special issue: the meaning of life

And the meaning of life is . . . drumroll

I bring you this unscheduled update because I recently read Argument from the Meaning of Life on The Skeptical Christian. After you've read my short piece, I recommend reading this article for yourself, so you'll know why I write this.

The Skeptical Christian writes about meaning what I call value-attribution and its relationship to a theistic God. Unfortunately, their argument is full of hand-waving and undeclared assumptions, so I'm here to help tune up your deception-detection. Now let's talk about meaning, values, and why we do the things we do!

what is meaning?

Meaning happens to be one of my favorite topics. After all, I love rational choice.

Wait, what?

Hey, I'm serious. Meaning is value, and rational choice is all about maximizing value. Let me emphasize:

Meaning is fundamental to rational choice.

It's all about what values you have! Rational choice is, after all, the endeavor to maximize the value the meaning! of future outcomes. So, without meaning, rational choice is impossible. I can't emphasize this enough.

If you watch your weight because you want to be healthy, you're acting towards some prescribed health-value. Health is meaningful to you. If you ignore nutrition because you value flavor more than health, you're preferring flavor-value over health-value. Flavor is more meaningful to you.

We find people acting in ways we do not understand because they have different fundamental value-attributions than we have. People find themselves acting in ways they do not understand because their values shift out of control. This variety is not a trait of humanity. Rather, it is a trait of rational choice itself, based on the whimsical nature of value.

God and values

As intelligent beings, we need value-attributions. So, where do our values come from? From biological functions? From God? As it turns out, it is inconsequential where value comes from. Only values themselves not their sources! can sway the actions of intelligent beings. If knowing the source of a value matters to you, it is only because you value that knowledge.

Since we're on this page, it's safe to assume that we do value that knowledge. So, let's address the claim that our values must come from God. If there is no God, this claim is obviously false, so for the sake of discussion, let's assume that there is a God. Let's also assume this God cares how we act and thus clearly describes those desires.

If God wants me to value God's pronouncements, then God has to instill that value directly into my rational processes. Otherwise, how can I care?

Can Heaven and Hell make me care?

Even if God offered to reward my good acts in Heaven, why should I want to be rewarded, unless God makes me value my own pleasure? Likewise, if God intends to punish me with Hell, I have no reason to avoid punishment unless God gives me values telling me to avoid pain!

You may think it is obvious that I should avoid pain. I disagree. Many people, myself included, believe it is better to suffer and die and suffer some more! than to be enslaved. Even if the slave-master is an all-powerful God, we have to struggle.

Well, if reward and punishment can't sway me, won't I acknowledge that God's decree is an absolute, independent of whether I value it? Nope! I deny that God's pronouncements are absolutes, because God could just as easily have made the opposite decree. An absolute is inviolable only because its opposite is impossible. That's what an absolute is. Since we can defy God's command, it cannot be absolute. If God's values were absolute values, everyone would have to share them, without exception.

Please don't be confused when someone pulls out the words, "absolute" and "meaning". They probably haven't thought about the significance of those words. And don't be obsessed with endings! The end is just another moment, no more important than the present--less so, as you cannot sense the future! Knowing what meaning is, we can see that it needn't come from God. It could, but if it does, God is being sloppy indeed. Values vary at random amongst people. It's more like what you'd expect from an evolutionary standpoint.

Now please, go check out that article, and let me know what you think.