The Meaning of Life

The task of finding an answer to what the meaning of life really consists of has probably riddled people since the dawn of thought. Numerous theories and speculations have been put forward, but as of yet no consistency has been reached. If you are a religious person, the answer is simple: to live in accordance with your faith and thereby reach your paradise. For those of us standing outside any religious institution matters seem far worse. What is the point of getting out of bed every morning, going to lectures or trying to build a future? Is there a meaning of life at all, or is that just an ancient illusion? A result of man’s incapability of coping with a life that in the end means absolutely nothing?

Does life have a purpose?

Let us for a while assume that there is no point to life. This would mean that about 6 billion people roam the earth for apparently no reason whatsoever. They would go about their daily activities in some kind of thoughtless mechanical manner, not quite sure why. Although it is rather impossible to discard this theory, I find it rather improbable myself. If there were no purpose to life, life would as a consequence mean rather little. And if life meant little, why would parents work themselves to death in order to provide for their young ones? Why does murder seem wrong to most of us? And why do most of us seem to want to stay alive for as long as possible? Maybe it is not because there actually is a meaning to life, but simply that we would like to think that there is one. Maybe we falsely assume that there is a true point to it all and behave the way we do in advent for it to be discovered. Although I have to admit that this is possible, I do not find it very likely. Someone would have found indisputable proof of this illusion by now. The idea is after all not a new one.

In philosophy (and science in general) there is a generally accepted rule which states that if you have to choose between two hypotheses, which both explain the observed facts, you should go for the simpler one. In this case it is easier to assume that there really is a point to life, than to assume that people around the globe are living a lie and have been doing so since the dawn of man.

If there indeed is a meaning, what is it?

If you ask one hundred persons about what they think the meaning if life is all about, you will probably get one hundred different answers. A person trained in biology and the theories of evolution would perhaps say that the point of life is to secure the survival of your species. In other words; simply to make sure that your genes are the ones predominant. Although this probably is true, I hold that it does not answer the question. It just pushes it further away. If there were not already a meaning of life, there would be no point in passing your genome on. Thus, this manner of reasoning wanders in a circle.

Some people would say that love is the meaning of life. However, neither this answer seems to be satisfactory. Actually it is life that provides love with value. If life had no meaning, how then could love have one? This approach can be applied also to money as the meaning of life. Or beauty. Or fly-fishing. And so forth.

This I believe shows an important point. One has to distinguish between the meaning of life, and what makes being alive enjoyable. These two need not necessarily be the same. Actually, I do not think that they are.

What does “meaning” imply?

With “the meaning of life” I hereafter refer to some kind of plan, or description, which tells us why we are here and what we are supposed to be doing. Is there any possibility of ever getting to know such a plan? Well. I believe that there is no objective way to accomplish this. Various religions claim to have succeeded in different manners. But they cannot all be right. I do not think anyone of them is. They may all have some truths to them, but in the end religion is based on man-made ideas and the meaning of life is not. It cannot be. The meaning of life has to lie outside and beyond human concepts. There is no way for us to know whether there exist a true meaning, or not. But it is generally far more advantageous to assume that there is one.

Even if there were not a proper purpose, would that be such a bad thing? This would mean that we have beaten the cold laws of probability, that rule the universe, and out of material molecules built this beautiful, breathing thing called life. This should be considered a triumph far greater than if we were merely constructions by a higher power. We beat the odds. Let us celebrate that! Personally, however, I still believe that there is a meaning in the end. We are just incapable of seeing it. Therefore it is of no avail to waist to much thought on the subject.

What makes life enjoyable?

This is a far more subjective question, and in my opinion, the more important one. In order to carry on with, the not always pleasant, ways of life we need to feel that it is all worth while. We need to find the things that make us happy and help us endure the not so great things, which tend to swamp the lives of most of us. This is an aspect of “meaning of life” that can actually be handled on a human level. What is it then? Unfortunately, I do not think that there is a universal answer. Each person needs to find out what he needs to be happy on its own.

Love and friendship is obviously a very important part. As is the feeling that we are making progress in some way or the other. But from here we all seem to diverge.

Some feel that helping others in a very close way, like in the medical profession, brings meaning to their lives. Others only feel truly animate when they paint, or write, or go horseback riding, and so forth. Finding “this thing” may be a lifelong quest and maybe it also changes over the years. Perhaps it is the search that really makes us alive and pushes us to achieve in the areas of life that we prioritise. At least to me the purpose of life has something to do with having dreams and being able to fulfil at least some of them. To me it is also important to know that my being alive somehow makes a difference to others. Perchance is the purpose of existing to interact with people. Personally, I do not know for certain. In the end, the only thing that can be said for sure about the meaning of life is that some people obviously have it, and that we all want it.

In addition sincerely recommend you to read “Winnie the Pooh”, by A. A. Milne, and The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. They are quite possibly the greatest books ever written on this topic.