https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/...s-universe
KEY POINTS
Meaning emerges from goal-directed life forms, not from information or physical patterns alone.
Neural patterns gain meaning through evolutionary shaping, individual learning, and how they guide action.
Consciousness makes meaning felt—organisms can hold options in mind, compare them, and choose... (
MORE - details)
Quote:Meaning emerges from goal-directed life forms, not from information or physical patterns alone.
That assumes that the direction of time and evolution followed a linear passage through to our present, to continue into our future.
What if the linear assumption is incorrect?.
What if an intelligent goal orientated life-form actually assembled "information and physical patterns" to be combined at that past point to act as a bootstrapping catalyst for meaning to come into fruition. An evolutionary form of Grandfathers Paradox. A Chicken and Egg conundrum.
So the past point is assembled using information and physical patterns
I think meaningfulness is directly tied to activity of any sort, be it playing a game or working or making love or sipping a fine wine or writing poetry at the beach. We find ourselves opened up to intelligibility and a pure aesthetics of energy and action when we are doing something enjoyable and interesting. The meaning is just there and pops up all around us when we are engaged with the world. Especially is this felt in being mindful of our actions like they teach in Zen Buddhism. Of being in the natural creative flow of the activity we are performing. Sand castle building is a great way to enjoy this.
(Jan 17, 2026 11:06 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]I think meaningfulness is directly tied to activity of any sort, be it playing a game or working or making love or sipping a fine wine or writing poetry at the beach. We find ourselves opened up to intelligibility and a pure aesthetics of energy and action when we are doing something enjoyable and interesting. The meaning is just there and pops up all around us when we are engaged with the world. Especially is this felt in being mindful of our actions like they teach in Zen Buddhism. Of being in the natural creative flow of the activity we are performing. Sand castle building is a great way to enjoy this.
It is very easy to posit that the meaning of the inanimate universe is to bring into being life forms that give rise to the infinitely varied expressed "meanings" of the inanimate potential.
A counter argument is that the emergence of life is a meaningless coincidence .
The pain of death may incline one to the latter view whereas the intoxication of living may incline one to the former.
Anyway ,I am suggesting that the universe is not meaningless if it can (does) produce objects (lifeforms ) where the concept of meaning applies.
Of course ,when the pits of human experience are revealed the question does arise as to whether there is any real meaning after all and the meaning was just an illusion.