I discuss this question in my new book "Savng Gaia". How do humans save the planet? What needs to be done? The main problem to be addressed is mankind's antropocentricism, placing humans at the center of everything. As a former biology teacher, I can safely say, humans are just another animal and we better learn that fast as Gaia is approaching the tipping point. We are in the Holocene Extinction and more than half of all vertebrates from the time I was born, I'm 74, are gone forever.
As far as the meaning of life goes, let's take the advice of the great physicist Niels Bohr. There is no meaning to life. What purpose or meaning can the universe have when everything winds up in a black hole. The universe just is. Humans have to give it meannig.
The meaning of life is satisfaction - not to be mistaken for happiness. Satisfaction is as interpretative As Good and Evil.
It's a journey where everyone knowingly or not, will find purpose in their own way. Your purpose is not anybody's else purpose..... For some, a purposeless life is their path. Some are born to lead, some to follow. You don't have to have meaning, you just have to try to find it...then things happen.
I think the problem i have with even thinking about this is my head hurts with all the information about all the people in this world and all their differences. 7 Billion I can't even encompass it - my brain hurts -and then all teh different beliefs approx 4 thousand and two hundred religions - I can't think of any meaning that would mean anything given even those first two variables. I wouldn't even know where to start about giving the universe meaning
What Mr. Natural said.
What he said
life has no meaning or purpose in the universe, thats just being sentimental. we have no purpose other than the distribution of atoms,
The anthropocentric view requires that life has a meaning, and of course it doesn't.
The planet does not need us.
Life kind does not need us.
Life has a purpose, all life does.
The purpose is to keep your dna going, and while alive, be what you are and become what you are capabable of becoming.
We have passed the tipping point, the best we can do is delay the final crunch and save what we can.
To me the meaning of LIFE writ large is simply to evolve. For humans evolving means to aquire wisdom or knowledge. Again, to me that knowledge must be such as it helps to sustain life not destroy it as we are doing. Thank you for the inclusion of anthropocentrism. This is something a lot of non-theists share with the religious people. My late partner had a question for her 2nd graders which too many adults get wrong: What is more important, people or dirt?
I read Heart Sutra and became nihilistic. For a while I felt empty. There is nothing but void. There is no meaning of life. Then recently I remembered a phrase from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Not exact but ot goes something like "Enjoy the beauty of this parlor without dropping the oil on the spoon"
My take on this is, "Keep your ends meet and just enjoy". Yup.
Because there is no meaning of life, I can just enjoy this ride until I kick the bucket. Life is a festival!
Oh then why do I think I should still be altruistic?
So other people can enjoy their lives and they don't ruin my joy. Yeah, just like staying in line for the movie so everyone can enjoy the movie without fighting.
I think that's about it.
The best way of saving the planet is to lose the humans.there isnt a meaning because its one in a million luck that it even happened.
I don't think we will have a choice and if we don't go it will happen again anyway. we never learn. ideally, we would do it the very friendly way and all join as one sharing the wealth and agreeing to naturally cut down our population but that is never going to happen. we deserve to go as we only take without exception.