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Originally Posted by Ariston  It doesn't. As Pontius Pilate told Jesus, "What is truth?"
In my opinion, there is no truth save for the one that we create for ourselves. The same goes for "the meaning of life". There really isn't one. Nature doesn't care about what we think, feel, or do and that is easy enough to prove without a doubt. And perhaps that is the only "solid" truth we can ever experience. All else is subject to change.
Humanity may very well simply just be an epiphenomenon of nature. Nothing more. We think that our intelligence counts for something, but in the end, in the overall evolution of life, our intelligence is but a fleeting speck of dust.
That may sound morbid or uncomfortable for some, but I find it absolutely fascinating. It is that indifferent attitude of nature that causes uncompromising change, which in turn motivates the human psyche to do something. Through that "chaos" the individual has his/her chance to create their own meaning. And that is all that humanity will ever be able to do. |
Epiphenomenalism . . . nice. Not many are aware of that philosophical musing, which is all it really is. But again, you're speaking merely in terms of the subjective (i.e. truth is what we say it is . . . perception), and we undoubtedly know that some subjective qualities are true. 2 + 2 = 4 in a base ten mathematical system simply because we deem it so. So, what is 4? In a base ten mathematical system, it's 0 + 4, 1+ 3, 10 - 6, 20/5 and so on and so on. All of those are a subjective quality of the objective 4. Now, how much of said subjective quality is needed until we fully grasp the objective "idea" (I know, I know . . . perception) of 4?