155 Existential Questions to Make You Think Deeply
The pursuit of self-discovery and understanding of the world around us often leads us to reflect on deep and meaningful questions.
These existential questions delve into the nature of existence, reality, consciousness, and morality, and can spark hours of introspection and philosophical contemplation.
With over 150 questions to choose from, this article serves as a comprehensive resource for anyone seeking to challenge their beliefs and broaden their perspective.
Whether you’re looking for personal growth or just a conversation starter, these existential questions are sure to spark a deep and meaningful discussion.
What Are Existential Questions?
Existential questions are philosophical inquiries that explore the nature of existence and human purpose.
These questions delve into the meaning of life and address fundamental issues such as death, freedom, and the purpose of existence.
Some of the most common existential questions include: What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What happens after we die? and What is the purpose of existence?
These questions can evoke deep thoughts and introspection, and there are no definitive answers.
However, they provide a framework for exploring life’s big questions and finding personal answers.
Best Existential Questions
Following existential questions list delves into the meaning and purpose of life, asking big picture questions about existence and human nature.
1. Why do you think we dream?
2. Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?
3. If you could switch genders for a length of your choosing, would you? And if so, for how long?
4. What is good and evil in an intellectual sense?
5. Why do we feel good when we experience beauty?
6. What does it mean to have a good character?
7. How important it is to have good friends?
8. What is the greatest struggle you’ve overcome?
9. What inedible thing do you wish you could eat?
10. Would you ever take back someone who cheated?
11. Which hairstyles fit with which personalities?
12. Are you religious or spiritual?
13. If you could choose the next president of the United States, who would it be?
14. What is your idea of a perfect vacation?
15. What’s the most stress-relieving thing you can get/do for less than $20?
16. When have you felt your biggest adrenaline rush?
17. What silly thing do you take a lot of pride in?
18. What would you sing at karaoke night?
19. If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?
20. If money was no object, what would you do all day?
21. If you were a superhero, what powers would you have?
22. Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?
23. List two pet peeves.
24. How would your friends describe you?
Funny Existential Questions
Funny existential questions are lighthearted takes on serious philosophical inquiries, aimed at making us laugh while still making us think. Here is a fun list of existential questions to bring a smile to your face.
1. Are you dreaming right now? How do you know?
2. Are clowns scary or funny?
3. If time travel is possible, would we have met time travelers already?
4. Are animals conscious? How about insects? Plants?
5. Can vegetables feel pain? How can you tell?
6. Can you know what it is like to be a bat?
7. If a deaf man burps in the woods, and nobody is around to hear it, did it make a sound?
8. Agree or disagree? Things only exist when you are looking at them.
9. What makes something funny?
10. How do you know you are not just in a VR computer game?
11. On an airplane, when sitting in the middle seat, who gets to use the armrests?
12. Can you imagine a new color that hasn’t been discovered before?
13. Red paper under a blue light appears black. Is the paper still red?
14. Can animals understand English?
15. Why do humans find things funny?
16. If aliens exist, what would they look like?
17. Do animals like being kept as pets?
18. What makes a good friend?
19. If you were born with a different name, would you have a different personality?
20. Can computers experience consciousness?
21. What would a time machine look like?
22. Why do humans wear clothes, but no other species do?
23. Do animals feel love?
24. Are you lucky? Does luck exist?
Deep Existential Questions
Deep existential questions are philosophical inquiries that probe the nature of existence, reality, and human purpose. Here are some thought-provoking existential questions to consider.
1. Are we all connected in some way or another, and is this connection means anything to us?
2. Can we ever be sure what other people are thinking or feeling?
3. Where does morality come from?
4. Are people inherently good or evil? Why?
5. Can people ever truly change?
6. Are all human beings fundamentally equal, or are some people intrinsically more valuable than others?
7. Is it possible to be absolutely certain about anything?
8. Is it true that nothing is true? If so, wouldn’t that make the question itself false? And if not, then what is true?
9. What if someone was born without the ability to feel any physical pain whatsoever—is it possible they might even die without knowing something was wrong until too late?
10. Do we really own anything in this world or are we just renting everything from nature/the universe/the planet/etc.?
11. Is there such a thing as absolute reality or is everything just subjectively defined by our own minds?
12. If time doesn’t have an end, does that mean we all live on forever?
13. Do we create our own reality through our perception and thoughts, or are we bound by objective laws that cannot be changed by thought alone?
14. How much control do we have over our own lives and choices and are some people at an advantage because they control more of their lives than others do?
15. Do people really have free will (the ability to choose exactly what they want)?
Stupid Existential Questions
Stupid existential questions are humorous or nonsensical inquiries that poke fun at the serious nature of existential questions. Here are some silly and absurd existential questions for a good laugh.
1. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality comes from morons?
2. If money is the root of all evil, why do they still ask in church?
3. How to die without knowing that we are dead?
4. If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
5. If you hire a guy to kill you, will to ruled as suicide or murder?
6. If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?
7. If the moon has earthquakes, what do they call moonwalk
8. Why can’t a person be in two places at the same time?
9. Why is it called common sense if it’s so rare?
10. If a person owns a piece of land do they own it all the way down to the core of the earth?
11. Are there really such things as accidents? Is there any such thing as a coincidence?
12. If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
13. Being a grown-up isn’t half as fun as growing up, would you agree with this statement?
14. Do you sometimes sing or hum to yourself when alone, if so who is listening then?
15. Is ignorance really bliss?
16. Is it possible for a man to be pregnant with other species?
17. What came first, the chicken or the egg?
18. If you’re born in Germany, raised in the U.S., and vacation in Mexico, where are you from?
19. What would happen if Pinocchio said ‘My nose will grow now’?
20. Why do we teach kids that violence is not the answer and then have them read about wars in school that solved America’s problems?
21. If all of the nations in the world are in debt, where did all of the money go?
Existential Questions about Life
Existential life questions explore the meaning and purpose of existence and our place in the world. Here is list of some best questions about life.
1. What is the meaning of life?
2. Is there an afterlife?
3. What is the purpose of life?
4. Do we really have free will?
5. Do we have a soul?
6. Is there a god?
7. What is the difference between right and wrong?
8. What are you most thankful for?
9. What’s the best conspiracy theory you can make up on the spot?
10. What is a relationship deal-breaker for you?
11. What gross and unhygienic things do people do that bother you?
12. What if you found out that you were the star of The Truman Show?
13. Where is the craziest place you have danced?
14. What would you do if you found out you were adopted?
15. If you got put into a room for eternity with people who died the same way you died, how would you want to die?
16. What’s the one thing you would like to change about yourself?
17. What would an amusement park filled with your biggest fears be like? What rides would it have?
18. Are you more into looks or brains?
19. If jobs/careers had slogans, what would be some of their slogans?
20. What’s your favorite book/movie of all time, and why did it speak to you so much?
Existential Questions about Death
Existential questions about death explore the ultimate unknown and challenge us to consider our own mortality. Here are some profound existential questions about death.
1. What does it mean to leave a legacy?
2. How would I like to be remembered?
3. Would I rather have more people at my wedding or at my funeral? Why?
4. What would my last meal request be?
5. What am I most proud of?
6. Would I want to know the date and manner of my death? Why or why not?
7. What is the worst way to die?
8. What is the ideal way to die?
9. What will happen to my body when I die? Should I be cremated or buried?
10. Will I donate my organs?
11. If I was to die today, what would I regret not doing?
12. What will matter to me most when I am on my deathbed? How can my life today align better with that?
13. In what ways can it be healthy to contemplate death? In what ways can it be unhealthy to contemplate death?
14. How can I treasure life all the more knowing that I will someday die?
15. How can I treasure the people in my life more knowing that they will someday die?
16. Do I want to die at home or in a hospital/hospice? How can I make this happen?
17. What should my epitaph be?
18. What would others say about me, and what do I hope they would say?
19. What ceremonies should be performed prior to and after my death?
Existential Questions about Love
Existential questions about love explore the nature of this complex emotion and its role in our lives. These questions delve into the meaning of love, its purpose, and how it shapes our existence.
1. What makes people fall in love?
2. Why a person falls in love only with a specific person but not with others?
3. Who loves me more in my life?
4. Can a person fall in love with everyone he or she meets?
5. How many times do we fall in love?
6. Does love come first or does trust come first?
7. How do you measure love?
8. Why do we love someone more after they left?
9. Does true love exist?
10. Why do we love?
11. Why does love kill us and at the same time make us feel alive?
12. Why there is pleasure in waiting for the perfect kind of love?
13. Is it possible not to fall in love for a lifetime?
14. How love is different from life?
15. Who loves more, a woman or a man?
16. What is the right age to fall in love?
17. What if there is no such thing as love?
18. Does love happen only once in a lifetime?
19. Is there anything beyond love?
20. Why do people love each other?
Existential Questions about God
Existential questions about religion and God explore the existence and nature of a higher power and its role in the world. These questions challenge our beliefs about God and the meaning of spirituality.
1. What happens to religions, spirituality, science, and philosophy if the existence of god gets proved wrong?
2. What is religion according to scientists and philosophers?
3. Why there is always a conflict between religion and science?
4. What is the philosophy of religion other than the concept of god?
5. If God doesn’t exist, do all the religious people get heartache?
6. If religion and spirituality are not the same, why god is their connection?
7. What if people are just wasting their time by believing in religion?
8. If the concept of religion is wrong, does the existence of all the religious people meaningless?
9. Why do people follow religions?
10. What every religion is trying to preach to humanity?
11. Does every religion one?
How to Ask Existential Questions?
Asking existential questions is a powerful way to explore the meaning of life and our place in the world.
However, these conversations can be challenging and sensitive, so it’s important to approach them with care and consideration.
Here are some tips for existential questions to ask in a respectful and productive way.
- Start with self-reflection: Before asking existential questions, take the time to reflect on your own beliefs and experiences. What do you believe about the meaning of life, and what questions do you have about existence?
- Be open-minded: When asking existential questions, it’s important to approach the conversation with an open mind and a willingness to consider different perspectives. Avoid coming from a place of judgment or preconceived notions.
- Ask clarifying questions: To get the most out of a conversation about existential questions, ask follow-up questions to clarify what the other person means. This helps to avoid misunderstandings and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
- Be respectful: When asking existential questions, it’s important to be respectful of others’ beliefs and experiences. Avoid attacking or belittling someone’s beliefs, even if you disagree with them.
- Listen actively: The best way to learn from a conversation about existential questions is to listen actively. Pay attention to what the other person is saying and show that you’re engaged by asking thoughtful questions and responding thoughtfully.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, asking existential questions can be a transformative experience that leads to greater understanding and personal growth.
Whether you’re exploring your own beliefs or engaging in a conversation with others, the process of questioning and exploring the mysteries of existence can be both challenging and rewarding.
We hope these examples of existential questions have given you some insights into your life, and we encourage you to continue the conversation in the comments section below.
So, share your thoughts, ask follow-up questions, and engage with others as you explore the big questions of life together.
