this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2025
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We spend our days bound by endless obligations. Yet, even with loneliness, failed relationships, and soul-draining work, people still manage to catch a glimpse of happiness. Why?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

If a movie is going to end is it worth watching?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago

Why does there need to be a point?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Paraphrasing something I read somewhere "Do we open a book just to close it again?" That for me, it means that it is not merely for doing something that we exist, but to tell stories, to pass on knowledge, to keep rituals alive, to be a vessel for something beyond ourselves. The important part, same as books, is to tell stories. Everything sparks from there.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

We're all just stories in the end.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

Something doesn't have to exist forever to have meaning, that seems like a holdover from utopic afterlife religious indoctrination.

We can enjoy a movie or a lunch knowing it will end, I can pursue meaning and find multiple purposes throughout a lifetime.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How does something afterwards change the meaning of this in a good way?

Why fight for justice? E.g. the bible says god will judge and that i shouldn't. So if I just don't care about anything here but about god, I might have a bad time now but eternal happiness later. How meaningless is now this here? Everything is transactional. The love that you gave is for the sake of getting some much much more valuable later.

Why do people find happiness even in the worst situations? Because it is the only way to deal with it. We are made for survival and survival requires the willingness to survive. It doesn't matter if you are the strongest fighter, if you don't even want to fight back. Your desires come from survival needs.

And a little extra bit, there might not be a point in living. It might be meaning less. But I personally want to be happy. I just do. So everyday I work towards being happy. As I personally love my family and friends, I wish them to be happy. I just do. As my friends have family and friends, and their happiness is somewhat linked to their family and friends happiness, I want all of them to be happy too. And so on. As I can relate to the joy of being proud of oneself, I want them to feel that joy. And so on. None of this is objectively meaningful, I just like it that way. And I might be an asshole but I don't care if you agree with me, I want you feeling happy and fulfilled. Deal with it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Well put, and I think it's definitely meaningful.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Enjoy the ride.

There is no point. The point is that you experienced life at all, the most rarest thing in this universe perhaps. Most people don’t even stop to think how amazing that is. Going outside and smelling fresh air, drinking water, laughing, crying.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Worms entered the chat

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Your single existence might be ephemeral, but humanity isn't, your community isn't, and possibly your family either

Individualism breaks that sense of purpose, and it teaches us that happiness is made by personal enjoyment of often exclusive activities

If we lose trust in our community or in humanity in general, if we imagine the next person to only care about themselves, basivally if we expect individualism from others, we lose hope of feeling a more community-oriented form of happiness! And unfortunately in many places that situation is expected, because people are often indeed individualistic

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

and what is the point of our collective community/humanity?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Well the further you go on, the more likely it is that you find there is no point in anything, we are but a phenomenon in the universe

But if you look closely you realise many have needs, many have desires, many want to enjoy company and experience many things, they feel a purpose in what they do

There is a cute plot point in my fav anime, Hunter x Hunter. While the main protagonist Gon has a goal, to find his own father that left him as a baby, his best friend Killua is initially pretty nihilistic. He told his feelings about this to Gon, and he replied that, until he finds his purpose, Killua's goal will just be to be at his side. So, basically, the friendship itself will be his purpose.

I think the general point is that our potential nihilism is part of our personality. We were never supposed to live an individuals and be self-sufficient. Finding a purpose as individuals might not be a solvable problem! We might need another person to get that purpose.

So while "scientifically" we don't have a purpose, as life itself is a phenomenon and our consciousness is a happy accident of that phenomenon, some people feel a purpose, they feel they want something, and others could simply tag along and find purpose in helping others with theirs.

At least that's my answer so far 🀌

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Good answer.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

The point is whatever we choose for ourselves. Just because we eventually die doesn't mean living isn't worth it. I don't care that one day I'll eventually die, I enjoy living now.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I like laughing and having sex (which I definitely have a lot of all the time I swear)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Somehow I'm not able to believe it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

I fuck trust me

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

There’s no point, and that’s beautiful. Go live your life the way you want to β€” nothing will happen after you die

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

the worst advice ever given to Ted Bundy

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

There is no point, you make it yourself. And plenty of people manage to catch a glimpse of happiness because there's plenty to be happy about.

[–] [email protected] 101 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Well, things do happen after you die, just not to you.

Compassion for those who come after us is one possible source of meaning.

One could also consider that having no afterlife makes this life more meaningful than it would be compared to an infinity.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

There is no point, we don't exist for a reason, we're just a thing that happened in the universe by random chance.

That's not an inherently bad thing though, heck, the concept of "bad" isn't even "real", it's just an invention we came up with.

But I digress. We must find out own purpose and meaning in life, it won't be handed to us. Think of the journey as a fun ride with no rules, there are no gods, the universe doesn't judge you, you are unique and weird and amazing and can interact with the universe in ways no gigantic star or powerful black hole ever could.

[–] [email protected] 66 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Well, that's kinda the point.

If you assume that all we get is what we have while we're alive, then that life becomes the point

A lot of people that reach the conclusions you have, opt out. They move into a commune, they go vagabond, they may choose to just flit between jobs and find whatever fun is in them.

Or, they may decide to become focused on finding purpose within the world that is, the societal structures as they exist. Some of those devote themselves to service, or find jobs that they believe make life better for others.

Some stay in the framework of things, but do the bare minimum and focus on their off time their purpose.

The point of it, from that point of view where this is all we get, is to find what makes staying alive worth it.

It isn't like the certainty of no afterlife removes your ability to live and love and do good things. It can make it harder to bear the bad things of life as well, but that's anything really.

The point is what you decide it is.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Your most fundamental motivations are inherently irrational/instinctual, but once you know what they are you can pursue them more deliberately. Nobody can decide for you what the meaning of your life is, you have to discover it through experience and introspection.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

Because you dont know jack shit no one does, might as well wait til the longest possible length to figure out the unknown

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Existential crisis moment:

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

I think life is about maximizing positive subjective experience. If it doesn't make you happy or allow you to live happy in other moments, don't do it. Work sucks, but it gives you money that allows you to buy things that make you happy.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

I'm just hoping we help each other to achieve our goals before we go

[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If nothing we do matters, the only thing that matters is what we do.

Life sucks, the world is a bad place. Leave it just a little bit better than you found it and you've lived life's purpose in my book. We are generational garbage collectors, picking up the pieces of societal trash our forebearers left behind. So do your part. Pick up the trash. Leave the world just a little bit better than you found it.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)

But you are here now, so live a good life and enjoy it while you can. Maybe try to help others do the same. This is all we get, so use it to the fullest.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago

Does there need to be a point? We eat because we're hungry, sleep because we're tired, live because we're instinctively apposed to death.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Life is the point, this one

Why do you need reward in a second life for the first one to matter?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There are two types of thinking about it:

  1. There is no point in living. We are doomed to get into the grave, and eventually be forgotten forever.
  2. There is no point in living. No higher order, no higher purpose, no higher authority. We are free to live our lives, to explore, to insert any meaning whatsoever into it. We are forging our own destiny.
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[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

life's like minecraft. you set your own goals and then you pursue them.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago

Why aren't you creating meaning?

Without a god, there's only one option left for anyone with agency - us.

The fuck are you doing whining about it? Time's wasting and you don't have much. Get out there and build something that matters.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

there is no point. simply try to enjoy it

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Embrace Absurdism. Watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv79l1b-eoI And/Or read Albert Camus

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

Why does there have to be a point? I have no legacy, I'll never pass anything to the next generation, I have and will not ever make anything that changes the course of humankind, the world will probably not be a better place after I am gone. But I still feel happiness when I see a beautiful sunset, I laugh when my dog does something goofy and I smile when I see others expressing real joy. I don't have to have a direction to still enjoy life while I am here to enjoy it.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 4 days ago (6 children)

There's no meaning, no purpose. We're random life on a random planet. Try to have a happy life and try not to inhibit the happiness of others. That's it.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Live your life its the point of living. not working all day in the best days of your life.

Your time its all you have. don't waste it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

...or do ! but knowingly !

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Everything happens after you die. Who told you nothing does?

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The journey wasn't taken from you just because there is no destination

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

A lot of things happen after you die. And if you participate actively (both positively and negatively) then some of that have your contribution and thus you leave a legacy.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

"There's no point living, so you may as well die" is so last decade. "There's no point dying, so you may as well live" is where it's at

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