The Meaning of Life
Part 2
Welcome back reader. If you haven’t read part 1 then I
highly recommend that you do, partly because it will give background to what I
say and partly because I like to shamelessly advertise my own stuff (Check out
my other posts too). Now onwards with the discussion of the meaning of life
Many people will say there is not meaning of life at all. If
you don’t believe in destiny and you believe you make your own choices like I
discussed last time then what possible meaning could there be? After all, you
are the one who chooses what to do, no matter how bad the situation. Could it
really be that simple though? Let’s for a moment think of the animal kingdom.
Every wild animal on the planet wants to survive and reproduce. It’s the whole
reason their species survives in the first place but why does this matter to
them? Obviously we can’t look into the mind of a wild animal but surely they
don’t think about the survival of their species. They want to survive
themselves but why? Many wild animals live in extremely harsh environment
filled with danger. Unlike a human being they’re not achieving anything from
it, it’s just where they live.
Why do animals have an instinct to reproduce? Wild animals
surely don’t think about the long term future of their species and while male
animals can have the want to mate built in as instinct, for females the mating
process can be uncomfortable at best to downright painful at worst. Yet wild
animals do reproduce without question and they eat and drink water and do what
they must to survive. No one has told them this is what they must do yet they
do it anyway. Let’s face it, some species have a far worst quality of life but
if they were gone it would upset the food chain and balance of nature. They
don’t know this but they try to survive anyway.
Obviously survival is a natural instinct in wild animals but
with humanity it’s a completely different story. Sure some human beings just
want survival but many want so much more. The crucial difference between humans
and animals is that animals live to survive while humans survive to live. Some
human being’s do thing that compromise their own safety for the thrill of being
close to death. Some human beings decide they don’t want children. Not wanting
to reproduce isn’t something that occurs in the natural world but humanity is
different. When you find a partner it’s not because you want children, it’s
because you want to be happy and share your life with someone. Couples
sometimes decide they don’t want children and that’s that. Some people don’t
even want to meet someone to be with romantically at all. This is a far cry
from what happens in nature.
Human beings are clearly the most intelligent creatures on
Earth. Don’t be naïve and pretend this isn’t true. Look at what humanity has
accomplished in comparison. Look at how much of Earth we inhabit. Yet survival
is not the main goal for humanity. It’s to succeed in our goals. Ask someone
what their goals in life are. I
guarantee it won’t be to further the human race. It might be something work
related or sport related. Maybe they want to make people laugh or maybe they
just want to be happy in any way possible but it’s not just survival. In fact
most people would not want to live past a certain point where you start losing
your sense and independence. So is success the meaning of life?
Success in our goals? This is what we’re all aiming towards
is it not? To succeed in whatever we are doing, no matter how big or small. For
some people success is the key thing, myself included. There’s a catch though.
A lot of people don’t take success as seriously. Sure it’s important but they
don’t mind if they don’t succeed. Some people are content not pursuing a whole
lot. Some people are perfectly fine with just being content and there’s
certainly nothing wrong with that. We all have different levels of ambition but
that doesn’t impact on the meaning of life does it? If there is one meaning for
everyone it surely shouldn’t.
What I think these two points demonstrate is that human
beings have evolved beyond the need to simply survive. We need more, to thrive
and succeed. So does this mean humanity is beyond needing a meaning of
life? The problem I have with this is if
we create our own meaning then how come so many of us don’t know what we want
to do? How come so many of us change our mind so many times. Equally a lot of
people are perfectly content not chasing their dreams and goals and just settle
with what they have. So is there no meaning of life? But surely a world with no
meaning is just pointless. We have a reason for doing everything we do, nothing
we choose to do is completely spontaneous we have always decided ourselves for
whatever reason.
We live with our own goals by our own principles. We determine
ourselves what is right and wrong and we act out accordingly. This much thought
does not go into an animal’s thinking, they do what they must to survive and
that’s it. For a human sure we do try to survive but we also have the freedom
to do what we want for enjoyment. Equally right and wrong are concepts not
present in nature, a predator won’t refuse to attack a helpless animal out of
principle. I think it comes down to this. There could very well be a meaning of
life. Maybe we make our own or maybe it’s there given to us by a higher force.
The thing is achieving what is meant by life itself is no longer possible.
People always want more, people always do more to be happier. Humanity is out
of reach of such a concept. Maybe we’re above it, or maybe we have distanced
ourselves from it by expanding too much. Maybe the reason the meaning of life
is such an enigma is because no one on earth is willing to give up their life
in order to truly find it. Or maybe I’m
just talking rubbish. Either way have a think about it, you may just find that
motivation you’re looking for. Thanks for reading.
