The Meaning of Life

I am impressed by my opponent's well thought out argument, but I am far from destroyed.RebuttalsHe argues that "searching for a meaning of life (which I think doesn't exist) will mean you, up until your death, waste time and mental energy that could have been spent on actually doing something in ignorance of whether or not life has meaning," which is synonymous with his case in the second round: "My case is that by deluding yourself to a meaning you might choose a less beneficial option in a scenario because you think it better fits the meaning of life."This is flawed; how could a father who uses his parenthood as a means to provide a meaning for his life possibly choose a less beneficial option than another father who does not consider his parenthood as a meaning for his life when it comes to the well being of his kid? Why would a father who does not consider his parenthood as a meaning for his life have to spend his entire life to "search" for his parenthood as a meaning for his life? He would not even have to "search" at all for his parenthood as a meaning for his life."...the only meaning of life decipherable from a God-believer's standpoint is that he made a creature so intelligent that it would question the reason for its intelligence in the first place." I would not even make that argument because that is not a statement a God-believer (assuming the God you're referring to is the Christian God, judging from the nature of the quote you used), by definiton, would make. On the contrary, a God-believer would say that the meaning of life is to simply obey God:Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NIV)13: Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man.14: For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. The verses are self-explanatory; 13 deals with what mankind must do, according to the Bible; 14 deals with why."...while both are virtually impossible to find (I would like to say ABSOLUTELY impossible in regards to the meaning of life) the finding of prime numbers, which merely are an absence of any pattern whatsoever, would ultimately (as pointless as the search would be) result in far more useful information than a meaning of life, which quite frankly does nothing at all in assisting one's ability to live it."As I have said before, providing a reason for the meaning of life assists in the process of making decisions, provides a motivation for improvement and it provides a system with which one could measure one's own progress, along with providing a "why." What's the use of knowing the pattern of the sequencing of prime numbers if life itself has no merit?"The only purpose we have in life is what we do for other forms of life isn't it..."Not for everybody."Pointless to question the meaning when you are one form of it."That is like saying that it is pointless for somebody to question what it means to be a soldier when he or she is one himself or herself. Being a soldier means a lot more than to receive veteren's pensions and life means a lot more than what one definition says of it.Before I finish this argument at a time later than 3:16 a.m., I would like to mention that if life has no meaning to it, then the suicide of a person would not make a difference to anything except perhaps the result of a head count. If life has no meaning to it, then morality would have no merit or meaning; the loss of twenty kids and six staff members from the shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary school would make no difference. If life had no meaning, the whole of human-kind may as well end itself to avoid "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."Your best shot at converting me to nihilism is noted, but not enough. I await your response.