The meaning of life – thoughts by RHB written some time in 1955 or 56

 Today I start to write an appreciation of the problem of the meaning of life. Why were we created? Why do we sleep and not use all our time on earth thinking, eating, talking and carrying out all the other activities generally known as living?

 The human body and mind is such a wonderful thing that it seems impossible to believe that it was not created for some purpose. Also it is a very delicate mechanism and must have special conditions for its correct function; in fact its very existence requires very close control of physical conditions. Many of these we take for granted. Oxygen must be supplied, polluted by about two parts in three with an inert gas such as nitrogen. Temperatures between about 0°F  to 120°F must be maintained. Light is required, though the intensity must not be too great. Fuel in a very special form – known as food – must be available. All these things we take as normal, but when thought about, it is seen that the earth is a remarkable place like a huge laboratory with external influences carefully controlling and adjusting all the physical conditions. Why is this so?

 A further point is seen at this stage. Man can create machines which move, machines that can carry out a simulation of the thought process and other machines which can do similar things as he does. These also have the advantage of being able to exist under conditions of far greater extremes and less controlled than he himself can. Why should it be, that if he was created by some person who also created the universe, that person could not create him to exist in more extreme conditions? It being assumed that the person who created man could create better things than man himself, since the person who created man must have given man the power to create. In fact all creations are his, through man, his direct creation. This is analogous to the idea that electronic brains, which man is now creating, cannot produce original thought, but can only reproduce ideas which were built into them, or are fed into them by electric impulses.

 Thus we come to the crossroads, the major questions must be faced and from these each road leads off into a series of further questions, different questions being along each road. The signpost on the Cross Road, which is often not read by people who rush past into the road they first find, and try to answer the questions along that road, or else they ignore all the questions.

 The major question is this. Was the universe, of which man is an infinitesimally small part, created by a supreme being, or did it just occur due to natural physical causes? To this question there at first appears no answer, though the second alternative, without any evidence, may seem quite groundless, why should things just occur? But I see I have wandered down the road for this is the first question on that road. Let us then go down both roads in turn and look at the questions on each. We probably won’t be able to answer many of the questions, but from their nature we may be able to tell if they are worth answering, or whether they lead to a final question which is quite ridiculous and can have no answer – i.e. whether either of the roads leads to a dead end.

 Many people, I think myself included, have decided on which is the important, in fact vital, road. However the questions on each will probably prove interesting and some answers may be found which could be even more interesting. It is necessary to suppress preconceived ideas if this examination is to be worthwhile.

To get some data for this analysis I shall first try to present the main views on life of several people I have observed. These views are of course faulty since no person can know exactly all the views of other people, in fact no person knows his own views with complete certainty. Nor are the views presented a complete cross-section of the community, but are in the main the views of younger people looking at life to determine which course they will take. This you may say is the wrong type of view for gathering the data required. However it appears to me that as people grow older they tend to forget the course they set out on and wander through life with their eyes set at objects fairly close to them, while the young person is willing to stop and scan the field far ahead, looking at closer objects in the light of what he sees in the distance. The views presented are mostly those of males. This is perhaps rather unfortunate as the female view would no doubt differ on some points, though theories on the main topics can be expected to be identical for the two sexes.

 The above explanations probably give the reader some insight to the writer of this book. He is young and looking for some reason for life, so he will be able to live it with a purpose, rather than live simply because he happens to have been born. He is a small boat yachtsman, which will explain a lot to anybody who knows anything about yachtsman; and he has just completed a university course, which will explain a lot to anybody who knows anything about undergraduates. As may be expected the people whose observations are discussed below are mainly yachtsman and undergraduates, but as they are people and all people differ, many different views appear.

 Perhaps I may be excused one more digression to explain the conditions out of which the idea of writing this book first arose. In idle moments the writer had for some four or five years considered to himself whether a superior being existed or not. He was inexperienced enough to imagine that he was one of the few people, that is ordinary everyday lay people, who considered this subject. He had met very few people who discussed the subject with any attempt at honest reasoning. Then one morning at about 8 o’clock (am!), when going to bed after a party, he casually raised the subject with two yachtsmen who were staying with him. These were men of rather different ages and very wide differences in past experience. The topic waxed fast and furious till the sun was high in the sky and sleep was almost completely neglected. Since then the writer has raised the subject with many different people and found in almost all cases some initial hedging and embarrassment but long valuable conversations can be developed by perseverance. Many other views were obtained by indirect questioning or simply by observation of actions.

 The writer freely admits that he has had neither the experience nor the training to make this more than an initial incomplete analysis of some types of human beings. He is writing this due to the desire to impart his observations and ideas. This stems probably from the basic loneliness of all people or from the basic desire for recognition, both of which will be discussed in more detail later. Another reason for writing is to set down all thoughts around this topic to clear the mind of the writer himself. It is hoped that this paper will guide further observations and lead the writer to attempt some training in the art of observation, so that a later paper can be written giving rather more accurate views.

  The views of various people are set out below as individuals and some general conclusions on basic types are given at the end. This arrangement has been adopted so that some of the people involved (who will probably be the only ones to read this paper, and it is doubtful if even they will read it) can amuse themselves deciding which case number refers to them.

 In all these cases I have not considered the person’s feelings. No names are given and it is possible that some cases may refer to imaginary persons. If any person thinks he is described in any of these cases, no responsibility can be taken by the writer, as the connection may be purely coincidental.

 CASES

 CASE 1 – Rather unusual in that the person involved, freely confesses in fact vehemently affirms that his purpose in life is to make money so that he can have a comfortable home, car and other aids to comfort. This person is rather young, possibly the youngest person discussed, though he has had far more experience of life, in the pleasant fashion common to Australia, than most people of his age.

 According to this person, there is no creator, the human being evolved by the Darwin theory, and death brings complete extinction. Thus while alive, why not make oneself comfortable?

 The writer doubts that this is the true subconscious view of this person; though he is almost convinced that the person sincerely believes it to be his complete view. The actions of this person all support his theory.

It can be pointed out at this stage that communism is based on a similar theory, but draws the conclusion that we should make other people happy as well as ourselves. In fact ideally all have an equal share of the world’s goods. In practice communism breaks down to a view similar to Case 1, though, the Communists would never admit this, but claim they desire equal conditions for all Case 1 on the other hand has no desire to share his conditions with other people, except for his own gain. This gain may be materialistic or can be of a spiritual nature. The spiritual gain being achieved by the process of “generosity”, which leads to “recognition”. Recognition will be seen as the constant basic desire behind most actions of all people. The desire of Case 1 the money is not based simply on comfort, but on recognition in that he desires larger, more expensive objects than his neighbour.

 Case 2 – This person, similarly to Case 1, is completely frank in his views on life and, again like Case 1, he has produced a very simple, possibly immature theory. He feels that we were created by a chance collision of atoms and that there is no purpose or divine being to control our lives. From this point it is reasoned, as there will be no outside cause for a living, we must create one from inside. The most satisfactory cause, it is decided is to make oneself happy; and best, if not only, way of doing this is by making other people happy.

 This is where the text ends. Maybe it will be taken up in the year 2013? – RHB 10/10/2013.