I agree this is a little off topic. Unless somebody minds though I’ll reply, because I find this topic a lot of fun :) Also there is some purpose to my reply, which I’ll finish by mentioning.
This is something of a reiteration but I do feel there IS an ultimate reason for action. It’s just that it’s bound fair loosely to objective reality and rather more underwhelming than many would like (being again the subjective experience of positive emotion, realized through neurological constructs). I think it’s less that the chain has to unravel, and more that people realize it’s tied loosely to the terrain and they can move it around (“so if I change what I enjoy, I change what has meaning...?”), which can be rattling. The chain does have an end, but it’s not in objective reality and basically amounts to “just because”. But what other end to any such reasoning could there be?
I also have a desire for a goal larger than myself, and from personal and observed experience tend to think (mere opinion) that having such a goal is actually the most efficient way to gain the greatest personal happiness. I choose to believe, like most do, that other people have consciousness, and that like me they experience pleasure and pain. While I spoke earlier just of my own personal pleasure, I apply my rubric more broadly to include the pleasure I believe other people experience. With roughly 6.7 billion people on the Earth, bringing as much positive emotion to as many as possible is a goal so large I can hardely grasp it. (I’m intentionally ignoring the finer points of utilitarianism here, just to give the basic idea of where I find meaning.)
I do actually have some purpose for writing this beyond my own amusement. In my experience there are roughly 3 ways to react to this view of meaning, if you accept it. Some like me basically shrug and don’t feel it changes much. Some people do become apathetic and effectively depressed. Some people use this as an excuse to only do the things they were going to do anyway, applying the view selectively. As for the second group I find meaning in their happiness and perceive their moroseness to be entirely unecessary, and as for the third group, I find the application irrational (and likely to lead to a net decrease in happiness). Either that or rational and entirely selfish, which from my perspective of seeking the greatest happiness for the most people puts me at odds.
I agree this is a little off topic. Unless somebody minds though I’ll reply, because I find this topic a lot of fun :) Also there is some purpose to my reply, which I’ll finish by mentioning.
This is something of a reiteration but I do feel there IS an ultimate reason for action. It’s just that it’s bound fair loosely to objective reality and rather more underwhelming than many would like (being again the subjective experience of positive emotion, realized through neurological constructs). I think it’s less that the chain has to unravel, and more that people realize it’s tied loosely to the terrain and they can move it around (“so if I change what I enjoy, I change what has meaning...?”), which can be rattling. The chain does have an end, but it’s not in objective reality and basically amounts to “just because”. But what other end to any such reasoning could there be?
I also have a desire for a goal larger than myself, and from personal and observed experience tend to think (mere opinion) that having such a goal is actually the most efficient way to gain the greatest personal happiness. I choose to believe, like most do, that other people have consciousness, and that like me they experience pleasure and pain. While I spoke earlier just of my own personal pleasure, I apply my rubric more broadly to include the pleasure I believe other people experience. With roughly 6.7 billion people on the Earth, bringing as much positive emotion to as many as possible is a goal so large I can hardely grasp it. (I’m intentionally ignoring the finer points of utilitarianism here, just to give the basic idea of where I find meaning.)
I do actually have some purpose for writing this beyond my own amusement. In my experience there are roughly 3 ways to react to this view of meaning, if you accept it. Some like me basically shrug and don’t feel it changes much. Some people do become apathetic and effectively depressed. Some people use this as an excuse to only do the things they were going to do anyway, applying the view selectively. As for the second group I find meaning in their happiness and perceive their moroseness to be entirely unecessary, and as for the third group, I find the application irrational (and likely to lead to a net decrease in happiness). Either that or rational and entirely selfish, which from my perspective of seeking the greatest happiness for the most people puts me at odds.