bhbhbhhh t1_j1k5270 wrote
Reply to comment by Nemo3500 in This is an excerpt from Cixin Liu's book "The Dark Forest", describing what happens to people when they lose all hope in Humanity by RobleViejo
Deciding that that people you loved who died didn’t really matter isn’t an option for many people.
Nemo3500 t1_j1k8vd5 wrote
First off: that's a straw man. Do better.
Second: a loved one's death can matter to you, and you can still create new meanings, find new values, and move on with your fucking life. These are not mutually exclusive things.
If, however, you choose to remain in despair over the loss of someone because say it with me, there is no inherent meaning, that's a perfectly valid approach to life because in the end everything is inherently meaningless. However, if you don't want to feel despair, it is in your best interest to make the effort to find new meaning. Whether that's in other loved ones, in helping others, in acts of service, in pursuit of scholarship. Whatever. It's your choice to make.
So whether or not you find meaning or value again is entirely immaterial to the original point. I am suggesting that because there is no inherent value, it is entirely up to you what meaning you assign to the world, and the ways in which one can reckon with the world in a healthy way that doesn't engender despair.
So you can, and I cannot stress this enough, CHOOSE to find meaning in the world. It's a conscious choice. And one you have to make constantly. It's not better than the other, but it's the one that I place value on. It is the choice I make with my life.
Just like I'm choosing to respond to this comment.
bhbhbhhh t1_j1kbigt wrote
These days I don’t have much affinity for “no inherent meaning” talk. Yeah, I don’t believe things have Platonic essences either. But the framework I now have is that everything which has been observed and noticed is inherently meaningful. People have seen meaning in it, and therefore the meaning is a part of it.
Nemo3500 t1_j1kcfr9 wrote
That's great. And because everything has no inherent meaning outside of what is assigned to it, I'm glad you have a framework for existence that makes you feel whole.
Now please leave me alone.
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