(September 20, 2016 at 5:22 am)Jörmungandr Wrote: Do you find yourself troubled by the meaninglessness of your existence? Are you looking for something to "make sense" of a world that doesn't seem to make sense? What would it mean to you if the world doesn't make sense.
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To me it sounds like you're grappling with themes of meaning and nihilism; would that be accurate?
Maybe.....If we're talking about nihilism, I'm hoping to have a discussion that is more profound than "Life sucks. Then you die."
Maybe I am talking about questions of meaning. The problem is that I know that there isn't any intrinsic meaning to life, and I've often found myself going in circles when I can't find any meaning behind what I'm trying to do. I understand that in logotherapy, created by Victor Frankl, we are responsible for finding our own meanings in life. I haven't been able to get there yet.
But what I can do now it to discuss a little about how I used to find meaning, and how that has fallen apart for me.
Like most ambitious people, I accepted the WEIRD worldview that life is given meaning by achieving "success." Some say that success is defined by the individual, but in WEIRD society, I don't think that's true. I think that the WEIRD society has a fairly narrow, prescribed definition of success, which is a combination of these: having a job that is well-paying, satisfying, and fulfilling; being married with children; living in a nice house and having other important material possessions; having good physical health and being in good physical shape; making some kind of contribution to your chosen field; and feeling generally happy and satisfied with your life. If you do these things, then society considers you to be "successful."
An alternate route to success in WEIRD society is the route of the artist, which is similar to the route a scientist can take. The artist achieves success by creating a world-changing piece of art (or science) and thus earns their symbolic immortality. Artists don't have to be married with children or have good physical or mental health, as long as their works are works of true genius.
I have previously tried to find meaning through both of these, and have failed. I may indeed find a job that is well-paying, satisfying, and fulfilling. But I've been a failure in romantic relationships. I'm 37, and I've never had a relationship that lasted for more than a few months. I consider myself to be a reasonably attractive and interesting man, but my relationships always fall apart for reasons that seem perpetually elusive. (I'm not looking for "dating advice" or "relationship advice" here, as people sometimes want to give. I'm hoping to discuss this from an existential point of view.)
Since WEIRD society considers relationship success to be a central part of life success, and since "success" is the purpose of life in the WEIRD worldview, I've felt life become more meaningless as I have been unable to find useful answers for my romantic problems.
It's been somewhat similar with being a scientist. I'm a talented person, but I'm not Feynman or Einstein. So even if I do have a decent career in science or engineering, it's very unlikely that I'm going to become a household name, and at best, my contributions to science will likely be small. The best I can hope for is a few publications, and perhaps a little bit of name recognition in whatever narrow field I chose. I'm certainly not "destined for greatness" as I had previously hoped.
And so yeah, without a romantic relationship and an illustrious career, I find myself feeling the burden of the meaninglessness of my life. I like the idea that career and relationships form a symbolic form of immortality, and that once these illusions are shattered, the fear of death sets in, and life feels meaningless.
What should I do?
