The Meaning of Life...

Well, I am still engaged in my never ending search for meaning, and I have had no breakthroughs.

I have, however, gained some insight into how other people feel about it.

What I asked them was:

Gender:
Age:
Ethnicity:
Religious Affiliation:
What is mankind's ultimate goal?:
What is more important, progress towards that goal, or freedom?:
What made you choose either progress or freedom?:


Here are the results I have gathered so far:






Male - 19 years
Caucasian
Agnostic

Freedom
"Scientific and technological advancement will happen regardless, but should happen in the right context."

Humanity's Ultimate Goal
"Existence: our ultimate goal is to continue to exist."

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Female - 42 years
Caucasian
God Lover (Yahweh)

Progress
"True progress does not and cannot compromise freedom."

Humanity's Ultimate Goal
"To love each other, and be as nice as possible, and to love as deep as we can, until God rescues us from this place"

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Male - 20 years
Caucasian
Atheist

Progress
"Progress drives us forward, freedom holds us back"

Humanity's Ultimate Goal
"To conquer and expand"

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Male - 19 Years
Caucasian
Atheist

Progress
"Without progress, there would have been no freedom."

Humanity's Ultimate Goal
"Death and destruction. Humanity will eventually destroy itself."

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Male - 58 years
Caucasian
Nondenominational Christian

Progress
"If everyone works towards the golden rule, freedom will ensue. The reason for this is that people will start to want freedom, and because of the golden rule, they will give freedom to others."

Humanity's ultimate goal
"Our goal is to treat each other as we wish to be treated, and to spread this philosophy. We could also use a bit more forgiveness in the world. Not lack of punishment, but forgiveness."

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Male - 16 years
Middle Eastern
Muslim

Freedom
"Without freedom there can be no progress. Eighty percent of third world countries do not progress, because they have no freedom of opinion or democracy."

Humanity's Ultimate Goal
"Our goal has always been freedom. This is why there has never been (nor will there ever be) any invasion that lasts forever. Humans always want freedom from invading countries or the inner system itself."

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Male - 32 years
Caucasian/Native American
Christian

Freedom
"Freedom has been taken for granted for so long that they sold it to the highest bidder, and progress has just about destroyed our ecosystem and depleted our natural resources."

Humanity's Ultimate Goal
"Love thy neighbor. Tomorrow will tell it's own tale....Love and Understanding is the only answer...but who's going to listen?"

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Male - 20 years
Caucasian
Agnostic

Freedom
“Survival brings with it freedom to act. Without survival, no action can be taken, and we are only free in our actions. The two are inseparable.”

Humanity’s Ultimate Goal
“Persistence over time is the one thing that humans live for. We can't live without surviving. In living on we are truly free. You cannot make more specifications about what in life you are free in, because you can always argue your way out of that. The basic requirement for freedom, any human freedom, is life. We cannot be free without living. We live for living, and we experience and grow, and we try to live for as long as we can and understand as much as we can.”