Essay 10 - The Construction of Meaning (Level III)

More time goes by, and our hominid ancestors have life under control. They have begun building quasi-permanent structures. They think in terms of social units, and they share heroic stories around the campfire. Some of the stories refer to emerging constructs which are used to explain and predict. The crops did well because the nature god was happy. The hunt was successful because the spirit of the tribe conquered the spirit of the beast. And so on.

As they sit around the warmth of the cozy fire surrounded by the comfort of the fellow members of their tribe, they begin to think beyond the day and beyond their immediate surroundings. They wonder if there is more going on than what they can easily comprehend. They wonder if they are a part of something larger, a story larger than the story of the hunt. Is there a story of life that explains how they fit into a larger picture somehow? At this point they begin to comprehend the transcendental and believe that there is something larger of which they are an important part.

This something larger helps them explain and predict. It makes them feel like events that occur are not random. It makes them feel like their lives make sense. All those people who died in the hunt or worse yet died for no apparent reason are part of a larger scheme. And knowledge of this larger scheme, even if they do not know all the details, gives them comfort. And that feeling of comfort is what we today call meaning. It is Level III meaning, which is the feeling we get when we feel that our lives make sense. It makes it easier to get up in the morning. It emboldens us when we face the hardships of life. And it makes it easier when we lose somebody we care about. Meaning allows us to face unbearable hardship, and life without it is dismal.

If meaning is so important wouldn’t everyone want to have more of it in their lives? The answer is yes, but the more difficult questions is – how do you find more meaning in your life?

This essay is 369 words long and the audio is 3 minutes.