The meaning of life

"What is the meaning of life?" - the essential, elusive question.

We have plenty of answers (42 is one of them) but very little agreement. Tens of the thousands of years (sorry creationists) man has gazed into the sky, to the ground, to other people, to society, psychology and in desperation, even in dusty old tomes.

Why is it that with so many man-years of study we have not found this meaning?

I believe it is because we are asking a non-question that is fundamentally unanswerable. How can so many people, each with the own agendas, ever assign a common meaning to something as subjective as life? Looking outside yourself is the first misguided step.

So, the meaning of life is subjective (no big surprises there). But when you look inside yourself you hit upon an interesting enlightenment: "If I am the only source of my life's meaning, then which authority defines the answer?"

This leads to the logical conclusion:: "It is up to YOU to create meaning in life". You, and you alone are responsible for meaning and for the creation of the conditions that guide your life.

Daniel Dennett has something quite interesting to say about happiness that I am now pondering over:

 

"The secret of happiness is to find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it"

Daniel Dennett (TED talks, July 2007)

 

If we are to create meaning of our own lives, certainly happiness would be a desired property of this meaning.

So, the question is reduced to finding a worthy cause - sounds like a solvable problem.