why is red?

 

What is north of the north pole?

 

Just because some particular set of words can be formed into an interogatory sentence does not mean it is a legitimate question/ can have an answer.

 

While an individual might hope there is some a priori answer, that does not mean there is.

 

Rather than pretending there is some outside entity which is needed to give value to someone's life, that there is some intentional design into which we must fit, why not instead give your life it's meaning yourself? Why is it desirable to have some tidy predetermined and specified outside agent derived reason forced on us?

 

I find it much more satisfying to provide value to my own existence. And I find it denegrading to be expected to force it into the claim of some outside agent.

 

We can't even define what life IS.

 

RE the DNA issue, I like Dawkins Selfish Gene.

[Tim_Lou]

life is inestimable, it is beyond any measurement as we know.

if we give a single statement as the meaning of life,

life itself would be quite meaningless since it is only "worth" a sentence.....

 

my conclusion is that the meaning of life is paradoxical.

[pgrmdave]

42 ;)

 

I think that the meaning of life, as freethinker said, is a meaningless question, and must be further specified. The PURPOSE of life, as I see it, is to propogate itself.

[TeleMad]

Fishteacher73: The best theory I have seen because it is elegance and its simplicity, is the concept that life evolved as a machine to replicate DNA. There fore DNA is the driving force of life and not a tool of life.

 

Dawkins' idea. It does have some nice logical quality about it. But should it be taken literally, or more metaphorically?

 

When many/most people have kids, it isn't with the intent of replicating their DNA into the next generation, but rather it is to have children that they can love and enjoy and otherwise be emotionally attached to, to watch grow up and develop, etc.: or, it was because they were drunk :-). Did their microscropic DNA molecules trick them into thinking they wanted these emotional attachments ... or into getting drunk? Is 'inert' DNA sitting in the nucleus of our cells - with all DNA in every somatic cell bascially being identical - able to overpower the collective high level functioning of the billions of neurons in a human brain to make us wrongly think we want to reproduce for reason x? Interesting topic.

[Stargazer]

The meaning with your life? Human life? Any life?

I don't believe there's an objective meaning with us, not anymore than any other life, or anything at all in this universe for that matter. But seen from our own perspectives, our own lives can be filled with meaning in a subjective way, that is everyone sees a different meaning of life.

[Stargazer]

but life existed before meaning was required to define it

Yes, and that's why there's no objective meaning with life. It's only us lifeforms who see ourselves as special. :)

[zadojla]

The PURPOSE of life, as I see it, is to propogate itself.

I don't think life has a purpose. It is just an epiphenomenon of the accidental fact that some molesules can replicate themselves. Statistically, those that can create more copies in a wider variety of circumstances willl be more highly represented. Those that develop mechanisms that allow the possibility of mutation will be more likely to survive environmental challenges. Life itself has no meaning. It just is.

 

It is an accident that we are self-aware. However, being self-aware, one is certainly allowed to formulate a meaning to satisfy oneself. It has no MEANING, although it may have consequences.

[TINNY]

We are limited and controlled by our DNA.

that's a highly controversial statement. cognitive psychology vs behavioral psychology. Tabula rasa or not? I'd say DNA determines the potential that we have when born but whether that potential is fulfilled is determined by social conditioning and our choice of actions.

 

 

About the meaning of life, I'll give an attempt from Islamic theology. Humans are to act as vicegerents of God in this world to perfect itself, the society and the whole of the universe. Logically, it follows from the progression of matter from the simple to the complex, the most complex being humans. Following the path of progression, the point has been reached in God's plan where the most complex form have been exhibited, meaning humans, through the direct Will of God. The emergence of human life form now puts God as indirectly controlling the path through humans toward everything good and right. this is the concept of vicegerency.

 

Defining life, I'd say that all matter is alive. It has conciousness in the sense that it can perceive and react accordingly to the environment. Same with human beings, the stimulus elicits an action. Just more complex, and an additional free-will.

 

Hehe... I know everyone does not like this. But there's no point in Tormod keeping me on this forum other than to throw in these stuff to make things more unique. Otherwise, he'd have banned me long ago ;)

[lindagarrette]

Hehe... I know everyone does not like this. But there's no point in Tormod keeping me on this forum other than to throw in these stuff to make things more unique. Otherwise, he'd have banned me long ago ;)

Tinny, You are truly amazing. With one post, you have managed to obliterate all evidence of intellectual progress you could have been making as a member of this forum. If you had been paying attention, you would know that your statements have been refuted over and over again. Now you're back to square one! ;)

[Turtle]

I like it OK. Tim said "my conclusion is that the meaning of life is paradoxical." This is a restatement of Goodel's Incompleteness Theorem (which he proved by the way). This says some matematical propositions are iunknowable/irresolveable. Let me go another direction; I think the purpose of Life is to achieve maximum efficiency. ;)

[fusion]

Let me go another direction; I think the purpose of Life is to achieve maximum efficiency. ;)

 

Do you mean as evolution or the effiency of something specific?

[Turtle]

Well, evolution IS something specific. Yes, evolution is Nature maximizing efficiency. Everything's purpose we see is to maximise efficiency; including life. The meaning of Life is to maximise efficiancy; however, whenever, wherever, etceterever.