What do you think the meaning of life is ?

[JennyTals]

not mine but someone I knows uni final project will be doing a dissertation on this subject, am I’m thinking where the heck do you start with that, as such a big subject

my initial thoughts are love and pro creation

Brutally, it doesn’t matter to the species as a whole if individuals don’t reproduce, or a plant is cut before it can set seed to give rise to the next generation. Some mammals raise offspring collectively, and the non-productive members of a group all collude in raising the offspring — coyotes are matriarchal, and only the alpha female of an all-female group will reproduce, and the other females will hunt for and teach the cubs. The animal-world equivalent to ‘it takes a village’.

Hold on, are they supposed to be discussing the question itself? There are so many possible answers, it's ridiculous to expect a discussion that reaches a defensible conclusion. They could attempt some gigantic survey to establish popular answers by category, but I doubt they have the resources to do that in any meaningful (hah) fashion.

A more workable position would be something like: Does life have to have a meaning? Consider the lilies of the field, etc. Yet the literature (fill dissertation up with fabulous citations) suggest humans need to believe our lives have meaning. Why might this be? Discuss extensive literature on this question, then reach a defensible conclusion on that.

The meaning of life is life itself.

I've had similar conversations with a few people in their final days, and most seemed to be along similar lines - the failures and successes, the stuff that didn't work out, the stuff that did, the relationships - difficult and otherwise, difficulties endured and overcome, love, the chats with the bloke on the corner/bus - all are the substance of life and make it a unique experience and ultimately a great gift.

It's all good - life is good.

meaning of life for who? For me? Or my cat?

There is no "Meaning of life" - but that throws humanity into a void, which is why religion & cults developed.

So then the "Meaning of life" become very personal. Very different for each of us.

My personal "meaning of life" is a bit like - "be cool, breathe, find your purpose, know you purpose might change, honour yourself, and most importantly, don't be a dick".

I take inspiration from my cat.

The meaning of life is knowing life is the journey not the destination.

we think everything is now, but we are here in these bodies for the tiniest amount of time.

What are you going to do with your tiny sliver of life?

Maybe, in your own little world, to leave this mortal coil a better place than you entered it.

"... most importantly, don't be a dick".
I take inspiration from my cat.

You've got a cat who isn't a dick??!

I don't believe for a single second that any university would consider that to be a reasonable dissertation topic.

There isn’t an inherent meaning to life. Which is actually great because it means we get to define our own purpose.

Amen 🙌🏻

There is no meaning of life.
The universe doesn’t know or care that you exist.
You are born, you breed, you die, that’s all.
You are only here to provide the next generation. You are only a tiny part in the process of evolution.

Doesn’t that rather depend on the field?

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” Henry David Thoreau

This

If it turns out a bunch of randoms like us can sum it up in a paragraph or two, your pal's really wasting their time on a whole dissertation...

Existence precedes essence. We exist before having any concept of who we are. That's why I am anti abortion.

We become who we are by making decisions, choices, and actions.

Because we have no given purpose, we have to give one to ourselves. Each individual must decide what they value and what their passions and interests are, that become the purpose of their life.

The meaning of life is to be alive. The purpose of life is whatever we individually make of it.

I guess on a basic level, to live and to die. We’re all guaranteed that much, and there’s no ticklist we need to check off. We just are… then one day, we are not!
On a more emotional level, for me, to love and be loved. To do more good than harm.

To live and to die

The only point to life, is life itself! We should enjoy it as best we can, it'll be over soon enough. 🤷‍♂️