April 09, 2008
A friend prompted me about life and death when it comes to meaning in life after exposing myself to him about my existentialist thoughts. His question was if there's really no meaning in life, why live? Exactly, we are living in a meaningless world.
First and foremost, I proposed that there is no meaning or purpose in life and that everything exists the way it does. In fact, we humans are the sole reason that things have meanings themselves. This is because we give meaning, purpose, and value to the things around us. Our brains are capable of setting goals and achiveing targets which we desire. Our biological history has evolved from simplicity to sheer complexity. Our human tendency to perceive and create meaning for ourselves help us survive and adapt to the environment.
Take a look at the following picture:
What do you see? When I was first shown this picture, I can't seem to see anything. I tried searching for meaning in this picture and until I was told that someone saw a dalmatian, I realised I saw the whole picture of it. In that process, I seemed to be making out some pictures myself. In fact, I saw thousands of trees in a tropical forest with big roots lining up in an unstructured way. Do you see that? Some probably will, some won't. There are thousands of things you can make out of a picture like this. In actual fact, there is no such thing as a picture in this world. Picture is what we make out of it, through our experience, sensation, and perception of the things in our lives. This is therefore not a picture, just some ink splashed over the page if you think about it.
What do you see in the following picture:
Do you see a duck? Or do you see a rabbit? For some people, if it quaks like a duck and looks like a duck, it is a duck. But that is subjected to his perception of what a duck may be. In this case, there are two ways of looking at things. In actual fact, there are millions of ways to perceive our situations. I conclude, base on this picture, that it is nothing more to it than an illusion. Just basic illusion with ink on paper. Another example of seeing things and making meaning out of things is the use of the Rorscharch Inkblots.
Of course, this is a projective test used in personality and psychological testing. But just look at the variation of answers one can give to these images..
How we live our lives depends largely upon how we see it as. Our natural tendency of giving meaning to live is the reason why we are constantly desiring to live. Yes, life is without meaning itself. But would you just want to die without exploring this wonderful world with all that you have - your senses, your mind, and your heart? Indeed, we are all lucky to be alive today. Without our ancestors, we would not be here. And simply put, we would not be here if not for an ancestral decision throughout history to live and reproduce.
We are hence the stronger lots from the many who survived till this day while the rest of the bloodlines were either destroyed by natural disasters or by other men.
Another Christian reader might even ask me, "If our purpose to live is to reproduce, then what a life we are leading. It's no different from the animals."
Well, the life you are leading is none of my business. My life I'm leading is none of your business. This is not because I don't give a damn, but rather, it depends upon how you give meaning to your life. I can't give meaning to your life. I can't tell you what are the meanings, because meaning is what you give to life and out of it. We're no different from the animals because we all reproduce, care for our offsprings and relatives, as well as trying to survive in our own unique ways. The only difference is that we have our own ways of living our life. We have a powerful evolved brain that helps us adapt to our environment, and this is our saving grace and the reason why we are still here today, instead of the dinosaurs or the do-do birds.
Christians think that their purpose come from God. In fact, we are the ones giving purpose to ourselves and constantly urging our way to find our own purpose or "callings". Voices in our heads might speak to us. But all the same, it's still us that determines our own destiny. Not God. God doesn't give us purpose, because we are still the ones creating the image of God. God did not create man, but man made God in a way that God is such an almighty figure, bigger than the kings and villains of this world, omnipotent, most wise and all-knowing, capable of giving men the comfort of salvation and distributive/retributive justice, totally oblivious to the fact that reality still, has not been overwritten by such utopian creation.
Christians, in this sense, are great dreamers. They dream a lot. And it's very healthy. But anything in extreme can harm not just oneself, but many who are revolving around that individual. They ought to wake up to the universe to realise that they are not dead, but so much alive, in the mind that is. Christ is dead, and so is Abraham. David is dead. Solomon is dead. Joshua is dead. Joseph is dead. Moses is dead. Adam is dead. Everone in the bible is dead, including the disciples. The book you hold in your hand in nothing more than a history textbook filled with stories of murder, genocide, bigotry and many more... if you want to include some stories that speak of morality, sure, there are some, if you pick and choose the verses properly that is.
We all perceive things differently. It is difficult to not be prejudiced or biased against certain ideas, but anything taken to extreme is questionable. Of course, in excess we will always have. An excessive idea is still better than an extreme one. Thus I would hold to the notion that life is still meaningless despite what everyone says. It is not meaningless because you have given meaning to the things around you. Here are some of the things that mean to me:
#1. My family
#2. My girlfriend
#3. My career
#4. My education
#5 My moral values
#6. My friends
Losing all these would break my heart.
What are the things that mean something to you?
How would you feel if you lose the things that mean something to you?
Why would you feel that way?
Think about it...
What are the meanings have you given to that object which you value in your life?
Try taking away the values of that object that mean something to you. I know it's hard, but imagine taking them away and seeing that object as though there is no value in it whatsoever. And since there is no value and no meaning in that object, it would be just fine to discard it out of your life. Can you? Why not? Why can't you throw away your wife? Why can't you throw away your family or friends? Why can't you discard your values, your faith, or even your career? Are they so important to you? Indeed! They ARE important because they have meaning... according to the way you see it. Otherwise, they would be discarded long long time ago.
Meaning is given, not sought after; purpose is created, not given; but the future is the only thing we seek.
Do you get the picture now?
Do you want to cherish the things around you more?
It's time to treasure what you have, because you have already given a certain value, big or small, to the things that you think you can't live without. My girlfriend means a lot to me, and therefore, I would only hope to grow old with her only, and cherish the times we have together. What about you? If I've attached meaning to my meaningless life, would you do the same?
If you have not, it's time to give new meaning for yourself.
