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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 16, 2025

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I think needing to have "meaning in your life" is largely overrated. Life is largely something you just get through -- nature loved using the stick much more than the carrot.

It seems to differ quite a bit from person to person. For people like me, having no meaning in life is enough to drive you to drink, or far worse. I'd imagine this might also be a semantic issue - you probably have "meaning" in the sense I mean, even if you don't necessarily see it that way. For me meaning is like... motivation to do anything whatsoever. Why do you get out of bed in the morning?

Modern society is extremely cushy in most ways, sanding off the edges of the stick. This is why I see populists as a natural enemy -- they want "burn it all down" for stupid reasons based largely on hallucinations, and they'd take my comfy pillows away in the process.

Perhaps you are typical minding here. The majority of people, it seems, don't have their happiness or satisfaction levels meaningfully raised by material gain. Perhaps there is more to life than creature comforts. I agree that most people are under massive delusions though, it's quite sad.

If I have any life goals, it would be to build something, probably a video game or maybe something with AI. I've made essentially zero progress in that goal, but I have no illusions that the fault lies with anyone other than myself for being excessively lazy.

Why do you want to build something?

Not the same guy, but

Why do you get out of bed in the morning?

I just do. "Meaning" focuses on me, me, me. It presupposes that if I believe something about the outside world, it will change the inner me, grant me motivation; the outside world would somehow be worth experiencing and interacting with. It puts me at the centre of the universe, but I'm not the main character on this planet. The world will still be there and I will still be there regardless of what I think.

What's true, though, is that your actions create meaning, not your thoughts about the meaning. You do stuff first, then you gain meaning, which is a roundabout way of saying that having connections to the world creates responsibility, which in turn creates meaning. Kids, for example, give you plenty of responsibility. You get up for them regardless of what you think about the meaning. Vice versa, living empty lives devoid of responsibility leads to thoughts about meaning.

Why do you want to build something?

I need something, so I want something, so I do something about it (which is the easiest way to want). I can also just want something, without external necessity, based on my life experience.

  • I need more money, so that I can create a better future for my kids, so I started a business.
  • I need a bigger house so that I can fit more kids into it. So I need more money, etc...
  • People I hired need to have a livelihood, so business needs to succeed, so I work hard to provide for them and for me.

There's no greater meaning to it. I want something, so I do something. If your wants have to be created by a meaning, you haven't been taught to want properly.