I had a secular upbringing and was never really disappointed nor frustrated that the universe supplies no inherent purpose. These days I’m frustrated (but I turn that frustration into active thinking about the problem of extrapolated volition, which hasn’t led anywhere at all useful but ya never know). That said, probably like a lot of people, I got into one or two small philosophical happy death spirals around first Buddhism and then Secular-Buddho-Epicureanism between the ages of, I dunno, 13-16, leading me to think that the ‘meaning of life’ was something like a gestalt of Enlightenment, Compassion for everyone (think Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind...”), and Happiness. I still think that’s not a terrible answer but I realize now that insofar as it’s true it’s the result of evolutionary psychology and not some deeper truth of the universe. (HT EY.)
I had a secular upbringing and was never really disappointed nor frustrated that the universe supplies no inherent purpose. These days I’m frustrated (but I turn that frustration into active thinking about the problem of extrapolated volition, which hasn’t led anywhere at all useful but ya never know). That said, probably like a lot of people, I got into one or two small philosophical happy death spirals around first Buddhism and then Secular-Buddho-Epicureanism between the ages of, I dunno, 13-16, leading me to think that the ‘meaning of life’ was something like a gestalt of Enlightenment, Compassion for everyone (think Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind...”), and Happiness. I still think that’s not a terrible answer but I realize now that insofar as it’s true it’s the result of evolutionary psychology and not some deeper truth of the universe. (HT EY.)