Life does not have a satisfactory "meaning" under an atheist perspective.

My opponent was correct in pointing out the circular logic of reproducing merely for the sake of production. But my opponent also failed to see the last part of my statement; "once humans stop mating, humans stop existing. " Our biological reasoning for living is simple; we need to reproduce. Why do we need to reproduce? We need to escape death. There is no simpler purpose to life, no simpler meaning. Is it satisfying to humans, with our large brains and our capacity to realize our mortality? Of course not. Does it have a satisfactory meaning to the biological forces that drive us, meaning evolution? Not only is it satisfactory, it is the reason. While humans may not be satisfied with only this prospect, it is obvious our biology is. Humans are designed to have few abilities in the end; the capability to interact in the world through our senses, the capability to defend ourselves and our family from immediate death, and the capability to have those families. Evolution has formed these abilities for the very specific purpose of maintaining the lives that you and I have, so we can help continue the life of a species as a whole. Biologically speaking, that is our purpose. To live so we can reproduce so our species escapes death. If you have another reason for the purpose of life in biological terms, you have the medium to provide the details of your theory. But of course, as I mentioned earlier, this is not enough of a purpose to life to satisfy us humans, which is an ironic side effect of evolution's design of our brains, a design that is biologically meant to help defend ourselves from predators. As species go, we're pretty unique in realizing our own mortality. So if we cannot be satisfied with our biological purpose for living, what purpose is there? I wish to put forward a radical perspective that may possibly offend you. This perspective is that we should live our lives, simply because we have the choice to. There is no higher, ordained purpose to be given to us; we make our lives out to be what we want them to be. If you want to live for a higher purpose, you can. If you want to live for yourself, you can. If you want to live for both reasons, you can. You are allowed to live for any reason you deem appropriate. Just as God stated we had free will, we have the choice due to our large brains to live our life how we please. Of course, that is circular logic. You may say to me, "why should we live our lives simply because we have the choice? " I would like to rebut this possible rebuttal by first addressing your quote from King Solomon of Israel. "The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. Whatever they did in their lifetime - loving, hating, envying - is all gone. They no longer have a part in anything here on earth. " I think it is pretty obvious the dead know nothing, and once you are dead, there is no benefits that you can personally reap. This is a fact, ironically, of life. But, I would like to direct your attention to the quote I provide next. ". .. .Never wavering from his vision of Canada as a strong united federation with equality among provinces and guaranteed rights for individuals, Trudeau was determined to secure a full and equal place for all Canadians in a bilingual, multicultural Canada. " . http://www.indopedia.org... That is a small section of the epitaph on the grave of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada. This is much like the epitaph you see on gravestones in the cemetery or the eulogies people deliver at someone's funeral. This is my rebuttal against King Solomon; Pierre Trudeau. While the dead may not reap the benefits of their lives after their dead, everyone else in society that has been affected by them will. Everyone has been remembered after they die - what they did in their lifetime, all the loving, hating, envying - so it is never really gone. They still have a part in society as it has been carried on by those whose lives they have touched. Trudeau died in the year 2000, but his legacy and his life has never been forgotten. This would not be so if King Solomon was correct. So, this is just one purpose of life; to make an impact on the lives of others. What better purpose to live your life than making sure you will be remembered? Help the homeless, unite a country, defend the rights of people against an oppressive regime, simply be born. You will always make an impact. Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, your mother, father, sister, brother, wife or husband, your children and even George Bush, all will be remembered when they die, or all will remember you and carry on your legacy when you die. Simply furthering the lives of these people, positively or negatively, is a very, very good purpose to life. Because think about it; long after your dead, your great-great-great-great grandchildren will *still* be affected then by what you did now. Does that not give us purpose? Well, it would in most circles. But a lot of people don't think about that, only the here and now. What possible purpose can we gleem from life in a selfish perspective? This is where my "emotions and experience" argument kicks in. I would like to quite from a man named Adrian Barnett, whose website is the first thing to pop up when you Google search "meaning of life atheist". "Have you ever built a snowman? " - . http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk... We all live our lives because there is emotions out there we can experience. Forget continuing the species and making an impact on society; what do you want to do? You can do it. Why? Because we have the capacity to do these things, and reap the benefits of those things, whether it be through emotions or simply through experience. Being able to feel love, hate and envy is something that everyone has the capacity to do. Why not do it? Making love, attacking someone and spreading rumours are all experiences we can have, so why not do it? I don't understand where people get this notion that you *must* have a higher purpose to life to be able to live it. That is simply not true, all you need is to be able to experience the things you want. That is what free will is all about, right? Our purpose in life from a personal perspective is to execute that free will and experience whatever we want to, simply because we can. "The reason that their can be no desirable purpose of life in the minds of atheists is the belief that life is an accident. Accidents have no purpose. " Yes, life is an accident. I believe that. Does it rob me of my purpose in life? No. Why? For the reasons I stated above. Does that mean accidents have a purpose? No, it doesn't. It just means that the accident caused us to have a purpose. The accident created us, and we make our own purpose out of that. The one thing I've never liked about religious authority is that their purpose for our lives is to follow their rules. Life is not about rules; its about living. Only atheism can really give you the chance to live out your life however you want to, whether you want to make babies, free a country or just build a snowman, you have the capacity and the choice to. That gives you enough purpose in life.