Meaning of Life

I finished my philosophy exam yesterday. Three hours of essays and multiple choice questions. And at some point during it, I wrote the following in my notebook:

The only purpose to your life is to grow. To continually improve the state of your life. Otherwise, we are only glow worms.

The glow worms bit is a reference to Richard Taylor, a bee keeper and philosopher, that wrote about how a certain species of glow worms live in these dark caves. They are born, they live, they die, all within the same cave, all without having done other than stay put, living, recreating, dying. They don’t really do much.

The philosophy course I took was called The Meaning of Life and we were introduced to quite a few philosophers. Each philosopher had their own take on the meaning of life and how to find personal significance. Tolstoy wrote of looking toward God to find significance and that the common man is the only true, genuine creature. Schopenhauer and Buddhism posit that life is suffering. Camus and Nagel point out the absurdity of life and live a life of irony. Sartre says hell is other people and your existence precedes your essence. Nietzsche proclaims that God is dead. Russell worships the mind and connecting to other intelligent beings. Kagan doesn’t fear death and thinks you shouldn’t either.

Robert Nozick, though, has got the capital T truth. Life is about achieving your desires, iterating at becoming a better version of yourself, and connecting with other people during the relatively short time we have here on earth. It’s simple, all within your control. This is the meat of life, how to find meaning and personal significance. Meaning from what you pursue, significance from sharing it with other people, and repeating the process.

Schopenhauer has it all wrong; the striving isn’t suffering, it’s freedom.