The Meaning of Life According to SBREBROWN

[@quince7]

This was the opposite of depressing. This was the most reassuring and GROUNDING perspective I've heard on this eternal (hah) question. Thank you for sharing your perspective.

[@Privateer1]

You made my entire year with this video. Thanks for answering my question. ❤❤❤❤

[@nickm9370]

Thank you for this, Stephen. For what it is worth, I entirely agree with you. I'm in my fifties and I used to be agnostic, despite coming from a family that was Brethren on my Father's side of the family and Jewish on my Mother's. Then I had a brain tumour six years ago - benign, but it was in the centre of my brain. Took my surgeon a lot of effort to get out, and it left me very confused for nearly two years. Been getting memories back constantly since then, and now I am almost back to normal. But I am now atheist - didn't have any "experience", etc during or after surgery and it simply removed any vestiges of doubt for me. I too find myself striving to be kind, patient and understanding much more now. It has been a very strange journey.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Not everyone who has these operations has a near-death experience - you never actually 'died'. It seems that you have made a judgement purely based on your own personal experience, but there are many who have had a completely different one and feel very strongly that there is something after death.

[@PatriceChristian]

“We have two lives; the second begins when we realize we only have one” is a quote attributed to Confucius according to the internet. If it is that old, we may never be sure.

[@MissMarilynDarling]

I saw this quote and it really made me think “Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed through a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather.” I also believe that there is something bigger than ourselves that no unique event no single moment, there are infinite diversity in infinite combinations, that nothing in this universe happens just once, infinity goes it both direction and maybe just maybe the same thing happening here is happening somewhere else ..

[@mellow-jello]

When Stephen brought up fountain pens, I use them to bring my thoughts, beliefs and learning to life, and along with my readings and life experiences, and eminent death, these activities breeds purpose and intent. Viktor Frankl came closest in his discussion on the search for Meaning: 1. Finding meaning in life is key to happiness and well-being. 2. One can choose hope to cope with unavoidable suffering and find meaning in it. 3. One's purpose can be found by completing tasks, caring for others, or face suffering with dignity. 4. People should be responsible for their own lives and answer to life by responding to it. 5. The primary drive is the pursuit of meaning, not pleasure. 6. Each person has a unique vocation or mission in life that demands fulfillment. Hope folks continue living purposefully and with meaning, with their fountain pens in 2025.

[@danlevene5478]

42?

[@manicdataminer]

No, that would be the number of minutes it would take you to fall through a hole in the Earth and get to the other side of the planet, ignoring minor deterrents such as extreme heat and friction.

[@philnaunton7181]

Fortitude!

[@AndreasGiannopoulos]

Thanks for your words. Meaningful. Simple.

[@diederikdepauw5237]

Zalig mooi en duidelijk. Zoals vele van je video's. En zoals je zegt. Iedereen heeft recht op zijn gedacht. Maar de manier waarop je dit bekijkt, met wetenschap, psychologie, ... werkt inspirerend. Hopelijk gaf het maken hiervan evenveel voldoening en aha als het bekijken. Veel succes en prettig Nieuwjaar. Grts

[@Vovvilina]

Thank you for sharing this. Here's to looking forward to a new year with the mindset that each day brings us another opportunity to be kind to others rather than compare or expect or fret over individuals who differ from us. We may all share the same matter but we do not think or act the same, so let's control ourselves only.

[@karinamcconell1828]

Thank you Steven for this insight. 😊

[@edwardrutledge2765]

Yeah, but how should we use blotting paper without smudging or taking all the vibrancy out of an ink?

[@foreigndaruma9825]

Thank you. I needed that today...well, probably on quite a few days, as we all do.

[@repeat_defender]

I appreciate you, Dr. Brown.

[@mitarikbarma]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on such an obvious yet difficult topic. 😊

[@SwedeEad]

I have one issue with all that you say in this video. No sausages after death. WHAT!?! I may have to rethink everything, but it will be fun! "Are you being facetious again you our Richard!?!"" Yup. Thanks for all you do, I get so much from listening to your musings. I came for the fountain pens and found a whole lot more. Thank you, Thinking Rich.

[@alexandrapirvu7945]

I agree with your answers, although sometimes i think (and feel) that there was a purpose for our coming here... Got to this conclusion after some years in Therapy, and after seeing that some of my issues came from my parents, grandparents and grand-grandparents, but after starting therapy and working in some issue, not just my life, but my children's and even my parents' lives were changed for the better. Might be wishful thinking, though, i don't have enough evidence

[@nathantrimner2705]

I think that the reason so many young people are depressed these days is that they don't know who they are. Will someone please tell me who I am? I think the message that we each make our own meaning in life is contributing to the problem. We look at other people to try and figure out who we are and we listen to their stories. The people that are most important are our parents and grandparents. When they are absent, we search for other people to figure out who we are. Those stories ground us and give us a place of stability. What are the best stories that we can teach our children for their future well-being? I can't wrap my head aroud how a story that says there is no ultimate meaning to life, that their existence is random and accidental, and there is no such thing as right and wrong is good for their development. The prood is in the pudding. How are individuals and society at large doing today? From the evidence I've been collecting, it doesn't look good. Maybe there is a better story than the one that's been increasingly shared over the past 30 years because it appears to have created record numbers of self-centered narcissists.

[@doubtingdan7252]

Thank you so much for making this video! It really resonates with me, having deconverted 20 years ago from evangelical fundamentalism and still recovering from it. With all my best wishes for you, Daniel

[@МыколаНетребко]

04:30 I grew up in a very rigid, evangelical Christian home, and I learned to fear the God of the Bible. I'm now an agnostic atheist, and have been for a few year. And when you say some people are offended at the scientific view point on the origins of life, perhaps consider that many people are simply afraid to consider the alternative to their religious indoctrination.

[@yingyuburgess7874]

Thank you

[@davidbee9563]

There is a rhythm of existence, particularly with mammals, of rest and activity. Some hibernate for weeks or months at a time. We humans require a balance of downtime on a daily basis. Every day we must release our body and mind from activity, not knowing whether we will wake again. If we resist this natural pattern we would go insane and cease to be able to function. Then one day we will not wake up and this is the end. When we are infants we need to learn to walk. Walking is a controlled fall that we get better at with time and practice. Unless we embrace the falling we can never walk. When we embrace sleep as a form of death, inactivity, then we can live. Going through life without awareness or engagement is a kind of death or non-being. Your value as a person has to be something beyond a cog in the machine. That is a task that can bring meaning to the daily patterns of life. So we can find value or meaning in our lives and extend that to others and help them discover or uncover this. Or as someone may have said, " The un-examined life is not worth living." But beware, the obsessive pursuit of meaning can lead to madness. Some things just are.

[@kjmav10135]

I believe, as you do, meaning is something we make, and how we make meaning involves our culture, our families, socioeconomic situation, the level of suffering or ease we experience, and how our own genetic stamp adds our own particular flavor to all of the above. My own meaning making: In the midst of mystery, each other is all we have. I love as best as I can, act as ethically as I can, enjoy each day, and bask in the wonder.

[@johntalbot134]

Except that when you appeal to ‘ethics’ as a standard, you contradict your belief that all meaning is mere social construction.

[@ichirofakename]

Thanks for being sane and not delusional.

[@March22012]

It’s a complex question and one each of us should ask ourselves.

[@johntalbot134]

Always happy to hear people’s views on ultimate matters. I’ve no doubt you can see, and have considered, that holding your view consistently would mean you could not logically object to anybody else’s behavior, no matter what they do.

[@VidkunQL]

It's not that the atoms of which we're composed will return to the universe. They're in the universe _now._ They're no more nor less part of the universe and under the direction of the universe now than they ever were or ever will be, because _we're_ part of the universe. They're not even ours until we die and have to relinquish them; they're entering and leaving us all the time. I wrote more on this topic, but it got poetic, crossed over into bathos, and died.

[@davidbrazier9246]

Thanks for that.

[@edwardstaats4935]

This is amazing insight, thank you.

[@kookatsoonjan]

I do have to agree. This moment, is all we really have, and it may be best, to make the most of it, and at least enjoy it, with whatever you choose to fill it with....Janis

[@nigelbartholomew2805]

Not depressing. Very intrresting. I think as we get older, we understand more of the fragility of life. Not kmowing when the end is. I agree with you on the point about eternity being frightening. Your experience or thoughts about the effects of anesthesia made me reflect on a recent operation i had and the difting into nothing. I wasnt aware, so whats to fear about death? My grandad was a kind, wise man who led a good life, but didnt believe in god.is it right to think that he deserves to go a place called hell, just becaause he didnt believe? There are plenty of not so nice people who "believe", so will be forgiven and go to heaven. Doesnt make sense to me. With my current condition, that appeared out of nowhere, ive reflected on life. Its made me realise times ive wasted. But its ok. Acceptance of lifes fragility and end is not a curse, but just the way it goes, is a comfort. Surprising how many people want to tryand save your soul when the end of life seems roughly defined :-) its a cliche but i agree with the saying... never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Because trust me, tomorrow you might be told something that will limit your options to do anything too far into yhe future. Cherish and enjoy the time you have. Its not happening again.. i believe. Ive become very reflective these days :-) excellent video

[@lloydpayne6668]

Loved it!! Keep being kind. Not that it matters.

[@edwardstaats4935]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

[@boshkodjordjevich7424]

Thank you, as always, Dr. Brown. I am very curious if you have read "The Origin of Conscousness In The breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by Julian Jaynes (1976). I read this book some 15 years ago and find myself still thinking about it. Are you familiar with Julian Jaynes? And what do you make of his theory?

[@lloydpayne6668]

Spinoza?

[@shadowharmonyify]

100% agreed. All points.

[@FrauStaenki]

Very interesting! I think, you are right ... as always 😉

[@leoluck68]

Thank you. I’ve been dealing with my eminent death and I found comfort in your thoughts.

[@RainmanP99]

The ever-insightful sbrebrown, ladies and gentlemen.

[@robertosans5250]

Interesting video for Christmas Day or Solis Invictus. Having a similar scientific background to yours , I agree wholeheartedly with much of what you have said here so eloquently. However, I cannot bring myself to dismiss entirely the hypothesis of a sort of "plan" behind the might and beauty of the Cosmos. I dislike the idea of a personal God like the one in the Abrahamic religions, but the presence of something beyond comprehension , only intuited in moments of deep concentration or artistic experience, Is deeply ingrained inside me. I well know that this is likely to be self delusion but even so I cannot reject it. Maybe I am pre programmed to be a believer. I do not know. But thank you for sincerity. I hope this video does not become problematic for you in the future, given the present trends in North American politics. Best wishes for this festive season.

[@bold2013]

Hope you are feeling better. “Trying is enough” not sure Yoda would agree with you. Hey. We have different beliefs but a similar fear of eternity. When I think of a self existing, eternal God, its like staring at the bright beautiful sun (it’s blinding but I can’t look away).

[@willemgroenewegen5934]

Carpe Diem, or, in Kaweco's case: Carpe Dia.

[@guitardad54]

Always thought provoking. Thank you for being you.

[@saints51]

What is not easily defended is the view that matter, at some time, created itself. To my knowledge, science has never encountered this, nor has any of us experienced matter just popping into existence "of its own accord." My 1937 Parker Challenger is an exception; it broke all of Nature's laws. But put that aside. You get my drift. What follows from the above ultimately contradicts what my esteemed friend Stephen says here. And he is highly esteemed.

[@danielklopp7007]

@saints51 : Allow me to illustrate how you may be missing something (of our current scientific knowledge of the current universe). Scientific fact #1: E=MC^2 (you may have heard of this equation proposed by a former Swiss patent clerk; this equation tells us mass and energy are the same thing, just in different forms). Scientific fact #2: First law of thermodynamics: energy is neither created nor destroyed. If you do any in-depth reading of the big bang theory, you'll note it took at least 100,000 years (from the Planck time) for the current universe to cool enough for the simplest atoms (hydrogen) to form (from the pure energy of the singularity). We get the remaining elements on the periodic table from star formation and destruction. More importantly, it took 5 x 10^-36 seconds (an unimaginably short time) for the 4 fundamental forces of the (current) universe to emerge from a single force. Between these fundamental truths, we can infer the cosmos (in what ever form) is eternal.

[@Winstonsmom]

This is great. Not offensive in the least... agree with you completely. How's pen club? I still get the emails and wonder how y'all are doing.

[@judyjacobs5827]

Well done, sir.

[@paulmchugh1430]

At first from the title I thought you were going to do a humourous play on a Monty Python movie. Clearly this was not the case. You provided a serious and analytical approach to a ponderous question. There is, of course, a more philosophical approach; one that does not lend itself to what is you life from the moment of conception to the moment of death. What happens between those two points is what intrigues me the most. I do believe that throughout our lives we are constantly searching if our life has meaning for us. What do we mean by that? Do we come to a point where we feel we have provided justification, thereby meaning to our existence? This is not analytical and one that i have pondered repeatedly throughout my life. Does what we do with our lives provide meaning to us? Analytically, this question is fairly cut and dry. We are a biological machine that performs movements, thoughts and behaviors that are either learned of instinctive. If you are asking why are we here and for what purpose, we could answer it as a roll of cosmological dice thet had the right conditions to be have us be in existence. But what we do with our lives and why we do with it is highly individualistic. And for me that is the meaning, an individual journey.

[@squirejinx]

Oddly, some folks have a compulsion to explicate and expatiate on their favorite god(s) - despite their acknowledgement that humans are inherently incapable of understanding the divine. Their futile aspirations have gifted us with a legacy of magnificent art, music, architecture, etc.

[@Tiss17979]

Oh it must be a pleasure to sit down with you, take some cups of tea and just discuss.

[@Mom2Piggy]

This was great. Progress is enough.

[@gristlevonraben]

Penticostals from France, I believe, began teaching a hell punishment forever theology. Thomas Jefferson wrote about the oddness of the belief system they were preaching in one of his letters. The catholics took Dante to heart. And monks have added so much to the bible. The greatest and strangest thing of all the early enemies of christianity may have added, likely the Mithras/Freemason cult, was that a God who taught us not to sacrifice people and killed us for sacrificing children, should suddenly reverse that anti sacrifice law by killing one of his own children. You may rightly ask, then how do you still believe in Jesus, whether he died on a cross or not? Because, when you ask him to teach you how to love and give and be more than you ever thought possible, he says yes, and does it. All he asks of us is to try to love people and be a good example, which some people, like you, do anyways. However, my autism and sociopathy did not help me to do that naturally, I needed outside help, and he gave it. You know, Jesus didn't come to save people from hell, he came to call people to be administrators and rulers in his Kingdom to come. That's why he says many are called but few are chosen. I've met a lot of crazy christians and non christians, would you choose some of them to rule over other people???

[@saints51]

"The catholics took Dante to heart." You have it precisely backwards; Dante took Catholicism to heart.

[@gristlevonraben]

@saints51 no where in the Bible is hell considered a frozen wasteland, or rings of land devoted to increasingly horrible tortures.

[@wladicus1]

_ Re: Meaning of Life - The simple and non-assuming answer is as you have said "None". There is no meaning to life. And of course the fact appears to be that people, individuals, or philosophers, or religions have given 'THEIR' meaning based on personal conditioning, upbringing, or belief system. _ Well done on that point SBREBROWN! _ However, re: neuro-scientific approach the brain is strictly body related. The 'real' you if we can for the moment categorize it that way, the 'real' you is neither the brain nor the body. There is, however, a "you" identity that arises based on stored memory and associations to various experiences. It is the "I" or "me" identity that 'identifies' itself based on particular conditioning, upbringing, beliefs, etc. This is the personal identity that most people take as being their actual 'self'. In a peculiar way this could be called the Artificial "I" (AI) akin to the artificial intelligence of computer programming. _ What the 'real' you or 'I' or 'me' is, cannot be comprehended by the limited finite mind. The reality of "you" is not an identity but is more in the realm of pure awareness or consciousness in an omnipresent, non-local aspect. In this area we are pointing to that which is ineffable and thus beyond any intellectual analysis.

[@AndrewWertheimer]

I’m trying to imagine an agnostic fountain pen capturing this wonderfully rational humanist spirit … made from a celluloid primordial soup with something like E=mc2 on the clip. Maybe a nice quote by Spinoza on the barrel. Have a good 2025.

[@AmaDeuSpirit]

Just like Epikuros (Maybe someone else) said: If I exist, there is no death. If there is death, I will not exist.

[@herbcraven7146]

I've found that when I've been confronted by the most aggressive people trying to "save my soul", I can often put them off by telling them that whatever happens to me in death, I couldn't imagine a greater hell than to be surrounded by self-righteous people for all eternity.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

It's up to you to 'save your soul', not others.

[@bold2013]

It’s really up to God

[@kookatsoonjan]

well said !

[@mosesmartinez4364]

@@tancreddehauteville764. 1000%

[@mosesmartinez4364]

@@bold2013. 1000%

[@ELECTRONICSANDGADGETS]

What does this have to do with pens? Your ideals are uselss compared to others.

[@larsgottlieb]

That - genuinely trying - i the only thing we actually Can do. Yoda was wrong.

[@Draco52-h5r]

Life has no meaning and no purpose. We are part of evolution. And as individuals, we are the totality of our personal past at every present moment.Groetjes uit België. 🙏

[@TheRacerRich]

The purpose of life, which perhaps is a different question than the meaning of life, is unsatisfactorily simply to procreate. My proof? If life has a purpose it must be present in all life. What do we have in common with an amoeba? All life procreates, thus it is the purpose of life.

[@user-br3sl9go3b]

I can swear there ain't no Heaven But I pray there ain't no Hell Swear there ain't no Heaven And I'll pray there ain't no Hell But I'll never know by livin' Only my dyin' will tell Yes, only my dyin' will tell, oh yeah Only my dyin' will tell

[@user-br3sl9go3b]

You gave all you have and that's more than we can ask of you. Be kind in 2025. I'll try, too.

[@Privateer1]

… the second one starts when he realizes he has only one life… -George W Bush

[@Privateer1]

Or Confucius.

[@pcschick]

No, no. Eternity's WITHOUT duration. You're still thinking about it in clock-measured time. 🙃😉😇

[@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564]

So you believe that complex beings such as ourselves, just randomly evolved? I'm open to all suggestions. What about the idea that the human species was planted here, by an alien culture? ( I don't believe in UFO's.) The one thing that would make me believe in a higher power, is how the Earth's magnetic field is perfectly formed in a way that makes life on Earth possible. This is a deep subject for Christmas Day. I hope you find some happiness during this holiday season.

[@MattiasWirf]

Evolution is not the same as "randomly evolved".

[@tancreddehauteville764]

@@MattiasWirf So who directs evolution then?

[@MattiasWirf]

@@tancreddehauteville764 Natural selection. I'm no expert, and that answer is based on your question being a real one. But since that answer is one googling away I'm guessing your trying to start some clever discussion. However I have no wish in debating it.

[@VidkunQL]

The Earth's magnetic field varies over time, so it can't be called "perfectly formed". You've been reading too much creationist... I have no choice but to call it _literature._

[@tancreddehauteville764]

@@VidkunQL But then the other question arises: what caused the magnetic field, and so on.......

[@BullheadedGiovanni]

So how do you explain that you have a conscience? I'll tell you now that you are wrong. Not only are you wrong, but you may find at some future point that you are happy that you were wrong about being completely annihilated. Yes Dante was wrong, he was a cruel man who did not know justice, but the real God does know what is good and just.

[@uteh.3659]

I have very similar views to yours

[@raymondcregan6607]

Well said Steven, thank you!!!

[@littleword1]

Thank you, Stephen! I feel very similarly and it was lovely hearing someone else articulate it. Even as a young person, who was still emersed in the faith in which she was raised, the thought of an interminable eternity (heaven, hell or something else) was more unsettling than the thought of death being the end. I'm going to butcher this quote, and I wish I remembered who said it - Sagan? Hitchens? Randi? - but it stuck with me and rang true. The gist is, "There is peace in knowing that when the last synapse fires, there is nothing." I'm quite content to simply return to the stardust from whence I came. And it was, ironically, a pastor who helped me move away from religion (in a positive way). He gave a powerful sermon saying, in essence, quit worrying about getting into heaven or if there is a hell... this is the only life we know we have... to be a peace with yourself, do your best every day to help make this one life as good for as many people as possible.

[@korax67]

Stephen, I totally agree with every word you said.

[@PatriceChristian]

“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” Carl Sagan I like others here, am of a like mind. I believe exactly what you have described about life and death. I have actually thought about it quite a bit because I have lived my entire life in a religious region and am surrounded, constantly, by people who believe in things that my brain just cannot accept. The difference is that unlike many of those people - not all, but many - I am very happy and do not live in fear of death or judgment or eternal damnation, or whatever. I worry about disease or injury, but not death itself. Why? To me, it's like a light switch. You're just... gone, and that's it.

[@Tom_Samad]

I enjoyed watching this video, even as a Muslim. Stay strong and stay hopeful for the future.

[@OnBeingAndNothingnes]

Quod ereat demonstrandum

[@engr.mubashirahmedkhalidma1456]

i am a bit disappointed by you opinion towards the concept of meaning of life... i view this video to get some enlightenment but, was deprived of it. if you believe in one god than its good for you.. coz believing in more than one good is stupidity... coz how this universe will survived. All the gods with their powers will fight each others... so that is why i said it will be stupidity... i will suggest you(as a wellwisher) do read a copy of quran with engilsh translation...final word of god to humanity... easily available on web... peace

[@engr.mubashirahmedkhalidma1456]

quran chapter 29 (3-8) 3. Do men think that they will be left alone because they say, 'we believe,; and that they will not be tested? 4.And We did test those who were before them. So God will surely distinguish those who are truthful and HE will surely distinguish the liars from the truthful. 5. Or do those who commit evil deeds think that they will escape Us?Evil is what they judge. 6.Whoso hopes to meet God let him be prepared for it, for God's appointed time is certainly coming. And He is the All-hearing, the All-Knowing. 7. And whoso strives, strives only for his own soul; verily God is Independent of all creatures. 8. And as to those who believe and do good works, We shall surely removed from them heir evils, and We shall surely give them the best reward of their works.

[@squirejinx]

GOD IS DEAD The obituary said. Well, for heaven's sake: An eternal Irish wake!

[@petragallert9198]

Slainte!

[@pamelasnyder9745]

Respectfully, nihilism is not for me.

[@manicdataminer]

Fine, but this is clearly not nihilism.

[@kookatsoonjan]

I hope you don't get stuck FOREVER in Heaven , Stephen. I also hope that one day, you will have enough room where you record to move that camera and your desk away from that wall of beautiful pictures, so that we can see them in all their glory . That would mean that your head will not be chopping them off and they will not be chopping your crown horizontally with their crosswise lines. Not sure how this can happen, but it sure would not hurt my eyes and design sense, if the camera frame had the FULL PICTURES with a nice bit of negative space above and below...with your frame, and lovely face......free of backround chops. Just an idea, for later. Thanks for your opinion. It was very scientific....Janis

[@lloydpayne6668]

In God there's nothing.