[1]
One late night in September this year, as I was driving home from work, the song "Sweet Water" from the TV show "Westworld" played in my headphones.
Feeling extremely exhausted, I found myself lost in deep thoughts amidst the enchanting piano melody:
Why are we always so obsessed with discussing whether machines are gradually becoming more like humans, while ignoring the fact that humans themselves are also unknowingly becoming more like machines? Day after day, we live our lives like the hosts in "Westworld," following the same rhythm: wake up, rush to work, eat at designated times, rush back home after work, browse through information on our phones like in "The Truman Show," and finally fall into a deep sleep.
The more time and energy work occupies, the more negative this experience becomes. It feels as if we are trapped in a loop, just like the pre-set programs in Westworld.
The word "meaning" emerged in my mind. We often only contemplate it in times of pain and despair, seeing it as our ultimate redemption.
In that moment, my thoughts accelerated, and I suddenly grasped the "meaning" that I could accept.
[2]
What exactly is "meaning"? I believe it is the process of constantly proving and extending the existence of "self," in any form possible—provided that we do not deny the concept of "existence" itself, otherwise we might fall into the quagmire of nihilism.
To understand "meaning," we must first understand "existence" (although I haven't read more than a few pages of "Being and Time"...).
Although humans cannot achieve immortality in the traditional sense, we can achieve eternity through existentialism.
Humans will eventually die, but artists invest most of their existence into their artworks, such as world-famous paintings and musical melodies, which are perpetually passed down and forever remembered by the world—this is a form of continuity of existence. Great athletes create historic achievements that are forever engraved in history, also a form of continuity of existence. Writers directly transmit their thoughts through their books. Even someone like Shi Tiesheng, confined to a wheelchair, successfully passed on his existence to the world, as demonstrated in his work "Me and the Temple of Earth."
Although the surface of everyone's values and sense of meaning may appear vastly different, fundamentally, we all seek to extend our own existence to varying degrees.
Why are artists and scientists willing to spend their entire lives creating and inventing? Because in their eyes, their creations are a part of themselves and a part of their continuity, able to withstand the test of time and exist forever.
However, to achieve the continuity of "existence," relying solely on oneself is not enough. We also need to face the public and gain recognition, just like being recorded on the blockchain. Imagine if the achievements of great scientists like Einstein and Oppenheimer were plagiarized and their contributions buried—would they still feel meaningful when looking back on their lives? This is why "achievements" are the best proof and continuation of self-existence.
[3]
What constitutes "self-existence"? This is a question that depends on each individual's subjective projection. In the seventh episode of the fourth season of "Westworld," the human Man in Black is cloned into an AI robot with the same thoughts and appearance, and is imprisoned. This scene is shocking. Instead of panicking, the Man in Black calmly tells the AI version of himself, "It's okay, as long as you have a part of me, my part will spread throughout your body like a virus; as long as I exist, you exist." And so, the subjective transfer of self-existence will is completed between the two! It's like a dream butterfly in Zhouzhuang.
This also shows that although humans cannot achieve immortality in the traditional sense, from a technological and rational perspective, we do have the opportunity to achieve existential eternity. The key lies in our projection and definition of self-existence.
For ordinary people, although we cannot achieve complete self-cloning, we have a natural instinct for reproduction. "Selfish genes" do not want existence to cease, so we have families and children, which is also an inevitable form of extending our self-existence.
The differences in values and perspectives between individuals of different identities are actually different understandings and projections of self-existence.
As parents, we naturally project our self-existence onto our children. As musicians and composers, we project our self-existence onto our musical works. Once the most beautiful melodies spread in the world, they will never disappear. Top athletes project their self-existence onto their athletic achievements, which are forever recorded in history. Computer experts and advanced programmers project their self-existence onto their open-source projects, which are recognized and continuously updated and inherited in the open-source community.
Even the most ordinary craftsmen project their self-existence onto their creations. They build their own houses, make furniture, dig wells—these all become a part of their existence. This also explains why people who leave their hometowns yearn to return, because a significant part of their self-existence is there.
Therefore, people invest their time and energy into various endeavors, all in order to prove and extend their own existence.
Returning to work, why do we feel a lack of meaning?
It is likely mainly due to the highly specialized nature of modern society, which leads to the majority of the working class passively taking on a series of trivial and repetitive tasks that do not belong to their own creations. Each person is like a cog in a large machine, mechanically performing their duties.
In most cases, we simply follow the routine to complete tasks, using various methodologies to improve efficiency, without truly investing our emotions and passions. The product is merely a property of the company, without any personal attributes. Once we leave the company, everything seems to disappear without a trace. In short, individuals are like working machines, easily replaceable, and personal value gradually diminishes.
Because we cannot directly feel the possibility of proving and extending our own existence, we may believe that work is meaningless.
We can only indirectly seek the possibility of extending our own existence through the rewards we earn as a medium of exchange.
If the compensation is lower than the value of our actual labor, it is equivalent to denying our personal value, let alone finding meaning.
So, how can we regain "meaning"?
......
I don't want to write anymore. Let chatGPT help me summarize hastily:
- The essence of meaning lies in proving and extending the existence of the individual.
- This proof and extension can be achieved through various means, including artistic creation, scientific achievements, family inheritance, graphic and audiovisual records, etc.
- For ordinary people, meaning is often closely related to family, work, and creation.
- The highly specialized and mechanized nature of modern society may lead people to feel a lack of significance and purpose.
- To rediscover meaning, it may be necessary to redefine the concept of wealth, projecting one's existence onto tangible creations that can be preserved and iterated upon, and gaining recognition and feedback from others.
These elements constitute a profound and comprehensive reflection on "meaning," and the path to achieving meaning lies in finding one's unique way to prove and extend their own existence.
As you can see, the key to meaning is still creation, creating something that is inherently tied to one's own attributes. Secondly, it is about actively recording.
Returning to the issue of work lacking meaning: if the work itself does not provide opportunities for personal creation, at the very least, it should not encroach upon one's original free time. Those who understand, understand what I mean.
So, I've developed a disease of always wanting to do something great....
Expressing myself is too exhausting, my words are not conveying my thoughts accurately. I'll update it when I have the time.