Is there really a point to life for autistics?

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Life seems to be mainly about socializing. It's about educating yourself, finding a girl-/boyfriend, getting married, and having kids who can continue the circle.

When you have autism all this socialization often is too difficult, doesn't mean enough for you, doesn't allow you to be yourself, etc. etc.

So I wonder what the point of life is when you aren't naturally sociable? Isn't it fooling yourself to think special interests can replace it?

Eh, I don't think that. The purpose of life is really whatever you decide to make it, so there isn't really a problem with that there as you state it.

But aren't all "common" actions eventually aimed at getting a family with kids, who can get a family with kids, etc. etc.?

I.e. jobs, dating, eating, etc. etc.

Lots of NT's, including NT's with a spouse and children, also find life meaningless. It's hardly something limited to aspies. Life by itself has no intrinsic meaning. Meaning is something that is unique to each person, and something we impart to ourselves through our thoughts and actions.

I can say from experience that it's possible to have a meaningful life with limited social interactions.

I've spent thirty years learning about the world, in that time I've learned only a fraction of what there is to learn(I'm not even counting detailed technical data of no real use outside specialized fields).

IF you see the socializing as a 'natural' function of a biological imperative that is often acted out with no conscious consideration...well, what you're looking at is about as meaningful as the monkey troop at the zoo.

Perhaps our difficulty with fulfilling this social imperative actually leads to a higher level of consciousness...After all, we actually have to think through our actions most of the time and are painfully aware of things that NT people take for granted. Over time, the skills tend to improve.

This is not a bad thing.

Yes and no. The goal of life is to have fun/be successful. Being successful is to be knowledgeable in what benefits your life and what interests you. Such as a job or kayaking, travel, calendars, etc. (Just picked random stuff to use as interests)Whatever. The best way to have a fun or successful life is for it to be fufilling for your needs. If you don't want a family or kids then that would not be your goal in life, it might be a little different from not norm, but really isn't all that out there.

So you find meaning in learning things about the world, merely for the sake of learning them?

Yea I do, it hasn't been boring. I don't mean just reading dry facts out of the CIA world factbook, I mean living life too and experiencing things and doing things.

The main overall purpose is survival, so yes, eating.
If you wanted to, you could go live in a jungle amongst the monkeys, and pretend to be a monkey.
As for the others, it's not impossible to do such things if you wanted those.
Life is what you make it. Anybody can find how to manipulate themselves into a comfortable success.
Everything isn't pointless for everybody, whether or not it's mainstream.

Life has no inherent meaning or purpose whatsoever. By definition, "meaning" is something that is conferred by the mind, and "purpose" is something decided by the mind. Life isn't a product of the mind; hence, it has neither.

If you spend your whole life looking for a meaning... you aren't living.

The meaning of life is not an actual answer one can find but is a process of discovery. The process of finding the meaning is the meaning. It is not the destination but the journey.

I think my life has a point. Every life has a point. No matter how it's lived. You're narrowing everything down to one thing as if it's the theory of everything and comparing autistic people to it and finding us wanting. I think this is not about autistic people, this is about you. And you need to figure this stuff out - ask here if you have to. But please stop imposing these things on everyone else.

Life is about so much more than the things you've listed, and you don't get meaning by having a relationship or a marriage or kids. That's one way, but it's not the only way.

You're not the first person to come here who thinks they've got it all sussed out, but like them you are hyperfocusing on a very narrow slice of life and treating it as if it is everything that matters. You're ignoring everything else, and I think maybe you might find some satisfaction in exploring that "everything else." There is no social theory of everything that explains everything about autism. It's not possible for such a thing to exist.

In defense of qawer I have had similar thoughts many times, that it seemed like to most people life was about gathering resources and having offspring who could have more offspring who could...

It often seemed totally pointless to me, living every day socializing to manipulate people, then breeding to stroke my ego.

People may turn to religion in order to feel that they have purpose for exisiting.
I suppose that as I'm a Christian that I have two reasons for living: One, because God wanted to make me (that's same for all people. No exceptions) Two, Jesus gave something called The Great Commission - to gently bring others to God (not Bible bash I hasten to add. Bullying is unacceptable.) because God wants all people to come to him. I would also like to add that trying to figure out how to keep the great commission centre of my life is tremendously difficult with work/family, etc and still haven't achieved that yet. I think that few Christians have.
Anyway, other religions/or rather ways of life e.g. Buddism help people to find inner peace, to reduce that horrible feeling that life is basically meaningless.
I think that unlike animals who live to survive and procreate, human beings are just too wonderfully complicated to be satified by that. In a way it forces us to move forward - discovering new things, inventing, philosophizing.