I am an atheist. I don’t believe in karma or the universe or any kind of higher power. I don’t think there is a divine existence that predetermines our lives and gives them purpose.
I don’t think human life has a purpose.
Despite being a philosophy minor and actually really enjoying philosophical discussion on the meaning of life and the purpose of human beings, I don’t think human beings have a purpose.
And some people might find that absolutely terrifying. I understand that people may find that idea scary – if we don’t have a purpose, then what are we living for?
I actually think it’s a comforting notion. What a relief that there isn’t some predetermined purpose unknown to me that I should be spending my existence trying to fulfill.
Two things bother me about the thought that human life could have a purpose.
First off, how could we know what our purpose is? If it’s a predetermined purpose that a higher power chose for us, how could we ever know what the purpose was? Should we spend our whole lives searching for the meaning of life and neglecting all other things?
Secondly, what if our true purpose is something that doesn’t make us happy? Or what if it’s something that we can never actually attain? Back to my first point, we’d never know.
Without the pressure of feeling like I have to endlessly search for my purpose, I can just live. I don’t have to guess at what some higher power wants me to do; I can just do what I want. I can do the things that make me happy.
I think our purpose is that we have no purpose. We’re free to do what we want whenever we want. We are all our own agents and can make choices for ourselves. Each person has a different thing that makes them happy. Our lives should be determined by us. The purpose is, we have no purpose, so we can create a purpose for ourselves. Or we can change our purpose if it doesn’t serve us anymore.
What really bothers me about thinking that humans have a purpose is that it is so finite. It limits you to what you think you can do. And it doesn’t invite change into your life.
People spend years chasing their dreams and sometimes they achieve their dreams and then want something else. I don’t think it’s wrong for the thing fulfilling you to change.
I’m about to graduate and I’m scared. I’ve got no idea what I’m going to do. Thankfully, because I’m graduating early, I’ve got some extra time to figure things out. And I’m comforted by the idea that I don’t have to get out of school and immediately start changing the world by fulfilling my purpose. I have to figure what I actually want to do. I also have time to try different things that I think I might want to do but maybe won’t actually end up enjoying.
There is a lot of pressure on college students, especially soon-to-be graduates, to have their lives planned out from the second they enroll in college. We pick our schools and our majors at 18. Then we go through those classes with maybe a major change or a minor addition, and we get internships in those fields to gain experience. Then we’re supposed to graduate with a job in that field. By that logic, are we supposed to know what our purpose is when we’re 18?
I’m thankful for the mindset I’ve adopted that allows me to take the pressure off myself even just for a while.
I’ll spend the summer enjoying my time with my parents and my brother and visiting friends and thinking about what I want to do for now. You won’t catch me, wasting away inside, contemplating if everything I’m doing will help me fulfill my divine purpose.
The purpose is we have no purpose.