What gives meaning to your life? From where do you derive significance?
What is meaning? Do you find it outside of yourself or within? Once you know that something has meaning, what meaning does it have? What does it mean for anything to have meaning?
Once something has meaning...is it an eternal meaning? A temporary meaning? Illusory meaning? Does it matter whether or not meaning is an illusion? Can meaning be an illusion if meaning is entirely subjective anyway?
Does it even matter whether or not anything has meaning if meaning is subjective and thus dies with the individual? Does perceived meaning create meaning???
What is meaning? Do you find it outside of yourself or within? Once you know that something has meaning, what meaning does it have? What does it mean for anything to have meaning?
Once something has meaning...is it an eternal meaning? A temporary meaning? Illusory meaning? Does it matter whether or not meaning is an illusion? Can meaning be an illusion if meaning is entirely subjective anyway?
Does it even matter whether or not anything has meaning if meaning is subjective and thus dies with the individual? Does perceived meaning create meaning???
All comments are welcome. I would like alot of them on this one if possible, and your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
19 comments:
- Isn't "meaning" always in some aspects, a personal experience? Is, for me.
- out or in? what's the difference in the actual meaning here to you, and where is that meaning?
- you can subscribe to the "group think" or socials conventions and consensues - shared meaning - but it is still a personal (though often passive or unconscious)apprehension.
- if meaning is yours, it can manifest as any form of significance in your life, for as long as it is relevant and useful.
- I think "meaning" is found by the individual. Generally speaking, loss, gain, play, death, fun, illnes, social impositions etc are popularly meaningful.
- meaning only matters to you, and then only if it does, and in whatever manner that it resonates in your life.
- relationships of all sorts are popular for finding meaning, which is why I read your blog.
- there is no external meaning and whatever meaning there is anywhere, doesn't matter.
- how about lunch sometime?
- hope this is helpful - it's meaningful to me at least.
Forgot the second most important point - hope that isn't negatively meaningful to you
;-)
- meaning cannot ever be created. It can only be understood in one's own life, and then from this understanding something can be created which *may* have meaning for others. When this creation is shared, a general consensus of opinion can emerge, if such things are meaningful to you.
i think it is all a matter of perspective definately.
i think the same thing can have completly different meanings
especially life
what gives your life meaning one day may be gone the next day
what gives your life meaning and importance to you most likely means nothing to anyone else
meaning in my life has changed a dozen times this week one day i want to change the world and the next day i want to make money and pay off my house and the next day i want to make my family happy and the next day i know my family will be happy if i am happy and the next day i want to be a success and then the next day i am confused about what makes someone a success who sets the standards etc
then if we are going to get hit by a bus tomorrow does it even matter if things have meaning or not?
meaning is whatever you want it to be, in a perfect world we would all stop and realise life has meaning only while we are living it and we believe in it but most people are too busy thinking about superficial things to bother so that means those who care are walked all over making the world not perfect and meaning an illusion for people who take the time to think about it
Palden...
I am becoming convinced that meaning is indeed entirely subjective. I am glad you find meaning in my blog. I am also glad you came back to post your second comment in which you said that meaning can't be created. So...what i take from this is that you are saying meaning is indeed subjective, but it doesnt need to be created cuz it's always there. It's just up to us as individuals to open up our eyes to it. This thought is comforting. I also like how you pointed out that meaning doesnt necessarily always come from the 'good' or positive things. Meaning can certainly be found in the darker events like pain, death and even loss.
Nice to see your comments!
Kel...
You said "what gives your life meaning one day may be gone the next day" Agreed. So in other words, when one recognizes that meaning has arisen in one's life, one should see it and appreciate it for what it is in that moment. Even when the meaning is coming from something that is painful. Meaning that hurts is better than no meaning at all.
You also mentioned success. This is a concept I have totally had to redefine for myself over the past couple years. I previously set goals for myself that I never acheived Partly because I changed my mind, and partially because they became unfeasible and non-sensical. I realized it was only depressing me because I was basing my definition of success on two things: 1)Other people's concepts of me and how I should live my life and 2)Outdated ideas that I had of myself. I had changed, and the accomplishment of these goals wouldn't have made me happy. I cannot make my family happy (or anyone else for that matter). An individual's happiness is up to the individual. If I would have become a lawyer or politician, sure, I would have been able to do more financially for my family, but money is not happiness. Their problems would still be there. And I would be caught up in a career that is essentially one in which I would end up surrounded by people with ideals and values very different from mine. Meh. Best to live my life in places I feel I belong.
Who sets the standards for success? Society, generally, but YOU, ideally. It only matters what you think and feel about your own success at the end of your life however you choose to define it.
If I were to get hit by a bus tomorrow, (and if nothing really has any meaning to anyone else) than I would rather have lived a life that was based on my own ideas of success, rather than anyone else's. And after getting my degree, I didn't feel succesful...i felt EMPTY. I didn't feel like I had gained something, rather I felt as if I had lost something. That's why I think goals are tricky...even if you accomplish them they can screw you. LOL.
I will feel that I have been successful at living the kind of life I wanted if it has as many as possible of the following elements: experiences, freedom, love, extremes, the pursuit of knowledge, philosophy and spirituality, trying new things and doing old things in different ways, going with my heart, a good combination of peace and excitement, and of course, MEANING.
You said "what gives your life meaning and importance to you most likely means nothing to anyone else". True. And in death I will answer to no one but
myself. So dammit, I will live my life however it feels right to me at the time.
Thanks for your comments, Kel. They were quite helpful.
The meaning of life is 42!.. ;-)
Hitchhiker Nothing...
The OBJECTIVE meaning of life is 42. The subjective meaning is much more complex. hehehe
first of all, thanks for dropping by my blog and wished me a belated birthday, which is like 7 months ago, but, what the heck right ...
what is meaning you ask ... I'm not a philosopher or what, so I'm trying best to share my view on the subject ...
yeah, meaning is entirely subjective ... I think meaning is explanation, something that makes you connected and understand something ... not just understand per se, but connected as well, as in you know deep down, not only can you interpret a subject, but like palden said, a personal experience.
What gives meaning to your life? From where do you derive significance?
-> I think meaning in life is when you know what you're living for and why are you still breathing right here, right now. significance is when how are you connected to life, and why.
even if then you've found out the meaning, regardless whether its temporary meaning, or illusinary meaning, are you personally satisfied with it? another point palden said is that "meaning" is found by the individual. So its not up to any dictionary to dictate what defines something. Its you yourself.
I think the best thing about asking questions is not about getting answers, right. Its about understanding why you ask the question in the first place. So its best to answer and question with another question, becos basically, you're not looking for answers, you're looking for explanations, hence, the meaning of the question itself.
Some excellent questions here.
Well what gives me a meaning in life is basically my religion, Islam. But it's not a blind meaning, like oh this is my religion, and this is what i'm born into and have got to do.
You try and search for the meaning of life, since you see all the intricasies, and all the amazing and fascinating things in this world such as the creation, the human body, the greenery, the sun, e.t.c.
So you try and look for the meaning to life, and realise there must be a purpose, and Islam gives me that purpose. The purpose of creation is to worship God, but it doesn't mean praying all day, this worship can include various things, such as your manners with other people, your own personal habits, your manners, e.t.c.
And the main part of Islam is the holy book, the Quran, so this is mainly where we derive our meaning.
Meaning to me means something greater than it being outside or inside you, i feel it is everywhere, since meaning gives you a purpose, it is in you (i.e in your thoughts), and outside in your actions.
Well something divine, and something from God will have a eternal meaning, something from us humans can be a temporary meaning since we aren't perfect, and we continuly learn.
Yes it does matter whether things do have meaning, otherwise from where would you find motivation, mere materialistic pleasures dont just create true happiness, yes it may bring happiness, but true meaning brings true happiness, and true peace, something which you would pay everything you would have to gain.
A meaning is something all human beings are searching for and definitly everybody will find different answers and reasonings for what they believe -which is fine.
But a meaning which comes from a divine being it doesn't mean that is the "meaning". It is the meaning which you gave to it -which is fine too. As long as there is no proof of that divine god, it is nothing. But even if there is a proof of such a god it is still far away from being "the meaning".
The truth is not out there and all the answers you're looking for are already here. Your own existence, your own being is already the "meaning" itself. You just need to see it (not literally). A search outside of that is incoherent for me.
"What gives meaning to your life?"
The answer is already in the question, what do you want more?
"And if the Wine you drink, the Lip you press,
End in the Nothing all Things end in -Yes-
Then fancy while Thou art, Thou art but what
Thou shalt be -Nothing- Thou shalt not be less".
Cosmic Freak...
hey, no problem...better late than never...lol
Two things you've said stand out. First, "meaning in life is when you know what you're living for and why".I absolutely agree. And when you don't have any idea what you are living for, it is a symptom of not being able to find meaning...being lost in that existential question.
Second, "you're looking for explanations, hence, the meaning of the question itself." In a way you are correct. But aren't those explanations and even the meaning of the question itself answers? And that is indeed what I am seeking. Or perhaps you mean to suggest that meaning is not only in the answer, but also in the fact that the question has been asked. And with this I agree.
Thanks so much for your comments.
Tora...
I'm so happy you commented. It's quite nice to see your perspectives. You said "Meaning to me means something greater than it being outside or inside you, i feel it is everywhere." I have felt the same.
I don't believe in God, in the sense that I don't believe in some one greater than myself. Not that I'm entirely closed minded to the idea, but I think that if there is a God then he surely can be nothing like what our finite human minds can comprehend. I really dont think god would have human characteristics, for example. What need would God have for this?? However, I do agree that the acceptance of god can surely help one to feel that one has more meaning in one's life.
If, by saying that "The purpose of creation is to worship God" you mean living a life in which you are compassionate, peaceful, contemplative, and appreciative of both the joys and sufferings of the world...then I can agree with you, that this certainly helps one become aware of life's meaning. But for me it just felt like yet another way of fooling myself to believe in a 'higher power'. Don't get me wrong, though...I think its fair to say that i'm pretty open minded about this.
You also said "it does matter whether things do have meaning, otherwise from where would you find motivation". I agree with you completely. When things don't appear to have meaning, there seems to be no point in life, no motivation for anything. That seeems to lead one to the question "so why even bother going on then?" And hence the problem. But thanks to all the helpful comments by bloggers like yourself, I'm finally beginning to become aware of the meaning that is present in my life, rather than clinging to conceptions of what the meaning SHOULD look like.
Thanks so much for your comments. Please keep visiting!
Nothing...
I believe the general consensus is definitley that meaning is a subjective thing.
"The truth is not out there and all the answers you're looking for are already here. Your own existence, your own being is already the "meaning" itself." I totally agree. I am seeing things more clearly. Sometimes I think i question things too much. And while its good to have an inquisitive nature, sometimes the questions throw me into a infinitley repeating feedback loop where I appear to be talking myself in circles. But if it weren't for the question, how would I ever figure ANY of it out??
"You just need to see it (not literally). A search outside of that is incoherent for me." Yes. I was looking for meaning that originated from beyond myself. But i think i realize now that meaning has no origination. It just IS. I really was conceptualizing this too much.
Please refer me back to this post when I forget this again. LOL :-)
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS, EVERYONE. THEY REALLY HELPED ME ALOT!!!
Following in the ilk of 'better late than never' here's my post. I was totally compelled to write something but my daily life was a bit hectic.
I think I'll start by answering your questions but I'll try to answer this in a more abstract way using mathmatical relationships. If worked, more meaning may be able to be found by reworking the formulas or solving them for different variables.
What gives meaning to your life? From where do you derive significance?
I'm the only person that can give meaning to *my* life. Significance, for me, is found by noticing changes in the current pattern of my life.
What is meaning? Do you find it outside of yourself or within? Once you know that something has meaning, what meaning does it have? What does it mean for anything to have meaning?
Meaning is opinion. Meaning can be found and derived from transformations made within and from other people. Oddly enough, once meaning is established, it is it's own self-entity. It has it's own glow that's given by surrounding factors. If anything has meaning, it's just for now. It's something to be recognized and let go of. Perhaps recognizing these things with people who are attached to it creates merit. Meaning or significance is very relative and is derived from a sense of specialness. This is recursive and really has no value at all.
Once something has meaning...is it an eternal meaning? A temporary meaning? Illusory meaning? Does it matter whether or not meaning is an illusion? Can meaning be an illusion if meaning is entirely subjective anyway?
See above. Its permanent. My teddybear no longer means as much as it did when I was 3. This imposition on the teddybear is only for my mind. Others may recognize it, but it doesn't hold the same magnitude or quality.
Does it even matter whether or not anything has meaning if meaning is subjective and thus dies with the individual? Does perceived meaning create meaning???
In action it matters if things have meaning as this will colour our perception and modify how we act. If the meaning is mentally habituated it affects the individual later, but for the rest of us, as long as it remains 'just thought' I don't think this matters much; but then again what does?
Perceived meaning is meaning. As long as your mind has contacted the conceptualization of the word meaning it is thus. If I say the words 'broken sandwich', instantaneously you render the phrase into mind. Before that, it didn't exist (read Chapter 9 yet?). Same as any other phrase. We are a mandala of now. If one didn't have a present experience of a tree it doesn't exist. Now that I have brought it to mind it exists in some way. It's the same with meaning. If we mark 'broken sandwich' with some sort of specialness, it has meaning. At least this is my experience with meaning.
Of course this is all the way I think of things. It's pretty much crap as it isn't going to get me any further along. but the mind seeks entertainment so here I am ! Next post, MATH!!!
In reply to your comments:
"I really dont think god would have human characteristics, for example. What need would God have for this?? "
Indeed! This is what the Quran states:
Lord of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, so worship Him (Alone) and be constant and patient in His worship. Do you know of any who is similar to Him? (of course none is similar or coequal or comparable to Him, and He has none as partner with Him). [There is nothing like unto Him and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer].
and also "there is nothing whatever like unto Him"
"If, by saying that "The purpose of creation is to worship God" you mean living a life in which you are compassionate, peaceful, contemplative, and appreciative of both the joys and sufferings of the world...then I can agree with you"
Indeed! This is the whole point of what it means being Muslim, it's not just a religion where you pray, but you also have to implement the rules, like what you've listed above.
And personally I believe that to believe in God, you have to search, and search through the various religions, and then use your intellect to find out which one is 100% truth.
but again great questions asked, and interesting to see the answers here. Nice to see people who look for a meaning, rather than living life without a meaning!!
Ok, some quick relationships and explainations on the possible thinking of meaning.
In my view,
meaning = opinion
so these are pretty much interchangeable in the equations. We could argue the equity of this ad infinitum .. so lets not :)
meaning = phenomena(specialness)
meaning is equal to the magnitude of phenomena multiplied by the magnitude of specialness or uniqueness imparted by the observer.
x(meaning) = karma ^ relativity
or the number of meanings(x) are equal to the force of action to the power of relativity. For every action there is a multitude of relations that can have meaning.
So if we mash together the 2 above equations, perhaps we get a system that can provide more insights into the operation of meaning and it's consitituent parts.
x(meaning) = karma ^ relativity
meaning = phenomena(specialness)
those are the 2 equations we started with. If we expand the first equation with the definition of 'meaning' in the second we get:
x(phenomena(specialness)) = karma ^ relativity
So in english, the magnitude of specialness times the amount of phenomena and the amount of them is equal to the force of karma to the power of relativity. Hmmm, perhaps this is an explanation of how a consciousness percieves the given amount of meaning in a given moment. I know this is a bit heavy, but if you can pick through it and find something. I would love to see what happens. I'm definatly reposting this one!
Kalsang...
One of my problems with meaning has been accepting that it is all my OPINION. Exactly. It seems to take away some of the value that meaning has in knowing that...especially since i take opinion to mean "figment of imagination", which at first was totally unacceptable. But then I saw this past weekend that this is actually to my advantage instead of against it. Therefore, I've concluded that I might as well accept meaning wherever I see it and however I interpret it, because it really isn't going to come from anywhere else. When i had the thought that seeing meaning was just a form of temporary insanity, I forgot to consider the other side of the coin: that even if it is indeed insanity or a figment of my imagination, so what? My life is my creation anyway, so I might as well attribute/see/look for meaning in whatever corners of my world that I can.
If I really am creating this...or have any hand in it at all, then lets see what kinds of reality I can manifest...
I'm not sure if I agree with you on what you said about meaning being permanent. But then you said "If anything has meaning, it's just for now" so maybe you really meant to say 'impermanent'?
Meaning changes, just like life. Thinking that meaning is permanent is what got me into a mental mind trap in the first place. Cuz then I 'attach' myself to the meaning...it begins to define a part of ME...and then when meaning shifts or relocates or branches out to other areas, mainly because I have the opinion that meaning is permanent, it thus becomes unrecognizable. Therefore, I become relatively unrecognizable to myself and I feel as if 1)there were something wrong with me...that I have lost the ability to see meaning, or 2)that there is something wrong with life in general...something that I cannot fix.
That is why I must be open enough to be able to synchronize the current of my soul to the rhythms of change in meaning. Or else everything becomes grey and encompassed by the void of nothingness. Maybe meaning is the essence of the 'something' that fills up the 'nothing'ness in our existence.
I reallllly like what you've said here: "once meaning is established, it is it's own self-entity. It has it's own glow that's given by surrounding factors." I agree with you 100%. I had that impression as well. Once meaning has been manifested (or maybe it's our perceptions that manifest??)it does have a life of its own.
BROKEN SANDWICH!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I love it. Now if I ever hear that phrase again in my life it will have meaning, whereas it probably never would have before! Nice. This is a great example of how meaning can be manifested. Meaning therefore must be significance that comes from BOTH external and internal sources. Meaning needs both 'self' as well as 'other' for it to arise. What meaning it has is the subjective part.
Thanks so much for helping to clarify things with your very insightful 'crap'. LOL (btw crap can be good sometimes...guess it depends on your perspective of the crap and what the crap means lol)
PS...haven't gotten around to even getting the book from Yeshe yet lol
Tora...
Thanks for your reply. I find your perspectives refreshing.
One of the problems I have always had with religion is that most of them claim to be the 100% truth. I find this hard to accept. How can something dictate truth if truth is subjective? If there is a god, did god really play favourites and give one group of people the monopoly on truth? My opinion is that there is truth in all religions...and we must certainly use our intellect, as well as our intuition and instinct to discover it...and even then we will perhaps not have 100% truth. What is truth anyway? Nietzsche says that "truths are relative fictions" and I would tend to agree, especially since there is no way to PROVE 100% truth. Unless you can convince me otherwise...
Thanks again...for what it's worth, you are helping me to see my truth more clearly.
:-)
yeah, oops! The word permanent should have been impermanent! Sorry for the confusion.
Watch the last to episodes of NeonGenisis Evangellion, not the movies!
Watch equilibrium the best movie ever.
For genuine Hitch Hickers the meaning of life is "WE apologise for the Inconvenience" Read "So long and thanks for all the fish." The Forth book in the HH trilogy (yes i am aware of the misuse of the word 'trilogy')
Visit Notwearingpants.blogspot (tell Kane Ian sent u), then porchman.blogspot(tell Ian he sent you), and lastly Paddynheidi.blogspot(just laugh).
Finally read Revalations.
Passion is what gives anything meaning. If you lack passion your actions are meaningless. As long as you have passion for something in your life, no matter what and how insignificant it may seem then there must be meaning behind your actions since you are working towards fulfilling this passion. It is those of us without any passion in our lives that lack meaning.
...Bahaha. I found a lame way to access certain blogs. Apparently, blogger.com content isn't blocked from my present service, so I can post comments, and view cached versions of the blog via google.
Uh, so yeah, here's my two-cents on the topic at hand.
Cent number one:
It's actually a very subjective question; and Sphinx has already done well to imply that - a sort of philosophical commonsense, I believe. The variations in the answers could be considered an entire spectrum, come to think of it, which is both intimidating, and easing. And this takes me to cent number two…
Cent number two:
I derive relevance and meaning through the traits that make me a conscious, and conscientious being. Therefore, a lot of my personal meaning comes from whatever it is that makes me "human", for the lack of a better word. In my case, out of the trace shards of incoherent elements, which could be considered negligible, there's just one bonafide factor that could verify my humanity: my contempt.
So my odd meaning comes from my hatred, and I already realise that this would be a politically unpopular confession, but as a human, I think such intellectual honesty is needed, and also relieving (heh, self-seving egos for the win).
Cheers.
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