The Purpose of Life

What is the purpose of life? This is a question that has plagued philosophers for thousands of years.  Over time, many ideas have been given.  Aristotle famously said that happiness was the purpose of life.  But people still ask this question, and with so many variants, there is no solid answer in sight.  Luckily, I was told the purpose of life by a man who discovered the answer on an acid trip.

Purpose Vs. the Meaning of Life

Now I do think that there is clear difference between the purpose and meaning of life. Purpose is often seen as finding your life purpose. What do you want to devote your life to?  To helping others?  To inventing a cheap alternative to fossil fuels?

Alternatively, the meaning of life is often pondered as “why are we here?” What does all this life stuff mean?

The Purpose of Life is…

Years back, I had a conversation with a man at a party.  We were talking about life in general, and he disclosed to me that, on an acid trip, he had actually figured out the purpose of life. The answer was so elegant and so simple.  So much so, that although I have forgotten who actually told me this story, I have not forgotten his answer to this philosophical question.

This is his story:

I was tripping and thinking about existence and how it’s all so fleeting.  I was trying to figure it all out, when it hit me.  I know what the purpose of life is! I was so excited to finally learn it.  Often times, when tripping, things come into my mind than are gone, never to be recalled again.  I was nervous I would forget this newfound intelligence, so I decided to write it down. 

Hours later, after my trip was over, I was thinking about my experience when I remembered; I’d found out the purpose of life! I dug into my jean pockets and pulled out a small, crumbled up piece of paper.  I carefully opened it up and read what I had written hours earlier.

“to eat”

The purpose of life is… to eat.

Underwhelmed?  If you think about it, it makes so much sense.  All animals have to eat to survive.  Most animals spend all their energy and time trying to procure food.  Only humans are “lucky” enough to be out of the daily grind of trying to find food (though some would argue that the former is a better way to live).  Most of us have other humans get our food for us.  But still, it’s about making money to buy food.  If we don’t eat, we die.

I think the underwhelming nature of it makes it that much more truthful.