This is a reflection penned by one of our volunteers, Edmund, on what is the purpose of life. Photo above: The White Sands National Monument in New Mexico that helped inspire the film ‘A Better Life’, screened by HSS in 2016.
Modern humans are purpose-seeking beings due to their psychological make-up.
For example, people study hard with the purpose of getting a good job. Once the purpose is achieved, they work hard in their jobs with the purpose of getting a promotion and once the purpose is achieved, they seek a new purpose.
I do not see a problem when people have these purposes, provided they are not solely and blindly obsessed with these purposes resulting in a loss of sight of the greater meaning of life.
However, I see a problem when people seek a God-given purpose of life. When people think that there is God-given purpose of life, they tend to treat this life as less important than afterlife which they think they will have.
If people live this life as if it is a rag which they use to wipe their feet in preparation for afterlife, they are likely to squander the only life which they will have.
Determining your own meaning in life
In my view, seeking a purpose of life is akin to building psychological walls for self-preservation. However, psychological walls of self-preservation can also become psychological walls of self-imprisonment if we put aside our rational mind.
Personally, I think that the purpose of life is to live and live meaningfully. But what does it mean to live meaningfully?
The meaning of one’s life is not given or dictated by anyone else, not even by some invisible supernatural being which who knows what or who created it. The meaning of one’s life is given to it by oneself. In other words, everyone gives a meaning to their own life.
For example, a person may see the meaning of their life as something to improve the welfare of society through engaging in scientific research. Personally, I see the meaning of my life as something to help others live their lives more meaningfully through helping them think critically via equipping them with a sound epistemology in a way which will exert their rational mind.
Some Christians have told me that as we are only humans, our rational mind will not be able to figure out the answers to many questions. Therefore, we have to put aside our rational mind and put our faith in the Christian God.
Finding meaning through life experiences
However, isn’t our rational mind one of the most valuable things we have as Homo sapiens? Are we really going to put away one of the most valuable things which we have as Homo sapiens, given that it has helped us come so far to understanding many things which include the universe and human evolution?
Will believing in the Christian God really make a person better and happier, and vice versa? Some Christians have told me that not believing in the Christian God will mean that there will be no ultimate hope as this life will end one day. I agree that not believing in the Christian God will mean that we were born into a losing struggle.
However, if we can muster the courage to accept the fact that there is no Christian God, which evidence suggests, and start using our rational mind to make sense of the things which happen to us and around us, we can live this life, which is likely to be the only one we will have, more meaningfully.
In contrast, as said earlier, if we live this life as if it is a rag which we use to wipe our feet in preparation for afterlife, we are likely to squander the only life which we will have.
There is no purpose of life other than to live and live meaningfully, which in my view, is the greatest thing of life. Instead of seeking a purpose of life which will entrap oneself, we should give a meaning to their own life through their human lenses shaped by their life experiences.
