Void of Meaning

We are at a point in contemporary society where we all know at some level that meaning and purpose are created fictions. What we need to now guard against is cynicism that says there’s no point to anything, resulting in nihilism. Nietzsche once said of meaning and purpose, “that man would rather have the void as meaning, than be void of meaning”. In today’s contemporary societies, the void as meaning is exactly what we have. We must now pick ourselves up, be brave and dare to create the meaning and purpose of our lives, which we cannot bear to live without. When we understand that it has always been thus, we can move forward, integrating this idea into our understanding of how purpose and meaning are constructed. Moving forward we can then understand how at any moment new information will become available and require us to adjust not only our map but perhaps our destination as well. This is not a tragedy but rather a reason to rejoyce, it means we are now learning at such a rate that we are now having to constantly readjust our sense making apparatus. We shouldn’t panic, but rather see this development like a child constantly discovering the wonders of the world. Carl Sagan said our time is “by far the most exciting, satisfying and exhilarating time to be alive” as we “pass from ignorance to knowledge on these fundamental issues; the age where we begin in wonder and end in understanding.”