We all pursue different paths in life and we each find value and meaning in different things.
Some people seek fame and fortune, some people want to have a nice family, and some people just want to make it through the day with food and shelter.
What is the meaning of life?
Here’s what AskReddit users had to say.
1. Nice and simple.
“Leave the world a little bit better than how you found it.”
2. The ultimate experience.
“I think the meaning of life is simply to experience. No more, no less. No strings attached, no obligations, just simply experience.
Now, your experience can be better or worse if you choose to live certain ways, but that’s another topic.”
3. It sure is wild…
“Experience the beauty of the universe. It really seems to be the only downside to us destroying ourselves and there being no aliens out there.
Just nobody gets to see how fucking wild this shit is.”
4. Take it all in.
“Have fun. Enjoy life. This means nothing and everything.
Being someone, but also being no one. Love, but also Hate. Have friends, but also be lonely. Be smart, but also be dumb.
This maybe looks weird, but try to understand it. Once you understand what I mean, you could think I am just a kid who tries to be philosophical, or you could think that I am an old Wise man. Remember.
Everything and nothing.”
5. Make it worth it.
“Life has no meaning but life itself. So go out there, make your life worth living and live in accordance with your principles. Make the world resemble more what you would like it to be.
But, for the time being, stay inside, so the maximum number of people get to actually have life.”
6. Be passionate.
“Passion, the reason most people kill themselves is that there’s nothing enjoyable about life anymore.
Passion is the thing that keeps us motivated, even if we’re working a job we hate, live with people we hate, if you have something you can do that distracts you from it, you can get through those bad times, even if you’re passionate about reddit or something small it’s still a huge helper in the long run, therefore, in the simplest way possible.
Passion is the driver of life.”
7. All that stuff.
“Literally the same as it is for all living organisms.
Eat stuff, fuck stuff, try not to get eaten by other stuff.”
8. Kind of depressing.
“The universe is a cruel, uncaring void. The key to being happy isn’t a search for meaning. It’s to keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually you’ll be dead .”
9. To each their own.
“That’s it exactly. There is no great meaning. Figure our for yourself what gives your life meaning.
Otherwise just try to enjoy the short amount of time you have here.”
10. Everyone can do this.
“To enjoy every moment with those you love and to treat others with respect and kindness.”
11. Infinite choice.
“To create and to choose. Humanity’s imagination and ingenuity distinguishes us as a species as well as our autonomy; we can delay gratification and sublimate our primitive impulses.
Combine the two and you have a creature with the capacity of infinite choice. The human brain provides many permutations even if our imagination atrophies because we still have the agency of choice.”
12. You must find meaning.
“It’s to find meaning in your life. Whether that’s through creating a family, donating to charity, adopting a child, or anything that gives you a purpose on this planet.
We each have to find what makes us happy, that journey is the meaning of life.”
13. An interesting perspective.
“To gather experience as you’re only an avatar that’s being used by a higher intelligence, much like we watch movies. Our experience is like the nectar that bees bring back to the hive to make honey.
Time is an illusion and so is free will.”
14. Words of wisdom.
“The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined only by our own wisdom and courage. We are the custodians of life’s meaning. We long for a Parent to care for us, to forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes.
But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable. If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal.”
― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
15. I like this one.
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It’s so plain and so simple and yet everyone rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”
-Alan Watts
16. Lucky to be here.
“We are incredibly lucky to be humans. We can adventure, laugh, love, eat food that actually tastes good and appreciate the world we live in. We can wonder and marvel and ponder and reason.
We can go anywhere and think about anything. We are completely free and we are not driven by nature. We are unique.
I think the best thing we can do is to do what makes us happy. Whether that’s buying a van and exploring the world, making a lot of money, or hell even if it’s using a bunch of drugs. Because any one of us could die tomorrow without ever truly having lived, instead most of us are wasting away 40+ hours a week doing what we hate.
I say we might as well do what makes us happy most of the time because life is finite and short and on our deathbeds most of us will wish we had done so instead of wasting so much time. We’ll wish we had seen more done more lived more.
Not to mention it doesn’t matter what other people think of how you choose to live your life because eventually you’ll die and then all the people who remember you will die and your memory with them. Then those who remembered you will be completely forgotten.
Then eventually your name will stop being spoken because no one will be named that anymore, even if it’s something as generic as James or Mary. Then the earth shall be swallowed up by the sun and long after or perhaps long before, humanity shall take its last breath.
But certainly humanity and earth shall be forgotten by the universe as it keeps going and going forever, billions of years after your entire species lay waste. So why live for those people when you should be living for yourself?”
17. What I think…
“There is no meaning to life, not until you give it one yourself. What are you going to do for the world? Make some crazy new invention? Be the first to land on mars? Stop global warming? Become a policeman so you can help people?
Everyone’s purpose here is different. We are all here to do different things that are part of our huge society. So, the meaning of life is different for everyone. Everyone matters and is here for a good reason.
At least that’s what I think.”
18. Fulfillment.
“To lead a fulfilling existence that makes you happy.”
19. Nice and sweet.
“It’s to learn, grow, and help those around you.”
20. There you have it!
“Full stomach, empty balls.”
Now we want to hear from all the readers out there.
What do YOU believe is the meaning of life?
Please share your thoughts with us in the comments!
