Everyone has their “own idea” of how life ought to be – by this I mean where people find meaning in life. There are so many ways that people give life meaning that I will not mention here, but I believe that you have your “own” idea. I will elaborate on the phrase “own idea” in a moment. It is therefore imperative to recognize that a person who has found life to be meaningless, without assuming the worst, is likely to simply go through the motions of life.
Now let me clarify the phrase “own idea”, people who use this phrase are often implying that the idea of how they perceive life originates from within themselves. However, what it actually means is that we have adopted an idea from our upbringing, culture, or experiences, and made it our own. Unlike natural instincts like feeding or relieving oneself, ideas are not naturally inherited. For example, the ideas that govern nations, were thought of in ancient times by some luminaries. Historical evidence pinpoints to specific individuals that I will term “the champions of culture” as the source of ideas that give life meaning for our cultural moment. These individuals were either philosophers, scientists, political leaders, religious leaders or just wealthy people. The champions of culture in turn claim to have been gifted these ideas through enlightenment or illumination or revelation from a power without or within. My point is that we all have chosen a champion or at least an idea of a champion to believe in, whether knowing or unknowing. We have allowed these champions to shape us both consciously and subconsciously, and the aftermath, is the way we do life; the way we relate to others or define success, and importantly, the way we select and pursue things that will give us meaning. Putting it simply, we are shaped or formed by adopted ideas.
Knowing that ideas dictate life as we perceive it, perhaps we could give more attention to this and criticize every idea that we have or want to believe in. This is no easy task, but what choice do we have? A meaningful life is our deepest desire, and the definition of such a life is given by adopted ideas. These ideas are taken as the ultimate truth and something that everyone should embrace. I presume we should exercise prudence by examining not only the validity of these ideas but also dissecting and scrutinizing them under a microscope to understand whether their composition consists of truths or lies. I have to say that performing this exercise in this cultural moment is nearly an impossible task, as many now believe that there is no absolute truth and that truth itself is subjective. But what is truth?