I. Two Questions If you’re a professional philosopher, people periodically ask you what the meaning of life is. I don’t know the answer. I don’t even know what kind of thing could possibly count as an answer. A thing (“the meaning of life is squirrels”)? A proposition (“the meaning of life is that dogs bark”)? An activity (“the meaning of life is to jump higher than your neighbors”)?
“Don’t work in advertising, unless you believe dishonesty is good.”
If everyone takes your advice, that would cause an unfortunate effect. I suppose we can treat it as a joke. And I suppose it *is* difficult to thrive in the advertising field while being scrupulously honest. But is it impossible, or just very difficult?
If good products exist, do dishonest ads for them necessarily improve sales more than an honest (and entertaining) ones would? How much experience does a consumer need to learn to be skeptical of ad tricks? What criteria should we use (other than repeat sales) to distinguish good products from bad ones? Can dishonest ads make bad products into winners?
"He also assumed that happiness is just pleasure." Well, hold on. I think you need to give the reader a sense of the sort of thing you're trying to talk about when you say happiness. You say you're not gonna give a conceptual analysis (or the reader isn't interested in one), but maybe at least give some clear sense of which of a few different common meanings of happiness you're after?
I typically view the "meaning" of life as being the *purpose* of life. E.g., what you should do with it. People who view life as meaningless think there's no such thing as anything that you "should" do because there are no statements with "should" that are true.
When people ask about the meaning of life, I think they’re asking something like “what is the type of thing that determines what you should do in life.” My answer is “maximize utility” yours would be whatever your moral system says is ideal.
Sometimes they mean something different and probably unintelligible.
About "merely having a boy/girlfriend isn’t the same; actually getting married makes the relationship better":
one unpopular but very often true thing that's never stressed or repeated enough is that the younger one does it, the highest the chances it will work well, see the "Clock Ticking part" of these thoughts of mine about #dating: https://mfioretti.substack.com/p/thoughts-and-tips-on-the-state-of
Meaning is an aspect of a person's mind. It is your ideas about things you want to happen and how the outcomes will affect you and people and things you care about. It is completely personal. It is a mistake to ask for ‘the’ meaning of life. The response must be: what do you care about, what do you want to improve, what to preserve? Even for a person, meaning is rarely single and unchanging. So the question becomes: what do you care about now? For most people most of the time, there is no need to ask the question. There are so many things I want to happen and I don’t have enough time or resources to make them all happen. So why does anyone ask the question, apart from for the pure joy of philosophy? The answer lies in what can make a person stop believing in his or her ability or right to affect what happens. Bad parenting, bullying and regulation are the usual culprits. People who think they have a right to overrule your ideas. And if you see no meaning in your life, just think about what you want to happen, something you can affect, and follow your own ideas. I can understand why a survey company would want to ask people about satisfaction or happiness or whatever, because there’s customers willing to pay. But we all know that these things are not measurable, so forget ‘default levels’, ‘generally happy’, random sampling, the effect of ‘money’, etc. So much for philosophy. On the practical side, you give some good common sense advice. Don’t fear the future. Don’t feel trapped by the past. Relate to people, cooperate, help, love. Work at something you can be good at.
“Don’t work in advertising, unless you believe dishonesty is good.”
If everyone takes your advice, that would cause an unfortunate effect. I suppose we can treat it as a joke. And I suppose it *is* difficult to thrive in the advertising field while being scrupulously honest. But is it impossible, or just very difficult?
If good products exist, do dishonest ads for them necessarily improve sales more than an honest (and entertaining) ones would? How much experience does a consumer need to learn to be skeptical of ad tricks? What criteria should we use (other than repeat sales) to distinguish good products from bad ones? Can dishonest ads make bad products into winners?
"He also assumed that happiness is just pleasure." Well, hold on. I think you need to give the reader a sense of the sort of thing you're trying to talk about when you say happiness. You say you're not gonna give a conceptual analysis (or the reader isn't interested in one), but maybe at least give some clear sense of which of a few different common meanings of happiness you're after?
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I typically view the "meaning" of life as being the *purpose* of life. E.g., what you should do with it. People who view life as meaningless think there's no such thing as anything that you "should" do because there are no statements with "should" that are true.
When people ask about the meaning of life, I think they’re asking something like “what is the type of thing that determines what you should do in life.” My answer is “maximize utility” yours would be whatever your moral system says is ideal.
Sometimes they mean something different and probably unintelligible.
About "merely having a boy/girlfriend isn’t the same; actually getting married makes the relationship better":
one unpopular but very often true thing that's never stressed or repeated enough is that the younger one does it, the highest the chances it will work well, see the "Clock Ticking part" of these thoughts of mine about #dating: https://mfioretti.substack.com/p/thoughts-and-tips-on-the-state-of
The $75k claim is somewhat complicated. Life satisfaction tends to be higher with more money, well beyond that amount.
https://www.vox.com/2015/6/20/8815813/orange-is-the-new-black-piper-chapman-happiness-study
If $75,000 is all you need to be happy, why are so many rich people so desperate for more than that?
Meaning is an aspect of a person's mind. It is your ideas about things you want to happen and how the outcomes will affect you and people and things you care about. It is completely personal. It is a mistake to ask for ‘the’ meaning of life. The response must be: what do you care about, what do you want to improve, what to preserve? Even for a person, meaning is rarely single and unchanging. So the question becomes: what do you care about now? For most people most of the time, there is no need to ask the question. There are so many things I want to happen and I don’t have enough time or resources to make them all happen. So why does anyone ask the question, apart from for the pure joy of philosophy? The answer lies in what can make a person stop believing in his or her ability or right to affect what happens. Bad parenting, bullying and regulation are the usual culprits. People who think they have a right to overrule your ideas. And if you see no meaning in your life, just think about what you want to happen, something you can affect, and follow your own ideas. I can understand why a survey company would want to ask people about satisfaction or happiness or whatever, because there’s customers willing to pay. But we all know that these things are not measurable, so forget ‘default levels’, ‘generally happy’, random sampling, the effect of ‘money’, etc. So much for philosophy. On the practical side, you give some good common sense advice. Don’t fear the future. Don’t feel trapped by the past. Relate to people, cooperate, help, love. Work at something you can be good at.