Richard Dawkins: What should a thinking person choose as the purpose of his/her life?

Richard Dawkins answers and audience member's question in his lecture at Univesity of Oklahoma March 6, 2009: What should a thinking person choose as the purpose of his/her life?

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Richard
• Dawkins
• Atheism
• Purpose

[monkeytube138]

@cropies Why is that sad? And incidentally, 80 odd years is a pretty damn long time. The point of your life is the point that you give it. If you choose to live as though your life is pointless, it certainly will be. I don't see why a limited existence should be sad. How else could any moment be precious?

[cropies]

no one ever answers this question, what is the point in your life if there is no afterlife? you just appear for a short ammount of time and then dissapear. how sad.

[jouassou]

@Duckshmm: We are an empathic species. That's how we're programmed. If you choose to focus only on satisfying your personal needs, you're actually neglecting one of the most rewarding experiences in life - which is to stimulate the people around you, and make other people happy.

I believe you're right that in the end, nothing objectively matters. We're complex machines in a Universe that doesn't care. But here and now, for those of us involved, things _do_ matter. They have a subjective value.

[GPEGEMGTM3]

@Duckshmm death's not the end my friend. And no I'm not a religious nut :)

[Vire70]

@BrokHomz

If you only care about the potential for things then it means every time you had sex and used contraception, you are committing a potential genocide of future generations; every-time you masturbate and the sperm goes to waste, another genocide of potential.

Every time you make a decision you're effecting and indeed likely even killing (by prevention) your own potential children of the (potential) future.

To call this murder is to spit on the concept.

[Vire70]

@Duckshmm

I used to struggle with the same concept. If we all die in the end; what is the purpose of anything?

However you need to stop focusing on the end result of things. I think even focusing on what your purpose is, is a bit negative; it implies your existence is just here for some sort of material benefit.

I've personally just found it more positive to focusing on living life as it comes... and striving to enjoy it. Does it matter? It matters to me, now. That's better than it was.

[lancevancedance]

@Duckshmm Well,first of all, what do you mean when you say "in the end its pointless"? Care to delineate?

[Duckshmm]

whats the point of chosing when in the end its pointless? it would seem a waste of time helping others, when i could be satisfying every personal pleasure given in this life.

but even that doesnt make me happy. why?

[Saphothere]

@BrokHomz

Yes, they do.

Doubt of what?

It's not murder.

[BrokHomz]

@Saphothere

skin cells on my nose don't have the potential to become a full grown human being.

And if your about life so much, why wouldn't you give the fetus the benefit of the doubt?

It's like, your okay with murder...only if it fits your belief system.