28 Mar In Search of Meaning: What is the meaning of life?
Chapter one: ’42’
No matter the time or the people, one key question must always be asked. An important question that digs itself deep within our subconscious and possibly our unconscious mindset, the question being:
What is the meaning of life? The wonder of whether life does in fact have a meaning to begin with? To understand this we must delve deep within ourselves and figuratively pull the truth out of our hearts.
Chapter two: the instinct to search for meaning
Humans are born with two unique instincts.
The instinct to survive and the instinct to study or learn; these two instincts ensure our survival as a species, but as a new era in our lives dawn upon us like a love-craftian, this instinct to study is being prayed upon more and more, tipping the balance of survival and studying. Just as we’ve survived for several centuries to have our questions, some are too deeply philosophical to the point where people can have their own meanings to anything, a unique interpretation of anything at a given time. Yet we still ponder these questions, life and death, rebirth, meaning and the ultimate truth, and yet we’ve never come close to unearthing their questions.
Chapter three: the crushing weight of the world
But to truly find and understand the meaning of life, we must look at life itself, and try to understand it to the best of our ability. This is when sciences were born as people studied, yet with every study, they got farther from the truth. Years fly by and these small ideas suddenly grow in mass amounts as we still try and find the truth. People believe in supernatural beings hoping they will give the answer they seek. Many kept trying and trying, clawing out to the truth, the ultimate meaning of our miniscule existence. But the more they search the farther they are from the truth.
Chapter four: a shadow world
It’s been awhile since I bought myself a Nintendo Switch, something I’ve been wanting for a long time. With enough savings and restraint I manage to buy it. Even better, the previous Persona games were being re-released onto next gen consoles, and there I was smiling as I first booted up Persona4 golden, something I’ve been waiting for a while now. After the opening animation, which was a work of art, the game began and as I played it, I felt I had slowly begun to reach an understanding of the world around me. See, the game had a feature where you can hang out with people to up their social link rank which grants you bonus exp points when fusing personas. And this Social rank feature gave me an idea. A game that centers around this idea.
A young boy who hates his life gives himself one year before he ends it all, one year… one shot to make his life better to give the meaningless meaning and he found it.
Chapter five: the meaning of the meaningless
Imagine a good day in your life, a day where you hang out with your friends or do something productive. To you, that may just seem ordinary, but to others, it would be extraordinary. The world isn’t fair and it isn’t balanced, but it can be maneuvered through. By going out and learning more about the world, you can deepen your connection with it and slowly start to understand how it operates and how it works. A healthy relationship where you actively learn about the world instead of loathing in it and being apathetic.
So in the end what is the meaning of life:
You.
Akima Culaton – Year 11