death-afterlife, life, meaningIf I was an atheist I would think
How do you answer this to yourselves? What’s the meaning of life?
From here to here, I agree perfectly:
- Probably there is no spirit
- In this case when the man dies, it's for good
- Probably I will die someday
- Nothing I have done will affect me after I'm dead
- There is no permanent reward or punishment for what I do
But the last step is a non-sequitur:
- Why should I live?
I don't think that theists use eternal punishment/reward as a reason to live. More often they use it as a justification of moral choices.
So - I don't think your question applies to atheists in particular, but I'll give you an atheist answer.
For an atheist, life is all there is. This does not make it worthless, it makes it immensely valuable! It makes you cherish each and every day with your loved ones much more, because it's one day less that you have with them.
It also makes every other form of life much more valuable for the same reasons: once things are gone, are gone forever. They are irreplaceable, so much, much more valuable.
This kind of reasoning is at the basis of a moral system known as Humanism.
To leave it better than I found it.
Life is full of many wonders and pleasures, and that’s really all I need. It’s not always great, but the highs make the lows worth it. We live on as memories of those who knew us for a little while, then we are remembered as part of something larger.
I would love to see a theist SE and ask why anyone would need the list of reasons given in the question. I admit that I hung on to theism for a long time because I didn’t like the idea of the end of my life being final. Eventually I realized that it was not a reason for believing, it gave me no purpose, it was just that I was uncomfortable with the alternative. It seems funny now because I embrace life more knowing this is all there is.
Why should I live?
So the grandchildren still have a grandpa - keeps me happy.
Them too.
Why should we live? Should we? I don’t think so. Please, if you are dissatisfied with your life as it is and see terminating it as an option, I won’t try to stop you, provided you won’t make life more difficult for others.
I can’t believe however that there are a lot of people who can’t find any reason to live. If only to watch the next episode of their favorite stupid TV series. The question is rather if that weighs up against all the cons of life.
We are not all lucky at life, some of us get to be rich and live in luxury and die of boredom, others starve and won’t see the light of the next day, let alone have the time to ponder wether life is worth living. If one has time to ponder if life is meaningful to live, maybe one should reflect a bit deeper and realize the exceptional situation one is in to even be able to ask oneself such a question. This is sheer luxury, other people are struggling to survive. Don’t think they ever ask themselves this question. All they know is that they want to make it to the next day.
Damn, go out and do something with your life.
I like this simple answer from the co-discoverer of DNA James Watson as said to Richard Dawkins in a personal meeting (pre-lunch):
“I don’t think we’re here for anything, we’re just products of evolution. You can say, ‘Gee, your life must be pretty bleak if you don’t think there’s a purpose,’ but I’m anticipating a good lunch.”
Meaning, of course, that he simply tried to enjoy life for the pleasures (both simple and grand) that it occasionally provided him.
It essentially comes down to Enjoyment of Life and Fear of Death.
There may be no permanent value, but there’s still temporary value.
Enjoy it while you can.
Think of a getting a week of vacation/holiday from work.
There is no particular “special” purpose for the week. You can do with it whatever you like. Does this frighten or sadden you? Does this make you want to give up your vacation time?
Or is this week, in fact, MORE valuable & exciting – precisely because you can decide for yourself what the purpose of it will be, rather than having it imposed on you?
Isn’t a life where you can determine your own purpose more valuable than one in which it has been decided for you?
What is the purpose of staying alive if you are a theist (religious)? Is it to pray to “God”? Its your duty to find the meaning for your life. If you are willing then you can live a meaningful life. The qualities will be then considered in evolution. Take the big picture. Then the system will evolve. If there isn’t much meaning in the qualities you contribute then it will be discarded as unwanted feature (noise). This evolution can be anything, not just the “animals to human” stuff.
This, dear lady/sir, is what I’d call a very silly question.
The purpose of staying alive is, of course, simply to live!
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