#118: Immortality Project, Survival & Agrippa's Trilemma
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on the Meaning of Life
I. Immortality Project
To distract us from the uncomfortable truth of our own mortality, we’re engaged in what cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker referred to as the Immortality Project.
In his 1973 book The Denial of Death, he argued that civilisation is just an elaborate attempt for us to become “symbolic beings”; heroically contributing to world life. In other words, we strive for meaning and greatness so we can become immortal. Not physically, but spiritually and culturally.
So is all the stuff I write and publish just the manifestation of my personal Immortality Project? An attempt to defy death by making myself live on in my work and the collective consciousness of humanity?
II. Survival
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach John Danaher has a perspective on the meaning of life you probably haven’t heard:
For most of human existence, the meaning of life was very very simple. Survival. The only thing that humans cared about was just surviving. Because it was so damn difficult for the early years of human existence in this Earth. If you look at ourselves as biological agents, everything about our body is set up for one mission, and that is survival.
Danaher goes on to describe how humanity has since evolved. We’ve learned how to compensate for our vulnerability “through the use of technology and social structure.” Nowadays, our lives would be all but “guaranteed”. Without the struggle for survival, we start to look for meaning elsewhere.
III. Agrippa's Trilemma
Agrippa's Trilemma, also known as Münchhausen Trilemma, is a thought experiment about the difficulty of proving any truth. Philosopher and investor Naval Ravikant has applied this exercise to his search for the meaning of life.
Agrippa’s Trilemma says that any questioning like this, “Why?”, will always end in three places
First is, infinite regress. Why? Because of this. Why that? And it keeps going forever.
The second is circular reasoning. A. Why A? Because of B. Why B? Because of A. And you get trapped in that.
And the third is an axiom. And the most popular axiom is god. But it could be anything. Because of math, because of science, because of the Big Bang, because of the simulation. […]
So you end up in of of those three dead-ends essentially. So, there is no answer. The real answer is ‘because’.
You get to make up your own answer is the beauty. If there was a single answer we would not be free, we would be trapped. Because then we’d all have to live to that answer.
Intrigued? Check out my latest essay on the Münchhausen Trilemma and the Meaning of Life where I string these and other ideas together. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com