I think that the quest of meaning that so many are engaged in is misguided. I think what human beings ultimately care about is belonging, but that a lot of people do not even know what it feels like, so they attach themselves to an idea of what belonging is. Belonging can be to: a community, or a broader collective and the narrative that imbues it, and it can even be more existential like belonging to the Universe.
The key aspect is that it is felt to the core, and collectively as well, and it is not just something WHICH sits in your mind. But because feeling something in every part of your body is something rare in the modern world, which promotes constant disembodiment, and because communities are even rarer in the age of atomization, people turn to ideas in order to cover the utter sense of alienation they have from the Universe itself.
My guess is that for the vast majority of people, the quest of meaning doesn't do anything, and they despair at how empty Life is, when in reality, the real problem is that they are disembodied and lonely, both in terms of a community, but also in an existential way.
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2024-12-14