The Big Question (Part 4)

What Can We Conclude?

It’s time to bring this series to an end. We’ve examined the “big question” from both the religious and secular perspective. We found that from a religious perspective there’s more to be said than “God has a wonderful plan for your life, and He’ll let you know what it is.” From the secular perspective there’s more to be said than “We make our own meaning.”

The question now becomes what conclusions can we draw that will help shed light on the subject of finding meaning in life that deeply satisfies? I believe that it is possible to find meaning in life and that it is different for each one of us. As I’ve thought about this question I’ve come to the following conclusions: Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Question (Part 3-C)

Philosophy: What does it have to say?

We’ve been discussing the question of the meaning or purpose of life. Is there one universal meaning or is life a big empty joke? Several days ago I ran across a blog by Steve Pavlina: Personal Development for Smart People. In it he has a series of posts centering around the same topic. You can read his series by starting at The Meaning of Life: Intro.

In his second article “The Meaning of Life: How Shall We Live.” He introduces Aristotle’s use of the concept of eudaimonia. He points out that eudaimonia is often translated “happiness”, but that the preferred translation is “human flourishing”. I like the preferred translation as it tends to be more in harmony with what we talked about in last Monday’s post: genetics and evolution.

What’s important to realize is that “happiness” is no longer a valuable word to use when it comes to discussions of meaning. Though it truly is an end in itself, it is too often confused with consumption and independence which often lead to self-absorbtion, lonliness, and anything but happiness.

To flourish, on the other hand, is to develop in a healthy or vigorous way. This definition is much more in touch with what genetics and evolution point to in terms of tendencies, as well as what we learned from the history of the Hebrews. As a result, I believe it to be a better definition and end point for our search.

I highly recommend that you take some time and read through Steve’s articles. I find myself in agreement with much of what he says, although, as usual, not with everything. One point I somewhat disagree with is his leap toward making the attempt toward discovering the best possible life. I personally don’t think that question is answerable, nor even necessary. He even points out how difficult this pursuit can be.

Evolution tells us that changes take place incrementally and many are not good and thus discarded. Pursuit of the best might not be an achievable goal, but pursuit of flourishing is. By following Aristotle’s encouragements to study others who are living healthy, vigorous, growing lives and to reflect on what we’ve observed, we can make progress in our own personal evolution and maybe leave the world a better place for having been here.

Picture by flicker user Image Editor under Creative Commons License. Use of this picture does not constitute an endorsement by Image Editor of the ideas in this post.

The Big Question (Part 3-B)

Science: Observations and Guesswork

Continuing our thoughts about the meaning and purpose of life from the secular side of the question, it is now time to turn to science. What can science tell us about the meaning or purpose of life?

First off, science can only tell us about what it observes. It does not speculate or guess except in the case of developing hypotheses for further testing. If the test fails, then the hypothesis is discarded because observation has shown it to be false.

The focus of science is on mechanics. It can tell us what something is, how it functions and why it functions that particular way. Thus is it vitally important for us to remember that true scientific conclusions are based upon what is, not speculations about what could be.

Yet with that thought in mind, science does offer two pointers which we should take into consideration. The first is genetics and the second is evolution. Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Question (Part 3-A)

Learning from the Secular Side: Introduction

What is the meaning of life? In the past few posts I looked at the religious side of the issue, specifically from the source materials provided by the Christian religion. Now I want to look at the secular side of the question. Before I begin, though, let me make a few points by way of introduction.

First, I’ve stated that the secular answer seems to be predominated by the idea that we make it up as we go along. To some degree I believe this. Not necessarily as stated, but in essence. What matters most when we ask the question is that we find an answer that satisfies. Until then the question haunts us. So we search for a way to scratch the itch. Once the itch is successfully scratched, the question ceases to take on any further importance. The question is silenced and we begin the process of pursuing that particular end.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Question (Part 2-C)

You know how some people will go on and on about something and then finally will tell you, “I’ve said all of that to say this…”? Well, I’ve written all of the past three Big Question posts to say this:

Part 2c: Conclusions from the Religious Side of the Question.

Part 1 of this series set up the question “What is the meaning or purpose of life?”, and discussed the general observations that religious dogma usually answers the question with the idea that God will somehow let you know and that the secular dogma is usually centers around the concept that “you make it up as you go along.”

Neither of these options are very satisfying, so I decided to look a little deeper and see if it were possible to come up with answers that were a little less problematic and a bit more helpful.

Parts 2a and 2b took a look at the source material for the Christian religion (the Bible), seeking to see what it actually said rather than what Christian’s claim that it says. In these two parts we saw that the Bible is actually a spiritual history of the Hebrew people. It’s not necessarily a literal history, rather it’s a history designed to focus on certain events and people in order to communicate spiritual truths.

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The Big Question (Part 2 – A)

For those of you who are just joining, you might want to start out reading The Big Question (Part 1) to help set the context for what is to come. I’ll also warn you that for the next few weeks I’m not going to be drawing to any obvious “motivational” conclusions. That will come later. If you stick with me through this series, though, I believe that you’ll find it to be worth your while. Now on with Part 2-A for this week.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Question (Part 1)

In the last Monday Motivator article, I told you that I hate it sometimes when my mind goes certain places. This week it has started orbiting around one of those really esoteric topics that no one seems to have an adequate answer to. Yet everyone wants to blab what there answer is and they tend to get quite tetchy if you don’t buy into their particular illusion.

Let me get specific. I don’t know why, but the question of meaning has been popping up in my reading, and in some of my conversations lately. No the Universe isn’t trying to tell me something. The Universe neither speaks, nor does it listen. It simply is. That’s all. Existence exists. It doesn’t think.

However, I do and sometimes a pattern in my thinking catches my awareness. This one about meaning did and now I’m stuck. Not in a bad way, but damn if I’m not curious enough to want to follow the trail and see if I can come up with an answer that might, pardon the pun, mean something.

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The Bane of Our Existence?

No man is free who is not master of himself. – Epictetus

We mustn’t let our passions destroy our dreams. – Anonymous

Let him that would move the world first move himself. – Socrates

I hate where my mind goes sometimes. Especially when it starts doing it’s dirty little trick of thinking about me in that brutally honest way it has of focusing on the truth. It almost always does this at a time when I least want to hear it.

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What Are You Doing?

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. – Albert Einstein

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. – Benjamin Disraeli

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little. – Edmund Burke

Twitter poses the question “What are you doing?” in order to get people started with active posting on the micro-blogging service. Many people answer that question with the mundane. You know, things like “Making breakfast” or “Playing with the cat.” Things that really don’t matter. Others answer with interesting posts, links to things they are reading, or questions that start conversations. Either way, the question itself has a troubling aspect to me.

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Daring the Mighty?

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

Courage faces fear and thereby masters it. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform. – Theodore H. White

If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster. – Anonymous

Do me a favor for a moment, would you please? Take the next minute or two and think of someone you most admire. You know the one who really grabs you, inspires you and causes you to go “Wow.” It doesn’t matter if you know them personally or from a distance. What matters is that they have to be a deep inspiration to you. Got some one?

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