

Ask HN: What is the Meaning of Life? - imabitlost


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pg
Life can't literally have meaning. It's not an expression. But when a lot of
the things you're doing have a common purpose, they form a pattern similar to
the pattern that indicates signal rather than noise.

So when you have a sense of purpose, it will feel as if your life has meaning.

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chacham15
> Life can't literally have meaning.

I dont understand this. Why not? What about the lives of animals? For example,
couldnt you say that the meaning of the life of certain ants is to serve their
queen? That is the reason that they exist. The main difference I see is that
there doesnt exist an entity which we are born to serve, but many have deities
that can fill that role. Some atheists instead use the collective human
condition to fill that role.

~~~
tprice7
"couldnt you say that the meaning of the life of certain ants is to serve
their queen"

You could say that, but the word "meaning" in this context is not used in a
literal sense, it's expressing something closer to "purpose". The word
"meaning", when used literally, applies to communications. It's the thing the
communication is supposed to express. An ant's life is not a communication and
therefore the word meaning does not apply in a literal sense.

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jrn
Reduction of entropy.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_and_life](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_and_life)

But that's not helpful. There was a saying on a bench, here in vancouver to
the effect, that " You can't find yourself, you need to make yourself". But I
suppose making yourself on a solid foundation requires introspection. I'm not
sure where you are at but, eventually you will come up with answers/non
answers and then watch your life pass you by. (similar to a stream processor)
here's knausgaard.

"As your perspective of the world increases not only is the pain it inflicts
on you less but also its meaning. Understanding the world requires you to take
a certain distance from it. Things that are too small to see with the naked
eye, such as molecules and atoms, we magnify. Things that are too large, such
as cloud formations, river deltas, constellations, we reduce. At length we
bring it within the scope of our senses and we stabilize it with fixer. When
it has been fixed we call it knowledge. Throughout our childhood and teenage
years, we strive to attain the correct distance to objects and phenomena. We
read, we learn, we experience, we make adjustments. Then one day we reach the
point where all the necessary distances have been set, all the necessary
systems have been put in place. That is when time begins to pick up speed. It
no longer meets any obstacles, everything is set, time races through our
lives, the days pass by in a flash and before we know what is happening were
are forty, fifty, sixty . . . Meaning requires content, content requires time,
time requires resistance. Knowledge is distance, knowledge is stasis and the
enemy of meaning. ".

I think the answers I appreciate the most, are the ones which emphasize
noticing the world and the best parts of other people.

[http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/17/the-
meanin...](http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/17/the-meaning-of-
life/)

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catchingsignals
To find out how and why we are here, to lessen suffering for everyone while we
find out how and why we are here, and to help as many people as possible to
survive and be well so they can join in with the effort to find out how and
why we are here.

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mooism2
It's about the journey, not the destination.

XY problems cause misunderstandings and overcomplexity: what's your real
question?

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subrat_rout
You have to search it for yourself. It can be different for different persons.
There is no one universal meaning for all.

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khyryk
I know "meaning" and I know "life," but I don't know what "meaning of life"
is.

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thewarrior
The meaning of life is to be happy, make friends and learn as much as you can
so that you can give back.

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forktheif
It's in the dictionary.

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Todd
Interacting with other people in a positive way.

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dctoedt
We're helping to build a universe.

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6thSigma
Happiness

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informatimago
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