Is human life really worth anything?

You may be surprised at the ripple effect that bad attitudes and events can cause. With that said, yes, human life is worth something. Sometimes it's worth what you make of it, and sometimes it's worth even more =)

 

If we look at things objectively, we are all insignificant. Life has no meaning. It will only have meaning if you choose to give it one. I know the feeling of being alive but not really living. I entertained the idea of ending my life but for some reason I don't like knowing I gave up, that I was weak. I am curious to find out if there is an afterlife but death is certain anyway so there is no rush.

It is up to you how much worth your life is. So why do you think you don't have any value to others?

 

You don't need to overcomplicate things.

Feeling good feels good. It may have been a long time since you felt good, but you have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow.

Everything could change tomorrow without you lifting a finger. Or the day after, or 20 years from now. To kill oneself now would be to claim you could predict the future, that nothing good would ever happen to you. You may feel that way, but you can't predict the future... and given you only get one shot at this (to the best of our knowledge) you'd be mad to throw away even the tiniest tiniest chance that something good might happen.

 

In MY opinion, no.
By the rate of reproduction, when one person dies they are replaced seconds later by someone else. So a life isn't really worth much..

 

Life does have it's ups and downs for everyone, and I know what you mean as there are far too many downs and very few ups.
When you are sad and depressed life at times does make you feel that it's too hard and the pain that goes along with it is something which makes you wonder about living.
I have also considered suicide in the past as I don't like myself but I just couldn't bring myself to do it because of the hurt that would be left for people around me as I care about other people a lot more than myself.
Life is precious and support is always at hand from other people around you like here on the forums.
Anything you feel that you need to discuss, do it and you will find that things will hopefully improve for yourself.

 

No. Not intrinsically. But we create our own meaning, both as a society and an individual.

 

yeah why not

 

Nope, life is p worthless

 

I don't believe in the afterlife so I firmly believe that our primary goal should be to do as much of what we want to do as possible, before we drop dead. If what we want to do right now is to drink a can of coke, DO IT. If there is no mystical meaning to life, then we have to make it mean something -- to ourselves. We have to look at our life, and think of what we have/own/can do (and not what we don't have/don't own/can't do) and define some of those things as important (as many as possible). Looking to your right isn't important, but watching your favourite tv show can be. Why not? If it makes you feel excited and gives you joy, it is important! So, if you have or own it, use it. Use your family, your friends - try to be with them whenever you want/need to. If you can do something you want, just do it (if there are no negative consequences, ofc). Be irrational or spontaneous sometimes, 'cause you don't get another life. This will increase the number of small things that you were glad to do. Of course, most of those things will be forgotten. But they leave a smell. A good one. It requires some training to see that small stuff matters. Training what? The right perspective.
Don't think about being worth to society. Fuck society. Think 'YOU'. The easiest part is actually the family: you are automatically worthy to your parents, siblings and children (at least). Yes, there's that "you're gay and you disappoint me" thing that seems to suppress that automatic worthiness - in that case, it's completely their fault and you don't have to prove yourself worthy to them; don't beat yourself up about it. You can try to educate them, but that's it -- it's no longer a worthiness issue. It's rough, I know, but that's how I believe it is.
Back to the little things. Back to the change of perspective. Yes, when looking for something important short-term/medium-term, it's the freaking little things that matter. Because why the hell something huge has to happen everyday or every week for us to feel like that day or week was worth living? It's not reasonable to think like that. You don't have to feel fully accomplished in your life at your age. Yes, one little thing means nothing and will probably be forgotten. But a bunch of little things means everything - 99% of your life will be made of little things, specially if you try to collect as many as you can each day. That's one huge bunch of little things! That's a freaking huge thing! Your life is then a huge thing - to you. So that is the first thing that's important in the long-term: all those little things as a whole. Only after feeling this self-accomplishment, you can start thinking about fulfillment on other levels: leaving a mark on this world. It doesn't have to be the cure to cancer. Personally, and I emphasize Personally, I find having children, teaching them to be the best of themselves and trying to be a role model to them and to others, the best fulfillment I'll have, and so I crave it.

"Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air." - Georges Bernanos

I hope you can someday understand this philosophy as I find it to be (one of) the best, truest and simplest to live by, specially because (as I see it) it's a way of thinking that doesn't try to lie about how the world is and actually makes you realize what's real and reasonable, by adjusting/correcting your view of how a regular life should be.

Be happy! (*hug*)

 

Legally, one Canadian life on average has an estimated value of $10,000,000, or at least that's what my economics professor taught us.

 

It would only take one man and one woman to repopulate the earth, what is that worth?

The problem is not the answer to that question, it's the question itself...it goes to the question of what is value...what is worth? What is the value of value?

Some have brought up a dollar value to human life, and it's not illegitimate, as pretty much everything in our world has brought money into it, but this question goes much deeper and touches upon beliefs and spirituality.

Churchill once said: "Man is spirit"...extraordinary that a politician would say that no? He understood that there is an entirely spiritual dimension to human life, and he was able to mobilize it for the greater good. To me one life is an entire and unique world...heck, I have no idea if you see the world as I do, nor even whether you perceive the colour red as I do! What is an entire world point of view worth?

There is a Jewish saying: "He who saves a life saves the world entire", that has to be worth something...

 

1) Churchill may have been a great politician, but he was not a great man. In fact, he was a racist pig. I would take that into consideration when taking spiritual advice from him.
2) Politicians use spirituality and religion for political gain all the time
3) What evidence do either you or he have to suggest such a thing as 'spirit' exists, or that it is an attribute of humanity.
4) You're making an argument based on quotations, then suggesting that the meaning of the quote must be significant without giving us any reason to believe the quote has any truth to it.

The problem is not associated with the number of lives one man and one woman could bring into the world. Its a problem of whether those lives have any intrinsic value. Yes, people have done many great things. All out culture, knowledge, civilisation was brought about by humanity. But we, humans attribute value to those things. Its subjective. What we humans create has no significance to the universe as a whole.

You know, in the grand scheme of things, does it matter that there are 7 billion sapient beings on planet earth, rather than a group of non-sapient apes? I don't really think so.

I'm not making an argument to justify taking lives or anything like that. The question is really an arbitrary one, because humans will never stop taking the subjective value of life to heart.

 

Interestingly enough, the EPA estimates the value of a human life at ~$8,000,000. I guess Canadians are more valuable than Americans!

But it's important to understand what these numbers mean. They were created to try to define a reasonable attempt to save a life. How expensive of a medical treatment is too expensive to be worth saving a life?

If there was a cure for cancer, but it cost $17,000,000,000, it would be impractical and ridiculous, obviously. But at what point is it not ridiculous? $1,000,000,000? $1,000? That's what these numbers mean.

The true value of a life is that you'll never get it back. Killing yourself is a permanent decision, but unhappiness is fleeting. If you say you'll never be happy again, you are wrong. But if you kill yourself, you are robbing yourself of decades of joy that you can never return to. You are robbing people who love you now of yourself, and people who might love you in the future of the opportunity to find the greatest joy in life with you.

In terms of statistics and the survival of the human race, no, one life doesn't mean much. But in terms of How much damage an untimely death can cause, yeah, life is priceless.

 

I do think life matters, even if it's so horrible right now. If evil wasn't so chronic then maybe life wouldn't feel so pointless.

As miserable as we may be, the hope of progress prevailing, no matter how dim, precludes any possibility of life being useless. Having the hope that things will get better in the future is like a glint in a completely dark cave with the light leading to a better place.

The future generations can live better lives. For us, it's probably too late, but at least the people of the future won't have to live with the constraints of a psychopathic government. And that is worth fighting for.

 

Wow.

In all honesty, for me this post alone concludes the debate.

(there have been other great posts in this thread too!)

 

I think that life is precious, but the real impact each life makes is what the person decides to do with it.

 

nothing is worth anything

 

In the greater scope of things no but that doesn't matter because we don't live or perceive on that level. If you're questioning this, and I feel like most people eventually do at some point or another, maybe its time to ask yourself if you're where you want to be in life. If you aren't, try to make some changes so you're closer to there. Well that is simplifying it alot the point is meaning in life doesn't happen along as we age or something. We do have to actively seek it out to some extent and it's different for everyone. For me I rather think about these kinds of things less and live them out for better or worse. Be true to your feelings, act on what you feel, keep friends and family close; cause if it feels like there's no light at the end of the tunnel they're the ones who help you back on your feet, and happiness as well as meaning should follow

 

Ehhh..I mean you could debate life and what its meaning is, but in the end it comes down to personal opinion. In my opinion, human life is precious as a hole. We are a smart and proven species that can survive.

But as for the individual life, yes it is very precious. Some can argue can we number in the billions and that as an individual you aren't important, but that isn't true. Each life means something