What’s the point in living?
We’re all going to die in the end. So what’s the point? Some people say it’s to live a good life, create good memories, make people happy, but what does that really matter in the end? We all die, so nobody will be there to remember anything anyone’s done. When we die our memories will be erased, and so will our conciousness. There will just be nothing of anyone. It’ll be like we never even lived in the first place.
Then the human race will die out, the universe will end, and it will be like there was never any life anywhere. It’ll all be for nothing.
Struggling for your entire life will result in nothing. Trying hard won’t matter. Because when you die you are GONE. So it doesn’t matter anymore, anyway. You can’t look back on your life, when you’re dead, and think “oh, look at all those nice things I did”, because you will be DEAD. So you won’t be able to think.
Everyone you ever loved will die, and will be gone forever, as if they never even existed. You can only keep people alive in your memory for so long, then you’ll be dead too, and they’ll be forgotten forever.
… argh…. just why?! Why bother doing anything? Why bother to keep trying? It doesn’t even matter in the end, anyway.
My friends/family don’t seem to understand when I talk about this. Is it just me?
I can’t see the point in living.
14 comments
That’s kinda messed up true but still ridiculously broad. And then we all get sucked into a blackhole and nothing is left… Entropy …… It’s all inevitable. Man had its chance we pissed it away killing each other. Maybe next species does better and brings meaning to it all.
What’s the point?
Again and again…
“To do things you want to do, before you die.”
Come on, this isn’t calculus.
The point…is lost to us.
And so we’re just suffering, because of our dear parents who were selfish enough to bring a person – no, force the person – into this world where they will live a life of disappointment, pain and sacrifice, served up with a side of unending fear of death. Because we all die in the end, no man is not afraid of death. But we’re spat onto this world purely because our parents want a family. So they just bring one in, without any consent from the child itself purely to satisfy their own needs.
If they could just think, think about the child before their own pleasures about how the child will live in fear of inevitable death, hopefully it’ll make them stop and think…
And it’s not like the human race is worth saving. We celebrate the bad things, commemorate people for solving problems that are originally caused by us…all that shit.
YOU SOUND JUST LIKE ME. Are you aware of existential nihilism? I consider myself to be a nihilist, but specifically an existential nihilist. In other words, I do not believe in an objective point to life. You can, however, make your own purpose, but as we both know, whatever “purpose” we make will not matter in the end.
I have told my parents about this over and over. I even tell my therapist. My parents don’t want to listen, and my therapist is quick to prescribe more medication. I think that the medication has helped a little, but it does not help the fact that I have committed spiritual suicide.
My advice is to set goals, even if they are stupid, because life is pointless anyways. They will keep you living.
You are not alone, though. Also, look up existential depression, because existentially depressed people can relate to you.
Same here my friend. Ive been struggling with these questions since i was very little. Im 19 now and its getting worse. Im getting more and more depressed the more i understant how the world and life works. I mean it wasnt supposed for the human brain to get evolved that far. Think about it. All life on earth, just exist, and so do we.
We are all part of this ecosystem, forced to live under the needs of the human species, which the main idea is the continuing-survival of the species itself.All other life forms dont give a fuck about this, they just live under certain needs, reproducing, and then die, if they havent already died till the point that their body gets naturally fucked up.Well we do the EXCACT same things, but with the extreme priviledge of understanding them, and our mortal nature as well. Some people are not very smart (lets face it) and are not bothered questioning this stuff. Some others (like us) unfortunately do, well, as far as our brain capabilities allowing us to do so.
So, we are all screwed, victims of our fast evolution, trapped inside these fragile- full of needs bodies, spending most of the day thinking how to get laid so that the species can continue its existence.jesus fuck.(there is no jesus nor god nor any other god ; humanity gave birth to them because they were too scared, they couldnt understant what we are thinking now, e.t.c……
nihilist: what is the point of keeping on living though? it’s stupid, like you said. And those goals you set up are possibly (and probably) stupid anyways. Why live if it’s just going to be all stupid things with stupid reasons? Why destroy, consume and decimate further when the reasons for doing so are admittedly stupid?
lf you really believe all that then you should already know the answer. There is no point so nothing you do has any real consequence because the end game is already decided. There’s no point in fighting it, getting angry, or sad about it. You’re either alive or not and thinking hard about one doesn’t make it any more significant.
This is the reason I am happy to be a theist and that I am wishing everyone to be gifted faith as well (by gifted I actually mean gifted, I won’t force anyone to believe what I believe). I feel sorry for everyone who has to live through this world without a purpose and without a meaning.
There are endless examples about rational people who are not religious but who found a purpose for their life – a meaningful purpose that is worth living for. Although it is only made up, it makes your life happier. (An atheist will probably say the same about myself since in his opinion religion is also made up)
You are assuming we dont have a spirit that leaves the body upon physical death.
What if you are wrong on that?
What if living has the purpose to prepare us for something much greater beyond?
(just saying) 😉
“…and that I am wishing everyone to be gifted faith as well…”
You mean gifted with ignorance, delusion, and the absence of reasoning abilities?
Idk, that kinda sounds like “retarded and crazy,” to me. I wouldn’t consider that a “gift” at all.
Then again, people do say “ignorance is bliss…”
Maybe mentally defective is a prerequisite for being happy.
Imagine you were me and you would actually believe in God and you think that doing so is a great benefit. How egoistic would it be to keep faith for oneself and not pray for others to find to God as well?
I think the same. This is my main reason for wanting to die. I don’t understand the concept of why we have to stay alive just to suffer, what’s the point when we’re all gonna die anyway. Why should we suffer? To whom are we obliged? I just hope it will all be over when I take my last breath
I had an extraordinary “mystical” experience as a child of 6 or 7. I won’t detail this experience, only to say that I had the overwhelming conviction that my little, mortal, individual self did have some meaning, and that I was a part of something greater, something that transcended my own limits. I have had this experience with increasing intensity a number of times since then and I have to say that it brings me a great feeling of peace. In the throes of these spontaneous experiences I feel transported, ethereal, above the pain and suffering of this mortal life.
I am now 66 years old. These experiences have not answered any of the questions posed here, and in fact, I have only wanted to end this mortal life for as long as I can remember. I have made two well-planned, serious suicide attempts now, and have obviously failed both times, almost miraculously I would have to say. Now I am going to try the ******** solution currently explained in the exit international site. I believe this will surely “work” this time.
I do believe there is a “Something”, I won’t call it “God” or any derivative, but an Intelligence far beyond our tiny human understanding. I have studied the layman’s books on Quantum Mechanics for many years, as well as the many flavors of Spirituality (not religion), and I have come to the definite understanding that this whole Universe is nothing more than a Holographic Movie. Somewhat as portrayed in the Matrix movies, only including not just the human population on Earth, but the whole of the Universe. And the final question I have is: Who is the creator of this movie, and why has it been created.
Unanswerable questions to be sure, but I like the Hindu explanation that it is all just the “Play” of “God”. It is called “Lila”. It is just for HIS/HER/ITs entertainment, there is no purpose to this play, and it is totally spontaneous in this Producer’s Mind. Most importantly, none of this is REAL!! It’s all just a holographic projection. It is just all a meaningless magic show, a total illusion that IT conjures up in each instant.
So, for me, I’m just totally not into playing this meaningless game anymore. There is nothing that I want, no experiences that I want to have, no goals I want to achieve, absolutely nothing that I value in this make-believe story that I call my “life”. I have had the usual tragedies, pain and suffering, but right now, I have a pretty “good life” in terms of outer circumstance. Nevertheless, it is just meaningless. I still often feel the “mystical” bliss of being a part of something more than this tiny human existence. I don’t know at all if there is any “Truth” to this feeling. I don’t even care if there is something more, on the “other side” of this life. I just don’t care one way or the other. The only thing I know for absolute certainty is that, for me, this life as a human being is just not worth living.
I’m very thankful for the “good” that I have in my life now, but this is just not enough to “entice” me to keep playing my part in a meaningless play. I am at peace, a very deep peace that goes to the very depths of my heart. I wish I could share this peace with everyone. I read these posts and I see that many of you are not at all at peace and I have to say that your pain does touch me for some reason. I don’t have any advice to give, only my well wishes that all of you here can find some kind of relief from the seemingly unending pain and suffering of this meaningless magic-show of human life.
Interestingly, in this feeling of deep peace, I do not feel any urgency to end the show. I am paradoxically “dead” already, if that makes any sense. We will see when I actually do end it. I am no longer in that existential pain that many have talked about though. This is a great relief in and of itself. Well wishes to all.
@OddOneOut
Sorry I’m late, but I really think that life is pointless, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot enjoy it. I have wanted to end my life for quite some time, to be honest, but I keep living because my organs refuse to fail me.
One thing that you are doing, however, is thinking negatively. You seem to think that everything is stupid, like living is stupid. When I meant that I see life as stupid and pointless, I mean that I see it as chaos. It lacks a script that can be understood.
Another thing that has somewhat cheered me up is the fact that I avoid school. I cannot stand the drama. Nothing in life is really important to me, so I set unrealistic goals like making or designing an operating system or a computer, even though I can’t really code and I have no idea how to put a computer together.
You are going to have to accept that nothing matters and not dwell on it. I’m working on that myself.