I think the flaw in the nihilistic approach might be the idea meaning needs to be forever to exist.
The existence of the universe, as far as we know, has no objective. Serving a purpose is the scope in which meaning exists, so from the perspective of something purposeless, you can't have meaning.
On the other hand, purpose can exist. The purpose of washing your hands is the desire to get them clean. So using soap in this scenario is meaningful in the scope of hand-washing.
When we turn it to people's lives. If Bob's grandma sends him a birthday card right before she dies, that card may be meaningful to him. In that his possession of the card serves the purpose of causing the firing off of some brain thingies that yield a desired result. While Bob finding the card has no lasting meaning in the greater scope, Bob finding meaning in the card is a historical fact.
Even the idea of "Was that action worth 12!?" as a dismissal of objective meaning doesn't work when you apply scope. In terms of handwashing, you can quantify how meaningful using soap is. In terms of Bob's emotional state in regards to his grandmother, there are results that lead to more or less favorable mental states.
In fact, I think those objective numerical style values are probably what drive most of our behavior. Our subconscious is taking in input, crunching the numbers, and spitting out the response it wants. Not randomly, but with purpose. The actions have meaning in the scope of fulfilling the subconscious' objectives.
The existence of the universe, as far as we know, has no objective. Serving a purpose is the scope in which meaning exists, so from the perspective of something purposeless, you can't have meaning.
On the other hand, purpose can exist. The purpose of washing your hands is the desire to get them clean. So using soap in this scenario is meaningful in the scope of hand-washing.
When we turn it to people's lives. If Bob's grandma sends him a birthday card right before she dies, that card may be meaningful to him. In that his possession of the card serves the purpose of causing the firing off of some brain thingies that yield a desired result. While Bob finding the card has no lasting meaning in the greater scope, Bob finding meaning in the card is a historical fact.
Even the idea of "Was that action worth 12!?" as a dismissal of objective meaning doesn't work when you apply scope. In terms of handwashing, you can quantify how meaningful using soap is. In terms of Bob's emotional state in regards to his grandmother, there are results that lead to more or less favorable mental states.
In fact, I think those objective numerical style values are probably what drive most of our behavior. Our subconscious is taking in input, crunching the numbers, and spitting out the response it wants. Not randomly, but with purpose. The actions have meaning in the scope of fulfilling the subconscious' objectives.
