Opinion Ross Gittins Economics Editor In the Aussie calendar, tomorrow – the day after the Australia Day holiday – is the unofficial start to the working year. So today’s the last day we have a moment to pause and wonder what all our getting and spending – my usual subject matter – is meant to prove. From a narrow biological and evolutionary perspective, our only purpose is to survive and replicate our genes, playing our part in the survival of our species. Apart from that, what we do on the way to our inevitable death is of little consequence. The simple economic model assumes work is an unpleasant means to the wonderful end of having money to shop and buy things.Credit:Jim Eddie Don’t like that idea? No one does. Enjoyable though we find the mechanics of reproduction, the human animal craves more than just sex, good meals and a bit of fun while we kill the time until our funeral. We want somehow to find purpose and meaning in our lives. Contrary to the message of much advertising and other marketing, this meaning can’t be supplied satisfactorily by the efforts of our business people, politicians and economists. Beneath the glitter, their message is simple: get back to your getting and spending. Just do more of it. Is there anything scientists – as opposed to philosophers – have to tell us about the meaning of life? Steve Taylor, a senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University, does, even though he’s not religious. In a recent article on The Conversation website, he tells of his work over the past 10 years talking to people who’ve had what he calls “suffering-induced transformational experiences”. These include being diagnosed with terminal cancer, suffering a bereavement, becoming seriously disabled, losing everything through addiction, or having a close encounter with death during combat. We find the meaning of life when we ‘wake up’ and experience life and the world more fully. “What all these people had in common is that after undergoing intense suffering they felt they had ‘woken up’. They stopped taking life, the world and other people for granted and gained a massive sense of appreciation for everything,” he says. They spoke of a sense of the preciousness of life, their own bodies, the other people in their lives and the beauty and wonder of nature. They felt a new sense of connection with other people, the natural world and the universe, he says. “They became less materialistic and more altruistic. Possessions and career advancement became trivial, while love, creativity and altruism became much more important. They felt intensely alive.” A man who experienced a transformation due to bereavement spoke explicitly about meaning, describing how his “goals changed from wanting to have as much money as possible to wishing to be the best person possible”. Learn, grow and experience He added: “before, I would say I didn’t really have any sense of a meaning of life. However, [now] I feel the meaning of life is to learn, grow and experience.” Taylor stresses that none of these people were, or became, religious. The changes weren’t merely temporary and, in most cases, remained stable over many years. He says we don’t have to go through intense suffering to experience these effects. “There are also certain temporary states of being when we can sense meaning. I call these ‘awakening experiences’.” Usually they occur when our minds are fairly quiet and we feel at ease with ourselves. When we’re walking in the countryside, swimming in the ocean, or after we’ve meditated, or had sex. “We find the meaning of life when we ‘wake up’ and experience life and the world more fully. In these terms, the sense that life is meaningless is a distorted and limited view that comes when we are slightly ‘asleep’.” So what’s the meaning of life, according to Taylor? “Put simply, the meaning of life is life itself.” Wow. From my own reading of what psychologists tell us about life satisfaction, let me add two more-prosaic points. First, humans are social animals and we get much of our satisfaction from our relationships with our family, in particular, and also with our friends. When economists and politicians try to make us more prosperous materially without ever considering what strain they may be putting on our relationships, they’re not doing us any favours. They – like us, so often – are mistaking the means for the end. Cannibalising our ends to improve our means doesn’t leave us better off. Second, the simple economic model assumes work is an unpleasant means to the wonderful end of having money to buy things. But, as they say, if you can find a job you like – or get more joy from the job you have – you’ll never have to work. If politicians, economists and the business people we work for put more emphasis on helping us find satisfaction from our work, they’d be adding more meaning to our lives (and theirs). Ross Gittins is the The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age economics editor. https://www.smh.com.au/business/the...ing-but-why-do-we-bother-20200126-p53us6.html
They simply fear their own mortality. Because they know intuitively that when they die, they will be dead, and there is nothing in their reality that will come for them, because there will be no more "them". Which is curious, because why did they not fear their lack of existence BEFORE they were born?
Happiness and peace of mind come mostly from being happy with who you are, what you do, what direction your life is taking, not with what you have or possess. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook - look at me, my fancy vacations, my fancy cars, etc...These folks are not content with who they are because they believe they have fallen short of some arbitrary image or ideal that modern society defines as success...
It's tricky. If one were dead broke poor and isolated from the greater society's influence, they could be happy as they would not have any gauge to measure their condition against. Natives living in the deepest parts of the Amazon untouched by modern civilisation are probably happy, maybe, maybe not....? But governments in the West definitely seem to promote a consumer society, they want more, they want to tax us more, they are very content with spiralling realestate prices and the growth of corporations while little people struggling financially is not that important to them.
There's a lot of philosophical BS that goes along with these things usually, but I'll sell it to you as straight as possible: Do you know where the "science" of psychology is used most? In advertising. We buy things and don't know why because everything from the color scheme, to the music, to the words of everything you read and watch is developed in a laboratory to maximize your lizard brain pleasure sensors. They play into your desires and your fears with a level of precision that is honestly quite impressive. We are being programmed every single day from the moment you wake up and check your phone to the moment you turn off the TV/netflix and go to bed. You are being programmed to spend. Casinos are another great example. Happy chords played with bright flashing lights, the sound of money being made, and the enticement of "free drinks, movies, etc" for playing triggers a dopamine release every single time you walk into one - you probably don't even realize it. You can wax poetic about "people find fulfillment in things that are helpful to humanity" and "give up TV" but that won't even stop it. Pseudo-intellectual BS about being happy in the things you have is just navel gazing at a very real problem. You walk by a billboard ten times and you finally get the urge to buy the thing they are selling. You go to walmart, or target, or anything else and the aisles are organized in such a way to encourage extra spending. Amazon and other online retailers entice you with a mix of instant gratification and gentle pushing towards their high margin items with the power of FOMO. Every time you walk in and see a "buy one get one deal" you are being programmed. Color schemes on shop floors are made to get you to unconsciously follow a path towards more things to buy. Loud noises interest you, so you walk over to the game and computer section to see what is going on. How did you end up buying a video game when you just came in for some toilet paper? Brilliant advertising scientists have the answer. We are being programmed by a bunch of suits in a laboratory to spend and spend. It is really that simple.
Excess spending is one thing. What about excess waste? In America alone, $240 Million in food is wasted every year. We live in an age of glut, full of crap that we don't eat and certainly don't need. Overconsumption is really a disease.
Thankfully I'm going to live forever so not an issue. * * Well from my perspective cause when I'm dead I won't be aware of it, so there alive forever lol Why do the people than worry the most about dying, never really live, 1 of my mates just stays home and plays computer games, big fat blob won't make it to 60 before heart gives out.
%% WE spend much more than that on pet food/bird feed; but that can be a good thing LOL. Don't know what mice waste; rats waste $500 million-1,000,000,000....................................
A person has to cope with enormous difficulties every day, of course it is not easy, but it is worth paying tribute - despite the enormous stress and difficulties, most people adapt and move on rotating our huge planet.