I find this is so true and compliments what we see taking over our country...a lack or moral fiber.

Very interesting video. While not a religious person myself, in fact I believe many parts of religion are evil control mechanisms, I do believe they provided a sort of moral compass to civilization. I was baptized Lutheran and participated until I was about 14. While I don’t believe you have to be religious to lead a moral life I do believe in a lot of points in this video.

Some good points, but without attempting to discuss everything I will again ask the question I have asked before and never received a “meaningful” answer: What do people mean by life’s “meaning”?

I have pondered it myself for a long time and the best I’ve been able to figure it out is that (some) people are referring to accomplishing something worthwhile, i.e., doing something that’s worth the time, money, and effort. I can, however, point to countless activities that people spend all those things on that don’t merit the “worthwhile” description, and yet they’re not suicidal, lonely, angry at life, or depressed, so that can’t really be the answer.

Anyone else care to try to explain what it means for life to have “meaning”?

I've talked to quite a few young people who have said things like this. At bottom, they feel something between confusion and betrayal because the academy, as amplified by popular culture, has been telling them for their entire lives that materialism is the only valid worldview, but now they are realizing that materialism can't answer most of their existential questions. They've built an entire worldview on a foundation that rejects objective truth, and that is a very fragile thing.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:

Anyone else care to try to explain what it means for life to have “meaning”?

Try looking at the question from the perspective of the people who are struggling with it: They feel like they have no purpose in the world that justifies the suffering inherent in life. There's no one answer to that question, but not having any answer can be pretty unsettling.

His last comment, "There is always Instagram" is profound. Social media, IMO, is the biggest contributor to and enabler of narcissism, emptiness, loneliness, divisiveness, incivility, misunderstanding, envy and countless other problems. Social media is no substitute for normal gregariousness.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:
Some good points, but without attempting to discuss everything I will again ask the question I have asked before and never received a “meaningful” answer: What do people mean by life’s “meaning”?

I have pondered it myself for a long time and the best I’ve been able to figure it out is that (some) people are referring to accomplishing something worthwhile, i.e., doing something that’s worth the time, money, and effort. I can, however, point to countless activities that people spend all those things on that don’t merit the “worthwhile” description, and yet they’re not suicidal, lonely, angry at life, or depressed, so that can’t really be the answer.

Anyone else care to try to explain what it means for life to have “meaning”?

Why am I here? Answer that and you have meaning.

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Originally posted by Micropterus:
His last comment, "There is always Instagram" is profound. Social media, IMO, is the biggest contributor to and enabler of narcissism, emptiness, loneliness, divisiveness, incivility, misunderstanding, envy and countless other problems. Social media is no substitute for normal gregariousness.

Completely agree!

Also think that unreasonably high (and thus constantly unmet) expectations are to blame.

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Originally posted by cruiser68:

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Originally posted by Micropterus:
His last comment, "There is always Instagram" is profound. Social media, IMO, is the biggest contributor to and enabler of narcissism, emptiness, loneliness, divisiveness, incivility, misunderstanding, envy and countless other problems. Social media is no substitute for normal gregariousness.

Completely agree!

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Originally posted by Micropterus:
Social media, IMO, is the biggest contributor to and enabler of narcissism, emptiness, loneliness, divisiveness, incivility, misunderstanding, envy and countless other problems.

Agreed. Young folks are envious of everyone else on social media (especially the flashy "influencers") who appears to be extremely happy, and wondering why they themselves are not that happy, which makes them even more unhappy. But they then get on social media and try to pretend to be happy too.

There's an overall unrealistic expectation of happiness and having a "perfect life", like the ones they're seeing.

They don't realize that like them, most of their peers that appear that happy on social media are not actually happy, or at least as happy as they're putting forth. These carefully curated "perfect" lives on social media that they're so envious of are not actually perfect, just like theirs is not. They're struggling with the same things you are.

It's all a superficial sham, smoke and mirrors, and perpetuating a vicious cycle. They're trying to "fake it until they make it", only these attempts at faking happiness only serve to perpetuate further unhappiness in most situations.

I completely agree also. In that time in the ancient past before the Kung Flu, friends and I often had lunch in various restaurants and as time passed we noticed and commented on how long it took our much younger fellow diners to get their phones on the table and get to whatever was to get to on the screen. We laughed about it. I don't think it's funny anymore.

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Originally posted by darthfuster:

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Originally posted by sigfreund:
Some good points, but without attempting to discuss everything I will again ask the question I have asked before and never received a “meaningful” answer: What do people mean by life’s “meaning”?

Anyone else care to try to explain what it means for life to have “meaning”?

Why am I here? Answer that and you have meaning.

darthfuster is pointing in the right direction, but it's a riddle.

The answer is actually very simple for those who believe in the Creator. The purpose of life is re-unification, for eternity, with the Creator. This country was founded in a Judeo-Christian tradition by people who believed in the Creator. I think they assumed that this belief would continue without combining religion and politics into an "official religion". They thought that would corrupt both religion and politics, as happened in the middle ages. But, still, they thought that belief in the Creator both gave life meaning and made a republican form of government possible.

The founders made this clear from the beginning:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Because they often lack a true purpose in life.
As in bettering themselves by hard work, or planning, providing for and raising a family. And life long, stable careers or jobs with decent enough pay to support a family are no longer common. If I was a young person today, I would be wondering a lot about what the future might hold for me.

my bet is they were never disciplined as a kid when they did something wrong

they were never taught anything in schools worth a pinch of coonshit

they've been brought up thinking that people owe them something and when they get outside their delicate little bubble they find that people have no use for them

You guys are missing the main problem. No one is raising kids any more. Women are encourage, and to point economically forced to work. If they don't work, the family doesn't have the money to sustain itself in the same way other families in the same class do. And, of course, men still have to work at least as much as they always have, if not more. They has led to a huge disinvestment of time and energy put into raising kids.

And since so many women work, as soon as a marriage hits turbulence, since they're somewhat economically independent, they feel free to bail out of the marriage, at which point the father is essentially cut out of the children's lives.

So kids essentially are raised by day, care, they public school system, and themselves. And we're now seeing the results.

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You guys are missing the main problem. No one is raising kids any more. Women are encourage, and to point economically forced to work. If they don't work, the family doesn't have the money to sustain itself in the same way other families in the same class do.

I'm not saying that's not a problem...
However, I think it's a symptom of the problem Dennis Prager is describing in the video.

I'm with BBMW. I'm not a "Woman's place is in the home" person -- I think women should have the opportunity to work outside the home. But I also think that being a "homemaker" and a stay-at-home mom is a valid and honorable occupation. It is true that having two wage earners usually allows for a more luxurious life style, but at what cost? My father was essentially a common laborer (although quite bright) and a hard worker. He never earned a lot of money while I was growing up, yet my mom spent her time keeping house, cooking meals, repairing and washing clothes, working in the garden (we had one), and seeing to it that I was raised properly. We ate satisfactorily. My mom was a good cook and our meals were both tasty and nutricious, even though fairly plain. (I still prefer "plain" food.) My dad saw to it that we had a good roof over our head, and that our basic needs were met -- which often meant he was working 12-15 hours a day (not much time at home). Discipline was solid, with occasional spanking if needed. (I was a quick study, and didn't get a lot.) Most often, a strong talk about their disappointment in me was enough. I was loved, but not fawned upon. No one "spoiled" me (especially not the grandparents, whom I only saw about one week a year).

Life was simpler, then. My days were taken with school, chores, and playing outside with my friends (no obvious supervision). We got a TV my last year in high school (3 channels). There was one phone, which was a party line for a while. When I wanted to talk to a friend I went to his house.

I learned early on that I could not always have my own way, and I learned how to deal with disappointmentt and rejection. It is amazing how liberating it is to be able to do that. Today's kids think not being invited to a party is a reason to kill themselves. I would have just found some other way to entertain myself, probably with other friends that had not been included. (OTOH, I was pretty selective when choosing "friends" and so I didn't suffer a lot of rejection -- I didn't "run" in the exclusive circles.)

Kids today have been so sheltered from unpleasant circumstances that they have no knowledge of how to deal with them. Every bad thing that happens is a crisis. It is very sad.

flashguy

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Originally posted by chellim1:
The purpose of life ....

If people spoke about “purpose” rather than “meaning” then I could probably have figured it out by now, at least for me.
Purpose, however, is not meaning, unless we just decide to give the two words the same definition; i.e., they mean (there it is again) the same thing. And if we were going to do that, why not just demystify the question and say purpose?

The problem with that idea becomes obvious when we use purpose in the same way as the narrator used “meaning” and say something like, “Your life has no purpose if you aren’t a Christian or Jew and actively participate in worship services.” There are literally billions of people who would dispute such a statement, including most caregivers, teachers, law enforcement officers, members of our armed forces, and even the men who pick up our garbage—and regardless of their religious beliefs, or lack thereof. Many of those people may feel dissatisfied with their lives for various reasons, but that they serve no purpose?

When we use the original word, meaning, then it becomes unfalsifiable if we don’t even know what the word truly refers to other than a vague concept that we pretend to understand. I have served many purposes for my entire adult life, continuing to an age when many people don’t, but I can’t say if my life has had any meaning.

I don’t really expect a meaningful answer to my question, but I sometimes raise it in discussions like this in the hope—however faint now—that someone will be able to explain it in a way I am capable of understanding.

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If people spoke about “purpose” rather than “meaning” then I could probably have figured it out by now, at least for me.
Purpose, however, is not meaning, unless we just decide to give the two words the same definition; i.e., they mean (there it is again) the same thing. And if we were going to do that, why not just demystify the question and say purpose?

When I said this:

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The answer is actually very simple for those who believe in the Creator. The purpose of life is re-unification, for eternity, with the Creator.

... I used the word “purpose” rather than “meaning”. However, meaning is found by seeking a path to the Creator. I'm not saying there aren't multiple ways to do that. I'm sure there are. My religion gives me a path to return to the Creator upon my death. Other people follow a different path and I sincerely hope it works for them.
Another way of saying it is that you find “meaning” by seeking your “purpose”.

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The problem with that idea becomes obvious when we use purpose in the same way as the narrator used “meaning” and say something like, “Your life has no purpose if you aren’t a Christian or Jew and actively participate in worship services.”

That's up to you to decide for yourself. I'm not saying that people who follow another path won't find what they seek.

I feel fairly confident a lot more of these young people would be happier if they rode motorcycles.

Yes it’s materialistic but there is a bit of a brotherhood to it. I cannot begin to tell you how many friends I have met on two wheels over the years.

It would also be quite effective at removing some of the chuckleheads from society so there’s that too.