The meaning of life is something people mention, some think about, some believe in and others experience. What do you?
I find that thoughts on this get stuck in the do – get results – get reward way of looking at the meaning of life. Which is not enough to understand and experience the meaning of life. I call this the achievement-philosophy – where people are fixed on and expecting the final destination or revelation. So when there is none to think about, a human can be left in the meaningless pit or become a hard believer in some kind of afterlife paradise, final judgement and what not.
Some may drift the story of Sisyfos life into the context of human life, slowly describing the meaningless life of some animals and the repetitive way of life attributed to some lifeforms. Richard Taylor wrote about this and suggested that to make the life of Sisyphus more meaningful it can be wrapped up in a pleasure of some kind. Say that those gods gave him the intention and pleasure experience of dragging up the stones. To this Richard compared our lives as we wrap them up in some kind of pleasures and goals to be reached – that fulfill the meaning of life. Or other kind of stories – either the paradise or the oblivion blackness of non-existence.
The achievement-philosophy is a dead end. I think of it not as a stance against doing anything or trying to achieve something. I think of it as the problem where people cannot se any meaning in their life, or in the existence of the universe. Due to the definition of meaning cannot carry with it a guarantee of a prize. As human eyes immediately want to find this prize. So when there is none or when the prizes in a lifetime are not enough, the dead end is a fact.
Maybe the meaning of life, or the force controlling our lives is a materia we have not yet found? Maybe we are part of a biological entity? In any case the definition of the meaning of life is much bigger, much wider and always present in the moment. But suffers greatly when decimated into the definition of achievement-philosophy. This is something that the current frontier science in quantum theory, multiverse, holographic universe and the likes are getting into. Something ancient wisdom traditions have practices in but no schematics in the current scientific manner.
In the moment there is an endless presence.
The meaning of life cannot be written about, words may lead up to an experience eventually. It is all about the feeling for ones existence. And as it goes one cannot have meaning without the other one having it. Or is it possible? In the end, if you cannot find a happy life in 80 years, or 800 years according to transhumanism there is something missing.
We have our body and mind to work with. Nothing in the Universe is without meaning, even if you believe in a meaningful coincidence.
What do you think?