How should we assign meaning?
I wish I could quantify my existence. In a meaningless world, we place meaning where we believe it should reside. In doing so, we do ourselves a disservice, by attempting to quantify the unquantifiable: the subjective experience we’ve all come to know as “life”.
Our lives are inherently unquantifiable. So in a subjective world, why do we place objective values on things and titles? Similar to how we value flashy cars, expensive clothes, the most lucrative jobs etc, as humans we are always placing meaning in hierarchies, attempting to quantify our success as people by assigning more or less merit to arbitrary items or statuses we hold.
Why do we do this? Because we realize deep down that no one else can really tell us what matters and what doesn’t. And maybe it scares us to not have a scale. To not have an easily packaged number that tells us our score in life. It leads us to the question of success, and how much “success” we’ve accrued in our time on this planet.
Some might have this realization and turn instantly to nihilism, what I like to explain as the belief that “nothing matters, so everything I do is meaningless and therefore sucks.” This is most likely not the best belief to hold, but if you really like it, I guess the point is that, well, you should do you, no matter what. So go be nihilistic if that’s your jam!
But Albert Camus, a very intelligent Frenchman, had a different way of thinking. He believed that because nothing matters, we can place meaning in absolutely whatever we want. That’s a powerful belief to hold.
I believe that placing arbitrary values on deeds or accomplishments is just as detrimental as nihilism because it creates unnecessary competition. The economy is the only thing that benefits, I guess.
So if success is inherently unquantifiable, what should we do? Frolick? Eat all your favorite foods? Sleep all day? Well, that’s not the right move either, at least in my mind. One thing that’s been built into us biologically is our desire for movement. We always want to be moving towards something. Maybe that thing is a promotion, or a new opportunity, or a trophy. Whatever it is, we should chase it. But we should never be so consumed by the chase that we forget to enjoy those things that make the chase worth it. Because the chase was never the end goal. It’s just a vessel upon which we can sustain ourselves in this experience.
Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to quantify my existence. To say exactly how kind I’ve been, how good of a brother, student, son, or friend I’ve managed to be, or exactly how much potential I have. But the very fact that success is unquantifiable feels like a breath of fresh air whenever I realize it again. Because I do get trapped giving others more negative weight than they should in my life.
I guess what I really want to say is, please don’t try to unnecessarily quantify your life. What makes life beautiful is that it can’t be measured. So come join me, on this little ledge. Yeah, right there is great. Scoot a little closer. Here, we can gaze out in the void, and smile.
