Why do so many think humanity as a whole MUST have a purpose ?

I find it a tad arrogant of us

I know while alive I do have a purpose ,but this purpose is only in my head and some others heads close to me.

My purpose only affects my inner circle on this earth, and yes, i make ripples,as do you,like a pebble thrown into a pond>I don't know how far they reach. But in the universe and grand sheme of things I am absolutely nothing but atoms & molecules in it

Maybe we have a purpose but it has NOT been revealed, if so.

It just seems so arrogant & self-important to me

What ever works for ya my man.

I just wonder why you entered into discussion in the first place. Your willingness to discuss and compare notes was nothing more than a guise to ultimately extol your belief in god.

I truly feel duped.

So, what is the purpose of life if there is no soul, no spirit, and the mind is really a limiter a prison ...you know most never experince real love and we are more often frightened animals then we are not......And still no purpose ....

Here it is again no purpose, so I'll tell you what it really means: purpose is the glue that holds the fictional existences together. That needs to organize, categorize, and evaluate. If we let go of the need to have a specific outcome, requirement and need and just allow every outcome to lived fully as it is you will stop looking for purpose.
you will see the futility in it ... and when we further see that experience trumps our fantasies about how things should be...We again will get there is no purpose after all....



its so simple it almost seems to good to be true .

I'm sorry you feel this way, but you are wrong. Notice that I did not provide an answer to the question, I posted about what the reason behind the question could be. Just because I have already decided on an answer for myself, does not mean that I am not interested in what others think, and it also does not mean that I do not learn from what others say. I have been discussing this with you because I wanted to explore this topic. I only provided my answer because you asked for it. Seems kind of hypocritical to then turn around and accuse me of extolling my beliefs, don't you think?

Leonardo

The difference between saying that we NEED a purpose is in extreme contrast to saying that there must be a purpose. I think that when a person says that there is a necessity to have a purpose, obviously already has a preconception to what mankind's purpose should be.

Again I do believe possibly, after discussions in this thread, that it may be a more accurate depiction of reality to suggest that our purpose changes depending on what situation lays in front of us. If we are observant, indeed "in touch", to whats taking place around us then we are then able to recognize where and when we can fullfill some sort of purpose , at that moment.

This type of purpose management and fullfillment can only take place if a person is totally involved in the moment. When our minds are scattered and spread thin due to thoughts of things in the past or future we are not comprehending whats right in front of our noses.

So to stand and gaze upwards at a mountain top that doesn't exist causes a person to miss the beauty of the very ground on which they stand.

ok nothing up my sleeves !!!(rolling up my sleeves , taking a deep cleansing breath) lol

the point to life ? to get from A ----------------------to --------------------------B

the purpose of life ? to experience it.


whew ! everything else is filler.

lol......ya know.....I kinda dig it!

With the idea obviously that there was no purpose prior to point A......after which is a matter of survival in what one would hope, as a result of their actions, to be a mostly positive experience.

The purpose of life is to live, however you deem fit. Find what you want and then go get it.

It's probably that simple...of course we humans don't like simple. Delusions of grandeur...making everything more epic then it actually is.

I've read three pages of this forum and i couldn't bother reading the rest.

What is the point to life....

What a question.

I guy posted about schizophrenia and that those people have no morals and that they are indeed right to think so. One may say that they are going to live their life to the fullest or it's a roller coaster ride which they can change. One thing I noticed is that people take one thing for granted and thats morals. If the universe is just physical and our consciousness is a product of the universe then we are an illusion. we think we are alive. So if you killed someone with out anyone knowing then it's ok. To say that we don't hurt people so they don't hurt us back is just selfish. That means if we could get away with something selfish we would do it. Makes sense why we have the law becasue we can't trust anyone. We live in a physical universe wear we are allowed to do anything. If you have the means to protect yourself from other people then you can do what you want to them. Lets say someone wants to live his life to the fullest by trying to complete what hitler tried to do. There is nothing wrong doing something like that, in physical terms anyway.

We have been under the illusion of religion for so long and now we can see the universe for what it truely is. A load of nothing. There doesn't seem to be a point to anything. The very reason the question was brought up is becasue pointlessness goes against morals. Yet athiests magically seem to say there is no point and still live a happy life. They take one thing for granted and that is the illusion of love. They debunk all other illusions but they're own illusion. You could say that we have evolutionary set up to be a certain way but we can deny this setup with logic. Our biology tries to survive regardless of what we think but we can see no point and kill ourselves. Wear did morals come from? where did they derive and what are they based upon. If we are illusions then there is no morals. What we have to realise is that we are not illusions. If we see that we are not illusions, things make a lot more sense. A rock doesn't feel anything but we do. We can "experience" the universe while the universe it's self is just physicallity and dead. We exist feelingly not physically. Spirituality is all about feelings. It's all about love. Our intentions and our feelings seem to matter in paranormal terms. Meaning that we have value in way and we are not illusions.

There is nothing wrong with murdering someone on cold blood physically but the distress you cause the person while killing them is what matters. You may not see a point to this point of view. You must realise that mental pain just feels bad. You can't justify the pain into a good feeling. When you have been cheated on or someone has died you feel empathy or sorrow. these are bad feelings. You can't get yourself to get a high off sorrow or enjoy sorrow. So morals is about caring for others and trying to insure that they don't feel pain. Pain just feels bad and we don't want to feel bad. When sceptics say that we believe in god for comfort, well they are right. It's comforting to know that we matter. I don't know what god is or whats after death but i do know that it has soemthing to do with feelings. They seem to be a universally binding thing. ESP studies suggest that ESP isen't confined to to disance or time. It seems to be inspontanious which defies physics but not spirituality.

I would be really depressed if I believed this. It would surely be a sad state of affairs if our purpose was to become trained and willing partners to god. IMO

I absolutely love this thread. I have read some of the best answers, and some awesome points have been made, by believers and skeptics alike.

Here is my take on the whole thing.

There is way more than just one question being asked here, but I will go with 2 of them. One is "What is the meaning or purpose of mankinds existence as a whole?" and the other is "What is the meaning of my individual life?"

I personally do not think there is a purpose to mankind's existence as a whole. At least, no more so than every other living being on this planet. I do not believe that every other living creature on this planet was put here by god to somehow benefit humans, either, so in my opinion we are equal. There is no meaning to existence, we just exist.

As far as an individual's meaning of their life, that is a whole other ball game that will never have a uniform answer. Some believe there is no meaning to their particular life. They think that had they not been born, the rest of existence would have gone on just fine without them. Some believe that everyone's life has a specific role, and the rest of existence could not be without each living being. They think that existence as a whole is a huge mechanical machine, and each life is a very important cog that keeps the entire thing working. Each of these opinions has great emotional benefit to the individual. It takes responsibility off of some, and gives credit to others.

Personally, I don't feel the need to ask why. The way my brain works is how. I like to know what happened to cause life to exist instead of why. I don't believe there is always a why. I am here, and I exist, and it will never matter if I know why or not.

As far as someone comparing life having no purpose to sociopaths, well as logical as the poster made it sound, that is not how it works in my mind. Sociopaths are an anomaly, and their thinking goes against most other living creatures' survival instincts. Living creatures have had to learn to think of the greater good of their species, or their pack, or their family, or their civilizations to continue to exist. Emotions like love, empathy, compassion, and sympathy are tools for humans (and maybe animals) to use to promote reciprocal beneficial acts from others, and to continue to be a working cog in the machine that is life.

IMO. Of course.

Chauncy, I agree with you here. Live life in the "Now" of existence for each moment has it's own purpose, that being the experience of that moment.

that reminds me of the old saying ' if you live with one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow your crapping all over today'

True understanding comes from individual not from books or mob rules or dogmas... the bible, for many is their god. many miss this though........ gaining insight from a book is is like trying to squeeze water out of a rock...Insight comes from within ..... . You want to know about spirituality , life , love, you gotta live it, you have to know yourself in its authenticity not what you have been told you are, it may mean letting go and really having faith few can do it though........ I venture to guess you have never looked at who you really are, most haven't....If you ever do you'll be amazed at how 'off' religion is...*giggles*

so many never live a life they live a set of beleifs... ah well.....

Why?

It's not that you make yourself obey god or that you have to be a slave for him. God seems to be associated with love. To say that following god is restricting freedom is correct. However the restriction lies in that it's bad to hurt people. You may say It's my right to be free but what also seems to be tied along with that is that you can be free as long as you don't surpress someone elses freedom. So you aren't free. To be free would be to disregard moral values and do what ever you want. When you understand morals you realise that getting lots of money doesn't matter or doing what you want. Then you see that it's not about being free to do what you want but simply being free from oppression. If you live caringly then you live for what matters and thats other people. When you "obey" god you don't obey him your just enlightened or more loving. Religion is simply an acknowledgement that life and experience has something more to it. It doesn't involve money or churches. It is found within ourselves and everybody else. This is what i have concluded from philosophy. My beliefs arent from a book I read or anything I read. It just seems to make the most sense and it seems as though it makes sense with spiritualists and paranormal stuff too.

God doesn't love at all,( a being is a state oe existance not a person) anything that is reactionary isn't love, love responds to the flow of the moment it goes with it it is it....... few really understand this..... contrary to popular aping, this diety has no understanding of unconditional love ....the moment you have requirements and rules you are not unconditional....something to consider......

I was going to imply what you said but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.