From birth, the human mind forms from nothing. Furthermore, it obtains, retains, and sustains everything presented. In this way, we are genuinely Tabula rasa, a blank slate. As Aristotle puts it, "What it thinks must be in it just as characters may be said to be on a writing tablet on which as yet nothing actually stands written: this is exactly what happens with mind.” (Book iii ch 4).
Life can be described as meaningless, from a blank slate having no meaning, but our choices; bring meaning.
John Watson has said, "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select — doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggar-man and thief," (82).
We are raised in specific ways, and it seems we still can deviate from any value acquired. We can stray from the paths laid during our childhoods, specific values that were instilled growing up. It seems that we are free to do so. Every day we wake up, we have choices to make. These choices design who we become.
It appears we have an abundance of options. Every day, these alternatives can be chosen at our discretion. Choices are the result of the freedom each of us has. This freedom is beyond the idea of our mind's conception of it. This freedom is precisely our curse; as Jean-Paul Sartre says, we are "condemned to be free. condemned because he/she did not create himself/herself, yet nonetheless free, because he/she is responsible for everything he/she does once cast into the world." (29)
We create an image of what an individual should be by setting an example of how to live; doing this, we become responsible for all other human beings, influencing each other every day. If one chooses not to do an essay and proclaims not to do it in front of a class of peers, and they decide not to do the essay, then the first individual must declare responsibility for the effect. We can choose not to make choices, but even this is still a decision.
Despite religious beliefs, morality must be significant. Because if we turn to religion for morality, we will not get the exact solution; in this way, morality depends entirely on the individual. It is truly in our own hands. Bertrand Russell stated, "The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Knowledge and love are both indefinitely extensible; therefore, however good a life may be, a better life can be imagined." (56)
This life is many things, but life, the essence of life, can be many things; what is suitable for one is terrible for another. Individually, the basis of life is what makes it exist. To exist or have existed, being aware of life, granting life meaning. So, if life does not have meaning, correct it.
Understand, every saint and sinner that there ever was, or will be, has existed on earth.
Each saint and sinner had to determine an existence that demonstrated their title. All were free to exist and live how they saw fit; in this way, both are similar. Nothing stopped them from their beginning, no matter what the effect of their existence was, a meaning to life for both. Meaningless only exists where there is no meaning; in this way, meaningless does not have to be.
A meaning to life can be kindness and goodwill to everything in existence, but it can only be genuine if not beneficial. Nothing can be gained from showing kindness, yet so much can be gained by observing kindness. It is, indeed, a decision that can and has, saved lives.
Knowledge brings meaning to life. There are countless examples of old truths, from the shape of the earth to cigarettes being healthy. What was considered accurate has become false through new knowledge. Different truths are discovered when questioning everything, including current truths.
If all life stopped tomorrow, who would be correct? The advancement of astrophysics has shown our universe to be expanding. "The galaxies outside of our own are moving away from us" (Science Reference Section 2). The stars will run out of fuel; they will cease to exist one by one. This truth has always been, during our limited knowledge—a bleak future in store.
The truth in the age of the earth is still argued over. It seems one can accept that the world is no older than 6000 years, but one would have to deny all known Geochronology dating data that exists by stating the creator made the earth look old. It depends on the importance of the spiritual belief of an individual. To deny knowledge, deny the truth. To provide meaning. It is serving God, to conform others to God.
Death cannot take from the meaning of life; death is inevitable, and it takes life, but never, meaning. It seems as if life is a series of events with the outcome of death: no matter the religion, belief, or none. In this way, death is nothing to fear, but instead, fear a life without meaning. A life without knowledge, without appreciating consciousness, and lacking reflection, meditation, or contemplation.
Life is genuinely meaningless, so it can be meaningful, and it can be no other way. Life is life, and we are free to choose its meaning from within ourselves. It has always been this way, and it will always be. Take comfort in this; consciousness is authentic, it is all around, and it has been for a short time, and one day, it will not be.
The meaning of life is to learn, acquire knowledge, and seek the truth to strive to become a more genuine self. Or, utterly, it is not.
Aristotle, Joe Sachs, and Aristotle. Aristotle's on the Soul: And, on Memory and Recollection. Santa Fe, N.M: Green Lion Press, 2001. Print.
“Tabula rasa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tabula%20rasa. Accessed 9 Sep. 2021.
Russell, Bertrand. Why I Am Not a Christian, and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects. London: Unwin Books, 1975. Print.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism Is a Humanism. Ed. John Kulka. Trans. Carol Macomber. New Haven & London: Yale UP, 2007. Print.
Science Reference Section, Library of Congress. “What Does It Mean When They Say the Universe Is Expanding?” The Library of Congress, 19 Nov. 2019, www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/what-does-it-mean-when-they-say-the-universe-is-expanding/.
Watson, John B. Behaviorism. New York: The People's Institute Pub. Co, 1924. Print.
