This is not the Monty Python film.

[jackshoegazer]

In my English class the other day, we had to break up into groups of four or five and take turns reading our latest paper, two or three pages on either The Election or The Meaning of Life.  I sat down and wrote this at breakneck speed in the hour before class; I didn't even take the time to edit.  As I read it, people from other groups stopped their own readings and turned to listen to mine.  Afterward several people came up to me to tell me how awesome/amazing/et cetera my piece was.  I tried not to blush but it was hard since I was already a little flushed and red from reading to an audience.  Anyway, the piece is under the cut.

The Meaning of Life

In order to ponder the meaning of life, one must first and foremost believe that life has a meaning.  If one wants to know all about oranges, one must first determine whether oranges even exist.  The same goes for life and the Loch Ness Monster.

If one were to assume that life has no meaning, then it would be pointless to spend any amount of time searching for said meaning.  One with this view would say that life is meaningless and be very content.  I, however, find this to be the laziest of all philosophies.  This is the philosophy of those who can’t be bothered to go looking for it, which is, I will argue, is the meaning of life. 

Yes, I said it: The meaning of life is to discover the meaning of life.  It’s a bit of a semantic pretzel and verbal fuck-around, but like all true things, it’s a bit of a paradox.  Which is why so many people give up and declare shenanigans on the whole question and run off to be nihilists and atheists.

How do we arrive at such a round-about answer?  Follow close and listen up, because I’m only going to say this once.  You can read it a few times if you get lost.

We now know that the entire Universe is composed of nothing but energy.  Quantum physics and particle accelerators have broken down the entirety of existence into various fluctuations in energy fields.  Even the chair behind your desk and the concrete of the floors and the carpet is but energy humming along at a very low vibration.  Everything is energy.  The Sun, the Earth, you, the sound waves you are hearing, and the light you see, even the thoughts you think, are, at the most basic level, energy.

Now, what is it that makes us, humans, different than everything else we encounter?  As far as we know, rocks, trees, cats, and bugs aren’t running around pondering what the meaning of their lives are.  The one thing that seems to set us aside is the very thing that makes us run around pondering the meaning of our lives and that is consciousness, self-aware, self-reflective consciousness.  The one thing that no scientist can account for, that no matter how many particles they smash, no matter how many dissections they perform, no matter how many brains they scan, no one can find this consciousness.

There is the old Zen koan: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?  This is so often misinterpreted, assuming the question is about the actual sound, but really it is pointing to this exact question of consciousness.  To make it clearer, let me rephrase the question: If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no consciousness around to experience it, does it mean anything?  The Universe goes through “the formality of actually happening” all the time: stars are born, suns explode, trees grow, species go extinct, but what does it all mean?  I would argue that inherently, these things mean nothing.  They are merely events following the rules of physics, the rules of expression and energy transformation, the second law of thermodynamics, et cetera.  These same processes operate everything, on you car, your computer, and your body.  Your car breaks down because that’s what cars do.  Parts wear down.  Bodies fall apart.  We get sick.  We die.  Why?  On one level, because that’s what things do.  ‘Why?’ is a question only a human would ask.

These events, these happenings, have no meaning in themselves.  People don’t get cancer because God wants to teach them a lesson.  Your car didn’t break down because you weren’t meant to go where you were going.  These things don’t mean anything.  Before humans came on the scene, a tree grew and no one questioned why.  “Why” was the only thing missing in the Universe before we came around.  So if you ask me, that is our purpose.  We are a bunch of Why-machines.  We are meaning-seekers.  Events do not mean anything until we give them meaning.

In this way, I prefer to envision God as the Universe, the entirety of creation, that all matter is God’s body and all thought is God’s thought, and like self-awareness to a child, like consciousness in humans as a species, God has taken a while to wake up and now that it has awoken, it is like a child is trying to experience everything it can and it wonders, “What am I?”, “What does this mean?”, “Why are these things acting the way they’re acting?” and our thoughts are God’s thoughts and we are telling God what this all is, what it all means.

I am reminded of an exchange in Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions, in which the protagonist, Kilgore Trout, goes into a men’s room and sees on the wall where someone has written, “What is the purpose of life?”  Kilgore takes out a pen and answers the anonymous query, “To be the eyes, the ears, and the conscience of the Creator of the Universe, you fool!”  This, I think, is what is truly meant by the idea that we create our own reality.  We may not be able to choose the course of our life, but we can choose what it means.  We can live through tragedy and find glory, or we can live a pain-free and blessed life yet find only agony.  We are given the gamut and we must choose what to make of it.  That, is our purpose and why the meaning of life is to discover the meaning of life.

Comments

[alebazi.livejournal.com]

That's good...can I share it with a friend? I ask because I will have to print it out so I want your permission.
Thanks

Thanks!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Go right ahead :D

[tekelili.livejournal.com]

Beautifully said. <3 Pretty much sums up my philosophy on life in fact.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

It's nice to stumble upon something relatively universal.

[carrieaki.livejournal.com]

i like this a lot.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[ariannash.livejournal.com]

quite amazing, I love it! And agree, pretty much. You need to write a book already! :)

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thank you and I know, I know. It's just such a massive project that I keep putting it off and putting it off, when do I have the time, et cetera, et cetera.

[zm-dawg.livejournal.com]

You have a talent. I don't say that lightly.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I will take it heavily :D

[amucci.livejournal.com]

Great job!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[teresalu.livejournal.com]

This is really amazing. As someone with severe verbal constipation, I am floored by the fact that you wrote this in an hour without touching up.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thank you :D See, rereading it now, I see a few errors and places where it's sloppy. I also didn't quite express exactly what I wanted, I didn't get in the parts about my theory that takes the structure of the Universe one step further and that is that the whole shebang IS consciousness, which is why we can't find it. Like a needle in a needle stack. But thank you all the same. It's definitely not bad and who knows, maybe I'll develop it as the class goes. I definitely think it might be a piece I polish for the final.

42

[katachthonios.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't touching it up and polishing it kind of cheat the direct stream-of-consciousness effect? (The answer, of course, is "no", but a moment's pause is needed.)

One point I certainly agree with: envisioning God as the Universe. This is the internal externalization that I decided upon met all criteria for me to have faith and the observable laws of nature coexist peacefully. (Pity others still wrapped in fear and superstition, and a desire to other, cannot.)

I do disagree with: The Universe goes through “the formality of actually happening” all the time: stars are born, suns explode, trees grow, species go extinct, but what does it all mean? I would argue that inherently, these things mean nothing.

It's much like asking if birds have language or if fish dream. I cannot observe otherwise without projecting my anthropomorphism upon them, but neither can I simply dismiss these things simply because they lie outside my perceptions. An exploding star means something to the star, whether or not it is aware of such meaning.

Because I cannot see a pattern does not mean there isn't one. Nor does it mean I'll stop looking.

Re: 42

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Ah, young Padawan, it is clear you are ready for the next chapter wherein I would have laid down the shiz about the Universe being consciousness and therefore everything has consciousness and that consciousness, be it a rock or tree or marsupial, is learning its own whos whats wheres and whys. I didn't think my audience was quite ready for that one yet :)

[explodingalice.livejournal.com]

Yet another stellar piece. I look back on my rapid-fire college writings with some shame now! Good on ya.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Sweet, thank you. Not that it's sweet that you feel shame - that's bad, but sweet that you liked it :)

[atomic-goo.livejournal.com]

Wow.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I'll take that as a good-wow :)

[atomic-goo.livejournal.com]

You would be correct!

[just-happening.livejournal.com]

I share the very same thoughts.

May I share this in a myspace blog? I will link your your livejournal for credit.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thank you and absolutely, share it all you like :D

[flyingpinguino.livejournal.com]

Very nicely put. For the most part, I think I probably agree with this. I haven't figured out what I think the meaning of life is, but one problem I have with this philosophy is that it's very anthropocentric (if I'm using that word correctly). It's basically saying that the whole universe is there so that we (humans and possibly other self-aware lifeforms in the universe) can question why it's there. Maybe that's actually true, maybe not. It just seems a little egocentric and reminds me of when people thought the earth was the center of the universe. Is this related to the anthropic principle? Not sure.

I haven't thought too much on this topic, that's just what struck me. I enjoyed reading it.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Ah, the Universe is here because that's what Universes do, stars and planets and plants, these are expressions of physical law and would be here with or without us. Their "purpose" has nothing to do with us. It is only us that question why. I tried to be very careful not to say that the Universe is here solely for us, but rather we are here for the Universe. We just add the Why. Everything exists independently of us and has its own purpose. We are but one part, like I said in the essay, the Why-machines, the meaning-makers. Defining our purpose doesn't necessarily mean we've defined the purpose of every other thing in existence. But we'll try, because we will try to find meaning for everything. Which, I'm sure you're right, a lot of people have postulated that we are the center of everything, anthropocentric, but that's just how things have evolved. Our levels of awareness keep rising, encompassing larger and larger territory, so anthropocentric thought was but a stage, just like ethnocentric thought is a stage. It's early and I am very tired so I hope this made sense and cleared up a couple points :)

[flyingpinguino.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up. I missed that distinction when I first read it. The meaning of our lives versus the meaning of the universe. It's fun thing to try to wrap your head around. :)

[redheadedlawyer.livejournal.com]

Hey - have you seen the movie "What the bleep do we Know?"? I think you would find it very interesting...

Loved the essay! Thanks for sharing!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I completely fell asleep trying to watch that movie :P (Which is funny since it's largely about waking up.) Unfortunately it covered a lot of areas I'm already familiar with so the material wasn't anything new and the people int he film bugged me for some reason. Weird, since a lot of people I know thought I would love it. Curiouser and curiouser.

Thank you for your praise!

What the bleep

[redheadedlawyer.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I always found the second half of the film much more interesting and pertinent than the first half (and have thus always encouraged people to stick with it). The first half just sets it up for those of us less familiar with the principles. Maybe skip to the part where the main character gets the assignment of shooting a wedding?

Re: What the bleep

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip, I may give it another shot :)

[angedelanuit88.livejournal.com]

that's amazing!! you're a very talented writer. im going to share it with some friends ^_^

[lipsoflove.livejournal.com]

You have a way with words that I envy.
Your essay reminds me of God's Debris. Have you read it? I feel like you and Scott Adams are on the same path in a way.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I'll check him out, thank you :D

[anima.livejournal.com]

You are the best

Thanks.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I try. Wait. No, I don't. It just comes naturally. :P

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

This is a very Vonnegut philosophy of life.

I agree that the meanings we attribute to our lives/universe/etc are what makes life worth living.

The strange thing about reading this is that this is basically what I had arrived at in the last year and a half or so when I was trying to figure out which way was up. Oddly enough you and Brian agree nearly exactly on the nature of the universe and human existence.

This way of thinking is actually what brought me around to feeling okay about life most of the time- the fact that I can impose whatever meaning I like onto my life is very freeing. It leaves one free to pursue one's own enlightenment, to try to get rid of our imperfections and try to live our best lives based on our own standards for our behavior.

I always loved the bit in one of Vonnegut's books (Cat's Cradle I think) where they go over the death rite (for Bokonism if I recall) and talk about how the mud got to sit up and look around at all this beautiful creation and say thank you before it laid down again. That's life (and death) at its' most basic and frankly at its' most beautiful. Consciousness is its' own point.

I'm not surprised you did so well in your writing class, this is very well-written, especially as something you just dashed off right before a deadline.