Happiness: The Meaning of Life (What's the Point of Life without It?)
Content Updated on November 24, 2007
The Questions of Life
Why does life exist?
The questions of life and meaning have been asked since we were able to comprehend our own existence, and we come up with complicated religions, philosophies, and psychological studies to figure out the answers.
The Strictly Scientific Perspective
The Meaning of Life for a Flower
Let's think about a flower. As far as we know, it doesn't strive to grow. It doesn't want to reproduce. It doesn't even try to do anything. It just does what it does naturally.
(Here's the technical stuff.)
A flower is just a collection of molecules that trade atoms and electrons. When conditions are right, the cycles of photosynthesis in a plant produce sugars, which causes other molecular interactions that results in the build up of cells in various locations on the plant. This build-up is known as growth. Some of the growth happened to develop into the reproductive system, which is structured in the form of a flower. If events cause the sperm and egg to join together within the reproductive system, a seed forms. The seed contains an embryo, which will grow into a new plant if the conditions are correct. A flower is a machine that has the ability to produce more flowers.
In the flower scenario, the meaning of life is that molecules interact based on the laws of physics, and those interactions can lead to a system (a flower) that can grow seeds. (It's not a very inspiring meaning of life, but it is scientifically correct.)
The Meaning of Life for Humans
Now let's apply the scientific perspective to humans.
If you consider that the human brain as a collection of cells, created from molecules that pass electrons and atoms back and forth, then perhaps the meaning of human life is that molecules interact based on the laws of physics and in doing so can produce creatures that are able to reproduce, contemplate their own existence, experience pain and pleasure, and continually seek greater levels of pleasure.
It's not the kind of meaning that rolls off the tongue, sounds good in poetry, and makes for good self-help books. However, we can cut it down to the part that holds the most significance for us as conscious being. We are primarily concerned with the last part, continually seek greater levels of pleasure. Happiness.
The Meaning of Life: Happiness
If you didn't need money because everything was free, what would you do? If there were no causes to fight for, no diseases to cure, no poverty to remedy, no environmental damage, no obligations, no worries, no problems, what would you do?
Now, here's the part that gives us the deepest insight into the meaning of life. Why would you do it?
When asking why, the answers always lead back to the ultimate motivation: "Because it would make me happy."
Happiness Reigns Supreme
We base every decision we make on how the consequences of our choices affect our overall happiness. We wrap birthday gifts because seeing our loved ones joyfully tear off the paper while wondering what could be inside makes us happier than just handing over an unwrapped gift. We donate to charities because helping others increases our own happiness. We watch cartoons and read comic strips even if they don't add anything productive to our day because we want to feel a moment of happiness.
We will create pain in our lives if we believe that it will lead to happiness. We go to jobs we hate because we believe that the money or status from that job will lead to happiness. We will even do something unthinkable, like torture or murder, if we think that it is necessary to bring us long-term happiness.
Happiness even surpasses the need to survive. A person who has no hope of ever being happy may commit suicide rather than try to survive because without happiness, life feels meaningless.
Happiness rules everything.
...by Feed