Lockwood is a junior math and biology major from Indianapolis.
CHRISTA SCHRODEL / THE DEPAUW
The meaning of life is an age-old question asked by philosophers and laymen alike. Our lives begin abruptly, an empty cassette dropped into this vast universe. After a few years, the tape starts rolling and in comes a perpetual barrage of directives. To eat, to learn, to grow, to work; an endless list. Each day, humans work from one goal to the next completing short-term objectives or progressing towards a long-term aspiration. Along each step, we seek for some apparent checkpoint. But life is too long for a human to fully grasp and the future too chaotic to predict. How can one create a generalized goal for an unknown timeline in a dynamic world that encompasses more experiences than humans can fit into their heads?
Entire systems of philosophy stem from searching for our mortal mission. Western philosophies bring answers ranging from Platonism, aiming to attain the highest form of knowledge, to Nihilism, that life is without meaning. Confucianism, originating in China, teaches to minimize the negatives in one’s life and grow virtue through strong relationships and reasoning. Countless more philosophies exist of all variety, not to mention the dozens of religions which all have their own twist on the matter. Potential answers to the meaning of life spring up throughout all civilizations across the timeline of human history.
While human constructs provide an abstract basis to human purpose, one cannot overlook man’s evolutionary ancestry. Theoretically, lightning’s spark created the first organic compounds by reconfiguring atoms in the atmosphere to create amino acids. In the following few billion years, these basic compounds would interact to create countless organic compounds, structures, and ultimately organisms. Then, the environment shaped populations of the creatures at its mercy, morphing different species across the eons until nature produces its greatest invention: the human brain. A biological supercomputer capable of abstract thought, reasoning and problem solving proficiency far greater than anything else on Earth. But once nature achieved this pinnacle, evolution for the modern human stopped.
For billions of years, life’s purpose was to survive and reproduce. Organisms fought over resources for day-to-day survival. Now people bypass the struggles of life with modern conveniences making nature’s survival challenge a moot point. Luckily, humans strive for more than simply living; in this exploration, truth can be found.
There is no set meaning of life. Philosophers and religious teachings provide invaluable lessons to steer your path, but each alone seems too rigid for life’s dynamic twists and turns. Realize that each person’s life is as vivid and complex as the next.
People all have their own dreams, fears, ambitions and habits. An individual can hardly comprehend their own complex craziness, let alone communicate it all to another person. We stand helpless, recognizing the impossibility to fully understand another human as we tumble about in our own sea of experiences.
You must find your own meaning to life.
The only person who knows you well enough to decide your path is you. Take your knowledge and borrowed wisdoms to form your resolve. Never fear what you are capable of because the world is your playground where anything is possible.