Do we need to know the purpose of life to be able to live purposely?
One of the most existential questions we struggle to answer is what we are here for. Quite often, we find this question lingering beneath the daunting feelings of depression from which we tend to suffer. Yet, we rarely, if ever, manage to find any suitable answer that can ease whatever saddening emotion is feeding on us at that moment.
We are not in reality “failing” at discovering the meaning and purpose of life because no matter how hard we try, we can never get to “the absolute truth.” Whatever truth, if it undoubtedly exists, will presumably not be satisfactory to some people or will even disappoint others.
Cognitively speaking, we are troubled by the confirmation bias that dictates our direction of thoughts and analysis. We don’t want to uncover the absolute truth; we are not interested in that, although we persuade ourselves to be. We would instead relish that it is in line with our deepest thoughts and ideas. Even agnostic and skeptical people claiming that they don’t know anything and can’t prove anything are not devoid of confirmation bias. Their ultimate aim is to look for proof and theories that confirm that they don’t know.
With this in mind, it doesn’t matter if there is ever in theory an absolute truth regarding anything. Everything we have come to know is some form of social construct and conditioning. Even alleging that this or that is the “truth” ends up being bound to the restricted capacities of the human mind. Surely it would be the truth, but (only) according to an established universal logic bound by the rules of this universe itself.
In philosophical subjects such as the purpose of life, we have come across myriad answers: happiness, struggle, suffering, passion, ambition, love, spirituality… the list goes on. Some have settled for these theories without questioning them extensively; others have figured that this is what they believe in. Everybody has their ordeal and perceives the purpose based on how their experience unfolds throughout the different stages of their existence. Everybody’s experience is unique, after all. Nevertheless, we, as mortal creatures, desire control, and certainty to function well in society. The question of purpose is at the top of the list of things we need to ascertain at some point, even if subconsciously speaking.
Do we need to know the purpose of life to live purposely? Looking at our faulty and subjective way of examining the topic, we can conclude that we are reaching nonsense above anything else: the quest for something impossible. This mission will not make a difference as long as we will always be more comfortable processing information aligned with our existing beliefs. Yet we will keep on partaking in it because we lead some extremely hollow and busy existences.
Life doesn’t wait for us to make something out of it, life is happening already, and we are a part of it. It is absurd and egotistical to claim that the purpose of life is about something specific to us when we are not even the only species on the planet, let alone in the whole universe. We are a tiny, almost negligible dot that is alive right here and right now across the perceivably never-ending space and time.
It is more sensible for us to offer something towards life itself. This can be our non-grandiose, modest message that perhaps we can come to be and subtly accept that whatever our simple yet very intricate minds happen to produce is of little to no consequence.
