The meaning of life(meaningless?)

Need Advice
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Nothing in life brings joy at all. I don’t know what I want from myself. For several years now, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of life almost every day. Sometimes it seems that the absence of this life would be better. Does anyone know at least some useful information about the meaning of life? Without religion, because that’s just an illusion of meaning and “opium of the people” (according to Lenin’s and Marx’s quote). I’m also familiar with the concepts of nihilism, absurdism, and existentialism, so I can’t figure it out on my own, because based on these philosophies, there is no meaning as such.

Please, anyone strong in philosophy or who simply knows the true meaning of life, help.

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Life of experiences (most of which makes you feel genuinely happy) = Meaning

Life’s simple, don’t make it complex by overthinking friend. SMILE.

Love, go out, pray, repent, and make people happy! Creating bonds is the most meaningful thing in life.

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If life is that simple, then why do so many people feel so bad? They don’t know what they want from life and want to escape from it in any way possible. And if life were really that positive, then depression and disorders wouldn’t exist. I wish everything were that simple, but unfortunately, it’s not.

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Hey bro, great question! We might be similar in terms of interests in the big questions about existence. I haven’t had a chance to get much into philosophy and I see things mostly from a scientific point of view. I think there’s no inherent cosmic purpose of our lives, which means we need to determine it ourselves. I think the developments in science have constantly made us collectively swallow the bitter pill of our smallness and irrelevance in relationship with the universe. We are merely life-forms that developed on a planet, which is “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam”. It’s miraculous that we exist and have the intelligence to ask such questions, but I think purpose or joy is what we want it to be.

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Yes, I generally agree. There is the philosophy of life as hedonism – seeking pleasure from life. But what to do if there is no pleasure? And quick pleasures from adult films or overeating tasty unhealthy food will make you happy only for a moment, and then things will only get worse. From a scientific point of view, our ‘happiness’ is the neurotransmitters in our brain. Hyperstimulation of neurons leads to their death. And for pleasure, people tend to maximize pleasure. Ultimately, it’s impossible to constantly experience pleasure, and in the long run, there’s only emptiness and a lack of satisfaction. And without pleasure, it’s hard to want to live

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Yes, the more we destroy our ability to experience pleasure through addictive behaviours, the more we veer from our path and lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. By constrast, when we feel connected with ourselves and people who matter to us, I think real pleasure comes from that.

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Well, you’re right. What I said makes sense too.

Questions like “Where am I, what is this universe, The universe, why we exist? What is even reality? What, am I going to be erased for life and won’t find what actually is real or what is not? What is beyond universe? Are we fake, are we real? Why me? Why do I get these thoughts?”

There is no answer to it, except if you believe in a religion. It’s depressing, I totally agree with you.

My notion is, if you have come to Earth, however reason it may be, why not enjoy it till it lasts. Why be sad? Why seek questions you can’t get answer of. Some questions remain unanswered in this world for their answer lies beyond after this life anyways. And even if there is no afterlife, what good will it do to you and people you care to be sad for such reasons?

I know you take it scientifically, that feeling of pleasure and goodness, is all due to neurochemicals, and is what makes life meaningful or feel like good. But if that is the case, what makes your mind think that it’s wrong to kill an animal? What pleasure does it give you to save that life form. It’s morals, that’s what distinct human.

You have a choice, a choice that makes your life meaningful. A choice to be happy or sad, a choice to make your life meaningful, or not.

If I have to hypothesis a meaning of life
“Every one’s life’s meaning is to make other lives meaningful until everyone is content to not seek the meaning they can’t get in this life”

This is my postive take. I know you want to take a outlook with logic, I have done the same, never felt happy about that route.

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Well said, it sounds like the meaning.

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But that’s not how it works in practice. A person doesn’t always choose whether they’ll feel good or bad in certain moments. There can be life circumstances or health conditions that make you feel bad. It’s unlikely that most people who feel bad intentionally put themselves in that state or strongly wished for it.

My point is that it’s impossible to often be happy or cheerful just because you want to. When you feel bad, you feel bad, regardless of whether you want it or not.

Life can have meaning, even one we choose for ourselves, but that meaning definitely isn’t in pleasure, because it’s often impossible to control your negative state. And it’s impossible to constantly experience pleasure.

The main point, as I see it, is that a person can theoretically have a meaning in life but cannot be truly happy. Why is that? Because happiness equals pleasure or positive feelings(no negative, bad etc.). This is a debatable issue, but most articles and terminologies define happiness in this way. And as mentioned earlier, pleasure cannot be prolonged, meaning that constant happiness is also impossible.

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May be content is what you seek. Being content doesn’t mean you are always happy, but it does mean you’re satisfied with the way of your life

Personally, I see people being content in living an ascetic life, a life surrounded not by many humans, but in nature.

This image is my content.

Homestead-Plan
Homestead-Plan640×376 93.9 KB

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How do you deal with not knowing what exactly will make you satisfied with life and bring peace and harmony? I’ve tried many new things, but few bring me joy (excluding harmful instant pleasures). And the feeling of some kind of meaninglessness doesn’t let me rest and be content.

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Everyone thinks content in life is subjective in nature. But I don’t believe that. Obviously you need to find what you love to do as work, which gets you paid. But we as humans are similar to each other at the fundamental level. What we seek is similar.

There is a book named Ikigai, in that it describes a place from Japan where everyone lives very long life, satisfied life.

What’s common between that village and the places miles apart with people feeling content is their social circle. They have a very good bonding within their society, close bonds, a group of people they regularly interact with, a community they feel part of.

You need to actively take part in your community. A secluded tree has no meaning for it’s shade go to waste, it’s fruit fulfill no hunger, and it’s root never touch other roots. Forests harbour life, so does communities, vicinity matters, bonds matters. That is what gives life meaning.

Once you find your community, you won’t need to decide on the activity that satisfy you, for every activity you do with the community becomes your satisfaction.

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Good point. But I have a few questions about it:

  1. What should one do if it’s difficult to find such a community, and most of the people around are selfish or unkind? As an introvert, I have few social connections and only a small number of people I can consider close, and even they aren’t family members (a friend or partner might leave, change, etc.).

  2. What should one do if such a community falls apart or members died due to circumstances like a virus or war?

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We can derive pleasure from many things, sustainable or not. And you are right we don’t experience pleasure on a constant basis, but it really comes down to what we define as pleasurable.
We could derive it from many things, we can get it from patience, like saving up to buy that expensive guitar or the hours of practice we put in. Which is often if not more rewarding than the goal itself.

For instance, I sing in a choir, we are not outstanding, we have a few strong singers, but just practicing and making it come together is extremely satisfying.
Slowly we are taking on more challenging and amazing pieces of music. Half the choir is African, and we’re in a Catholic church in England singing Germanic Lutheran pieces from 1600s in 2024 :sweat_smile:
Some of the other singers can’t sing alone or be put on the spot, but somehow it’s working and coming together. And it resonates with my belief everyone can sing and has a voice, it just takes some interest and inquiry.

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For example, if there is a task or goal that a person is working towards, they might derive pleasure from visualizing their desired result. However, if the expected outcome is not achieved, meaning things don’t turn out as hoped, the person becomes disappointed because their hopes have died. In this way, by hoping and enduring something, we can become disillusioned and hurt ourselves.

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What we don’t seem to understand often is, we seek things as utilities rather than something good in itself.
Music doesn’t have a particular purpose, though everyone would argue or give lots of examples of it’s benefits,…but it’s not the point, somethings are similar awesome in themselves, like the fact we can smell smells, nature is beautiful, fresh air is calming, and advanced jazz harmony sounds awesome.

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In this economy and constant uncertainty it’s obvious people are not living upto their full potential.

But, you need to find certainity, if you have no economics problem, than I guess most of your problems are just psychological or physical.

Who are you introvert with? The people you feel anxious with. Why you feel anxious with them, is it physical reasons, or psychological or economical. Deal with those reasons.

Btw, I have this path for my own journey →

  1. creating a solid base for sustainence like a job
  2. then working on other passions, like YouTube
  3. then serving community, going out with family.

I do think community can act as a distraction if you are in rough economic phase.

Right now even if you don’t have a community, save your current bonds at least.

Well, if I assume you’re in your teenage years, embrace these people coming into your life and leaving but don’t get attached.

Sharing pain is the first step but don’t cling to it since you gotta move on, alright. Be the first one to do the right steps in your family.

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I think life is about making good memories. This is one of the main goals. You have to work hard and build your future but you should have fun and make memories. Make life worth living.
With some words life is about friends, family, having fun, doing things you like, having experiences, having goals and ambitions

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