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> This might all sound pretty dark, but the good news is that nothing you do is really important. The universe will remain unperturbed no matter what actions yo

> This might all sound pretty dark, but the good news is that nothing you do is really important. The universe will remain unperturbed no matter what actions you take (or don't)! So if you're stressing about how well you live, remember that you're merely chasing fictions in a framework that someone else cooked up. I'm not really convinced by this type of reasoning. Things do matter if people care very deeply about them. If someone murdered someone close to you (to take an extreme example), would you still say that that is fine, because in the grand scheme nothing matters? You might say that you're an irrational human being, and that's why you care. But why should we take a definition of "meaningful" that is so disjoint for everyday human experience? What would a hypothetical world look like in which life does have meaning, according to your definition? If no such world is even imaginable, then it isn't even clear what we are talking about. Furthermore, I think some people use the supposed "meaninglessness" of life to justify passivity. If the universe is truly meaningless, then doing nothing is as meaningful as doing something traditionally considered meaningful. Yet, people often base their behavior on their current emotional state. That is not the behavior of someone who believes in the complete meaninglessness of everything. Clearly, that person believes that his emotions matter and are a good guide to choose which actions to take. Playing Xbox on the couch or ruminating about the meaninglessness of life being good examples of this. Such actions are choices that are ultimately derived from value judgments.

apatters 7y ago
The idea behind the existential "crisis of meaning" is not that nothing means anything to anyone. It is that meaning is a psychological construct, and should not be represented as anything more. If having a work ethic gets you through your day--OK, have one. But you don't have a "better way of thinking" than someone who's lazy in any meaningful way. Nor are you more intrinsically valuable than them, outside of a very local context in time, space and culture. Sure if I lose a loved one it's going to affect me deeply and I will grieve, but as a matter of likely fact, I will someday move on (as any good psychologist would advise). The meaning of death and its impact are not universal, merely local. In my opinion the essential lessons are two. One is very practical. It is about humility and perspective. The second is more esoteric. It is about freedom. The existential crisis sets you free. But like the lifelong convict who has just been released by his jailor, it remains up to you to be free.
- Hercuros 7y ago
  That's a fair point. I do think that we essentially live in a world that is built up largely out of psychological/social constructs and mental abstractions. In a lot of ways, a psychological or social construct can be a lot more "real" than the "raw" universe (which I don't think can be perceived directly and is more of an abstraction). Therefore, I think it's often more useful to look at the world as it is experienced by people, rather than how it "really is".

apatters 7y ago

The idea behind the existential "crisis of meaning" is not that nothing means anything to anyone. It is that meaning is a psychological construct, and should not be represented as anything more. If having a work ethic gets you through your day--OK, have one. But you don't have a "better way of thinking" than someone who's lazy in any meaningful way. Nor are you more intrinsically valuable than them, outside of a very local context in time, space and culture. Sure if I lose a loved one it's going to affect me deeply and I will grieve, but as a matter of likely fact, I will someday move on (as any good psychologist would advise). The meaning of death and its impact are not universal, merely local. In my opinion the essential lessons are two. One is very practical. It is about humility and perspective. The second is more esoteric. It is about freedom. The existential crisis sets you free. But like the lifelong convict who has just been released by his jailor, it remains up to you to be free.

Hercuros 7y ago
That's a fair point. I do think that we essentially live in a world that is built up largely out of psychological/social constructs and mental abstractions. In a lot of ways, a psychological or social construct can be a lot more "real" than the "raw" universe (which I don't think can be perceived directly and is more of an abstraction). Therefore, I think it's often more useful to look at the world as it is experienced by people, rather than how it "really is".