It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves at one point or another:
What is the meaning of life?
It may feel like an impossible enigma with no clear answer, but exploring our deepest existential concerns can lead to greater clarity and insight.
From asking “Why are we here?” to figuring out how best to utilize our gifts, there’s plenty for us all to ponder in times when uncertainty creeps in.
Let’s take a deeper dive into some of these existential questions and unpack their answers together.
Table of Contents
What Are Existential Questions?
Existential questions are inquiries that help guide people in understanding the meaning of life, their purpose, and the nature of reality.
Existential questions are some of the most difficult to answer. They challenge our very idea of what it means to be alive and the purpose of our existence.
Often these questions lead us to discover more about our values, beliefs and motivations.
Trying to answer existential questions can be daunting but worthwhile as it encourages self-reflection that can often lead to personal growth.
Best Existential Questions
Exploring why we exist, what our true potential is, why life has no ultimate meaning – this existential questions list could take us on an inward journey that could lead to enlightenment.
1. People often move far away for work, has this led to a degradation of responsibility among family members?
2. Does everyone need love in their life to truly be happy?
3. Do you spend your time wisely, working towards goals in life that will really make you happy?
4. Is there a God?
5. Are all people born equally, or are people born with more or fewer opportunities than others?
6. What behavior or thing from your life would make you happier if you eradicated it?
7. Do we all have what it takes to make our dreams a reality?
8. Is what we perceive reality, or is it a construct of our imaginations?
9. Do you have a right to be happy, or do you have to earn it?
10. What genetic enhancement could make humanity a better species?
11. Do humans have a limit to their creativity?
12. Do our lives benefit from the hardships we go through? What would life look like without hardships?
13. When is the use of violence justified?
14. Is humanity moving in the right direction with regard to morality and the world we live in?
15. Will the human race become extinct in the next 100 years?
16. Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?
17. Can you have more than one soulmate in life?
18. What’s the meaning of life?
19. Has consumerism led to a degradation of our values and goals in life?
20. Are we alone in the universe?
21. Will human life ever extend beyond our solar system or will a “great filter” lead to mass extinction?
22. Is one lifetime enough or do you need longer to appreciate the richness of life?
23. Should happiness come easy to us, or should we have to work hard to find it?
24. Will artificial intelligence ever be able to mimic the creativity of a human?
25. Should we feel sad about getting older?
26. Do you think there is life on other planets, and do you think it’s identical to ours?
Funny Existential Questions
What if the answer to life’s biggest questions is actually a joke? Hard to believe? Check out this list of existential questions and you will on the go!
1. If you expect the unexpected, does that make the unexpected expected?
2. If you draw a white circle on a white piece of paper, does the circle exist?
3. If I hit you with a dictionary, is that verbal abuse or physical assault?
4. If it’s bad to be at the right place at the wrong time, is it good to be in the wrong place at the right time?
5. If animals have consciousness, do birds consciously choose who to poop on?
6. Is it immoral for a vegetarian to eat animal crackers?
7. Is a hotdog a sandwich?
8. Why isn’t it dangerous for a walk-in restaurant to have a drive-in window?
9. Would a group of monkeys, typing for an infinite amount of time, eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare?
10. If you purposely fail, did you succeed?
11. Is it possible to be standing backward on a staircase?
12. If everyone thinks life isn’t fair, is it fair to say that life is in fact… fair?
13. If we should expect the unexpected, isn’t the unexpected expected anyway?
14. If our thoughts are the reality, does anyone know reality really?
15. One thing is funny to one person and unfunny to another, so what makes anything funny?
16. If you’re a prisoner in your own mind, how do you free yourself?
17. What was the best thing before sliced bread?
18. Do animals feel love?
19. If Schrodinger’s Cat remains trapped in the box, is it simultaneously dead and alive?
20. How would a vagrant feel if they were put under house arrest?
21. They say exercising for an hour a day adds an extra hour to your life, but are you really adding anything if you spent that extra hour exercising?
22. What came first, the chicken or the egg?
23. If plants can react to environmental conditions, can they perceive pain when we cut and eat them?
24. Who let the dogs out? Who? Who, who, who?
25. If quitters can’t win and winners never quit, why would we tell someone to quit while they’re ahead?
26. If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around, does it make a sound?
27. Before we had sliced bread, what did we consider the first best thing?
28. Can you free the mind of thoughts without thinking of your blank mind?
29. Can I watch my thoughts without thoughts watching me?
30. Can you ever be in the wrong place at the right time?
31. Can atheists get insurance for acts of God?
Deep Existential Questions
These thought-provoking existential questions will probe into the secrets of life, examining the meaning of existence and pondering our purpose in the universe on a deeper level.
1. Is free will an illusion, or are we cogs in a greater machine?
2. What do you think goes through your mind at the moment your life ends?
3. Why do you think we dream, and do you think that dreams come true?
4. How do we measure our lives when time is subjective?
5. Do you think money has any real value or is the value in the time and energy we put into earning it?
6. Can art be defined?
7. What’s the point in continually growing? Is there any shame in remaining where you are in life?
8. What would life be like without suffering? Is suffering a necessary part of human existence?
9. If you could put together one sentence to give others about life, what would you say?
10. If you didn’t know your age, how old would you be?
11. Is there an afterlife?
12. What is more important: the ends or the means?
13. Are human beings inherently good? Are we built with an internal moral compass, or is morality entirely the result of socialization?
14. Is happiness a right or a privilege?
15. Do you think humans are born with ethics or do we learn them through life?
16. Is knowledge inherently valuable, or must it have a practical application to be considered of value?
17. Are we really free as people, or are we controlled in some form throughout our lives?
18. Should humanity have a goal? If so, what should it be?
19. Is poverty inevitable, or is it just the result of corruption? Without corruption, would there be no poverty?
20. Is the value of a human being based on the sum of their actions, or do they have value no matter the actions they take? At what point do your actions give your life less value?
21. Is it possible to know if we are doing the right thing?
22. What makes something beautiful?
23. Can both destiny and free will exist simultaneously?
24. Babies and children are assumed to be innocent. When do people stop being innocent?
Stupid Existential Questions
Stupid existential questions are those that have no real answer and can leave people feeling frustrated and confused. Check a few below!
1. Is the answer to this question no?
2. Does expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?
3. How do you respond when someone asks if you’re in denial, but you’re not?
4. What if a vampire bit Batman?
5. Does the study of philosophy ever lead to answers or just more questions?
6. If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?
7. What would you genetically alter about the human race to improve them as a species?
8. Do crabs think fish are flying?
9. How far East can you travel before you’re heading west?
10. Which letter is silent in the word ‘scent’, the s or c?
Existential Questions about Life
As is often said “Life is a journey”. Sometimes, we just found ourselves so busy with career, family, etc, and simply forget to consider life itself. Following existential life questions will open up your mind.
1. Are our lives fated? If so, can we truly have free will?
2. Do our lives exist entirely in reality, or are they also made up of our own constructions?
3. What is the location of the soul? Does it reside within you?
4. What marks the end of life? Is it death or is it when no one is left to remember us?
5. Are we given enough time?
6. Can you ever have full control over your own life?
7. Is life made stronger by hardship? What would our lives be like without hardships?
8. Is there a difference between living and existing?
9. What is one thing that every human should get to experience in their life?
10. What is more real: how you perceive yourself, or how others perceive you?
11. Is it scarier to think we are the most advanced form of life in the universe or that we could be among the least advanced forms of life?
12. Do people exist before they are born?
13. What marks the beginning of life?
Existential Questions about Death
Truth is, life is finite—no matter what science does do about increasing its length! So let us stop and think for a moment through these existential questions about death!
1. What happens when we die?
2. Is there life after death?
3. How would I like people to remember me?
4. What will give me eternal life?
5. Where will I go when I die?
6. What is premature death?
7. Why do we die?
8. How can I treasure life knowing that I’ll die someday?
9. What would matter most when I’m on my deathbed?
10. What is the healthiest way to think about death?
11. If I were to die today, what would be my regret?
12. What am I willing to die for?
13. What do I need to learn from the death of a loved one?
14. What do I want to accomplish most before I die?
Existential Questions about Love
If you’re looking to dive into understanding the depths and complexities of love more deeply, these questions are sure to shed some light:
1. How do we forget a person we once loved deeply?
2. What is the meaning of true love?
3. Does love at first sight exist?
4. How can I love a person deeply even after knowing their weaknesses?
5. What makes someone beautiful?
6. Are there two specific people made for each other?
7. Do soulmates exist?
8. What measures self-love?
9. How can you give yourself without losing yourself?
10. What makes us love others?
11. Does true love exist?
12. Is it easier to love or be loved?
13. How can I love without losing myself?
14. Is there one true love?
15. What makes self-love unselfish?
16. Is it better to focus on loving than being loved?
17. How many times can we fall in love?
18. What makes people love each other?
19. Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?
20. What makes up love?
Existential Questions about God
Are you curious to find out more and gain insights about God? Then why not take these existential questions about religion as your starting point!
1. Is there an ultimate truth?
2. Does God exist?
3. If God made us who made God?
4. How can I know God is real?
5. What does God look like?
6. Has God got a beard?
7. Why do humans believe in God?
8. Why is the world here?
9. What is the ultimate truth?
10. Who created God?
11. What would change for you if you could see God being as angry about this injustice as you are?
12. How would it be for you if you knew God was as saddened by your loss as you are?
13. Can God speak to me when I ask Him to?
14. What would you like the fruit of your pain to be?
15. What if you didn’t need to figure out how you’re supposed to feel or supposed to act?
16. What if your situation is a result of a fallen world rather than a fallen God?
How to Ask Existential Questions
1. Get Clear on Your Intention:
Before you ask any existential question, be clear on your intention for doing so. Ask yourself if you’re looking for an answer or just exploring the topic further in conversation.
2. Listen to The Answers Given:
Asking existential questions opens up a dialogue between two people; it’s important that you take the time to listen to the answers given in response.
3. Be Respectful:
When asking difficult questions, be respectful and ensure understanding for the other person’s feelings as well as their right not to provide an answer if they don’t want to.
4. Don’t Force the Conversation:
If either party starts feeling overwhelmed it’s best not to force them into continuing with the discussion; instead allow them space, or even suggest taking a break.
5. Allow Yourself Time to Reflect After the Session:
It’s important that each person allows themselves time afterwards for reflection.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it—a brief list of some pretty important existential questions to ponder.
If you want to obtain the most out of life, it’s important to ask yourself these big questions.
They’ll help you figure out what you should be doing with your time. And if you are not sure where to start, that’s OK.
We’ve got a list of some great examples of existential questions to get you thinking about life, the universe, and everything.
Would you mind sharing your answers to some of these existential questions? We look forward to see your comments below.
