Meaning..

[PhoenixRising]

It seems that one of the base functions of the mind is to assign meaning to things. The very notion of "meaning" is something generated by the mind. That different meanings can be assigned to the same thing shows how truly subjective meaning is.

What is meaning though..? Even a feeling, an automatic emotional reaction, can give meaning to something. An initial reaction such as this gives the mind a starting point for forming a perspective on an object.

So since meaning is a subjective phenomenon, I wonder why we humans puzzle so over things like "the meaning of life"? I wonder why it's so difficult for us to see the psychological nature of meaning, and therefore step outside of the need for it in order to move in the world..

Your thoughts?

 

[xclassicxvx]

I am getting a description by your use in meaning as both being; recognizing a pattern and, a purpose or motivator to do something. So do we recognize a pattern in our mind, convey a certain something with a meaning and then use that as a meaning or purpose to go about a certain goal? I have heard it both said that someone wishes they have meaning in their life and they cannot find meaning IN something.

Does that make any sense? I'm in super tired wacky ideas level right now...

 

[Cognisant]

On a basic level meaning is just association, e.g. touching fire is bad because contact with fire hurts.

The concept of fire is comprised of several such associations, we know fire can be harmful and useful, it can warm us in the cold, give us like in the dark, cauterize our wounds, just as easily as it can burn us and destroy the world around us, thus "fire" is a very meaningful word.

The meaning of life is the idea that if everything around us is purposeful (a perceptual bias, we perceive things in terms of their use to us, they don't exist to be of use) then what is our purpose, or in other words what is the one thing we should focus on to succeed at life?

Morality? Worshiping god?
Money & power more likely but even they won't get you everything.

Heck why not become a Buddhist and focus on inner peace?

 

[Rook]

In the end, meaning is completely subjective. We humans may attach meaning to wealth, power, intelligence, whatever one may think off.
But what is meaning to a shark? Does the shark attach the same meaning to existence as we do? Does an extra-terrestrail being?
In all probability, no. Thus meaning is simply the subjective practice of attaching non-physical qualities to components of our universe.

 

[PhoenixRising]

I am getting a description by your use in meaning as both being; recognizing a pattern and, a purpose or motivator to do something. So do we recognize a pattern in our mind, convey a certain something with a meaning and then use that as a meaning or purpose to go about a certain goal? I have heard it both said that someone wishes they have meaning in their life and they cannot find meaning IN something.

Does that make any sense? I'm in super tired wacky ideas level right now...

mm perhaps I was too vague? o.o

Meaning as a concept seems all the same to me - I think it is how one decides to see or define something. One can apply meaning to a pattern, object, or to themes such as "life". I think that recognizing something as a pattern is in fact giving it meaning - it's defining it as an instance of the schema for "pattern".

In order to function in the world, we seem to need to construct a view of each object and define how we think and behave relative to it based on that view. What I mean by "stepping outside of the need for meaning" is having the ability to see one's meanings as subjective, therefore looking beyond them to the real object. Resisting the definition of something to see it for what it is often leads to a truer understanding of it.

 

[PhoenixRising]

On a basic level meaning is just association, e.g. touching fire is bad because contact with fire hurts.

The concept of fire is comprised of several such associations, we know fire can be harmful and useful, it can warm us in the cold, give us like in the dark, cauterize our wounds, just as easily as it can burn us and destroy the world around us, thus "fire" is a very meaningful word.

The meaning of life is the idea that if everything around us is purposeful (a perceptual bias, we perceive things in terms of their use to us, they don't exist to be of use) then what is our purpose, or in other words what is the one thing we should focus on to succeed at life?

Morality? Worshiping god?
Money & power more likely but even they won't get you everything.

Heck why not become a Buddhist and focus on inner peace?

I think you've brought up a key concept; association (something that seems to underly most, if not all, thought processes). I agree with what you've written here about association as it relates to meaning. But why do we associate? Is it because the mind cannot comprehend something until it has translated it into a thought? It seems to me that the mind can only operate on proxies of reality, never directly with objects.. if this is true then would association really be like the replacement of the real object with the mental proxy?

As for the meaning of life, my question is why don't people see that their perception is biased? Why don't they see that purposefulness is a meaning applied to things by them due to their nature as human beings? I understand that it can be challenging to see outside of one's worldview, but discussion on the meaning of life seems to be something within some of the highest academic circles (not that academia necessarily has anything to do with insightfulness >.>) I suppose it's just surprising to me that the topic is so often seen from this bias perspective, when complete understanding of it would need to take the psychological context of it into account.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

It seems that one of the base functions of the mind is to assign meaning to things. The very notion of "meaning" is something generated by the mind. That different meanings can be assigned to the same thing shows how truly subjective meaning is.

What is meaning though..? Even a feeling, an automatic emotional reaction, can give meaning to something. An initial reaction such as this gives the mind a starting point for forming a perspective on an object.

So since meaning is a subjective phenomenon, I wonder why we humans puzzle so over things like "the meaning of life"? I wonder why it's so difficult for us to see the psychological nature of meaning, and therefore step outside of the need for it in order to move in the world..

Your thoughts?

You are essentially asking the meaning as to why humans want meaning. All questions of "why" imply meaning. Consciousness begets the drive for meaning. It's who we are. We are "meaning-makers". I don't think we can get away from it. Even the thought that there is no meaning makes me wonder about the meaning about no meaning. I think it's embedded in our curiosity and is the driver and motivation to all we do.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

Here's another thought...in our quest for the objective truth, we attempt to divorce ourselves form our subjectivity. What if this detachment is the very thing that leads to a lack of objectivity?

 

[Duxwing]

A meaning is the reaction of the psyche to a given aspect of given stimulus. E.g., the meaning of life is the reaction of the psyche to all aspects of all experience.

-Duxwing

 

[DrGregoryHouse]

It seems that one of the base functions of the mind is to assign meaning to things. The very notion of "meaning" is something generated by the mind. That different meanings can be assigned to the same thing shows how truly subjective meaning is.

What is meaning though..? Even a feeling, an automatic emotional reaction, can give meaning to something. An initial reaction such as this gives the mind a starting point for forming a perspective on an object.

So since meaning is a subjective phenomenon, I wonder why we humans puzzle so over things like "the meaning of life"? I wonder why it's so difficult for us to see the psychological nature of meaning, and therefore step outside of the need for it in order to move in the world..

Your thoughts?

meaning = purpose. Without meaning there is no purpose.

since the typically atheist believes that there is no afterlife and no one to answer to after this one I have never been able to understand why/how they find any purpose in anything that they might do.