What does our existence in life mean?

We destroy forests and habitats, we kill animals, and some of us are too greedy to share food with homeless people. If we all are so bad people, why do we exist?

"If we all are so bad people, why do we exist?"

The fact that people are bad has nothing to do with our existence. We simply exist and some people are bad.

I could be wrong, but you seem to think that everything is supposed to have a purpose. I don't believe that people have a purpose so just because they are bad at living doesn't mean they shouldn't exist.

Maybe people don't have a purpose but toasters do. If I bought a toaster and it burned all my toast, it would be a bad toaster. Then I could say that it should not exist or that I should not have bought it. But what about things with no purpose like rocks?

Rocks don't seem to have a purpose and they exist. They aren't very good at anything but should we say that they shouldn't exist like you are saying that people shouldn't exist just because they are bad?

You seem angry desmo, because you see that humans, as a collective, seem to have a destructive nature within this world. If all humans seem to do is destroy, plunder and kill things, what is the good of us being here? Wouldn't the world be better off without us?

Is this how you feel?

So, then you ask "if we are all so bad, why do we exist?"

If you focus on human history, it is hard not to see the destructive paths humans have taken time and time again. War, greed, demolition of entire species and natural habitats can be attributed to the human presence. It always seems to follow us.

When you look at it from this perspective only, it is easy to become cynical of human nature and hard to see how it will change.

But then if you look at it from a different angle, you can see that humans aren't always bad. They can be good too, don't you think?

-A lot of humans spend their efforts trying to protect animals and nature reserves.

-A lot of humans do try to feed homeless people and find them shelter and other ways to help them.

-A lot of humans want have a positive impact within society and nature.

I think these are all good things about humans.

Look at yourself desmo. (I assume) you feel angry and confused about why humans are here, because you think that all they do is bad things. But you care about the world, don't you? And you're a human. I care about the world too. I think a lot of humans do.

I believe that humans want to make the world a better place, it's just that we are so slow, as a group, to change in our ways.
But if we all live our lives trying to have a good impact in the world in some way, we could start to become a positive influence within the world one day.

It takes a long time for humans to change for the better, but we can do it if we try. Do you agree?

And asking what our ultimate purpose is, is something many of us have asked before. No one in the whole world seems to know why we're here, or what the "true" purpose of life is.

In the end, the best you can do is forget about trying to answer this question for a while, because we don't need to answer it in order to live and have a good life.

Life is life. Isn't it fun to hang out with our friends and the people we love? Isn't life exciting and funny anyway? All we know right now, is that our lives can be filled with so much enjoyment and happiness, and that this is all that really matters in the end.

Well, I agree with all of you, and I got the idea from a book. It's about antibodies and stuff. The antibodies kill people by dissolving them. They help us kill viruses, but in the book it seems to say that humans are the virus.

I think it was an episode of "The Twilight Zone" in which a scientist compiled all the DNA of the world's most dangerous animals, sharks, snakes, tigers, etc, in order to create the most deadly creature imaginable. In the end the creature was a human.

We are the most self-destructive, self-centered, greedy, bloodthirsty beings on the planet. This is undeniable fact, but as the other repliers confirmed, there is some good in the world. Those who give their monetary gain to foundations and profitable charities, to help feed the hungry and heal the sick.

It's terrible that these individuals are in the minority but it's fact, plain and simple. The only real thing that we can do is contribute, in any way possible to the betterment and growth of our planet and our fellow human beings.

We can all start by evaluating our own lives. Recycle, give free hugs, donate clothes and spare change to charities that you know will help, volunteer, and in the very least, throw a friendly smile or two around when you get the chance, it's incredible what a kind word and bright face can do in this world.

Yup. Im really nice and almost everyone in my school knows me.

According to me you have to live your life as a human being, expressing your emotions in various ways. But to be human, you need to have emotions. We call ourselves 'human' because we believe that we do have feelings. Actually these emotions are just reactions and are we as ignorant and heartless as all other animals. So, we live to find out that we're but mere replica's of the true human race that never was...

Oblivionbram, I don't quite understand what you are saying.

Are you saying that emotions are what make us human, but emotions are meaningless because they are simply reactions?

One thing that is cool about being human is the fact that we have the ability to reason. Not only do we have emotions and feelings, but we have the ability to choose between what we feel, to a certain extent.

For instance, I may make a bad grade on a test and feel an emotion of dissapointment, but that does not mean that I will choose to allow this dissapointment to control how I respond or act. I may reason that to feel disapointment over the test grade is only making me feel worse, so instead I will feel inspired to study more next time. Now I have reasoned myself out of feeling disapointed and am not controlled by my emotions.

Animals, on the other hand, do not have the capacity to reason. They are subject to needs. Personally, I feel that animals have emotions, because they most likely have the ability to feel fear. It is simply for survival though and they do not reason out fear, they simply react.

I don't see how emotions being reactions to things makes us "replicas of the true human race that never was". Could you clarify what you mean by this?

Hedgehog, let me explain. I say this because I just cannot accept that we 'humans' do have emotions. We are human because we 'think' we have emotions that we can express in various ways and we give meaning to them. But all those spiritual, emotional and symbolic thoughts are but mere illusions. Instead of animals, we have the ability to control our reactions. Yes we do 'feel' but I believe they're just scientific reactions just like animals have, only more 'expanded'. But that doesn't mean I am not impressed by our beauty, I just think were not that superior...

"We're but mere replica's of the true human race that never was"

We replica's dream of a true human race that does has emotions, by giving ourselves the thought of having emotions...
The true human race is a model, but does not exist though. That's why I call ourselves replica's... I am writing a small book about that 'true race' and all about the real emotions. When it's finished, I'll be able to expand my explanations if needed...

I hope this answer satisfies you. Thanks for asking Hedgehog!

I see what you are saying.
Thank you for clarifying.

Emotions are simply chemical reactions to a given stimuli. I can see how this could be the case because, generally, people will be afraid of sharks or they will feel lonely without social interaction and any emotions or feeling is ultimately there to preserve our lives in some way. However, emotions can be vastly complicated. And not only that, but we respond to our emotions according to our personal discoveries, our knowledge, our personality, and our concerns.

I believe humans are greatly products of their environments. This means that everything that a person encounters throughout their life has an effect on what type of person they become. So the way that a certain person responds to a certain stimuli differs, depending on their own experiences. In turn, people end up having any number of responses to a stimuli.

On top of the fact that humans differ depending on their environment, they develop a personality with ideals and morals based on choices responding to their environment. Now the person makes decisions and has responses to stimuli according to their personality,character, and desires.

There is really no way to know if people have predetermined responses to stimuli based on their character, but because people have the ability to make choices, I don't think their reactions are predetermined. I guess you end up asking if you believe in fate.

I don't believe that emotions are mere scientific reactions for the reasons that I have stated. The chemical reactions are the very basic part of emotions, but emotions extend far passed the initial chemical reaction. Yes, people will have generally the same type of reactions to things like being scared, but how people respond to being scared can differ greatly.

If emotions and feelings truly are simply chemical reactions, I am curious, what would be real emotions?

i have this conviction that everyone is special and that everyone is is here to do a specific something that only he or she can do even tho there are millions of people doing the same thing, but each person does it it's own way. i am here on this earth to sing, to paint and to help people in the little things and to remind them of their selves, beyond this i have no existence and if i try to make one it will be sad and fake. the issue goes beyond this...it's abt ideals in the end but maybe ideals are as fictious as god that needs to be hammered and killed, you are what u are and you do what you do. existence doesnt need to be thinked, it is wrong to be thinked of, it just have to be lived, and i think that each experiencehas a lesson within that you can learn of if you are not too rigid within who you think you are, we are always in a becoming and w are always conjugated in a present tense, there are no lessons learn. i'll say it again, i think that each and every person has something that only belongs to them and they must share it no matter what, everything could be turned into an art.
i actually don't care if this is absurd or not, all i know is that i'm just here and that i have to do something with what i have.

Well, my dear Hedgehog, even though we have rather too complicated reactions to call reactions, I still believe in perfect emotions. I don't quite know where to start, because these true emotions are part of something that is much bigger. Something that holds phenomenal power. Something that holds purpose. Something that holds existence. The key to existence does not lie within my book though. The book only shows where the unreachable key is... When it's finished, I'll be able to answer your question with a short resumé... Otherwise you would be reading for quite some time...

"Well, my dear Hedgehog,"

I feel that you are being condescending. Please try to respect me as an equal individual.

If you could give me some information as to why you believe emotions are simply scientific reactions, I may be able to understand your viewpoint more clearly, but I still don't understand why you don't think emotions are true.

If you feel that your idea is too complicated for me to understand, then I am disappointed that did not take any time, or even try to explain it, before you judged it that way.

Well Hedgehog, I didn't mean it that way. I called you 'dear Hedgehog', because I am pleased to discuss about this question with you. We both have a common interest, and I am glad I can share it with you. I apologize if you thought I was disrespectful. I do not think you are not able to understand it, but I wrote a complete new 'universe' where emotions are part of it. The problem is not the explanation, but the length of it. I thought you would get bored of reading it. Besides, I never told anyone about the book except to you. So please know that I do respect you...
If you still want to read my opinion, I'll try my very best to shorten it.

I would actually be very interested in reading about your book. I understand if it 's too much work to explain, but if you explain it, I will read it