We’re all familiar with the big question. What is the meaning of life?
Sometimes we ask what is the meaning of my life?
And this question is a pretty big question. We usually really want an answer to this question in moments where w e feel terrible. The moments where we wonder what’s going on. With our lives. What’s in the future. What’s on the horizon for us.
Some people are able to answer this question pretty quickly in their lives, others die before they obtain an answer at all.
So it’s a. Pretty big. Big question. That is worthwhile to think of. For the majority of life.
Well in this video. I will not be giving you an answer to the question or rather, an attempt to help you figure out a way to answer the question. To start off with, I’ll give you a story of my life.
📍 Namely. Well, when I was a little. Kid.
And back when I was a little kid. Definitely not, now. I used to be scared of scary movies. Movies. The scary movies. Back then. You didn’t just get them online. You didn’t just. Find them. On some random website. Or buy them off the app store. Or whatever. Back then you would. Rent movies. Or buy them in DVD sets. And you would see different. Covers that were quite scary. If I knew, say something myself. For instance, the grudge. With that creepy. Creepy hand coming out of the head. Or. Jake saw his face. The mass, the puppet.
of saw. With those swirls. And the cheek. That weird creepy hair. Just overall weird face.
Or also. The girl from the rink.
I mean. How much more creepy you can get for a little kid. To be seen. Seen these. Uh, pictures. Back in the day.
Well,
There’s something. That my mom would always tell me when we had watched these movies. Somehow I ended up watching. Um, she would say. Don’t worry about those movies. They can’t hurt you. Everything there is fake. It’s not real. Nothing at this will happen in real life. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about. About stop worrying about. I’ve been scared.
Of course, that’s not going to help anyone. Fundamentally not be scared. Scared of this stuff. However it is interesting now that. I think about it. The idea that these movies are fake. All fake.
what’s stopping us from thinking of our lives as movies. That are just. Played out. Movies are fake after all. Actors just. Acting out. Something.
This. Idea of a movie being fake. Is kind of tied or entails. The idea that. the movie fundamentally has no meaning. There’s no meaning to the movie itself. For.
If it’s fake. Then it doesn’t serve a purpose or it cannot serve a purpose.
To do something. Intrinsically with. Itself.
For it is not true.
So.
I invite you to think about just daily scenes of everyday life. For instance. People walking around. Each of these people, having different life stories. People heading in different directions. People going to different destinations.
I mean. How is this different than a movie? They can all just be actors. In your own story. And your home will be on. You’re watching it. And roll. Unfold before your very eyes.
And so. You must ask yourself.
What meaning. Does this have. This. Stunt my movie, people walking in different places. What possible meaning could that have in my life?
Or for example, if you’re waiting for a train. People waiting for something, not the train or waiting. To get on the train to go somewhere. I mean, where are they going? You can ask yourself these questions about different people. But again, fundamentally. What is the purpose? Of them being there. What meaning does this have.
Seemingly none. Or if you’re stuck. In traffic, every single automobile being controlled by someone else. What meaning does. All of this traffic have. When you’re sitting down in a car. Stuck in miserable traffic.
Or even if you’re just watching T. With your family. And then you just, for some reason, zone out and think. What’s the mean of this. What’s the purpose of this.
And every. Every day, you can have these moments frequently. After. After you witnessed things long. Or enough times radius. He just asked yourself. There’s no way. You tell yourself, there’s no way. That any of this has any meaning.
I mean. It’s just happening. Sure. But.
How can it have any intrinsic meaning? All this. Sparked by a little story. I just told you.
And so what we find at the end. Is that.
Everything is just shrouded with nothing. Nothing. Just a blank slate. No meat. No purpose, no function. And whenever you gauge. Existence and. The universe and whatever. To matter.
And if we’re really surrounded by all this nothingness. Yes by all this meaninglessness.
How can we start to even believe. To answer the question. What is the mean of my life.
Well, it seems that if you actually fall in this line, Of thinking. This line of reasoning. There is no. Meeting. To your life. This motor thinking is actually called nihilism. Specifically it’s existential. Nihilism. The idea that your existence has no meaning at all. There are multiple forms of nihilism. In. Philosophy. That being. For instance. It’s moral nihilism.
Where. There’s no good or bad. There’s no such thing. And other examples of nihilism. Where. Things just. Just turned out not to matter. Or not exist.
However, I don’t know about you, but. I don’t think I can live without there being any meaning. Whatsoever. I’d probably become a crazy. If I. realized somehow. That indeed there. There was no meat at all and there’s nothing to do about it.
In fact, I think most of us really. Really require some meaning in life. Some purpose.
And.
What this leads. Is to think about. Is how if. Things seemingly have no mean.
But you desire, meaning. It’s almost as if you have to create meaning yourself.
📍 And that’s where existentialism comes in. Not. Nihilism. Existentialism is the creation of meaning.
Out of existing in meaning in. And the Snus.
And so now we can start talking about. Some interesting philosophy. One. Is. Jean Paul. Sartre French philosopher. Who was famous. For poppy. Popularizing existentialism.
And And this is a quote from existentialist. As a humanism, a lecture that Sartre gave.
For. Basically public philosophy purposes. The quote is. What do we mean by saying. Saying that existence proceeds essence. We mean. That man, first of all, exists. Encounters himself. Surgeries. He’s up in the world. And the finds himself afterwards. If. If Mann as the existentialist sees him as not definable. It is not because to begin with, he has nothing. He will not. Be anything until later. And then he will be what he makes himself.
Consider the first line. Existence precedes essence. That is existence comes first. Then essence. Is created.
This is. A really fundamental line in existentialism. Where. Indeed we exist. We definitely do exist. You exist. I exist.
But we’re not born. We don’t not come into existence. Once with an essence, with a meaning. With a purpose. Purpose in life.
That’s just not the case. According to this, essentially, this. You went to the eye list. Then Eilis would say, well, there’s, there’s just no essence at all. Even. Even when you just. Come into existence. Before and after. After during existence. There was never any mean.
It’s not the case with the existentialist. The Sergeant says, man, first of all exist. He just. Plops into the world.
But he defined himself afterwards.
And you can see here that if yes, eSense. Essentially. Um, things that man is. Not to finable. Has no mean has no essence.
Well, They’re just slightly confused because.
Before, when you, when you come into existence to begin with. You really are nothing. Indeed. You have no meaning at all because you have not worked to create. Your own meaning.
That’s our trick concludes. There. Meaningful Lee. He will not be anything. Until later. And then he will be what he makes of himself.
No for such a. Interesting where it is. As I changed the existentialism might appear to be. Too many. Oh, existentialism that. Field the philosophy, which is so profound and complicated. It almost frightening TV encounter. I consider.
It’s merely this fundamental principle. Uh, existence, proceeds, essence.
It’s just a framer. Framework for understanding how we create meaning. In life.
Indeed. There’s no mean. To begin with. But afterwards. There is. Once we create. That’s just a natural process. Of meaning making. If you will.
No Sartre. It was a long involved with a romantic partner.
Who was. Simone de Beauvoir. Another French philosopher. Along the same. Same generation Sergeant.
No. Beauvoir.
In her essay, existentialism and popular wisdom. Challenged. The different.
Arguments that people have made against. Gangster existentialism. And here I’d like to consider this one. One quote from hers. To define men as freedom. Has always appeared as the distinctive feature of optimistic philosophers. At firs bang. So it is false to consider a substantial ism as. The doctrine of despair far from. It does not condemn man to an era men deal. Irremediable irremediable. Midea Paul. You’re in mineable.
remedy. Eh,
a remedy level.
It does not condemn man to an irredeemable. Buble Aaron medieval. It does not condemn man to an irremediable misery.
Man may not be naturally good, but he’s not naturally bad either. He has nothing at first. It is. Up to him to make himself good or bad, depending on whether he assumes. Is freedom or renounced, is it. Man is the unique and solve. Sovereign master of his destiny. If only he wants to be. This is existentialism. This is what. Existentialism affirms. And certainly this is an optimism.
You can see here. One. One person might believe X essentially have as much closer to nihilism that. Well, then it actually is. Whereas nihilism leaves. Leaves one person, their misery. To say there is actually no meaning of life. Life existentialism goes further. And says. While there is meaning once you make it. You’re not. I can misery as Beauvoir mentions.
Indeed your free. You’re very free. As a human. That exist. According to the existentialists.
So. That sounds pretty optimistic. And they’re going to the second line. You’re in. Not going to be able to cause the sensualism and talk during that this pair. Not going to condemn a man to an error material misery.
no.
Here’s the interesting part. Which is, uh, she mentioned. Or elaborate on the fact that good and bad, these values. That’s up to him to decide.
What is good and what is bad?
At. The end of the day, man is a unique and sovereign master of his destiny. If only he wants. To be.
What. He profound way of considering meaning in life. For us to fundamentally be the unique and sovereign master of our destiny. That is existentialism. Whereas. Whereas nihilism quits at saying that. Existentialism. Whereas nihilism quits at saying that there is no meaning in existence. It’s life. Existentialism, we’ll say. That we are. In fact, the masters are meeting. In life. We are the ones that carbon created.
And so it is up to you. To be the one to create that mean in your own life.
And now in closing. And invite. I need you to consider. My story once more. This idea that movies have no mean fundamentally.
Well, Are we so sure about that?
At this point.
Well, wouldn’t it be. The case that movie’s actually. Make their own mean as a. Exist.
As you watch it. The meaning is being greeted right before your eyes. As is the meaning of everyday life scenes.
As. It goes on. There is meaning.
Developing.
Oh, That definitely doesn’t
