What’s the how?

@WileEQuixote Chemical reactions, abiogenesis, evolution, sexual reproduction, more evolution, primates, more evolution, Humans, many generations pass, probably some neanderthal hanky panky, then some more generations, then you.

@ThereIsADog accurate. ?

Now that's scientific at it's core.

Ahaha funniest answer so far!

What he said.

Then our purpose is to create purpose according to you, a valid theory ! Could be it !

@PhilippeLavoie I suppose you could say that, though technically that would be circular. Either way, my personal purpose is to be a good person, a good dad, to leave the world a better place, to promote science and reason, etc.

@DonThiebaut your personal purpose can be summarised by "maximizing people's happiness" which seems to be the best purpose the human mind can come up with.

@PhilippeLavoie Again, a reasonable summary. I'm honored that you think so! ?

There has to be a universal answer to this question, let's assume God exists for one sec, he had to have a reason for creating us

@PhilippeLavoie im sorry but no, there doesnt have to be a universal answer. and since i believe that all gods are a creation of the minds of humans, my earlier statement about each person having there own answer to the question of why still stands. i personally feel that i was born so that i could help those in need. others feel that they where born to become famous, others still feel they where born to complete some task they believe a god or gods set them up with. it all depends on who you ask. im not trying to say there is anything wrong with you seeking an answer, but maybe you are asking the wrong people, maybe you should be asking yourself...just my thoughts tho, others may find that they believe in some devine purpose that answers that question more to your liking.

@Byrd Well i wasn't expecting to find the ultimate answer on this post, but I was curious to see people's answer! Maybe by studying the Big Bang, we'll find some universal answers or something we can't even imagine with our current knowledge, we need to keep asking questions I believe

How people answer this question gives deep insight into their minds, because the "why" we do things we do is people's own explaination for their behavior

It's a beautiful and poetic hymn to life from a scientist, but it doesn't explain why we exist!

Point taken; so let me add....The Why is within the gift; you make your own heaven or hell, your own "why" or reason for being.

You do good deeds, raise good kids, and leave fond memories with generations, or you are happily forgotten. It's your choice; choose to discipline yourself to last long and do well, or chose not to - and be a taker, abuser, and short-lived person.

@Robecology good answer, however somehow i have a hard time accepting that we are only here to be happy and have fun. I need a deeper reason!

@PhilippeLavoie The fact that we NEED a deeper reason doesn't bring such a "reason" into existence. The indifferent Universe doesn't give a damn for our existential needs. It is sad, and disappointing, but that's the way it is.

@PhilippeLavoie That's the point; we just don't know....but we know we're very, very fortunate to be alive. I'm guessing that if there is a god, (s)he gave us this life as a temporary gift....in a sense, we're "in Heaven" for a short visit....to allow more souls to enjoy - or not enjoy - the trip.

@COGITOERGOSUM if the answer doesn't exist, there is no way to be certain the answer doesn't exists, which means generations and generations of people will search for it without success, let's hope that's not the case

@PhilippeLavoie Clause (1): You are right; Clause (2): Generations and generations have searched for the answer, and we both know the results. So, if the past is any indication....

@COGITOERGOSUM Just because many people failed and died trying to make the first airplane, doesn't make the quest for flying irrelevant! Something that hasn't been invented or discovered yet always look impossible at first (because if it was easy someone would of done it long ago) , but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try, it just gives more credit to whoever will succeed!

@PhilippeLavoie Keep trying, my friend! I wish you luck (sincerely).

Nice answer!

Well if there is no god then there is probably no why, but if God really exists then there is a why, aren't you curious to find out what it is?

@PhilippeLavoie I'm confused about your saying (more than once) "....if [g]od really exists, then...."

You do realize that the majority of the people here don't believe for a second that "god really exists," right?

@BlueWave but then why are you on an agnostic app, if you are an atheist? Some people here really are agnostic

@PhilippeLavoie hmmm...I really am Agnostic and I also think 'why' is meaningless. And I also wonder at the nature of your questions.

@PhilippeLavoie The app is for anybody. What I asked is whether you realize the majority of the people who participate in this community don’t believe any gods exist. Do you realize that?

@PhilippeLavoie This is like asking why Sasquatch broke the tree limb in my back yard. Until there's good reason to believe Sasquatch exists, what would be my motivation for expending any energy on that question? And even then, I'd have to make some assumptions about Sasquatch, its nature, whether it is self-aware, whether it was concerned with me at all, whether the branch incident was an intentional act, how many Sasquatch there are, how perhaps the existence of an evil Yeti comes into play, and on and on — but after all that, I'm no closer to knowing anything and all I've done is entertain and perhaps perpetuate an unsubstantiated claim.

@BlueWave Well we could look at the actual ratio of atheist/agnostic on this app. But if you're using an app litteraly called "Agnostic", it's a little wierd to lecture me on being Agnostic and saying things like if God then X, if no God then Z. Do you realise that?

@PhilippeLavoie Your non-answer to my simple question is noted. Cheers! ?

@BlueWave Besides I have answered your question : No I don't realise that the majority of people here are Atheists because you haven't shown me the ratio of people's belief on this app AND even if you do and there are more atheists or more muslims or what ever, it's still not irrelevant to talk about agnostism on an app litterally called "agnostic"

@resserts a strange comparison, but let me remind you that Zoology is a science and some people would really dedicate their life to studying the saskash behavior if it existed, so asking why we exist seems a more valid question to dedicate your life to, no?

@PhilippeLavoie Yet how do we determine the reason without knowing anything about the being in question? Everything is conjecture. It seems useless to speculate about why we were created when we have nothing to suggest we were, in fact, created, what the nature of such a creator is, whether it's a self-aware entity, whether it cares about us or even knows we exist, whether it's a single entity or one of many, and on and on. Everything hinges on this conditional assertion "if it exists," and that seems to be a question worth exploring (though difficult, given that the concept isn't easily or clearly defined) — until we start asking questions that assume knowledge that we don't have. How can we know what the intention of our creation is or what our cosmic purpose is without first somehow establishing that there's a personal creator, what the personality/nature of such a being is, and knowing the mind of such an entity? "If it exists" leaves all the work ahead of us to clearly define what we're talking about and find solid evidence for its existence before we could ever hope to understand enough about it otherwise to answer the question "why."

@resserts really nice and smart answer. the existance of God and why we exist are completely different questions and are only linked in the assertion that "if God exist"(God indeed being a form of intelligence that we know nothing about like you said) then maybe we can just ask why he created the universe, but then we would be stuck with an equaly strange question, why was God created? Which indeed like you said can't be answered for now, does God even know why he exists? If he exists? At this point it's pointless to speculate like you said, but hey it's human nature to question things

Good theory I love it

Still worth the try!

@PhilippeLavoie Why?

@Sticks48 well questioning our reality in general makes us more aware of everything around us, and the big WHY is part of that, even if unanswerable for now, I believe we have to try

@PhilippeLavoie I think by the time we're declaring ourselves Agnostics and Atheists we're not really asking these questions anymore.

@crazycurlz what do you mean?

@PhilippeLavoie asking 'why' is what the religious waste their time on. Forgive me if I'm wrong but you are not one of us and everyone here sees through you.

@crazycurlz Sorry for expecting to meet agnostic people on an app called "Agnostic" I overestimated Atheist's rationality. Besides I'm not hidding my agnostism at all, so of course you see right through me

@crazycurlz also you may want to reconsider your last comment after watching "WHY are we here" by Stephen Hawking.

Thats the how not the why!

For now yes, but my hope is that we'll find the why by studying the how!

But the lack of answer to this question is causing suffering to me

@PhilippeLavoie because you're attached to having an answer.

@stinkeye_a Well yeah curiosity is what brought Humans this far, but yet the very reason for our existence is still out of reach! I can't accept the idea that we exist for no reason, i need to find out what it is!

@PhilippeLavoie why don't you tell all of us, then? What's the reason we all exist? It's as if you're bursting at the seams, so please enlighten us...tell us your 'why'?

@crazycurlz I litterally just wrote that not knowing the answer to this question causes suffering, at least to me, so obviously I don't know. The truth is, if some form of intelligence didn't create us then we might never know(because otherwise we could just ask him/her). So if Atheist are right we are doomed to try to answer the HOW like Stephen Hawking dedicated his life to, perhaps by trying to find the HOW we will find the WHY by accident?

@PhilippeLavoie you spelled litterally wrong.

@crazycurlz Your answer just showed you're not interested in the topic, you just want to contradict me on everything I write. Ok you win Crazycurlz, talking about agnostism on this app is crazy and who cares why we exist and why we do things we do. Science is all about Beliefs and questionning things is a sin to scientists right?