The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything Else

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy says it’s 42.  It’s a pretty good answer, because it makes you think as much as the question itself (though not as productively).

But the question still stands – what is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything else?

Many find this a philosophical question.  But remember that science stems from philosophy, so maybe it’s worth it to explore this question on a science blog.

Part One: The Exploration

The meaning of life – wow, I have a knack for picking the hard topics.  Let’s see where this takes me.

Maybe the best place to start would be my beliefs - because I can’t really speak for anyone else.  I regard myself as an existentialist – which means I believe that the meaning of life is the meaning I decide to put into it.

This, I think, fits in quite well with a concept of science – model dependent realism.  Basically it states that you should use the model that best fits your current situation.  Let me cite an example here, the same example Stephen Hawking uses in his book, The Grand Design.

Imagine a goldfish in a spherical tank.  Its perception of the world is bent; it sees curves where we see lines.  But we can’t call a goldfish’s perceptions “flawed” – because to the goldfish, our perception is flawed.  Model dependent realism makes us face the fact that there is no one objective reality, the same way there is no one meaning to life, other than the one you put into it.  (This was the conversation that stemmed the creation of this blog.)

Now we’re getting somewhere.  Maybe there is no objective meaning to life, which is kind of a scary concept.  It put me in a state of dilemma for a good few weeks, and I still haven’t come to terms with it.

If there is no objective meaning to life, we are all terribly free with nothing to stop us.  People use this in many different ways.

Some people put objective meaning into life on purpose – using “divination” techniques.  Others take it to mean they can’t be held accountable for their actions and harm or kill other human beings.

Part Two: So, then, what happens at and after death?

I don’t believe in an afterlife – at least not the kind that says you get to be born again with your memory wiped and all that goes with it.  I do believe that you will leave a mark on this universe as you cease to exist and as it ceases to be your home.  I believe that one realizes the truth in the final moments of life, that that truth cannot be attained otherwise, and no matter if you’re buried or cremated (or if anything else is done with your corpse), nature will exact from you what you have taken from it.

This mindset carries me through.  If I am to leave the universe a different place than it was when I didn’t exist, I might as well make a good impact.  I only have a specific number of decades left.  I want to do what makes me happy and what leaves a good mark on the universe.

Part Three - The Conclusion

I don’t know what Douglas Adams was thinking when he said that the meaning of life was 42. But, in a weird sense, it feels like 42 had no real value of its own – it’s just a bunch of lines we have given meaning to, a concept discussed in the previous post.  The same way we give any meaning we want to 42, we give any meaning we want to life, the universe, and everything else.

Enjoy your brief moment in the sun.