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Last Updated on June 12, 2023 by Dhanvanthri

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Last Updated on June 12, 2023

We have to accept the fact that there is “Absurd” or meaninglessness in life. We think our lives are meaningful. But, nature says otherwise.

The world is not created for us

We can worship nature – Sun, Earth, Fire, Forest, Trees, etc. Yet, nature doesn’t share the idea of human beings surviving and thriving. Even what we worship about nature is only cherry-picking the good stuff from a human perspective.

We would have worshipped mosquitoes if their bite felt really good like a massage. We would have worshipped bed bugs if they helped us go to sleep like a sleeping pill does but with no other negative effects. We would have worshipped cockroaches if they kept our kitchen clean. Unfortunately, they all not only do not share but also act in contradiction to our purpose. This contradiction is “Absurd”.

To some extent, this is not totally strange to anyone, especially after the pandemic – Covid. If there is anything we have understood from the pandemic apart from how bad the healthcare systems are around the world, it is that nature doesn’t care; The idea that the world is created for us to enjoy flies in the face of the fact that Covid has killed 6.6 million all over the world so far. That is only the number of confirmed cases.

If nature had its own consciousness just like any creature with self-interest, then, maybe, it would have self-awareness and understanding of its own well-being. Its well-being would have been the most important thing for Nature compared to the interests of all the other conscious beings living in it. If its well-being included the well-being of other conscious creatures on the planet, then it would have, at least, protected the ecosystems and habitats from getting destroyed. Therefore, we can say that it doesn’t have consciousness.

In a way, it is good that nature is not conscious and doesn’t act according to its self-interest to protect its well-being. Otherwise, all the physical laws that we have taken for granted to be very stable would have been subject to the whims and fancies of Nature.

We have consciousness because we need to protect and advance our self-interest. But, It is very difficult to pinpoint any action or event that is born out of Nature’s self-interest. It seems that nature not only does not care about us but also itself. This is because all these concepts – Meaning, Care, Self-interest, Well-being, and including “Nature” itself are created by us with our consciousness but Nature has not.

In other words, Nature is like dead people. You can pray, worship and by going through pictures fondly remember the time you spent with them, but you can never expect them to empathize and therefore, act according to our – human interests.

Therefore, Apparently, Nature acts as if it is unconscious for it to have the concept of meaning and significance unless Nature itself can defend against it. From a human perspective, Nature is that close relative who could have helped out during the pandemic but didn’t. Nature is just as unempathetic as that relative but without consciousness to understand what humanity went through.

History of Existentialist Philosophies

If you are a follower of the father of Existentialism-Soren Kierkegaard or a believer in God, that god can give you meaning in life. But, this depends on the concept of “God”. Specifically, the God who created the Universe and also the meaning.

But, there is a strong argument against God’s existence or at least the role of religious institutions in society and governance by Enlightenment thinkers.

This made Nitche most famously say “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”, and also because of the increasingly secular nature of our lifestyle after the industrial revolution.

If you don’t believe in God, your search for understanding of “meaning” doesn’t stop with either all-creator God or Soren Kierkegaard.

You will end up exploring the ideas of other existentialist philosophers like Sartre’s idea that Existence precedes Essence. This idea clearly explains why human beings are not like any other object in the world – natural or manmade. While these objects get their meaning from living according to their fundamental nature or by serving the purpose it has been made for like a cup, chair, car, etc. Humans, on other hand, have consciousness, therefore create their own values and choose their meaning after coming into existence.

The problem with Sartre’s Existentialism is that it doesn’t account well for the inevitability of death and thereby, ultimately, the destruction of all the meaning we had made. Ofcourse, things can lose meaning even before our death as the world and life is constantly changing.

This is where Albert Camus’ concept of “Absurd” comes in.

Albert Camus Absurdism’s definition

In philosophy, “the Absurd” refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life, and the human inability to find any in a purposeless, meaningless or chaotic, and irrational universe.

This definition in one line not only defines and explains the phenomenon, but also a feeling that we have when our ideas, activities, and people gradually lose meaning like trees shed their leaves in Autumn.

In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus says that our lives are not that different from Sisyphus’s.

About Sisyphus:

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos was the founder and king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Hades punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus

Even though our lives are not as monotonous as Sisyphos, we do feel the same feeling of “Absurd” or meaninglessness when the new project we have been working on is completed. The project not delivering the results we have been patiently waiting for. Or, the results are not up to the mark. Or, the benefits are not worth the cost we put into it. etc

When we accept the “Absurd” that we face in our lives, or ultimately, through the event of our death, we will realize that meaning is not only in purpose but also in the process. By “Process” I mean how we live and “Purpose” – what we live for.

For example, in the case of Sisyphus, when he embraces the “Absurd” or “meaningless” of his life, he might try to make the process better or even enjoyable. Specifically, he can work towards building a slide on the hill so that as soon as the boulder starts rolling down from the top he can slide down along with it.

The “Absurd” we have all faced in our lives.

The first step is accepting the fact that the world is meaningless.

To put it simply, Existential Nihilism says life has no intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose. Therefore, all the activities that we have done and will do as living beings are meaningless. If I believed in this I wouldn’t be writing this post. Would I? So, don’t worry. I am not advocating for Nihilism here.

I would rather follow the Absurdism advocated by Albert Camus than Nihilism or even Existentialism. I would follow it not because Nihilism is too pessimistic or Existentialism is relatively more optimistic, but because Absurdism is more pragmatic.

Let’s see this with an example.

You are sick from a disease you usually don’t get sick from like Typhoid or Dengue. You take Medicine to get better. Eventually, You get back to being normal again.

This means that medicine is only important as long as you are sick. Once you get better, medicine loses its importance. Nonetheless, out of fear of relapsing or for some reason, you can keep treating medicine as important and continue to take them even after you have gotten well. But, this would not make you any more healthy than you already are. Either the medicine might not act or start showing some adverse effects.

We can give all the meaning we want to the medicine but it simply doesn’t work anymore if the body doesn’t need it. Finding and making meaning in our activities is only possible as long as nature or situation allows for it.

You must have gone through the medication at some point in life. This means, in my view, you must have followed absurdism with or without knowing about it. Here, the meaning you give to medicine arises and dies down as it becomes absurd once you get well.

By following Absurdism, We will always keep an eye on when our actions become absurd or lose their meaning.

If you are really hell-bent on testing the pragmatic nature of Absurdism, you can make the medicine important again, by getting sick again. Then, you can enjoy the experience you get from the consequences of the medicine.

Therefore, I agree with what Camus says which is that If we create any meaning in our lives it is only through accepting its potential absurdity or the “Absurd”.


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