This must be one of the oldest questions that humans have asked yet one that is probably the hardest to answer.
It is such an intriguing question that I was interested to come across James Baily’s book, ‘The Meaning of Life – Letters from Remarkable People’, so much so that I bought it. Having now finished it and enjoyed it I must start by wondering if the question should really be ‘what is the meaning of the question?
Some of the contributors tried to give their thoughts on why life exists, in one sense of the word’s meaning, while the majority answered with what gave their own lives meaning, in a completely different sense of the word. Was either party correct or were both? It just shows how difficult it can be to be exact with language.
Having recently had the need to understand the life cycle of the Pin Worm, somewhat tangentially, I can categorically state that the meaning of life, in the first sense, is to procreate. If you don’t know what I mean, please look it up but in essence the worms live in the foulest parts of our anatomy, with the female dissolving once replete with the next generation’s eggs. I doubt, even if they could communicate with us, that life for the Pin Worm has much meaning.
This again adds nuance to the original question. Are we asking about life in general or human life? Arguably, humans are probably the only creature on earth that could pose such a question and attempt to answer it. I am making a lot of assumptions here. So to ask what is its meaning is taken from an entirely human perspective.
In the second group, those who have attempted to add meaning to their own lives and those of others, there are some common themes. Family and friends are high on the list as is social contact in general, while others felt it was about making a difference or leaving a legacy. A few, obviously in some cases, referred to their religion and the impossibility of knowing what is God’s will. To me this swerves the issue and kicks the can down the road but that is OK as it was up to them how they responded.
It seems then that life itself has a very simple meaning whereas, for humans at least, it offers huge and varied opportunities to add meaning. I guess then that the meaning of life is whatever you mean it to be. Is that what I meant?