Essay 42 - Is There an Ultimate Meaning of Life?

In the previous essay I said that all meaning is local. I would like to add that all meaning is personal as well. What is meaningful to me may not be meaningful to you. And, while I think there are certain patterns in what people find is meaningful, each person’s meaning is unique. It is like snowflakes, zebra stripes, or the voice of a mother penguin. No two are alike. They may be very similar. But they are unique.

There can’t be one meaning of life that works for everyone just like there is no zebra pattern that all zebras share. So, there can’t be a single ultimate meaning of life that works for everyone.

If there were somehow an ultimate meaning of life, it would have to be a composite so each person can see their own meaning in it. But this leads to other problems. For example, how would you ever explain it to everyone. It would be like asking what color plaid is. It would not make any sense. And since the purpose of meaning is to help you make sense out of your experiences, anything that does not make sense cannot be meaningful. Here in lies the problem with the meaning of life. People are looking for one answer and they want it to be the ultimate answer. That cannot happen.

The best we can do is to cultivate meaning in our own lives the best we can. Some things may work better for more people and that is good. But until we come to grips with that our search for meaning will be frustrated. I wish you the best in your journey.

This essay is 287 words long and the audio is just over 2 minutes.