SRPP: What is the purpose of life?

Over on SRPP, I made a thread that started out with only this paragraph:

There's probably threads like this already, but I'm hoping something interesting will come of it.

I'd like you to support your view, if possible. The reasoning/etc.

After a few days and some responses, I edited the post with my answer:
_______________________________________________________________________

Edit: Here is mine:

A lot of people took the psychological bait of the question "What is..."

The simple wording "What is" implies to the person answering, that there "is" one in the first place.

From this point of view, "meaning" implies a reason, need, or ulterior motive.

But whose motive would this be? Human motive? Some sort of unknown deity? Many of you have come up with your own interpretation such as "humans" or "biology" or "philosophy".

But from an objective point of view, it doesn't matter whose interpretation or view point you are trying to find meaning from. Whether the view is from a human, a deity, the topic of biology, or philosophy, that is a subjective view you made up based on your own or other's interpretations of "meaning" and "life".

Basically, asking the meaning of life is like asking, "What is the meaning of this rock?" It's easy to see that there is no meaning. It just is or it just exists. Someone already mentioned, to the universe, it doesn't matter. The fact that we exist and are alive is completely circumstantial. There's no objective evidence that some sort of entity willed it.

This is why I'm nihilistic. Humans make up a negligible portion of the universe as a whole. There could be a whole nother planet elsewhere with people like us who have their own history with their planet thinking the same type of philosophical stuff we do.

From this point, because there is no purpose or meaning of life, not an objective one, I do agree that there are subjective ones.

Considering the astronomical chances of us even being alive here, we really are lucky that we are, so we should enjoy it, and work to keep it going as long as we can. This is my own personal 'what I make of life' view. To go further, if you consider it logical to say you prefer feeling good things over bad things, then the purpose of life is just to be happy. And what's the happiest feeling? Love. So the purpose of my life is to be in love.

From a survival viewpoint, the purpose is our species' longevity.

From some society's viewpoints, the purpose is to advance and learn and grow.

If theoretically a deity existed, there are multiple possible purposes for our existence. Let's say solipsism is true, and that we are actually only a computer program created by almost omnipotent but not omniscient scientists. Our existence is only a test that was made by greater beings. The purpose of our existence was the expansion of their knowledge. Perhaps it wasn't even planned at all that we came into existence, and that is was pure chance. Perhaps it was expected and has happened in many tests and we really are just completely unimportant to them.

See: Universal Simulator

Another deistic theory would say that we were created by the deity for whatever reason just to live and glorify his ego and be punished for things he gave us the capability to do so in the first place. Some would say we were made to be tested by the same deity that made us.

Perhaps some deity was bored, and made us just for entertainment.

_________________________________________

2018 addendum: (Written 2/18/2018)

The terminology for what I am has been coined and promoted into popular use now: I'm an optimistic nihilist.

If one looks at a field of flowers, sure, it's a pretty scene.

But if one looks at a single flower, managing to defy all odds to survive living in a harsh desert environment, would you agree that it makes the existence of that flower feel a lot more special to you?

If you agree that it does, then you understand why I appreciate life so much. There's no reason for life to exist. The odds of life existing are astronomically small, compared to the universe, compared to 13 trillion years of existence, compared to eternity

It's honestly astonishing that life is able to exist at all and for me to be here right now typing about it, because the chance that we are here right now is less than a 0.00000000...1% chance.

Life has no meaning, and that's what makes it all the more amazing that it's here at all.