The Meaning Of Life

Upon writing this post I decided to make science the focus of my education. However, I am a very indecisive person, and it seems likely that my indecisiveness is [in part] caused by a tendency to hyperbolize anything that I gain an interest in. Science as a goal would be simply the next in a long line of the several dozen aspirations I have considered, in just the last year. No, that isn't an exaggeration- it really is that bad. Following this, I wrote this post. While the ideas involve sound good in theory, I now realize that it was mere immature thinking on my part. In retrospect, I clearly see that I rationalized things to compensate for my weakness- "escaping". In reality, even if I were able to accomplish those ambitions, nothing would come of it- I would still be a "jack of all trades, master of none"- that would apply even if I indeed excelled in all areas, because humans only can reach their true potential when they dedicate their lives to a single passion- such is the fabric of life.

The philosopher Rene' Descartes is accredited with the profound statement- "I think, therefore I am". At least at first glance, I believed the primary implication is that proof of existence only requires thought, because it's impossible for something that does not exist to think. But the more that I "think" about it, I'm realizing that the implications are far from limited to proving existence. It further implies that the depth to which of person perceives their existence is dependent and in ratio to the amount that they think. Proof of this is not hard to find- It's fairly universal that "time flies" once work takes an active role. However human beings naturally desire to be productive. As such, an argument that human beings want to die faster would not invalid, because productivity naturally speeds up our perception of time. Because we have little time to evaluate our existence, we are being cheated out of a potentially much longer lifespan by a fast-paced society. In reality, how long we live does not depend wholly on years- a much greater part depends on the choice of perception.

I have had these ambitions to write books that will influence the world, and have children that will lead it into a more promising future, and finally to live a life that will be remembered. But all of this, too, was immature thinking. What does it matter what people think of me, or what the future of mankind is after I'm dead. Now I'm not saying I don't care, but even if my actions could have a positive impact, is it really mine to judge what the future of the world, or of my children should be? In reality, I would probably be able to better influence the world without children anyway, since I would be free to influence not just one or two, but everyone that I come in contact with, and everyone who reads what I write.

Instead, it would seem a much better choice to dedicate my life to thinking as much as possible, if anything to prolonge my perceptual existence. And the kind of thinking I would do would be to work towards the answering of life's greatest question, which is, of course, "what is the meaning of life?"

We have been left clues to solve this puzzle, which have been elaborated on countless times by philosophers through the ages- and, in this post, by me:

As I understand it, these clues each have different levels of importance. While it is doubtful that I currently have an well enough understanding of the clues to accurately discern their importance- the order below is from most to least important, and should suffice as a guideline:

Adaptation- although this is a quality native to all life, adaptation proves itself as possessing (by far) the most potential and beauty in human beings, who, when circumstances call for it, can not only survive, but thrive as well- in virtually and circumstance that can support basic functions. To this day no one can set a limit to the level adaptation exist, and it's possible that within the grounds of basic needs, the ability to adapt could be infinite. However, because people can face the same circumstances, and one always adapts better than the other, I firmly believe that the level of one's ability to adapt is definitely genetic.

Motivation- Anyone who considers any single person to be evil would lose that opinion if they became familiar with the depth of the said person's motivations. For this reason, although I don't expect people to share my opinion of not believing in evil, it would not be fair to say that any single person is inherently evil- they all have their reasons for their actions, and more than likely "evil" manifests itself when people are unable to adapt to their circumstances properly. Although what is perceived as "good" does not necessarily infer this, (morals vary slightly due to change in times, cultures, religions, governments, and other factors.) in general a good person is likely "a natural" at adaptation, so to speak. But in all cases, motivation is always something of a mystery. The complexity of it of course would make it hard to figure out- there's always plenty of people that "you never know what they're thinking".

Identity- see here

The rest of the clues are less important, well- that and I want to finish the post before I run out of steam- so I'll just list them- still in the order of importance: Communication, Dependence, Instinct, Intuition, Immortality, Dreams. Most of these are explained in posts before this anyway, so you'll just have to check. Try this really cool feature- at the top type those words in the search bar, and you're bound to find something on it. I'll probably edit this later and give at least one link that documents the above words- later.

But overall, to me it is abundantly clear that the meaning of life lies in the memories. Although there are many reasons for this, I first became aware of the relation between the memory and this question, after realizing that when people lose their memory permanently, they effectively become an entirely different person- despite the fact the body is still alive, and person prior to memory loss is dead.

Curiously, all of the above clearly falls under psychology, so if my life aspiration is indeed to uncover the meaning of life, majoring in psychology would be best, especially since I do have a strong interest in it, as well as the subject itself plays on my strengths. Despite having never formally studying it, I have a very accurate understanding of it. Perhaps I am once again hyperbolizing things- but hopefully that is not the case.