The Meaning Of Life

[Tenebrous]

My answers to this question formulated in videos

Also heaven and hell are meaningless unknowable concepts

 

[Cameron]

The meaning of life is to create more life. All organisms on earth have one goal, reproducing and passing on their genes to the next generation. If all organisms didn't have the goal of reproducing life would be such a failure.

 

[BitoBain]

Many people claim that the great questions of the universe can never be answered... Questions like whether God exists or why we are here. I used to be of the same opinion, but as I've thought more and more about the nature of logic and hypothetical reasoning, I have actually answered some of these questions. So here we go. (Or at least have a very good guess)

An all-powerful God cannot exist. An all-powerful being is unable to create a rock so heavy he cannot lift it. It's an old yet flawless argument. An all-powerful being must also be able to choose whichever laws of the universe he chooses. Therefore, he should be able to create a universe in which pi is not 3.14..., but instead 17, or any random number. However, there is perfect mathematical proof that pi is 3.14..., therefore, an all-powerful being exists nowhere in the universe. Unless you want to argue that an all-powerful being exists independent of logic.

However, I do admit there may exist a God with finite power, or some sort of intelligent designer. This can't be disproven as far as I know. However, trusting your life to something just because it can't be disproven is ridiculous. If you are going to believe in a creator, you should have a very good reason.

Here are two most likely explanations for your existence, as far I know.

1. The universe we live in is lucky because it has always been fine-tuned for life. Gravity is perfect, the amount of dark energy and dark matter is perfect, particles bond correctly, c=2.998x10^8 m/s, galaxies, nebulae, stars, and planets all form correctly, and we are lucky enough to have evolved from microscopic compounds. Had any of these key factors gone wrong, we would not be witnessing the universe. Therefore, only the universes in which all factors of chemistry and physics are perfect create intelligent life, and the intelligent life in turn recognizes these factors. We are one of those universes in which the factors are perfect. Thus, our purpose in life may be to appreciate and understand the universe, since that's the only reason we are here. But, I suppose it's also simultaneously to reproduce... since that's also why we are here.
2. We are part of a simulation. If one intelligent designer can create, let's say, one googol fake people who think they are real, then what are the chances that you are real? They are 1/10^100. There is only one possible counterargument to this: irrational numbers. Since irrational numbers would be a part of this simulation, (because to program physics in a realistic universe, you need to have exact constants, such as c and pi) and irrational numbers by definition have an infinite numbers of digits regardless of the base, it would take an infinite amount of space, time, and calculating power to determine what would happen if an apple fell from a tree. However, humans aren't particularly precise in our calculations of the universe thus far, and we have only calculated pi out to a couple tens of trillions of digits. An intelligent designer could have calculated pi out to googol^googol^googol^googol for the sake of the simulation. But who knows, maybe when we get powerful quantum computers, we will be able to catch up to an intelligent designer and find out if our irrational numbers are really irrational. Maybe that's the point of it all. Or we are just lab rats.

But on the intelligent designer note, the intelligent designer would likely program our universe to have a smaller speed of light than him if he really doesn't want to be discovered. His speed of light could be googol^googol m/s, in which case if he is constantly updating his calculations of pi, we will never catch up to him with our c=2.998x10^8 m/s.

Anyway, I don't necessarily think all questions are answerable, especially if we live in a simulation in which the creator is constantly updating laws of physics and calculations to ensure we don't learn anything, but we can make great progress. Humans are still awesome!

 

[Tenebrous]

Many people claim that the great questions of the universe can never be answered... Questions like whether God exists or why we are here. I used to be of the same opinion, but as I've thought more and more about the nature of logic and hypothetical reasoning, I have actually answered some of these questions. So here we go. (Or at least have a very good guess)

An all-powerful God cannot exist. An all-powerful being is unable to create a rock so heavy he cannot lift it. It's an old yet flawless argument. An all-powerful being must also be able to choose whichever laws of the universe he chooses. Therefore, he should be able to create a universe in which pi is not 3.14..., but instead 17, or any random number. However, there is perfect mathematical proof that pi is 3.14..., therefore, an all-powerful being exists nowhere in the universe. Unless you want to argue that an all-powerful being exists independent of logic.

However, I do admit there may exist a God with finite power, or some sort of intelligent designer. This can't be disproven as far as I know. However, trusting your life to something just because it can't be disproven is ridiculous. If you are going to believe in a creator, you should have a very good reason.

Here are two most likely explanations for your existence, as far I know.

1. The universe we live in is lucky because it has always been fine-tuned for life. Gravity is perfect, the amount of dark energy and dark matter is perfect, particles bond correctly, c=2.998x10^8 m/s, galaxies, nebulae, stars, and planets all form correctly, and we are lucky enough to have evolved from microscopic compounds. Had any of these key factors gone wrong, we would not be witnessing the universe. Therefore, only the universes in which all factors of chemistry and physics are perfect create intelligent life, and the intelligent life in turn recognizes these factors. We are one of those universes in which the factors are perfect. Thus, our purpose in life may be to appreciate and understand the universe, since that's the only reason we are here. But, I suppose it's also simultaneously to reproduce... since that's also why we are here.
2. We are part of a simulation. If one intelligent designer can create, let's say, one googol fake people who think they are real, then what are the chances that you are real? They are 1/10^100. There is only one possible counterargument to this: irrational numbers. Since irrational numbers would be a part of this simulation, (because to program physics in a realistic universe, you need to have exact constants, such as c and pi) and irrational numbers by definition have an infinite numbers of digits regardless of the base, it would take an infinite amount of space, time, and calculating power to determine what would happen if an apple fell from a tree. However, humans aren't particularly precise in our calculations of the universe thus far, and we have only calculated pi out to a couple tens of trillions of digits. An intelligent designer could have calculated pi out to googol^googol^googol^googol for the sake of the simulation. But who knows, maybe when we get powerful quantum computers, we will be able to catch up to an intelligent designer and find out if our irrational numbers are really irrational. Maybe that's the point of it all. Or we are just lab rats.

But on the intelligent designer note, the intelligent designer would likely program our universe to have a smaller speed of light than him if he really doesn't want to be discovered. His speed of light could be googol^googol m/s, in which case if he is constantly updating his calculations of pi, we will never catch up to him with our c=2.998x10^8 m/s.

Anyway, I don't necessarily think all questions are answerable, especially if we live in a simulation in which the creator is constantly updating laws of physics and calculations to ensure we don't learn anything, but we can make great progress. Humans are still awesome!

I agree with basically everything you are saying but I have a few problems - see you presented a false dichotomy... There are infinite explanations for our existence, not two.

 

[jtmboy]

The meaning of life will be different for everyone. People may find the meaning of life super complicated which it can be, but for me the meaning of life is pretty simple:

Family. Friends. Love. (I know I am a hippie and to simple)

This is just for me! It can be different for everyone else, this is only my opinion.

 

[Misjudged]

You talked a lot about the "hellish" side to life, and I completely agree. Life just seems like an endless task that will bore you for the eternity of your lifespan, but that's not all life is. Life is about going to the candy shop as a kid and picking out the prettiest pieces of candy to eat. It's about risking your life because your friend bet you 20 dollars that you wouldn't do it. Life has so many moments and they can be good or bad. But to describe life as a task or chore would be illogical. Life is whatever it's made out to be, and I truly believe that living the only you life you're given to the fullest is the only way to experience what life really means. Now I'm not saying that you have to be happy all the time, because I know what it's like to feel like nothing will ever go my way. But life moves on. Eternally, life will move on. And when you think about it, if you were to live your life to the fullest, and could say that you loved your life when you died, isn't death just a sweet release? Isn't death just your farewell marking the end to a good life? For heaven, hell, or whatever it may be lay afterwards, which is something extraordinary to think about. Life will forever be here. It's crazy to think about, but I don't think anyone could ever answer the meaning of life.

Death implies life - Alan Watts

 

[BitoBain]

I agree with basically everything you are saying but I have a few problems - see you presented a false dichotomy... There are infinite explanations for our existence, not two.

Good to see some people got what I was going at. I do accept there are more than two possible explanations for our existence, but those are the two explanations I believe make the fewest and most likely assumptions. Hypotheses that make fewer and less significant assumptions are more likely to be true because of Occam's Razor.

The simulation idea is likely because of the sheer number of fake consciousnesses that an intelligent designer could create, and the perfect universe idea is likely because it doesn't call for any sort of God or complex plan of life or salvation, like most religions do. It simply states that when the laws of physics are correct, life will form and recognize it.

However, it is difficult to decide which universal explanations have the fewest and least significant assumptions. Who are we, with our puny brains, to decide all of this? These are only my best guesses.

 

[Tenebrous]

Good to see some people got what I was going at. I do accept there are more than two possible explanations for our existence, but those are the two explanations I believe make the fewest and most likely assumptions. Hypotheses that make fewer and less significant assumptions are more likely to be true because of Occam's Razor.

The simulation idea is likely because of the sheer number of fake consciousnesses that an intelligent designer could create, and the perfect universe idea is likely because it doesn't call for any sort of God or complex plan of life or salvation, like most religions do. It simply states that when the laws of physics are correct, life will form and recognize it.

However, it is difficult to decide which universal explanations have the fewest and least significant assumptions. Who are we, with our puny brains, to decide all of this? These are only my best guesses.

The problem is that those suggestions are completely meaningless on a pragmatic level because we don't know anything about our purpose. Think about if we were in a simulation. Okay now what are we supposed to do? How do we "beat the game"? Do we even have to "beat the game"? These questions can never be answered. Also there are infinite versions of simulation theory/random chance.

 

[BitoBain]

The problem is that those suggestions are completely meaningless on a pragmatic level because we don't know anything about our purpose. Think about if we were in a simulation. Okay now what are we supposed to do? How do we "beat the game"? Do we even have to "beat the game"? These questions can never be answered. Also there are infinite versions of simulation theory/random chance.

Right, we can never really know our purpose, if we have one. My two big hypotheses were more of trying to explain the origins of ourselves and the universe rather than stating what the "goal of the game" is. We cannot know our purpose, because to know our purpose would mean to know the "why" of everything in the universe, and we can never answer the question of why the universe exists in the first place.

Why is there a law written that states that there must be existence? It's really just the way things are, and there is no way to answer that question. The "why" of the universe would be the root of everything, but for every "why," there is always another "why." So there are either an infinite number of "why's," or there is a first "why," which exists simply for no reason, and by definition cannot be be known by any being. That's also a disproof for the idea of an all-knowing God, since even "God" cannot know the first "why," and the infinite number of "why's" are also unknowable since therein exists no fundamental explanation. So yes, I think we agree that our purpose in the universe is, by definition, unknowable.

I only stated that we may want to understand and explore the universe simply because there doesn't appear to be much else we can do. Nobody wants to sit there all day doing nothing, so we may as well try to understand what is going on. (Even if we are nothing more than lab rats)

And yes, there are infinite versions of both scenarios. I only present them because they make few fundamental assumptions and I find them fairly likely. Even if you are talking about an infinite number of possibilities, recall some infinities are greater than others. In this case, that means some explanations for why the universe exists are still more likely than others. Last Thursdayism states that the universe was created last Thursday, but that makes more assumptions about the universe than the Big Bang Theory, The Simulation Hypotheses, etc...

 

[boboy1999]

There is no heaven, hell or God.

 

[Beardy]

Meaning of life: 42.

That's actually the answer to the question about life, the universe and everything, not necessarily the meaning of life...

On a serious note, the point of life is your future. However, once you reach that future, you just keep going. It's like a dog chasing its own tail, there will always be something in front of you. That's what keeps you going, but there isn't an actual point to life. If everyone killed themselves right now, Earth might actually benefit. We're only useful if there are others around to be useful for, and even that's temporary.

 

[Tenebrous]

Bump