talk:Meaning of life

{{edit semi-protected|Meaning of life|answered=yes}}

The Meaning of all life, the reason you are born and the reason you stay alive is simply just this, you are born to Live, Love, Laugh, and bring peace to the world, so far, the earth needs to work on that. 2001:8003:ED2F:ED00:D8D1:F07C:C94:933E (talk) 11:53, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

:File:Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Replicative Cloverleaf (talk) 12:32, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected|Meaning of life|answered=yes}}

Please change:

to:

Reason: The ISBN is for a reprint, not the original edition. I also added a link to the pdf version of the book

Thank you. 176.108.139.1 (talk) 00:11, 16 April 2025 (UTC)

:{{done}} DrySoup (talk) 17:15, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected|Meaning of life|answered=yes}}

You will definitely need to clean up and add more links and things to this, but......

Change the entire introduction (all of the introduction paragraphs, that is) to the following:

The meaning of life is a philosophical, spiritual, cultural, and religious concept referring to the significance or purpose of human existence. This question has been a central topic throughout history, inspiring a wide range of responses from various philosophical schools, religious traditions, and scientific disciplines. Although no universally accepted answer exists, the inquiry remains a foundational concern in both personal reflection and intellectual discourse.

In English-speaking contexts, the topic is often framed through questions such as "What is the meaning of life?", "What is the purpose of existence?", or "Why are we here?" Proposed answers differ widely, reflecting diverse cultural, historical, and ideological backgrounds. Some approaches derive meaning from religious or spiritual beliefs, positing a divine plan or transcendental purpose. Others emphasize ethical living, personal fulfillment, or social responsibility. Secular and scientific perspectives may focus on the conditions and processes of life, human consciousness, and the pursuit of well-being, without necessarily invoking a metaphysical or ultimate ("teleological") purpose.

Many related themes are also explored in connection with the meaning of life, including symbolic meaning, ontology, value, purpose, ethics, concepts of good and evil, free will, happiness, the existence and nature of deities, conceptions of God, the soul, and the possibility of an afterlife. These issues are addressed across a wide range of disciplines, each offering different methods of inquiry and interpretation.

Scientific perspectives generally focus on empirical aspects of existence, such as the origins of life, the nature of consciousness, and the conditions necessary for life to emerge and persist. While science does not typically address metaphysical or ultimate meaning, it contributes to discussions about human well-being, ethical behavior, and the psychological and social dimensions of purpose. In parallel, humanistic and existential approaches often emphasize individual experience and personal agency, reframing the broader question as: "What is the meaning of my life?" 2600:4041:5C90:ED00:90C:5465:89F1:E876 (talk) 20:58, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

:Please provide specific reasons for this change. It's not clear to me what you want to do. Johnjbarton (talk) 22:37, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

::I want you to replace the current intro with what I submitted. The specific reason I want you to do it is that the intro, as it is currently written, has strong nihilistic undertones, even though Wikipedia is deliberately intended to be as neutral as possible. What I have submitted is far more neutral and far less depressing, and rather than insinuating that life is altogether meaningless, my version of the intro correctly states that the meaning of life is objectively unknown and there is no definitive consensus; this does not preclude the possibility for subjective meaning or even an objective meaning beyond our comprehension (e.g., Immanuel Kant's distinction between "phenomena" and "noumena").

::Thank you for your time. 96.232.88.251 (talk) 19:15, 8 June 2025 (UTC)

:::Thanks for your reply. However, in Wikipedia the intro has specific criteria, mostly about summarizing the article at a level appropriate for general readers. So a challenge to the intro needs to specify how the article content is not properly reflected in the intro.

:::I will also tell you as a practical issue a very long proposed change by edit-request is very difficult to implement. On the one hand you are asking for a massive change, the entire intro. No editor would do that. On the other hand a cursor comparison between your version and the current one makes them seem very similar. It is too difficult to figure out the nature of your change.

:::I suggest you pick the most important sentence you want to change and explain why it does not match the content. Johnjbarton (talk) 19:30, 8 June 2025 (UTC)

: {{not done}}: Per {{np|Johnjbarton}}, the edit request queue is designed for specific requests for volunteers to perform in the stead of users who are technologically or procedurally prohibited from editing a page. If you'd like a specific thing to be actioned, feel free to create a new request. Otherwise, this general observation may still be useful to editors who watch this page. —Sirdog (talk) 22:58, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected|Meaning of life|answered=yes}}

Please change this reference:

to:

There are 136 instances of {{tji|cite book}} in the article, so making this change standardizes this ref with the majority of others (and provides a useful link for the ISBN). 176.108.139.1 (talk) 23:04, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

:{{done}} Thepharoah17 (talk) 23:38, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected|Meaning of life|answered=yes}}

Please change this ref:

to:

There are 21 instances of {{tji|cite journal}} in the article so this change standardizes the ref with others in the article and provides useful links for doi, jstor and s2cid. 176.108.139.1 (talk) 23:11, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

:{{done}} Thepharoah17 (talk) 02:05, 25 June 2025 (UTC)