I think that questions such as: What is the meaning of life? or Why am I here? are bullshit because they make assumptions that there are answers out there that we just don't know yet. I think that all 'why' questions should be replaced with 'how' questions. Anyone else have a say in this?

I think those are great questions. If you think they're bullshit, you already have an answer. I think 'How' is right up there with 'Why'.

As for an answer? The meaning of life is to expereince it, to fill your little place in the overwhelmingly complex system you are a part of, to live. To be.

How? By being possible, because this is one possibility out of an infinite sea of possibilities. And this is the one we're experiencing now.

Why? Because if there wasn't something, there would be only nothing. And whats the fun in that? Whats anything, if its really just nothing?

piratestrangler, if you don't hold an overpowering aversion to the Bible, I'd suggest Ecclesiastes as a really good read on the meaning of questions, the utility of wisdom, and the such. It's pretty much a mental breakdown of King Solomon (he was close to losing his crown) in which he abandons all he thought to be wise upon the realization that 'all is vanity'. He had a Socratic moment long before Socrates came to be.

The answer to life, the Universe, and everything is.......42

I mean, we are like caterpillars contemplating pupation (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Pupa).
No longer will I chew up cabbage leaves, no longer will I spend my time moving around on the underside of foliage.
Life must be a preparation for the transition to another dimension.......

Here we go, climbing way up into the sky.
Well we'll see if this ride is really like flying.

(Shpongle: molecular superstructure)

The answer to that question is ENTIRELY dependant upon who you ask.

I largely agree with the OP, because i don't think there is a why - there is no reason we are here,we just are. Therefore all of these why questions become meanigless, at least for the time being.

We should focus on the how, in order to discover truly how the universe works. Armed with that information, we may able to find a why, if it is out there - but i won't hold my breath.

The meaning of life is to live :)

The meaning of life is to find the meaning yourself.

Existentialism is probably for you.

The meaning of life is to find the meaning yourself.

Maybe I'm just quibbling here, but I would say not so much "find" as "decide" or "choose".

Events, situations have no intrinsic meaning per se--they mean what we decide they mean. Some people choose to live in a world which is essentially mechanical and meaningless--my world is filled with miracles and wonders.

Maybe I'm just quibbling here, but I would say not so much "find" as "decide" or "choose".


I agree, I said "find" because that is the word I hear so much going along w/ it. I don't really care about semantics but yes I would have chosen the word "decide" over find.