Shifting Gears #6: 42

1. Shifting Gears #6: 42 Feraco Myth to Science Fiction 30 April 2010

2. What is the Meaning of Life? • I Can’t Answer That For You • The Good Left Undone • A Different Kind of Dualism • The Good That We Do • What If Nothing Matters? • Considerations and Schools of Thought • It’s Someone Else’s Choice • It’s All Up to Me • No, Nothing Matters • What If Everything Matters? • A Constant Work in Progress

3. An Old Question to Start Us Off • Something left unstated during our death lecture – albeit something that most are already aware of – is the fact that time marches on without you once you pass away • Your children will age, your spouse will die, and new generations you’ll never meet will rise and fall • Would you want to outlive your parents? • Your siblings? • Your spouse? • Your children? • “Tuck Everlasting”

5. A Twist on Another Question • Assuming there’s something awaiting you after death – and assuming you won’t begin another iteration of the Samsara cycle immediately – would you want to be able to affect the present from beyond? • Would you want your widow to remarry? • “The Lady, or the Tiger?”

6. The Starter Questions • Are you afraid that you won’t have enough time to do the things you dream of doing, or to follow through on your best intentions? • We’ve talked about the possibilities for what lay beyond, and even allowed you to design your own Valhalla • What would the worst part about dying be? What do you fear you’ll miss? • Do thoughts of “the good left undone” ever give you pause?

7. A Different Dualism • The dualists – the interactionists, anyway – insist that there’s an interactive relationship between our bodies and our souls • I propose that a similarly dualistic relationship exists between our attitudes towards death and life • People who are truly terrified about life after death – say, those who are convinced they’re going to do something during life that they’ll pay for in death – probably aren’t going to live boldly • If you fear long-lasting consequences, will you still take risks?

8. The Good That We Do • I have also mentioned that we often do good things for odd reasons – in order to avoid a negative consequence, for example, rather than out of a genuine sense of goodness • Don’t behave cruelly, or the guilt will haunt you • Some of you only do your homework because you recognize the consequences of giving away points

9. The REAL Starter Question • Is that the purpose of life? • Eighty years of avoiding negative consequences long enough to make it to the next day? • Eighty years of “resume-building”? • I may be young and fairly inexperienced, with a whole lot left to learn, but I’m reluctant to believe that the ultimate meaning of my life is so narrow • So that’s my starting point: We’ll build on survival • What is the meaning of life beyond self-perpetuation?

10. Feraco Shares Opinions! ZOMG • I tend to take a lighter view of humanity than many of you; I don’t believe that we’re naturally evil • I used to teach SFHP • If I believed humans were naturally evil, what would “human potential” even mean? • I think that we do good things for a lot of weird reasons – but that we do good things for the right reasons as well • I don’t think creatures of evil could even conceive of some of our treasured concepts – love, preservation, loyalty, curiosity • What I wonder, then, is whether these admirable qualities give us a clue about what the ultimate meaning of life actually is – assuming one exists, of course

11. Meaning and Meaninglessness • What are we considering when we set out to study the “meaning” of life? • For one thing, we have to take an honest look at the possibility that life is meaningless – that not only were the monists right about human existence (with regards to the afterlife, not with regards to the “everything-is-made-out-of-the-same-stuff” business), but that there’s not even any meaning to the existence you’re currently enjoying

12. Space Creatures and Life Meanings • By doing so, however, we confront a variation on an old theme: How do you prove something that’s this abstract doesn’t exist? • It’s like saying “There’s never been – and will never be – a creature who can survive in the vacuum of outer space.” • Really? Never? In all of the universe? • How can I possibly prove that with any degree of verifiability? • We also need to examine whether something else confers purpose onto us – or whether the meaning of our own lives is within the realm of our control

13. Back to Teleology… • It’s worth noting that this is a teleological question (remember them?) • After all, teleological operating philosophy doesn’t just assign one purpose to life – it assigns multiple ones in the form of goals • Teleologists can believe in an external force that confers meaning on people, and they can believe that we create our own meanings • You can also talk about nihilists – those who believe life is fundamentally, unchangeably meaningless, and that nothing we do, say, or think matters (or ever has mattered) • They’re the flip side of teleology – no goal is meaningful at all

14. Purpose by Design • On the other hand, some belief meaning arrives from outside of us • If meaning is conferred upon my life (whether it’s some sort of “omni force” or not), does this infringe on my right to free will – and, in turn, my ability to make choices according to a morality of my design that lead to a sense of happiness that’s my own? • Four of our questions at once! • This sort of thing would be purpose by design

15. Does It Infringe? • Well, not necessarily • The conditions are set, but not the result • All we’ve specified is that something else is in charge of your life’s purpose – and not, say, whether that purpose is to discover new things via the exercising of your free will • In other words, saying something else gives you purpose doesn’t wash your hands of responsibility – for better or for worse

16. Meaning of Meaning • Conversely, saying that we’re in charge of our own life’s purpose isn’t an argument that such purposes are somehow arbitrary • In fact, the idea of an arbitrary purpose is somewhat weird – since, after all, something has to be meaningless or purposeless to be arbitrary

17. The Calling • The idea of a person “finding his calling” can work both ways • It can mean he needs time to figure out what he’s supposed to do • It can mean he needs time to figure out what he’s good at, or what we want to do – and whether those things can be meaningful enough to sustain him • Think of how often college kids change their majors! • Think of how often professionals switch lines of work! • Again, this can seem arbitrary – but it can also seem like a logical process • It all depends on whether you believe “purpose” is static

18. Back to Nihilism • Nihilists want you to accept that life is fundamentally meaningless • They argue that there’s no great scheme, no grand purpose, to you or anything else • Nihilists say everything is arbitrary • We are random and alone, have always been and always will be • There are no universal moral values that humans should hold

19. Without Purpose… • While faith isn’t necessary for morality, purpose seems to be – for morality, in many cases, seems to be about upholding one’s ability to fulfill his/her purpose, or to avoid harming others in their quest to do the same • Without purpose, without meaning – what’s the point of a moral system? What are we even trying to protect?

20. Nothing More to Say About Nothing • There’s really nothing more to say about nihilism – either you buy into the idea that there’s no meaning to life (think monism stripped of purpose) or you don’t • We can’t really spend too much time on it, other than to wonder about the hypothetical consequences if nihilism is correct • After all, we talked about how morality would be impacted by either an affirmative or dissuasive knowledge of what awaits us beyond death • It could make morality easier – or people would still be tempted to push the limits and see what they can get away with • What would happen if we knew that nothing really mattered?

21. Back from the Brink • If purpose and meaning are conferred upon us, what are some conceivable meanings? • Perhaps to generously provide for others • Perhaps to search for answers and questions • Perhaps to teach and guide those around us • Perhaps to improve and evolve, physically and emotionally • Perhaps to carry on in our predecessors’ footsteps, or to protect our heritage • Perhaps to find peace and serenity • Any others? • Is purpose unique for every being, or is there a unified meaning of human existence?

22. The Questions… • Do you feel like you understand the meaning of your life? • If you don’t yet, do you feel like you’ll get it someday? • Is life meant to be complicated? A constant work in progress? Is it meant to be “solved”?

23. Chaos! • We’ve joked/observed throughout the unit that humans seem to gravitate towards chaos – that we complicate things unnecessarily, that we love questioning • However, that same tendency towards chaos might be what keeps us from stagnating – might even be what makes life worth living after all • The very chaos that nihilists cite as reason to believe that none of this matters could very well be the reason everything does

24. A Constant Work in Progress • “I often wonder if I'll ever finish all I've started, and the answer I have found is no! No, I will never finish all that I have started because life is about doing – the process – not the result…My life’s a constant work in progress, and I wouldn't have it any other way.” Set Your Goals,“Work in Progress”

25. Back to the Star… • We began this semester by talking about the five points of a single star: enlightenment, independence, identity, security, and love • None of our existential questions is about one of these points…and yet, at the same, all of them are

26. The Star and the Gears • Isn’t the question about choice really about independence and identity? • Isn’t the question about morality really about identity and (mutual) security? • Isn’t the question about happiness really about independence and identity? • Isn’t the question about the soul really about love and identity? • Isn’t the question about death really about love, identity, and security? • And isn’t this question – about the meaning of life – really about the whole thing?

27. The Star and the Cube • Life seems to be a wonderful, endlessly fascinating puzzle, like Wall-E’s Rubik’s Cube – full of trade-offs and mysteries to be solved, happiness to be won, and new frontiers to cross • Our myths and dystopias dare to ask the questions we need to ask ourselves along the way • If our dreams came true…would we be worthy? Would we be ready? • If humanity is meant to improve, how can we get better without losing who we are? • I appreciate progress, treasure it, learn from it…but never settle for it • If we’re going to build a better world, we can’t cheat when challenged by the cube • Solve a puzzle, and start another…because my life means more than 42