I thought this was an excellent article about the meaning of "meaning" in life. What are your thoughts about a meaningful life?

I thought it very interesting, but the skeptic in me disagreed with this sentence: "You find that the world loves talent but pays off on character." Why then do we have all these extraordinarily rich and successful entertainers and sports figures? Or, maybe, just having money and success isn't "paying off?"

Doesn't a serial killer (or really any criminal) feel there is meaning to their life (if they're successful in their goal)? His description of "meaning" is flabby since it can mean just about any person's desires or ambitions give meaning to their life.

Sociopaths like Dick Cheney probably think their lives have more "meaning" than the rest of us, even if it means that they make others miserable.

What about this statement?

quote:

The first thing we mean is that life should be about more than material success. The person leading a meaningful life has found some way of serving others that leads to a feeling of significance.

Is a serial killer "serving others"?

What would your definition of a life with meaning be?

I liked the differentiation between happiness and meaning. I had never thought about it that way.

Suppose I feel that the world is vastly overpopulated, and I begin "euthanizing" people via weapons of mass destruction. Am I a monster or am I giving "meaning" to life beyond my own?

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:
Suppose I feel that the world is vastly overpopulated, and I begin "euthanizing" people via weapons of mass destruction. Am I a monster or am I giving "meaning" to life beyond my own?

um... the first one.

I think there are plenty of problems with the whole concept of "a meaningful life". For example, saying that someone - anyone at all - has a meaningful life is that implicit in the statement is a comparison that says some other people have meaningless lives. Now I for one would take an essentially nihilistic stance that all life is ultimately meaningless, random patterns of activity that people ascribe more, or less, significance to but which in fact have no real meaning at all.
But let's suppose for a moment that we do believe lives can be meaningful. Equating "meaningful" with "good" or "moral" is also problematic. Did monsters like Hitler or Pol Pot have meaningful lives? They didn't have morally or ideologically sound lives for sure but their beliefs and actions affected millions. That sounds like a meaning to me - a horrible, monstrous meaning to be sure but that's just as much a meaning as saving a million lives.

But, as I say, I don't believe any life has any intrinsic meaning. In the long term we are all gone and forgotten.

As for the article, I find it vague and woolly and filled with unsupported assertions. "Meaningfulness is built on emotion... meaningfulness is based on sentiment."

Really? Says who?

Oh yes, says David Brooks. He suggests the word is flabby and vacuous. The same, I feel, applies to his article.

Wow - so surprised about the reaction here. I did enjoy the article, though I regret posting it at this point.

At any rate, I don't purport to like David Brooks generally. He is too conservative for me. However, I was struck by this article. Sorry the rest of you weren't.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

What sort of word is 'meaningfulness', anyway? Does it mean anything other than 'meaning'? Does meaningfulness have meaning?

Kalleh, have no regrets! Your posting the article gave meaning to us, albeit not entirely what you were expecting!

Gave us a diverting discussion.

I suppose you won't agree, arnie, but in reading the dictionaries, the difference between meaning and meaningful seems to hinge on: "Meaning" simply being the end, purpose or significance of something, while "meaningful" has more judgment attached to it, such as "having a serious, important, or useful quality or purpose."

I can understand why people here think a "meaningful" life is judgmental. It is, and not everyone will agree. However, I certainly can see where others have had a "more meaningful" life than I (such as Abraham Lincoln or Jonas Salk), but I personally am fine with that.