Drafterman -
You pose an issue which is dear to my heart and mind. Two points I would like
to make. (1) You might either consider your experience of the void as an
existential fact of life. From this perspective your comment that "the
lingering knowledge that everything is ultimately
without inherent meaning..." is very meaningful to me. It means that what we
refer to a meaning is the result of each of our creative processes in which we
all generate personal meaningful connections whether we take responsbility for
this action or not.
This point of view is thoroughly explored in my book: Demystifying Meaningful
Coincidences - Synchronicities and is a core concept in my naturalistic theory
of synchronicities.
(2) One other possibility is to view what you refer to as the void as a symptom
of a lack of self structure. I explore this point of view in an article I wrote
called: Something Out of Nothing. ... It may be found on my web site
http://www.gibbsonline.com . Once there you press the theories tab, scroll
down, and locate the article.
-----Original Message-----
From: Drafterman <[email protected]>
To: "Minds Eye" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wed, Mar 31, 2010 2:28 pm
Subject: [Mind's Eye] Re: !!! WHAT !!!!
On Mar 18, 11:11 am, "pol.science kid" <[email protected]> wrote:
Greetings.. fellow eyers.. now.. i dont have much to offer rite now..
but only require some help.. haunted by this strange emptiness..and a
feeling of void.. without any reason.. it brings me again and again to
the initial post i posted at mind's...the pointlessness of
everything.. and the absurdity behind every action.. when the view is
from a different level..the endless justifications.. a never ending
chain..where justification for something is found in something outside
the thing...and justification for that outside it.. it never ends...
though it is not very articulately put...i hope i make my point
clear....it somehow makes one think of suicide... (no i am not
contemplating it)..;-)
On an emotional level, I can understand how confronting the inherently
ointless and meaningless nature of existence can be frightening, but
t boggles my mind on an intellectual level.
I will start by providing my short response - though I expect it will
e less than satisfying: if you desire meaning and purpose, then
reate it yourself.
The long response:
I provided my short answer first, so I cannot later be accused of
olding anyone hostage to what may be a lengthy post just to convey
omething that can be summed up in a sentence. So you have my
entence. The problem is that such summation does not include its
oundation and consequently may be of little help. Generally speaking,
eople are adverse to creating meaning. The knowledge that it was
reated will give the impression that it is "false" when "true"
eaning is desired. So long as the knowledge that it was created is
here, so is the lingering knowledge that everything is ultimately
ithout inherent meaning. This can, however, be overcome through self-
elusion. Many people have, under various circumstances, convinced
hemselves of an untruth. Patience and simple repetition can do it for
ust about anything, though traumatic experiences can often be a
atalyst.
I do not feel that self-delusion through self-hypnosis is necessary
ecause I think the aversion against manufactured meaning is
rrational. We create meaning all the time. In fact, I think it is our
ropensity toward creating meaning that results in the very anxiety
oward a meaningless universe in the first place! We are so used to
hings having an assigned value that we forget that those values are,
nfact, assigned rather than inherent. The value of things is taken
or granted and so we are often left stunned when confronted with the
dea that something (let alone everything) has no intrinsic value.
Take, for example, money. Fiat money, specifically. It has no inherent
eaning. It does, however, have extrinsic meaning. We assign meaning
o it. Do you really consider the inherent value of a $5 bill to be
ive times the inherent value of a $1 bill? It's value is that which
e have assigned to it. Yet the knowledge of this manufactured meaning
oes not give us pause (consider the satirical article here:
ttp://www.theonion.com/articles/us-economy-grinds-to-halt-as-nation-realizes-money,2912/).
If you stopped to think about it, I believe you sould see that most
verything has a value that is assigned by us in a manner that is
onducive to our desires and needs. So why should our lives, and the
niverse, be any different? Why should the knowledge that the universe
as no inherent meaning "haunt" you but the knowledge that a dollar
ill has no inherent meaning not cause you any concern what-so-ever?
The second manner in which I feel that this anxiety is irrational is
he fact that it goes against how we commonly treat the value of
hings. In this example, we will use precious metals and gems. Why is
diamond considered worth more than quartz? In this case, value is
ssigned by rarity. (Perhaps a diamond is a bad example since their
rarity" is controlled, at least in part, by diamond companies, but
he point stands). The more rare something is, the higher value it is
ssigned. From our perspective, there is nothing more unique - and
ence rarer - than our own lives. We get one life. A finite duration
nd a finite space we have to perceive our existence. Some people
eact with fear at this knowledge respond by referencing (and
ommitting) suicide. I find this to be absurd. The knowledge that I
ave this single life drives me to make the most out of it. I treat my
ife as though it were a video game and my mother has told me I have
o get off once I lose this man. In such a situation I try and prolong
t in as much as I can! But what is the point of maximuming the
uantity of one's life if one does not also maximize its quality?
Now, I don't expect my long answer to be much more help. Emotional
esponses are rarely assuaged by rational considerations. At least not
t first. Simply consider that your life is whatever you want to make
f it. Even those that believe some higher entity, force, or presence
as done the work of assigning meaning to their lives end up defining,
or themselves, their purpose (whether they realize/acknowledge it or
ot).
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