Many of us spend our lives thinking of science and philosophy. Looking for answers to the meaning of life the universe and our place in it. And then eventually we die. Have we not accomplished anything? Does our knowledge somehow live on beyond death? What is the point of seeking knowledge?
The way I see it:
Our brains like to recognise patterns, this is an evolutionary trait of ours.
Acquiring knowledge gives us the understanding to identify more patterns
This manifests as that good feeling when something new clicks and it makes sense where it didn’t before. Dopamine is the source of that good feeling and it’s part of our brains’ reward system to motivate us to do things that’ll help us survive.
Chemically, the point of life is to do stuff that triggers our reward systems, and so we seek out the good feeling that comes with figuring stuff out like we seek out other sources of it.
So basically, the meaning of life is to enjoy life, and humans just enjoy learning
It’s nice to have something to pass the time until we eventually die.
That gave me a good chuckle, thanks
You would have died in early childhood had you not sought knowledge, but fortunately knowledge-seeking in inbuilt and needs no justification.
Edit to add: This reminds me of a poem from Cat’s Cradle:
Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly,
Man got to sit and wonder “why, why, why?”Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land,
Man got to tell himself he understand.That’s awesome. I like it.
What a narcissistic set of questions.
Also:
Does our knowledge somehow live on beyond death?
… yes? Look around. Humanity is a long, collective enterprise.
Wait till you hear what they think about construction workers!
Nah bruh, not buying it. Why do we do anything when we know we’re gonna die? Because it’s fun or otherwise desirable.
Do stuff and then die, or just die. Feels like a pretty easy choice to understand.
And it makes life more tolerable for yourself and others.
My question isn’t knowledge, I get that.
Why do we spend 40 years working for someone else’s dream? That’s what I don’t get.
Oh, because capitalism wouldn’t work if we didn’t force it.
We work for pennies until we die so the CEO ca buy another private jet.
Why do we spend 40 years working for someone else’s dream? That’s what I don’t get.
Have you considered your alternatives? If you spend any time studying what the life of a subsistence farmers is like, you realize how incredibly attractive that job working for someone else where you earn a steady paycheck is. Your other alternative is entrepreneurship. That too is a very hard path, but for entirely different reasons. 90% of small businesses fail and at the end you may be penniless.
So your choices are:
- your own dream of subsistence farming where you are subject to the whims of nature and society
- your own dream of running your own business which is highly likely to fail
- working for someone else’s farm/business and being paid a wage on a regular basis
That last one looks very attractive for most people.
To make our lives better while we live them and to pass it on to those that will still be here when we’re gone.
For meaning
What else is there to do?
Knowledge-seeking is not necessarily a selfish act. Ideally, knowledge is something to be shared, to propagate, to enhance our species in the long term.
Most of our advancements in science, medicine, philosophy, etc. weren’t discovered in a single lifetime. It’s the culmination of hundreds of thousands of researchers, scientists, and even some laymen who got lucky and stumbled upon a discovery. And over time and many generations, we build upon the knowledge that’s already been discovered and find new and more complete knowledge that benefits our world.
There are some who are fascinated with a single topic and dedicated their lives to researching it. Then there are autodidacts (self-taught learners), like my late father, who spend their entire lives studying everything they can get their hands on. And of course, there are those who don’t care to learn and just try to exist and get by until the day they die. Plus many other flavors of knowledge-gatherers in the world.
Is any of this wrong? No; everyone is free to pursue whatever knowledge they can or want, or even a lack of it if they desire.
Is it pointless? Not really. As stated before, your knowledge can be passed on to benefit future generations. Or if you keep to yourself, then perhaps you’re learning for your own self benefit. Being better educated about your world and yourself can only serve to help you make more informed decisions in your life.
What’s the meaning of life? There’s isn’t one specific meaning. We happen to exist, and whatever you decide to dedicate your life toward is what gives you meaning. So no pressure about meeting some imaginary goal or standard of accomplishment. Do what makes you happy and what benefits those you love and care for, and you’ll carve out your own meaning in life.
We have only seen farther because we stand on the shoulders of giants.
Help me sound deep so I can pull mad bitches
That hasn’t been my experience. As soon as I start talking about the meaning of life the universe and everything. Their eyes glaze over and they go dance with a construction worker instead.
Some advice:
-in my experience the environments that facilitate dancing and those that facilitate deep philosophical discussion as a means of courtship are often mutually exclusive. Try finding some people to smoke some weed with instead or save the really deep conversations to situations where you’re already in an environment already conducive to that. Like over coffee or a drink at a quiet bar.
-please try some reflection on the kind of thinking that leads you to talk down about people because of their profession like that.
Been there buddy. I’ve been the nerd, and I’ve also danced with the construction worker. I think both lifeways have some merit in their contexts.
I can’t confront my biases unless I know about them. Thus, asking questions is an important part of self discovery. Thanks for you’re reply.
You remind me of my favorite Keith Haring painting.
The guy trying not to drown?
Lol. That works too.
knowledge takes you past hand to mouth living on the edge and creates the opportunity for spare time with which to ask silly questions.
alot of people dont. and it is possible that in doing so , or lack of doing so, has negative consequences that affect the lives of many.
this question alone is a great example of seeking knowledge. and the natural urge to do so.
I’m on the same road right now, asking myself the same question. I’ve been trying to mentally blending concepts from philosophy (especially nihilism, absurdism and existentialism), science knowledge and esoteric beliefs (such as primordial waters and the darkness before the light, a seemingly constant aspect throughout the many religious faiths) in a syncretic way. As the community is focused on the first, I’ll try to focus my comment to the realm of philosophy.
Somehow, we think. As Descartes would state, we are existent beings, given that we think. We’re kind of “stuck” with it (with our thoughts and feelings, therefore, stuck with our own existences), something to deal with. We can either (a) hold to the mundane, trying to ignore the vast and dark macrocosmos and microcosmos around and inside us (apeiron) because it’s so shadowy and scary, but it’ll still be there, or (b) gaze into that abyss, see the beautiful yet unsettling eyes lurking in the darkness, while trying to free ourselves from the shackles of the fear we would naturally feel when She looks back. Given the aspects of your question, I guess you did the same as me: you stared at Her, even if unbeknownst to you.
Here, I’m kind of “personifying/deifing” the infinite nothingness a.k.a. the apeiron, as I see this infinite nothingness with great potential as a feminine energy (I could name Nuith from Thelema, but i’d digress from philosophy), because our very existences came from it, so the apeiron is like the mother of the entire existence (and, therefore, our æthereal mother). I’m aware that apeiron is said to be something that “cannot be described” (ineffable), but the premise still holds: whatever is the nature of apeiron, everything that exists seem to came from there, and it’s going back to there.
The death is our return to Her waters. Scientifically, we could point out the cycle of nitrogen, water and carbon, the Food Web, the thermal dissipation (especially the entropy and tendency of disorder) and so on. Our natural bodies return to the nature in a seamless fashion. Spiritually and metaphysically, we could point out the anima inside ourselves, our very selves.
What if we choose the alternative A above, living a finite life holding to the mundane while ignoring the cosmic, without realizing the potential infinite beyond it, until our living clocks reach midnight and our consciousness somehow stays “turned on” surrounded by the vast nothingness, emptier than the void of the cosmos?
While my approach clearly digress into realms outside philosophy (because of the esoteric components of my approach), it also can offer a potential answer to the question of why we seek knowledge: to connect with something greater than ourselves. To connect to our very selves, with our potentials.
And if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.
I’ll have to ponder your answer. Probably forever.
Thanks
I’d be pretty darn bored if I didn’t.
