Discussion Beyond the Void: Why Do We Keep Searching for Meaning?

[L'absent]

Those who know me here are aware that I don't believe in any inherent meaning to life or in any form of afterlife. To me, life is a product of chaos, a blind process with no purpose or direction. There is nothing after death except absolute void, and I don't believe our existence leaves any lasting mark in a universe that itself is destined for dissolution.

And yet, I wonder: why do we keep searching for meaning? Why does the idea of nothingness disturb us so much? Perhaps the real driving force of life is not the search for answers, but the fear of accepting that there are none.

I would like to hear your thoughts:

1. For those who believe in meaning or an afterlife: where does this conviction come from? Is it faith, experience, or the need for consolation?


2. For those who, like me, see only the void and meaninglessness: what keeps you going each day? What do you find in the horror of nothingness?


3. Do you think the desire to leave a legacy – a memory, a mark – is just a way to fight insignificance? And if so, does it really matter?



I don't believe there are definitive answers. But precisely because our time is limited, perhaps it's worth discussing. What is your truth in the face of the void?

 

[nanosci96]

Perhaps the real driving force of life is not the search for answers, but the fear of accepting that there are none.

I believe this sentence right here sums it all up

 

[babouflo201223]

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Ceux qui me connaissent ici savent que je ne crois pas à une quelconque signification inhérente à la vie ni à une quelconque forme d'au-delà. Pour moi, la vie est le produit du chaos, un processus aveugle sans mais ni direction. Il n'y a rien après la mort, sauf le vide absolu, et je ne crois pas que notre existence laisse une trace durable dans un univers qui est lui-même voué à la dissolution.

Et pourtant, je me demande : pourquoi continuons-nous à chercher un sens ? Pourquoi l'idée du néant nous dérange-t-elle autant ? Peut-être que le véritable moteur de la vie n'est pas la recherche de réponses, mais la peur d'accepter qu'il n'y en ait pas.

J'aimerais connaître votre avis :

1. Pour ceux qui croient au sens de la vie ou à une vie après la mort : d'où vient cette conviction ? Est-ce la foi, l'expérience ou le besoin de consolation ?


2. Pour ceux qui, comme moi, ne voient que le vide et l'insignifiance : qu'est-ce qui vous fait avancer chaque jour ? Que trouvez-vous dans l'horreur du néant ?


3. Pensez-vous que le désir de laisser un héritage – un souvenir, une trace – est simplement une façon de lutter contre l'insignifiance ? Et si oui, est-ce vraiment important ?



Je ne crois pas qu'il existe de réponses définitives. Mais c'est précisément parce que notre temps est limité qu'il vaut peut-être la peine d'en discuter. Quelle est votre vérité face au vide ?

Quand je lis ici beaucoup de gens, ceux qui veulent CTB, il semble que la plupart d'entre eux ne sont pas du tout effrayés par le néant. C'est même le contraire, leur espoir est que l'au-delà soit le néant. Et en effet, pourquoi le néant serait-il effrayant ?puisqu'il signifie non-existence = no sensations (no cold, no burning flames, no pain), no feelings at all (no joy but no sufferings, no fear, no loneliness, etc) no ego, no consciousness. Nothingness is not even emptiness because emptiness is still something that we could feel or see. Nothingness is beyond that, and is a kind of perfection if we could say that. I'm not sure that when we die it's nothingness, I would like but of course I'm not sure. But for me it would be the best option, at least I think that at the moment, and I'm not scared at all with it.

 

[Flightless Wings]

1. For those who believe in meaning or an afterlife: where does this conviction come from? Is it faith, experience, or the need for consolation?
I don't completely believe in an afterlife, I'd just like it if there was a nice one. I really think afterlife mythos come from pattern recognition, of recognizing that all things have a cause and effect, so death should have a 'logical' effect too (eg, some kind of afterlife). Now, the real logical effect is that nothing happens, so I don't mean logical in the actual sense, but in the poetic, symbolic sense, where your parent and peers (ideally) will reward you if you're doing good, punish you if you're doing bad, comfort you if you're hurting, that kind of thing, taken to the ultimate point where it 'has' to happen because there's nothing else.

I partially believe this because of a psychotic event I had where my brain went into overdrive making memetic connections between everything, which makes me think we innately have this faculty of 'symbolic narrative writing' that is somehow core to the human experience.

3. Do you think the desire to leave a legacy – a memory, a mark – is just a way to fight insignificance? And if so, does it really matter?
I would like to leave a footprint of some kind just to say that I influenced people for the better. I think you still matter as long as you still have an influence on people, even if it's posthumous. Of course, the people you influence will die eventually, and in the end the universe will too, but I think there's enough impact on people's lives you can have indirectly for it to matter. Basically, what matters is people's lives and quality of life, and if you can improve that a little, you mattered.

 

[babouflo201223]

Quand je lis ici beaucoup de gens, ceux qui veulent CTB, il semble que la plupart d'entre eux ne sont pas du tout effrayés par le néant. C'est même le contraire, leur espoir est que l'au-delà soit le néant. Et en effet, pourquoi le néant serait-il effrayant ?puisqu'il signifie non-existence = no sensations (no cold, no burning flames, no pain), no feelings at all (no joy but no sufferings, no fear, no loneliness, etc) no ego, no consciousness. Nothingness is not even emptiness because emptiness is still something that we could feel or see. Nothingness is beyond that, and is a kind of perfection if we could say that. I'm not sure that when we die it's nothingness, I would like but of course I'm not sure. But for me it would be the best option, at least I think that at the moment, and I'm not scared at all with it.

And I want to add a precision : even if life is a mystery, if conciousness is still a mystery too, or if both are illusions from another point of view, I think it's because life is finally meaningless that it's another kind of perfection. Life (nice and beautiful or awful, but meaningless anyway) and nothingness are 2 different mysteries of perfection. The 2 sides of the same coin impossible to separate. That's great !

 

[LaVieEnRose]

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And yet, I wonder: why do we keep searching for meaning? Why does the idea of nothingness disturb us so much? Perhaps the real driving force of life is not the search for answers, but the fear of accepting that there are none.

Is "To me, life is a product of chaos, a blind process with no purpose or direction" not an answer? What is the question?

Unpalatability doesn't necessary make something false.

It's not like people aren't capable of reconciling with that idea as plenty of people have.

Some things just are noxious to the human psyche.

It is harder when you have been dealt particular misfortune to make sense of life.

2. For those who, like me, see only the void and meaninglessness: what keeps you going each day? What do you find in the horror of nothingness?

Mainly fear and emotional inertia. Some of the most potent impediments to action.

3. Do you think the desire to leave a legacy – a memory, a mark – is just a way to fight insignificance? And if so, does it really matter?

I don't know about "just" but it's definitely a big part of it. That's why it's a commonly encountered trope. Think the movie It's s Wonderful Life or the poem Oxymandias.

 

[TransilvanianHunger]

2. For those who, like me, see only the void and meaninglessness: what keeps you going each day? What do you find in the horror of nothingness?

Isn't it weird to expect meaning to be found out there? For something to be meaningful, there must be someone who finds meaning in it. Who would that be? A god? If that were so, there is nothing that guarantees we would be able to even perceive such meaning, let alone share in its appreciation. It would make no difference whatsoever. True meaning is not something that can be given or found outside of oneself; it does not exist independently of us. If you care about meaning, you must build it yourself. That is how I keep going. The horror of nothingness is not a horror to me, because I am substituting the cosmic emptiness with my own meaning, one day at a time.

3. Do you think the desire to leave a legacy – a memory, a mark – is just a way to fight insignificance? And if so, does it really matter?

I think caring about a legacy in this sense is self-centred and ultimately misguided. It is doing something not because it is beneficial here and now, to yourself and to others around you, but because you expect someone down the line to find your actions meaningful. They could, or they could not; you have no way of knowing. If you fill your time in the present with things simply because you hope that someone will remember you years from now, and retroactively imbue your existence with meaning, you will not find peace.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

I'm glad i figured out there is no meaning to life . this helps me see that i'm not missing anything by leaving this hell asap .

i don't see any horror at nothingness . to me being nothing is the best thing, for one thing it gets me away from this nightmare and i can't suffer if i don't exist .

 

[Forever Sleep]

I grew up believing in heaven. Mum, Grandpa and Nana dead by the time I was 10. What are my family going to tell me or themselves? We'll never see them again or, they're in a better place and hopefully, we'll reunite some day? So- it was consolation to begin with that made it appealing.

Now, logically thinking about how this world was set up to begin with. How much suffering was incorporated into the basic design. Plus, religions unfair rules on who qualifies for heaven and hell, I truly hope there isn't a God or an afterlife.

I also think people long for justice and retribution. That those people that wronged them deeply should pay some sort of consequence. They don't always in this world. In fact, many of the arseholes thrive here! So, we hope there will be some sort of retribution in the next world. Conversely, good, kind, honest, generous people sometimes seem to have the worst luck. They may even be plagued by illness. So, there's this hope their suffering and unappreciated goodness might get rewarded some place else. Especially if it wasn't recognized here. I think- especially for those who suffer- they likely want that recognized somehow.

If life is so bad in quality that there's little reason to hold on here- what does a person in pain have left? I suppose faith gives them hope plus, they may believe God gives them strength.

I don't know really. I'm undecided about God although, I lean towards atheism. God existing makes no logical sense to me but, it's hard to shake the fear all together. It is fear though- sadly. I find it hard to love God- if there is one.

 

[Dap]

Believing in meaning is for me a choice. I choose to believe in meaning, exactly because otherwise I see no reason to keep going. It's either meaning, or cynicism. Life or death. For now I chose to live, and therefore need the meaning to do it.

I do believe in meaning, but not any superior (divine?) kind of meaning, nor that there is an afterlife. I find it foolish to pursue the glory of the "beautiful death" of stoicism, or to slave away under man-crafted chains to earn an eternity of pleasure after this life, and I don't even think humans are more than a few quircky chemical reactions happening on a rock barrelling through empty nothingness.

My meaning is much simpler and materialist :
I like when people care about me and do good and pleasant things to, and for me. I love people and I'd like them to feel the same way, and therefore find my meaning in trying to make them feel good.
When pushed to its logical conclusions, this simple reasoning can make me seek a greater meaning for my life, like for example fighting capitalism, colonialism and their subsequent horrors.
I do not care about legacy, and I do not value any memory of myself that would linger on after I pass.
Only doing good in the present and for the future counts. And I'd say that counts as a form of meaning, as I would be willing to give up comfort, endure pain and suffering, and even die for this cause.

 

[nihilistic_dragon]

I used to be religious and that somewhat explained these things to me. But that wasn't enough.
Now I am a nihilist. To answer your question #2, nothing keeps me going. I am so depressed that at this point I am basically a robot. I am just waiting for a good opportunity to off myself really. As for question #3, I never wanted to leave a legacy. Never gave a shit about having kids, writing a masterpiece, inventing some cool thing etc. I'm allergic to kids and I don't have any special talents that I could create something worthwhile with; and even if I had a special talent, this world would not get anything from me. I'm stingy. I'm not about to pour out my heart into some special thing and then put it out there for some snobs or trolls to shit on XD.