Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

Meaning is obviously a metaphysically real and tangible thing.

A question for your consideration: Is the meaning of our lives simply to procreate? Obviously not. That in itself implies that there is a higher purpose to our existence. Yet sometimes our worlds come crashing down when we fail to achieve even the smallest successes. Why do we even fancy a higher purpose to our existence in the first place? This becomes strikingly obvious with performance enhancing drugs. We can see that there is more to life than simply getting by. Whether it be making scientific breakthroughs or changing someone's life for the better. There seems to be both a personal and global mission that we find meaning and value in pursuing.

So my question is; when society places limits on what we are able to obtain in life then is society responsible for our lack of value when it requires it in all respects (notice the irony)?

(Dec 9, 2021 08:20 PM)Ostronomos Wrote: [ -> ]So my question is; when society places limits on what we are able to obtain in life then is society responsible for our lack of value when it requires it in all respects (notice the irony)?

No, you are not owed anything, from society, nature, or anything else. Your value, or lack thereof, is all on you.

(Dec 9, 2021 08:20 PM)Ostronomos Wrote: [ -> ]So my question is; when society places limits on what we are able to obtain in life then is society responsible for our lack of value when it requires it in all respects (notice the irony)?

Values are generated by groups (ranging from family to local community and institutions to large political entities) -- including the group's outer influences on the creativeness of the individual. Reciprocality between group and individual.

For instance, a human stranded alone on an island for most of their entire life (somehow making it as a child), would only be concerned about surviving. No morals and meanings arising from people interactions. The needs of a tribe and the relationship of the individual to the tribe becomes superfluous when no tribe is available.

I think wherever there is consciousness there is meaning. Not in the sense of something to be used for a purpose, but in the sense of something innately fulfilling and worthy of pursuit. To be conscious is to be aware of the primal state of ourselves in a world, a situation loaded with possibilities and opportunities towards satisfaction. That we exist is a meaningful fact of the world, and how we do so is largely up to our own choices.