 | The meaning of life |
| Does my life have meaning? It is a question that humans have struggled with throughout history. Many, many answers have been offered: both through religion and philosophy. Yet, for the majority of humanity, no one answer has ever proved satisfactory. |
| Your existence is a miracle, so why are you so miserable? |
| The simple fact that you are here to read these words is a mind-boggling stroke of luck. The chances of your ever existing were so tiny as to be almost insignificant. |
| The world is an amazing place |
| "Man is born free, yet everywhere he lies in chains," Voltaire said. He could just as easily have been talking about internal chains as external ones. |
| Chance plays a big part in our lives |
| There is a modern fad for claiming that we are entirely to blame for anything that happens to us. This philosophy is complete nonsense, as anyone who thinks about it even for a moment can surely deduce. Our decisions do play a part in our lives, but chance has a just as large, if not a larger, influence. |
| Get some perspective |
| In developed countries, we tend to forget how lucky we are. Growing up in a place of order and plenty blinds us to the reality of the situation most of humanity faces. Sure, we see it on TV, but it's not until we witness the deprivation of the majority that it really hits home. |
| We must rely on shortcuts to understand things |
| The world we live in is infinitely complex. The more humanity understands about it, the more we become amazed at just how intricate it is. |
| Forget about what you learned from the movies, novels and TV shows |
| We live in a world of fictions. Almost every day we are exposed to stories that simply aren't true - in the form of movies, novels and TV shows. For many people - especially after they've left formal education - exposure to such sources is much more common than that of nonfiction. This can fill the head with strange ideas. |
| The world hates the weak |
| About a decade ago, I had a job at a government office. My work mates were the enlightened and knowledgeable types that you often meet in such places. Their political views were generally what's considered progressive and many of them were involved in charity work. |
| Common sense is over-rated |
| One thing that's held as a deep belief by many people is the wisdom of 'common-sense' or 'conventional wisdom'. They hold it up as the ultimate truth to which we all should aspire. |
| Science is the closest thing to verifiable truth that we have |
| Wait! If you're the type of person who reads the word "science" in a title then moves quickly on, then this is an article you need to read. I promise it won't be boring. |
| What to do about things that are out of your control |
| Despite what some would have us believe, there are large numbers of things that affect us in this life that are completely out of our control. What natural abilities we're born with, which family we're born into, what happens with the economy in our country and of course death are all things we're pretty much completely powerless over. |
| Life is serious, but it's also ridiculous |
| We're all stuck in the middle of this life, and are forced to take it very seriously. If we don't, reality will soon show us the folly of doing so. But take a minute sometimes to take a step back from the day-to-day battles and look at just how ridiculous it all is. If we weren't stuck right smack-bang in the middle of it all, human existence would seem so absurd as to be outrageous.
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| There is very little justice in the world |
| Most people have a very strong sense of justice. We believe we know what's right and wrong. Something feels imbalanced in the universe when what we consider to be a crime is committed. But nature doesn't appear to agree with these strongly held views. Unfortunately, justice is something that exists only in our heads and we must undertake massive efforts to bring even a little bit of it into being. |
| We're all just lost at sea |
| Picture this. You wake up to find yourself aboard a huge old sailing boat. You can't remember who you are, or where you were before. You can't even remember what your name is. |
| Much of what we see as real exists only in our heads |
| Humans are incredibly imaginative creatures. We are constantly coming up with new ideas and re-examining old ones. We are filled with ideas that hold a powerful sway over us, even though many of them have no real existence outside our own heads. |
| Possessions often end up costing more than you think |
| Let me tell you about one of the happiest parts of my life. It was just after I'd finished university. I worked for long enough to save up some money for a big trip overseas. I put a few clothes and other bits and pieces in a backpack and set off, travelling around Europe and down to the Middle-East. |
| Your life isn’t a movie or a TV show |
| When I was at university, I spent a year or so experimenting with drugs and having some minor involvement in the drug culture. The biggest change that happens when you’re into drugs is that when you’re not high, life seems unbearably dull. |
| Does objective reality exist? |
| From Scientologists, to The Matrix, to a recent post by Steve Pavlina, there are a lot of people out there who seem to be claiming that objective reality doesn’t exist. Or at least, that it only exists in the way you choose it to. |
| Dreams and ability are worthless unless they lead to concrete, usable results |
| I was at a dinner party a few months back, when one of the guests made the following comment: “I think I’m an extremely intelligent person”. The other guests and I were a little shocked at the arrogance of the comment, but not overly so as we knew this person had a pretty high opinion of himself. |
| Nothing is certain |
| Deep inside us all is a deep need to feel certainty about the world and our place in it. We like to think there are some things we can really rely on. Without some kind of conviction about the way things are, we feel like we’re drowning in a stormy sea with nothing to grab hold of. |