I hear you about the subversion! The case study I described—the student opera—had a lot of subversive elements in it. I describe them in more depth in this paper.
However, the subversion is orthogonal to the sense of meaning and purpose. The science on meaning and purpose shows that self-reflection, community and social bonds, and serving others are what contribute to meaning and purpose. Other activities might as well, but so far these three are the ones supported by the science. So whether it was a meeting of people who did not care much for official norms, as was the case in the mathematical club you were in, or “true believers” who studied Lenin’s works, of which there were a number as well as I discuss in this paper, the communal nature of the activities would contribute to a sense of meaning and purpose. I imagine that at the math club, there would be tutoring of others, and since that is a way of serving others, it may contribute better to a sense of meaning and purpose than the study of Lenin’s works, as it includes two of the three science-based aspects of gaining meaning and purpose.
Seems to me that what provides the “meaning and purpose” is group activities with voluntary participation and mutual interaction. (For example, having hundred people in a cinema doesn’t provide meaning, despite being a voluntary group activity, but having a dozen of them meet afterwards and discuss the movie does.)
The practical question is: who will organize these activities? Because there are costs (paying for the place, time and energy spent organizing), and the success is far from guaranteed.
If someone organizes group activities with a profit motive, they will probably want people to spend as much money as possible, which is often better achieved by preventing mutual interaction, so that instead of talking, people keep buying stuff. (For example many pubs have loud music precisely to make people talk less and drink more.) Online social networks are an exception, because the time spent talking translates directly into time spent browsing the website with displayed advertisements; but they screw up the “meaning and purpose” by trying to make people waste too much time there.
So it’s mostly non-profit organizations, and of course churches. If you make both illegal, the state can provide an alternative platform.
I imagine that in a non-religious and non-communist setting, it would be the non-profit organizations providing platforms for group activities. But it would depend on the local culture whether enough people would volunteer to organize that. The difference between “a club on every street” and “most people complaining about lack of clubs”.
Seems to me that what provides the “meaning and purpose” is group activities with voluntary participation and mutual interaction.
Yup, this is one of three sources of meaning and purpose. Self-reflection and serving others are two other sources.
I imagine that in a non-religious and non-communist setting, it would be the non-profit organizations providing platforms for group activities.
That’s true in many cases. In other cases, where there are powerful social democratic governments, research shows that governments provide such venues.
So it depends on how each each society is organized. The key is that every society that survives and thrives does so because it provides its members with means of experiencing meaning and purpose. The structure is less important than the three components that research shows go into meaning and purpose.
I hear you about the subversion! The case study I described—the student opera—had a lot of subversive elements in it. I describe them in more depth in this paper.
However, the subversion is orthogonal to the sense of meaning and purpose. The science on meaning and purpose shows that self-reflection, community and social bonds, and serving others are what contribute to meaning and purpose. Other activities might as well, but so far these three are the ones supported by the science. So whether it was a meeting of people who did not care much for official norms, as was the case in the mathematical club you were in, or “true believers” who studied Lenin’s works, of which there were a number as well as I discuss in this paper, the communal nature of the activities would contribute to a sense of meaning and purpose. I imagine that at the math club, there would be tutoring of others, and since that is a way of serving others, it may contribute better to a sense of meaning and purpose than the study of Lenin’s works, as it includes two of the three science-based aspects of gaining meaning and purpose.
Seems to me that what provides the “meaning and purpose” is group activities with voluntary participation and mutual interaction. (For example, having hundred people in a cinema doesn’t provide meaning, despite being a voluntary group activity, but having a dozen of them meet afterwards and discuss the movie does.)
The practical question is: who will organize these activities? Because there are costs (paying for the place, time and energy spent organizing), and the success is far from guaranteed.
If someone organizes group activities with a profit motive, they will probably want people to spend as much money as possible, which is often better achieved by preventing mutual interaction, so that instead of talking, people keep buying stuff. (For example many pubs have loud music precisely to make people talk less and drink more.) Online social networks are an exception, because the time spent talking translates directly into time spent browsing the website with displayed advertisements; but they screw up the “meaning and purpose” by trying to make people waste too much time there.
So it’s mostly non-profit organizations, and of course churches. If you make both illegal, the state can provide an alternative platform.
I imagine that in a non-religious and non-communist setting, it would be the non-profit organizations providing platforms for group activities. But it would depend on the local culture whether enough people would volunteer to organize that. The difference between “a club on every street” and “most people complaining about lack of clubs”.
Yup, this is one of three sources of meaning and purpose. Self-reflection and serving others are two other sources.
That’s true in many cases. In other cases, where there are powerful social democratic governments, research shows that governments provide such venues.
So it depends on how each each society is organized. The key is that every society that survives and thrives does so because it provides its members with means of experiencing meaning and purpose. The structure is less important than the three components that research shows go into meaning and purpose.