What is the Meaning of Life?

Shelly Fagan
2 min readAug 5, 2023

The big existential questions have an answer if you approach from a different perspective.

Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash

Man struggles for answers to the big questions of life: Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of life?

We seek the answers outside ourselves in religion, philosophy, or even psychoactive substances. Friedrich Nietzsche was rumored to have psychedelic experiences brought on by the drugs he took for his illnesses.

Most of us approach these existential questions as if there is an objective answer, the same way we expect the solution to 2 + 2 or the size of the Moon.

We don’t have the answer, but it’s out there waiting to be discovered.

Essentialism

Photo by Gigin Krishnan on Unsplash

The idea that the answer was decided before we came into existence is a form of essentialism — that our purpose in life was predetermined before birth.

The concept finds favor in religions that preach an omnipotent God had a special and secret purpose for each one of us. He’s got a good reason for all the pain and suffering, but you’re too unenlightened to understand.

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Shelly Fagan
Shelly Fagan

Written by Shelly Fagan

Complicated subjects made accessible. Politics, Basic Income, Philosophy. I follow back.

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