Bime

Naval Ravikant explains why "the meaning of life" is the wrong question: "It's a 'why' question. You can keep asking 'why' forever. Any answer I give you, you just ask 'why' again." Naval explains where every "why" question ends: "There's a thing called Agrippa's Trilemma. It says that any questioning like this will always end in one of three places. First is infinite regress: 'why?' 'because of this,' 'why?' and you just keep playing it. Second is circular reasoning: 'why A?' 'because of B,' 'why B?' 'because of A.' Third is an axiom. The most popular axiom is God. But it could be anything: math, science, the Big Bang, the simulation. These are all just stopping points. Saying 'we're in a simulation' or 'it's the Big Bang' is just another way of saying God. It's just that God's a dirty word now." He shares what this means: "So there is no answer. The real answer is 'because.' You get to make up your own answers. The beauty is, if there was a single answer, we would not be free. We would be trapped. We'd be Borg-like robots competing with each other to fulfill that single meaning. But luckily there is no answer. So you just do whatever you want." Naval addresses the fear of being insignificant: "All the great questions are paradoxes. You're asking, 'Do I matter?' On one hand, you're completely separate. No one will have your thoughts, your emotions, your experience. Your life is a single-player game. You're trapped inside your head. On the other hand, I cannot say the words 'Joe Rogan' without invoking the entire universe. What's Joe Rogan? A human. What's a human? A bipedal ape. What's an ape? On earth. What's earth? A planet. Where was the carbon made? Inside stars. I have to create the entire universe just to say the words 'Joe Rogan.'" He concludes: "So the answer to 'Do I matter?' is: I am nothing and I am everything. The answers to all great questions are paradoxes. It's pointless to pursue them for a trite answer, but the act of pursuing them brings a level of peace."