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The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of human existence. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as Why are we here?, What's life all about? and What is the meaning of it all? It has been the subject of much philosophical, scientific, and theological speculation throughout history. There have been a large number of answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. Albert Camus observed, we humans are creatures who spend our lives trying to convince ourselves that our existence is not absurd.

The meaning of life is deeply mixed with the philosophical and religious conceptions of existence, consciousness, and happiness, and touches on many other issues, such as symbolic meaning, ontology, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, conceptions of God, the existence of God, the soul and the afterlife. Scientific contributions are more indirect; by describing the empirical facts about the universe, science provides some context and sets parameters for conversations on related topics. An alternative, human-centric, and not a cosmic/religious approach is the question "What is the meaning of my life?" The value of the question pertaining to the purpose of life may be considered to be coincidal with the achievement of ultimate reality, if that is believed by one to exist.

Meaning of life as a question:

Questions about the meaning of life have been expressed in a broad variety of ways, including the following:

* What is the meaning of life? What's it all about?

* Why are we here? What are we here for?

* What is the origin of life?

* What is the nature of life? What is the nature of reality?

* What is the purpose of life? What is one's purpose in life?

* What is the significance of life?

* What is meaningful and valuable in life?

* What is the value of life?

* What is the reason to live? What are we living for?


The meaning of life:

In Douglas Adams' popular comedy book series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything has the numeric solution of 42, which was derived over seven and a half million years by a giant supercomputer called Deep Thought. After much confusion from the descendants of his creators, Deep Thought explains that the problem is that they do not know the Ultimate Question, and they would have to build an even more powerful computer to determine what that is. This computer is revealed to be Earth, which, after 10 million years of calculating, is destroyed to make way for a galactic bypass moments before it finishes calculations. In Life, the Universe and Everything, it is confirmed that 42 is indeed the Ultimate Answer, and that it is impossible for both the Ultimate Answer and the Ultimate Question to be known about in the same universe, as they will cancel each other out and take the universe with them, to be replaced by something even more bizarre, and that this may have already happened. Subsequently, in the hopes that his subconscious holds the question, Arthur Dent guesses at a question, coming up with "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?", probably an incorrect guess, as the arrival of the Golgafrinchans on prehistoric Earth would have disrupted the computation process. However, Dent, Fenchurch, and a dying Marvin did see God's final message to his creation: "We apologise for the inconvenience".


In Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, there are several allusions to the meaning of life. In "Part VI B: The Meaning of Life" a cleaning lady explains "Life's a game, you sometimes win or lose" and later a waiter describes his personal philosophy "The world is a beautiful place. You must go into it, and love everyone, not hate people. You must try and make everyone happy, and bring peace and contentment everywhere you go." At the end of the film, we can see Michael Palin being handed an envelope, he opens it, and provides the viewers with 'the meaning of life': "Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."

In The Simpsons episode "Homer the Heretic", a representation of God tells Homer what the meaning of life is, but as usual the one who really wanted to know (the viewer) is left disappointed. Just before God tells Homer the meaning of life, the credits music starts and the show ends, interrupting God's explanation to humorous effect. Earlier in the episode, Homer founds his own religion, in which he tries to worship God in his own way, later pointing out to Moe that it has no hell and no kneeling. However, Homer quickly abandons his self-indulgent personal religion after his house almost burns down, taking the fire as a sign of divine retribution, and exclaiming "O Spiteful One, show me who to smite, and he shall be smoten." Ned assures Homer that the fire was not God's vengeance and Lovejoy explains that God was "working in the hearts of your friends and neighbors when they came to your aid."

At the end of The Matrix Revolutions, Smith concludes that "the purpose of life is to end" and is determined to move that purpose along. The Matrix series also presents the idea of "living in a simulated reality" and the associated question whether such an existence should be considered meaningless, in a way that may be compared to Plato's allegory of the cave and how certain belief systems view our reality, like Buddhism or Gnosticism.

Popular views:

"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?" Here are some of the life goals people choose, and some of their beliefs on what the purpose of life is:

...to realize one's potential and ideals

* ...to chase dreams.
...to live one's dreams.
* ...to spend it for something that will outlast it.
* ...to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.
* ...to expand one's potential in life.
* ...to become the person you've always wanted to be.
* ...to become the best version of yourself.
* ...to seek happiness and flourish.
* ...to be a true authentic human being.
* ...to be able to put the whole of oneself into one's feelings, one's work, one's beliefs.
* ...to follow our destiny.
...to submit to our destiny.
* ...to create your own destiny.
* ...to achieve eudaimonia

...to achieve biological perfection

* ...to survive, that is, to live as long as possible, including pursuit of immortality (through scientific means).
...to live forever or die trying.
* ...to evolve.
* ...to replicate, to reproduce. "The 'dream' of every cell is to become two cells."
* ...to be fruitful and multiply. (Genesis 1:28)

...to seek wisdom and knowledge
Philosopher in Meditation (detail) by Rembrandt

* ...to expand one's perception of the world.
* ...to follow the clues and walk out the exit.
* ...to learn as many things as possible in life.
...to know as much as possible about as many things as possible.
* ...to seek wisdom and knowledge and to tame the mind, as to avoid suffering caused by ignorance and find happiness.
* ...to face our fears and accept the lessons life offers us.
* ...to find the meaning of life.
...to find the purpose of life.
...to find a reason to live.
* ...to resolve the imbalance of the mind by understanding the nature of reality.

...to do good, to do the right thing

* ...to leave the world a better place than you found it.
...to do your best to leave every situation better than you found it.
* ...to benefit others.
* ...to give more than you take.
* ...to end suffering.
* ...to create equality.
* ...to challenge oppression.
* ...to distribute wealth.
* ...to be generous.
* ...to contribute to the well-being and spirit of others.
* ...to help others, to help one another.
...to take every chance to help another while on your journey here.
* ...to be creative and innovative.
* ...to forgive.
...to accept and forgive human flaws.
* ...to be emotionally sincere.
* ...to be responsible.
* ...to be honorable.
* ...to seek peace.

Dante and Beatrice see God as a point of light surrounded by angels; from Gustave Doré's illustrations for the Divine Comedy

...to attain spiritual enlightenment

* ...to reach the highest heaven and be at the heart of the Divine.
* ...to have a pure soul and experience God.
* ...to understand the mystery of God.
* ...to know God.
* ...to know oneself, know others, and know the will of heaven.
* ...to attain union with God.

...to love, to feel, to enjoy the act of living

* ...to love more.
* ...to love those who mean the most. Every life you touch will touch you back.
* ...to treasure every enjoyable sensation one has.
* ...to seek beauty in all its forms.
* ...to have fun.
...to enjoy life.
* ...to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
* ...to be compassionate.
* ...to be moved by the tears and pain of others, and try to help them out of love and compassion.
* ...to love others as best we possibly can.
* ...to love something bigger, greater, and beyond ourselves, something we did not create or have the power to create, something intangible and made holy by our very belief in it.
* ...to love God and all of his creations.
* ...to glorify God by enjoying him forever.

...to have power, to be better

* ...to strive for power and superiority.
* ...to rule the world.
* ...to know and master the world.
...to know and master nature.
* ...to fill the Earth and subdue it.(Genesis 1:28)

One should not seek to know and understand the meaning of life

* The answer to the meaning of life is too profound to be known and understood.
* You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.
* The meaning of life is to forget about the search for the meaning of life.
* One should live the life given to you instead.

Life has no meaning

* Life or human existence has no real meaning or purpose because human existence occurred out of a random chance in nature, and anything that exists by chance has no intended purpose.
* Life has no meaning, but as humans we try to associate a meaning or purpose so we can justify our existence.
* There is no point in life, and that is exactly what makes it so special.
* Life is a bitch, and then you die.
* Life sucks and in the end you die.