• Question: what is the meaning of life?

    Asked by scottt to Hannah, Ian, Jono, Mark on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Hannah Brotherton

      Hannah Brotherton answered on 26 Jun 2013:


      Hi Scottt,
      I love this question! because the answer can be different from person to person. It depends if you are talking to someone religious, scientific or someone who has had a difficult life, or someone who has had a lovely life.

      Humans think the meaning of life is to live. Just because we are alive, doesn’t mean we are living.

      Some think wwe need to live life to the full and experience everything in the world. It is a gift we have been given.
      Others think the meaning of life is to have a species like us humans, who have the intelligence to grow and evolve to try and answer and investigate everything in the universe. It is like a game and we are trying to go up each level, getting closer to the finish line.
      Others think life is a test and that if we are good in this life we will be blessed and protected in a better more peaceful world.

      No one knows the scientific reason why we are here, but people will always try and answer why life exists.

      Are we here by chance….the chance that the earth was the perfect distance from the sun creating the environment where water and oxygen existed for life.
      Or did something more greater put us here as a task, to see how we and the world would grow?

      A human has to make sense of everything….an experiment showed that a professor rolled a dice and wrote the numbers down. he gave it to his students and asked them what it meant. They came up with answers like it is the sum of every chair in this room, it is the amount of ticks the clock has in 3 minutes
      The the professor told them it was random numbers he rolled on a dice.

      Humans want to know that there is a reason for everything…maybe sometimes there isn’t an answer and we are here by chance…and there’s no real meaning for us to be here….
      We are just here!

      😀

    • Photo: Mark Hodson

      Mark Hodson answered on 26 Jun 2013:


      hi scottt,

      deep philosophical question that takes us beyond the realms of science. The answer will be very personal to everyone of us.

      For most animals and plants however the meaning of life, or at least the purpose of life, is to reproduce.

    • Photo: Ian Wilson

      Ian Wilson answered on 26 Jun 2013:


      Hi Scott!

      Ahh, one of the biggest questions in life!

      For animals and plants, you could argue that the meaning of life is to keep the species alive by surviving long enough to have children. Most animals (if not all) are not self-aware – that is, they don’t think about things like this, the way we do. So, for them, survival and having babies is all there is to it.

      Humans each have different opinions on this though. Some of us think that the meaning of life is to have children, like animals do. Others think that the meaning of life is to enjoy yourself and make the most of what you’ve been given.

      It’s an impossible one to answer really. I think that we’re all incredibly lucky to even be alive (think of the countless chances that brought you to life) so we should make life count in whatever way we feel is right.

      Of course, if you’ve ever read The Hitchhikers’s Guide To The Galaxy, you’ll know that the answer is ’42’! If you haven’t read the book yet, get on it – you’ll love it!

      Cheers,

      Ian

    • Photo: Jono Bone

      Jono Bone answered on 27 Jun 2013:


      Hi Scott,

      If you think about it from a evolutionary angle the answer would be to have as many children as you can and so pass on your genes.
      But we are conscious, thinking beings so we can make our meaning of life what ever we want. I don’t think life really needs to have a meaning. Just enjoy it!

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