The Title: What is the Meaning of Life?
The Thesis: There is no relative meaning to a human lifestyle.


(Image stolen from NASA.gov)

I'm peacefully sitting outside on a wonderfully ambient and tranquil night while on a family vacation in Padre Island and decided to complete the day's cycle with a little bit of writing. Is "Why are we here?" the same as "What is the meaning of life?" If you ask me, no, it isn't. "What is the meaning of life?" is a rhetorical question. "Why are we here?" is the same question as "What did everything come from?" This question might never be answerable, but can certainly not be answered with today's technology and knowledge of history dating to the event of the Big Bang and before. However, it is a question that should be answerable and comprehendible before the extinction of the human race.

We do know we are here and we do know matter exists because anything we can hold in our hand takes up space and has mass. Of course movies and science fiction writers sometimes like to say everything around us is an artificial illusion. That complicates everything too much. For if everything around us is an illusion, I am also an illusion to myself. If I am the only "real" person in the universe, that means all interaction between others is artificial. Even though I do not "see" someone in another country watching television, it is still happening. But obviously right now you are reading this, and therefore you are real.

Where everything that exists came from is the greatest question that exists today that seems answerable. If you think the answer to a different potentially answerable question would bring more to the advancement of society, you are probably wrong. "What is the meaning of life?" does not count. This essentially would not be a matter of opinion, but instead a matter of fact. But if you still think you have a better one, let me know anyway.

"What is the meaning of life?" is largely a question with a unique answer to each individual. Religion undeniably plays a large part in how someone would answer this question. A devout Catholic would say proving yourself worthy to God of an eternal stay in Heaven. A Buddhist would say to reach the state of nirvana through many lives. An atheist would likely say there isn't one. This nonreligious person might say this in a depressed, serious tone and manner, or he might say it happily. These who say it in a sorrowful tone might feel like life is a waste of time and are generally unhappy. The nonreligious person who says it smiling likely has a positive outlook on life and sees "the big picture" as a game in which he/she has specific goals and checkpoints in his/her journey.

What our "soul" is remains the hardest question for me to draw any conclusion on. I am obviously here and have feelings, emotions, and a personality. But if I was conceived on a different day, would I be an entirely different person? While the Darwinian theory of evolution grows undeniably increasingly correct and logical, it does not say anything about the "soul." We all have one or we would be machines without free will. And while I believe in free will, I still believe our actions are predictable. This is well written by the philosopher Nietzsche in Human, All too Human, "When we see a waterfall, we think we see freedom of will and choice in the innumerable turnings, windings, breakings of the waves; but everything is necessary; each movement can be calculated mathematically. Thus it is with human actions; if one were omniscient, one would be able to calculate each individual action in advance, each step in the progress of knowledge, each error, each act of malice."

While I am not Buddhist, I think Buddhism would be a cool way of looking at life. The religion has an answer for most everything, and many scientific theories integrate well with it. The theory of evolution certainly doesn't conflict with Buddhism like Christianity. But I refuse to look at Buddhism as the way life exists and happens.

To be Christian, one does not have to follow the Bible verbatim most Christians believe. Society and attitudes towards right and wrong, and what is taboo and appropriate change with time. I'm sure most Christians do believe in the theory of evolution now, but refuse to acknowledge it in a religious standpoint. Many, I'm sure, just think, "Well if I don't think about it, then it won't affect me or my way of thinking and maybe it will just go away." Is this the wrong way of thinking? Yes, unless you know you will have to think and reason beyond your capabilities and no personal conclusion is reachable within a self-dedicatable time-frame. One interesting and alternative way of looking at Christianity is to acknowledge that evolution occurred through the creation of the human species and that a larger power selected the then-defined human as the meaningful result of creation. And morals, religious writings, and those who directly heard the words of God came about. The rest of the religious philosophy stays the same.

Nobody knows what happens when you die. Does everything completely stop right there and an eternity of nothingness follows? Are we reincarnated into a new body? Do we reach a Heaven or a Hell? Einstein did not believe in a God that would reward or punish his followers.¹ After all, we would be his creations, right? It is hard to draw conclusions from such abstract ideas, as the human mind is a very limited one. This can be easily seen from musicians who try to reach a musical ecstasy but can never continue their musical patterns with increasingly complex and satisfying arrangements of notes. Instead the most glamorous measures are ended with the thud of bass drum and a cymbal or an equivalent. But the fact that anything at all exists seems like an incredible feat in itself. I personally lean more towards Christian perspective on life and religion. Hence, I believe in a God. But most of my conclusions on religion remain unreached. That is alright with me; I don't mind just waiting to see what happens.

So what is the meaning of life? We were not given a set of instructions at birth, so really, much of life's meaning is up for our own interpretation. The meaning of life to me is being satisfied with everything I've done before I die. If I knew I were going to die today, I would look back on my life and think about all the things I could have, would have, or liked to have been. Really, none of us are sure what we really want in life, but most of us have a general idea and plan. We're all playing a different "game" with different backgrounds and desires. What I want, others may not care for. Life is all about balancing senses of current happiness and satisfaction with the completion of objectives which will help lead to satisfying future accomplishments and lifestyles while increasing our knowledge of life and the world around us.

Perhaps I generally want more out of life than the average person. I am also willing to work and try harder than most people are or are capable of. When I am thirty, I want to be able to feel all my goals are working out and I have done a lot with my time by then. I also want to see things improve that I have close to no control over. I would like to see the environment improve. I would like to see world peace. I would like to see amazing new technologies emerge. I would like to see astronauts on Mars. Now I sound like a Miss America candidate. But who doesn't want to see all that? Perhaps one of the most important things to me is that I marry someone I truly love. Interestingly, research somehow statistically concluded that unhappy marriages decrease a lifespan by 4 years.² Although every guy wants a good-looking girl, I do not want anyone who fits the stereotype of a "dumb blonde." Intelligence is a very important factor. I want someone who mentally challenges me constantly, but yet always makes me feel good about myself. I want someone who I can love and trust.

I would like to live an interesting, fun, and moderately laid-back lifestyle. I'd like to live in a nice house in Dallas with a girl I really like, work a job I enjoy, be able to play around with a couple analog synthesizers and step sequencers a lot, build up my body, and somehow be involved with the future. I want a lot I guess. Hey, maybe I'll add a new 911 to the wish list too =D. But hey, isn't every guy's fantasy driving down a serene, windy road at sunset in a new stickshift 911 with a pretty girl while listening to Squarepusher and discussing Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time?


And by the way: