Jewel

As far as nature is concerned, the only point is passing on your gene's to the next generation. Other than that there is no point.

However, we are sentient beings. We possess the ability (perhaps unique, perhaps not) to contemplate questions such as the ones you are asking. Although we have no real control over many events in our lives (including death), we do have some control over how we react to those events.

I'd be lying if I said I never thought about death or the lack of an afterlife. I do not enjoy the idea of having no conciousness after I die. But it is what it is. I have no intention of hastening the inevitable.

Life is what you make of it. If you spend your entire life feeling that existance is pointless since there is no afterlife, I have little doubt that you'd be right.

Tim

I've had major problems with depression (though more to do with an overwhelming sense of powerlessness and disgust at the state of our planet and our species than a sense of my own mortality).

I'd suggest, as others here have done, that you live life to the fullest. Don't waste your time in a dead end job; do something you actually enjoy. Get out there and actively fight for those casuses you support. Try to make a difference to the world, and enjoy yourself doing it. Even if this doesn't alleviate your problem, it should at least distract you sufficiently that it's not so difficult to cope. Well, it seems to be working for me, at any rate.

Viti

You are not the first atheist I have heard ask this question AJ, and I am totally confounded by this attitude. Life is great even when it's not so great, why does there have to be a "point"?

I have been told I am an existentialist due to my attitude which boils down to...I am here, I didn't ask to be here, but here I am...this is the only existense I know for a fact I have so I make the very best of it. The point for me is to experience everything I can and enjoy as much as I can and help some others along the way so they can experience and enjoy too.

If I spend the day at the beach having fun I don't worry that the day is going to end, I swim and sun and look for shells, I don't waste it because I know the sun's going to go down. Life is just an extension of this single day analogy.

captainpabst

This question was on my mind quite a bit during my gradual deconversion. I don't think there's a good answer. An ultimate meaning in life is not apparent to me. I don't find any attempt to 'pretty up' the situation all that convincing. To quote Clockhammer, a favorite band of mine:

Forget about the astral plane
Transcendance is a lie
It's depths are shadowless
Into the void we fly

Despite all that, I guess the best answer is what people have said - life has whatever meaning you give it. Carpe Diem. Do what you like, pusue what interests you. Try to have good relationships with people. That's all there is, really.

Another Clockhammer verse:

When sunlight fades forever
There is peace for the first time
No hateful thoughts can linger
All equal in the darkness

Bring it on death, I'm ready for a good ass-kicking.

Treacle Worshipper

AJ,
Sorry to hear that you're feeling a bit down.
I don't think there is any overarching purpose to life, except what we want to make of it. My current aim is "to be happy", which sounds a bit selfish, but the mood of people around me affects my mood, so I want to help them be happy too... This is something I'm still working out myself, I guess.

You wrote:
If we simply "cease to be" when we die, then what is the point of bothering with life in the first place? What difference will anything that I do in life make to me? Nothing, because I will not exist.

It's true that if there is no afterlife, then nothing that you do here will ultimately make a difference to you. But if you leave out the eternal perspective, what you do today could affect tomorrow. I'm in my early 20s, if I'm lucky I could live another 50 years. What I decide to do today, next month, next year, will have an effect on my future life. I think that that's a good reason for living the "best" we can; it does affect us, even if we don't have an eternal fate.

I find that remembering that even if "I" as a personality do not continue, all the physical parts that have made up "me" will continue in the universe in myriad different forms. It's perhaps not as appealing as an afterlife, but I think it's kinda cool.

And of course, there's nothing about atheism that says you can't believe in an afterlife if you want to

Best Wishes,
TW

KitKit

wow, have i thought that thought more times than i care to count. this is a very personal subject. no one can tell you what your life is worth & what makes it worth living. you are the only one who can do that. i can only tell you what my experience has been in hopes that you can see it from a different point of view.

i see theists live their lives haphazardly, going about it all like they were in a daze, simply because this was only a physical existence & the best was yet to come. and it is sad to me to think that they wasted the time they had & trashed this planet because they didn't think it mattered in the end because they were moving on to a better place anyway.

i have pondered the question "what's the purpose of my existence?" and realized there is no point. none at all. meaning is in the eye of the beholder. what i deem meaningful you may not. what gives my life meaning is taking advantage of every second, never taking a single thing for granted. i enjoy all the wonders of nature. i watch my children grow & learn. i travel and meet people and learn about their lives and experiences. i see the joy in people's eyes when i help them & make their life easier & happier. there are so many things that i am so grateful to be witness to. grateful to me that i have allowed myself to just be happy and enjoy my life. grateful to my parents for teaching me that it is ok to walk my own path & for showing me the joy that comes from helping others, grateful to my friends and family for sharing their time, their lives with me. the day i stopped being depressed about not having anything to live for was the day i stopped trying to look outside myself for the "meaning".

good luck! i hope you find what you are searching for!

Clarice

I agree with sakrilege and LadyShea - the only thing to do is to enjoy what you have, rather than fearing what you might not have someday so much that you also have nothing to enjoy now.

That said, it may take you a while to get to this point. It took me a long time to inure myself to the horror of my eventual nonexistence (I think being brainwashed to believe there has to be a deep meaning to life was largely to blame), but I have done it. I had to kind of say to myself, "So you're going to cease to exist, and it's making you crazy - what are your options? Live with it, or kill yourself. Since death is the whole problem, the second option is silly, so you might as well enjoy living."

If you find that there is nothing in your life that you enjoy, you may well have depression, and benefit from some temporary drug and/or talk therapy.

BTW, if Woody Allen doesn't put you off, I'd recommend seeing Hannah and Her Sisters. What his character goes through is very much what happened to me, and I like the way he resolves it.

Norm Purdy

I read a quote attributed to Mark Twain (perhaps it was on this very discussion board, or one of the others that I lurk) to the effect of
"When I think of the millions of years that I will be dead after I die, I reflect on the millions of years that I was dead before I was born. That time didn't bother me one whit, so why should the future concern me?"

I find this somehow reassuring. I wasn't around for all the time prior to 1950. Missed a lot of cool stuff, and also escaped some really dreadful times. But I don't somehow feel cheated, or mourn for the life I could have had.

Likewise, 2050 (at the very most) and all the time thereafter will have to get along without me. Lots of fascinating stuff will happen, but I simply won't care , anymore than I "miss" the time before 1950.

Aren't you being just a bit piggy to want more? Especially if you'll never miss what you don't have.

AJ113

Thanks for the input.

I need to clarify something:
I am not trying to find a purpose in life, and I am not trying to discover more for myself than I have already got.
I accept without reserve that when I'm dead, that will be the end of me.
The problem I have is in coming to terms with it all. It's pretty mind-blowing after 40 years of Catholicism, you know!

I think that one of the reasons that it is a problem for me is that I am an atheist newbie, and I suspect that with time my problems will erode. I already have first hand experience of time being a great healer.

The reason for the thread was to see if any of you learned, experienced people have been down the path that I am currently walking, and if so, how did you cope?

Many of you have already answered my question, and for that, I thank you.

athee

I thought the purpose of life was to get as many toys as possible? He who dies with the most wins, eh?

seriously, I just try to make things I'm involved in better than they were in the first place. I also try to provide for my children so they have opportunities that I didn't, so they end up with a better life than I have. I have a good life now, but there are always things that can be improved.