HN Explorer

Feedback AI Agent to Tell You Your Purpose in Life

1 points by sarpongAbasimi ↗ HN
Hey everyone, please be kind.

I’ve been thinking about how so many people are unsure of what they want to do with their lives. What if there was a tool that could help you discover your purpose and guide you on what you should be doing, so you’re not just wasting time?

I’d love to hear your thoughts—would you use a tool like that if it existed? Any feedback would be really appreciated!

5 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 20.1 ms ] thread
sarpongAbasimi
I mean think about it, it will save a lot of people from not focusing on the right things and probably the world will be a better place because everyone will be living with a purpose.
meristohm
Feel like treating the symptoms rather than the cause. If we lived in a manner that integrated our physical, mental, and emotional aspects into meeting our needs, and were better-practiced at connecting with others and being part of diverse communities (both "bridging" and "bonding" networks), a sense of purpose would arise earlier. Aside from a drive to explore as a youth, and the artificial purpose of videogames, I didn't feel a sense of purpose until becoming a parent, and now I am also driven to rehabilitate land.

I would not want a tool like you are proposing, especially one that involves ML/LLM tech. I prefer to communicate with humans, and to read books written by humans.

ickelbawd
I would probably not use such a tool today—though perhaps a younger me might have. How could an AI know what your purpose is? And what purpose is the right one? You are in essence describing religion—a very old tool indeed. And self-help books—not quite as old as religion but also an old tool.

If someone has to tell you your purpose it is not your purpose—it’s theirs. If someone tells you their purpose and you are convinced that it should be your own… well then it might honestly be your purpose. Or you’re doing that mirroring thing again that we social animals tend to do…

Personally I believe life has no inherent purpose. We’re a runaway chain reaction with physical and emotional needs that have been bred and trained into us. Accepting this is painful—especially if you’ve been raised in any sort of religion that preaches about God’s great plan for you and the “purpose of life”. But once you internalize this: you are free to make your own purpose—though naturally any purpose you choose that runs counter to your human nature will likely bring you sorrow.

One such tool I enjoyed years ago was reading “Man’s Search For Meaning” by Victor Frankl.

sarpongAbasimi
wow, this was really deep. Thank you very much for your comments. I guess we just have to figure things out in life ourselves and not rely on any tool to tell us our purpose.