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How do you all deal with meaning in life? What experiences or reasoning lead you to your choice and how has/does it affect(ed) your life?

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  • 11 votes
EliRodriguez11 5 May 7
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32 comments

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11

For me, part of life is discovering what you love to do, or what you are especially good at, and pairing that with what you notice is lacking in the world, or your community, and setting about using something of yourself toward filling that need.

That is so VERY True!

8

There is no meaning inherent in the universe, so you have to make your own. But I couldn't vote for 2 things, so I voted create/discover it.

6

I don't think there has to be a meaning...we're just here.

That's a pretty popular answer

6

I think you have to decide what kind of meaning you want your life to have. I chose to raise amazing kids and create things, and do the best I could with the resources I had.

4

It is up to the individual to find their own meaning to their own life.
It's no one else's business what they come up with.

4

I live one day at a time.

3

I'm just here until I'm not.

Probably my favorite response ?

@EliRodriguez11 Thank you.

Also: "Philosophy" is a philosophy group if you're interested
Edit: ""Philosophy" Group" to ""Philosophy""

@EliRodriguez11 l'm not sure I'm smart enough for a philosophy group. ?

3

Once i found out it was 42 i was cool with it.

Coldo Level 8 May 7, 2018

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy is a great movie

3

I think there is no one meaning for everyone. I tend to follow Buddhist thought thay we are all "one" and I feel that my purpose is to leave this world better than I found it for as many people as I can. Even the little things can have ripple effects

@TiberiusGracchus I like that last part too. Especially since you don't have to let go of relying on evidence to suggest that there is no more than what can be demonstrated physically. And we know that the universe is definitely interconnected. Particle by particle. Krauss is keen on conveying to us that our composition was allowed to us by the death of stars. "Forget jesús dying to save us, STARS died for you to exist!" Lol or something like that. Anyway, yeah, there is some peace in knowing that you are a part of something as massive as the universe. Although I'm not personally a fan of trying to satisfy my desires to feel more significant. I enjoy more the acceptance of reality regardless of whether it might be depressing or disconcerting in general.

@TiberiusGracchus I just created a group if you'd like to join: "Philosophy" Group
Edit: ""Philosophy" Group"

3

Never understood why so many think there need be a reason, purpose, or meaning.
If anything at all, it's simply to enjoy the short time we have - or not.
...some guy said "there are no answers, only choices"

3

The meaning of life is . The experiences that makes up one's existence.

Sartre was keen on this

3

My son is my reason for existence. His safety and happiness are the only thing that matters. Without him, I would have ended it by now

3

Before the agricultural revolution 10KBC no one suffered for lack of meaning. Survival provided all the meaning we needed. Then we invented overabundance. Now our needs are met by doing repetitive tasks that alienate us from our natural interests, and the resultant abundance causes us to lose awareness of our natural needs. Go without eating for two weeks or without breathing for two minutes and you’ll find that the problem of insufficient meaning is no longer on your mind. Commit to hunting/gathering all the food you consume for a year and watch the meaning flood back into your life. Our sense of meaning has been swamped by artificial abundance. This is probably why many ancient “meaning traditions” encouraged embracing poverty. Modern, Western meaning traditions encourage the opposite.

skado Level 9 May 7, 2018

Well said my friend.

I understand exactly what you mean, but the suspension of considering meaning does not provide one nor does it refute the idea of there existing one. Thanks for the background and insight into the origins of the contemplation of meaning though! Very interesting. I'd like a source or something similar for my own learning if you could provide one. Thanks again.

@EliRodriguez11
These ideas are not directly sourced but just my impressions from diverse readings and ponderings. I'm not aware of any evidence of any universal, transcendent meaning as such, but I do suspect we wouldn't be so hungry for one if we hadn't become so successful at providing for our own comfort. I guess I'm saying we made up the idea of meaning, and now we feel we have to live up to it. We might be better off to let go of our artificial concept of meaning and just rest in the observable reality of our evolved nature.

@skado Perfectly the answer I was looking for. Deeper than the manufacturing of a purpose, and an instruction for what to do once you've scrapped that desire. I've written about this in journals, but as I've mentioned in my bio, I'm no expert. Just an amateur philosopher. Thanks for the time and insight you've put forth.

@EliRodriguez11
Thank you for engaging in discussion with me.

@skado also "Philosophy" Group is a philosophy group

@EliRodriguez11
Thanks. Looking forward to participating.

3

Meaning can fluctuate, grow, dissipate... You have to nurture it like a plant.

2

The meaning of life is to help the people around you enjoy theirs

2

I just think about it lots, make up lots of philosophies, work through scenarios, and then tell myself at the end of the day... it's pointless.

2

I think Albert Camus wrote in the Myth of Sisyphus that although life is absurd (meaningless), living is better than committing suicide as the struggle is beautiful. I don't know what it is really means though. You can create whatever meaning you want, but it is not necessarily better than a meaning that some religions ascribe to your life. What is more important is to "believe" in your chosen meaning without question,if you want to feel happy. Am I suggesting you can't be happy by being right? I hope not.

Camus believed that by facing the absurdity of life and existence, and smiling at it, accepting that absurdity, you rebel so strongly against it that you develop some sense of purpose. And no, I understand what you're saying.

Also "Philosophy" Group is a group I just made for Phil if you want to join

2

Accepct that there is no inherent meaning in life and create your own. Be curioius, make friends and live happily.

2

The Universe is big enough not to notice or give a damn what we are doing or not doing. We could all disappear in an instant and the universe will just continue to expand into whatever it's expanding into and not give a shit. Given the distances between star systems, unless there are galactic level civilisations who can approach the speed of light, and pay us a visit, or at least see us; there's nobody to care one way or another that we even existed. The meaning of life is to determine what life means to you, and proceed accordingly.....or not. I don't spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating it much anymore. Doesn't mean I don't care, I'm not a nihilist....it just understand that I am here for a finite amount of time and I have shit that I want and need to do while I'm here. It's that simple.

2

Are we talking about meta-ethics?

Probably... I'm not sure continental philosophy is so strict in labeling this at all metaethics because it's probably got its own category in existensialism but in terms of analytic, yeah except we'll have to take a different approach to the question and consider what it means to have meaning in life and put definitions and terms in their places.

@EliRodriguez11 I learned that this question is under the category of meta-ethics.

@EliRodriguez11 I posted about existentialism a month or two ago.

@Sarahroo29 If you have a source of some sort, I'd like to learn whatever you've learned about this. Thanks!

@Sarahroo29 also; "Philosophy" Group is a group for philosophy

Edit: sorry, the link didn't work. I meant "Songwriting "

@EliRodriguez11 Crash Course Philosophy on YouTube.

@Sarahroo29 Idk why the link isn't working, I'm trying to link you to the group I made, just search up philosophy on the group tabs
Edit: of to up

@EliRodriguez11 Okay.

2

A mate of mine in Ecuador shared this with me this morning, pretty much sums it all up.

? lol

1

I choose to live it not to contemplate its meaning.

1

There is a meaning to LIFE (writ large) and that is to evolve. We humans are now devolving physically but in order to evolve mentally we need to constantly learn. Knowledge is the meaning for our species. Otherwise, meaning is only what each of us gives to our life.

1

This is pretty much my take on things

1

I make my own...with whatever is thrown at me.

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