The Meaning of Meaninglessness.
Meaninglessness gets a bad rap. It doesn’t mean what we think it means. Seriously, I mean it.
It has long been said by those wise gurus living in caves high in the mountains (and, on occasion, in gated mansions) that the only meaning a thing has is that which we have assigned to it. That meaning may have been derived from deep reflection, a conversation in a bar, or something you’ve read. It can be directly or indirectly sourced externally. Meaning is not something inherent to a thing. It is not part of its essence. It comes from our personal life experiences and beliefs however they may have evolved.
If you’ve never really thought about this simple but profound idea, and you’re into this sort of thing, it’s worth exploring.
Many people view the idea of life as having no absolute meaning (at least not accessible to humans) as a take on Nihilism. Many people also view this as giving the option of simply running amok because they think that if nothing matters people should do whatever they feel like doing. They seem to miss some important points. For instance, there are still consequences for miscreants. It’s a great idea to let this sink in before you head into a life of debauchery, depravity, and perversion.
Now that you’ve decided to generally stay within the bounds of normalcy, let’s consider the positive side of this whole “meaningless” thing.
So if the meaning of things is individual to each of us, then I guess we can assign our own meaning to just about anything. Yeah, I know. Some people already do this and take it to some strange places. “That toast has the face of Jesus on it!” The point is, of course, that you still need to keep it somewhat rational. For example, you can take an event that you usually apply a negative meaning to and give it a positive twist. This is likely to have a ripple effect and nudge your life in a better direction.
If you haven’t heard of it, look up “Negativity Bias.” It’s one of many cognitive biases humans experience that leads them astray and causes their thinking (and subsequent actions)to be flawed.
Tolerating Intolerance
Another way that meaninglessness can benefit us comes to us when interacting with others. Sometimes people are going to express ideas that we consider absurd (more on the absurd in another post.)If someone expresses an idea that you disagree with, you might be inclined to be more tolerant when you consider that they have simply applied a different meaning to the topic at hand. This is inevitable. If there are no real consequences, maybe just let it go or at the very least, be patient and try to understand why they applied the meaning they did. I can’t begin to count the number of times I thought an idea was ridiculous only to fully back it after gathering more information and reflecting on it.
…to be continued.
The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.”
— Joseph Campbell