“If nothing we do matters then the ONLY thing that matters is what we do. Here. Now.”

And I love the idea that the reason to try to find meaning in everything is so that you can realize how easy it is to manipulate and modify meaning.

The best argument I have against this concept is that no matter what we do or what happens, we just aren’t able to separate it from stories. They seem to be the fundamental element of human understanding.

I think that’s true. I read somewhere that human beings are “story making machines” and what the human brain tries to do best is make connections between things.

So I guess my question is: how can you really apply this principle in your life? If you go the route that events are essentially meaningless, what are you left with?

This is something I’ve been struggling with for a bit myself. The idea that, ultimately, if nothing means anything, well… then what?

It’s the classic existentialist dilemma, that if left unresolved results in nihilism.

And I think, what it comes down to, is the fact that in the absence of meaning, you must supply your own meaning.

To break out the geek in me, and quote Joss Whedon, “If nothing we do matters then the ONLY thing that matters is what we do. Here. Now.” The idea that without inherent meaning in your existence, your role, your job, your purpose, is to imbue your life with the meaning you decide. That’s how you start to become fully human.

Otherwise, when you abdicate meaning to others - culture, religion, society - you’re not truly living a “real” life.

Which of course leads to the other question you raise, what if the meaning you decide upon is the ruthless, amoral accumulation of power and money? The capricious disregard of anything but yourself.

That’s a real and valid question, and one strict interpretation of the dilemma is that such a decision is perfectly legit.

The only solution I’ve found to that, personally, is a psuedo Buddhist appreciation of the inherent value of all people and the need for compassion.

It may be wrong, but at least it keeps me from being a total asshole [most of the time anyways...]

The other thing I’m wondering about is how does this idea of essential meaningless fit into the occult? Is the occult’s “paranoid” insistence of finding meaning in everything really just culture taken to it’s absolute extreme?

I think the occult aspect, at least psychologically speaking, is this: The practice of finding meaning in everything is a way of training your mind to discover the malleability of meaning, of the cultural aspects of “stories” about life, in order to break through the preconceptions you’re trained and inculcated with from birth.

And then you find, a’ la Doug Rushkoff, that what this does is makes the re-defining of the story, for yourself, as THE major occultic act.

Making your own story, changing the story, IS magic.

Reality as Meaning

Earlier today, I started toying around with some ideas about how we define reality. Here’s a [...]

Reverse-Engineering From Stories

Here’s another riff on the whole idea about the disparity between “what happens&#82 [...]