The Pleasure of Meaning

The Pleasure of Meaning

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People often confuse satisfaction or pleasure with meaning. It is one thing to ask "How" (what Science does), another to seek an answer to "Why" (a teleological quest) and still different to contemplate the "What for".

For instance: people often do things because they give them pleasure or satisfaction – yet this doesn't render their acts meaningful. Meaningless things can be equally pleasant and satisfying.

Consider games.

Games are structured, they are governed by rules and represent the results of negotiations, analysis, synthesis and forecasting. They please and satisfy. Yet, they are largely meaninglessness.

Games are useful. They teach and prepare us for real life situations. Sometimes, they bring in their wake fame, status, money, the ability to influence the real world. But are they meaningful? Do they carry meaning?

It is easy to describe HOW people play games. Specify the rules of the game or observe it long enough, until the rules become apparent – and you have the answer.

It is easy to answer WHAT people play games FOR. For pleasure, satisfaction, money, fame, or learning.

But what is the MEANING of games?

For a meaning to exist, we must have the following (cumulating) elements:

A relationship between at least two distinctive (at least partially mutually exclusive) entities;

The ability to map important parts of these separate entities onto each other (important parts are those without which the entity is not the same, its identity elements);

That one of the entities exceeds the other in some important sense: by being physically bigger, older, encompassing, correlated with many more entities, etc.;

That a sentient and intelligent interpreter or observer exists who can discern and understand the relationship between the entities;

That his observations can lead the interpreter to explain and to predict an important facet of the identity and the behavior of one of the entities (usually, in terms of the other);

That the entity's "meaning" provokes in the observer an emotional reaction as well as change his information content and behavior;

That said "meaning" is invariant (not conjectural and not covariant) in every sense: physical and cultural (as a meme).

The Meaning of Life is no exception and must adhere to the conditions we set above:

As humans, we are distinct entities, largely mutually exclusive (though genetic material is shared and the socialization process homogenizes minds). We are related to the outside world and thus satisfy the first requirement.

Parts of the world can be mapped onto us and vice versa (think about the representation of the world in our minds, for instance). The ancients believed in isomorphism: they mapped, one on one, features and attributes of physical entities onto each other. This is the theoretical source of certain therapies (acupuncture).

We are related to bigger entities (the physical universe, our history, God) – some of them "objective – ontological", others "subjective-epistemological". Some of them are even infinitely larger and thus, potentially, provide us with infinite meaning.

We are intelligent interpreters and observers. We are, however, aware of the circularity of introspection. This is why we are on a quest to find other intelligent observers in the Universe.

The obsession of the human race is trying to decipher, understand, analyze and predict one entity in terms of others. This is what Science and Religion are all about (though there are other strains of human intellectual pursuits).

Every glimpse of ostensible meaning provokes an emotional reaction in humans. The situation is different with machines, naturally. When we discuss Artificial Intelligence, we often confuse meaningful with directional (teleological) behavior. A computer does something not because it is meaningful, not even because it "wants" anything. A computer does something because it cannot do otherwise and because we make it do it. Arguably, the same goes for animals (at least those belonging to the lower orders). Only we, the Universe's intelligent observers, can discern direction, cause and effect – and, ultimately, meaning.

This is the big human failure: all the "meanings" that we have derived hitherto are of the covariant, conjectural, dependent, circumstantial types. We can, therefore, safely say that humanity has not come across one shred of genuine meaning. Since the above conditions are cumulative, they must all co-exist for Meaning to manifest.

For meaning to arise – an observer must exist (and satisfy a few conditions). This raises the well-founded suspicion that meaning is observer-dependent (though invariant). Put differently, it seems that meaning resides with the observer rather than with the observed.

This tallies nicely with certain interpretations of Quantum Mechanics. It also leads to the important philosophical conclusion that in a meaningful world – the division between observer and observed is critical. And vice versa: for a meaningful world to exist, we must have a separation of the observed from the observer.

A second conclusion is that meaning – being the result of interaction between entities – must be limited to these entities. It cannot transcend them. Hence, it can never be invariant in the purest sense, it always maintains a "privileged frame of reference".

In other words, meaning can never exist. The Universe and all its phenomena are meaningless.

Note - Signifiers, Goals, and Tasks/Assignments

Signifiers are narratives that fulfill three conditions:

I. They are all-pervasive organizing principles and yield rules of conduct.

II. They refer to the outside world and derive their "meaning" from it.

III. They dictate goals (goals are derived from signifiers).

Life feels meaningful only when one has adopted a signifier: to have a family, protect the nation, discover God, help others in need or distress, etc.

Some signifiers are compelling and proactive. They call for action, provoke and motivate actions, and delineate and provide a naturally-unfolding plan of action which is an inevitable and logical extension of the compelling signifier.

Other signifiers are non-compelling and passive. They do not necessarily call for action, they do not provoke actions or motivate the actor/agent, and they provide no plan of action.

Goals automatically emanate from signifiers. They are the tools needed to realize the signifier.

If the signifier is "family life" - probable goals include buying or constructing a home, having children and raising them, and finding a stable and well-paying job.

If the signifier is "altruism" - possible goals may include acquiring relevant skills (as a nurse or social worker), writing a self-help book, or establishing a charity.

Assignments or Tasks are the steps that, together, comprise the goal and lead to its attainment.

Thus, the goal may be the acquisition of skills relevant or indispensable in the realization of the signifier. The resulting tasks would include applying to an appropriate educational facility, registration, studies, passing exams, and so on.

Only signifiers have the power to endow our lives with meaning. But most people confuse them with goals. They make money (goal) - but know not what for (signifier). They study (task) in order to get a job (goal) - but are not sure to what end (signifier).

Also Read

The Definition of Definitions

Context, Background, Meaning

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