Viktor Frankl: Our need for Meaning and Purpose

[@melodyal3357]

God let this amazing man survive all that he did so he could contribute to mankind in an enormous ways. Pure Genius in his craft and also a warmness you feel from his heart. Beautiful human being. If only people would want to learn more from such as Viktor Frankl, society would be fulfilled with so much more loving, kinder and empathic humans (towards one another and themselves).

[@erikpeterson25]

Great man and great contribution to humanity ....

[@devanshujani6775]

We suffer more due to lack of meaning rather than a situation by itself,Once we have to find out what life wants from us rather than what we wants from life and once we knows it,it becomes the same what we and life wants us to do.

[@ingenuity168]

Great man, survivor and a great contributor to mankind. 🙏🏻❤👏🏻

[@catmando4448]

I didn't know that he had developed logotherapy before the concentration camps. Thankfully he did and maybe survived them as a result. The fact that he lived through such an experience is testament to it's effectiveness and the effectiveness of choosing to see a meaningful light at the end of the tunnel.

[@NorahsYarnArt]

Catculture well said! He actually mentioned that early on in the book, he lost the manuscript then attempted to write it again on any scraps that could be used as paper- that to me was very inspiring, he also had to retrieve it from memory and that too provided meaning necessary to survive.

[@catmando4448]

@@NorahsYarnArt Thank you! All that he went through to write his manuscript shows how important it was to him. It really was a matter of life and death for him, as he saw people giving up around him It's interesting how it all came together for Frankl in the concentration camps- his theory, his therapy, and his dire life circumstances. He lived out his theory, and performed therapy on himself while in the camps...and in the process confirmed that it worked! And what a great contribution he has made to humanity by giving us his theory, his therapy, and his example!

[@coreycox2345]

@@catmando4448 I found the first half of the book would have worked for me as a stand-alone without the discussion of logotherapy. I loved it.

[@catmando4448]

@@coreycox2345 I hear ya, eons ago, back in ancient Greek days, a story passed from generation to generation was how knowledge was remembered and imparted. And Frankl's story is a powerful one. These days there's a lot of suffering going around due to the pandemic. If more people knew his story perhaps they would be able to discover meaning in their suffering. It can be a hard pill to swallow, I know.

[@Historian212]

@ Cat Man Do Agree -- that was new to me. Fascinating in that it shows how he went through the camp experience mindful of how he might approach it. I also love his stance that ran contrary to so much of the "Me Generation" stuff that happened in the 70s. (I lived through it but wasn't a part of that movement.)

[@gbcoolsag]

If every young person read Man's Search for Meaning maybe there would be no concentration camps. With all this anger and hate in our world again this book is needed today more than ever perhaps.

[@Flumazenil]

Why his teachings are not part of every high school and college curriculum is shocking and disappointing.

[@melodyal3357]

School system is not great example of raising intelligent people. It is based to raise sheep of society first, then everything else.. That's why self-love, real values etc are not learnt, and not true wisdom such as Victor Frankl stood for trying to help individually and collectively.

[@richardcampbell8685]

They want to keep you dumb

[@rabbitcreative]

> Why his teachings are not part of every high school and college curriculum is shocking and disappointing. By design. They are trying to kill you.

[@AmericusMaximus]

Instead of the garbage now being mainlined into students’ heads.

[@gischalav]

I was Lucky enough to have him as part of mine! Also erich fromm and some others

[@STEAMroomEdu]

Talk about “meaning”. This gentleman took the most horrific of experiences and turned it into the most valuable life lesson for generations past present and future…modern day content creators promote this very principle

[@johop1496]

This is a inspiration for humanity ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@MrRocksW]

Great man. I have ambitions to visit his grave one day.

[@vancroll8547]

where is it?

[@jedkaro]

@@vancroll8547 At the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria.

[@DavidByers1eye]

Thank You . . .

[@ajiboyeadebowalegbenga9640]

Great thoughts

[@CarolPrice4p]

A beautiful interview.

[@artifactis]

The meaning of life is what ever you are doing to distract you from killing yourself~Albert Camus

[@johnllewlyndavies222]

This was certainly not broadcast on the BBC!

[@claudiamanta1943]

People are neurotic, unhappy, unfulfilled, and totally demoralised because the available meanings that are promoted culturally do not align with the real, universal meaning of life.

[@AllenQuatermain2de]

which is?

[@yoshihorror1948]

Underrated comment

[@GregMartini-y8s]

great points

[@krisscanlon4051]

Cathy Milton of WTAE TV Pittsburgh

[@silviatabanelli3569]

Exactly!❤

[@Admiral8Q]

When Viktor Frankl is saying, "Mankind", "Him", "Man", what Frankle meant is all humanity, everyone. These words and meanings have been a conflict of "gender" nonsense since the 1970's, and still are today.

[@p.rabbitt4914]

I noticed this myself as I watched this. He kept saying he, he, he.. while he's talking to a woman! I read it as "you dont matter as much as men" & "men set the standard to which women should adapt." I have great respect for Viktor Frankl. I believe this was unintended & a produce of the culture of that time. And I am encouraged by how far we have come in consciousness now that most people (that I am aware of) do not operate from the gender bias of the past generations.

[@serrael-182]

@@p.rabbitt4914 You read it like this, I didnt.

[@p.rabbitt4914]

@@serrael-182 well maybe you should open your mind to it.

[@HUBERJosef]

@@p.rabbitt4914 he speaks of „Mensch“ (human being in German) and the grammatical gender of Mensch is „der“ (masculine). That‘s all

[@JJ-fr2ki]

You must be kidding. The word “man” as in the Gospel’s “son of man” or Einstein’s concerns for mankind did not as a word exclude women. It was part and reflected a patriarchy which very effectively oppressed women since the agricultural revolution. The system and word also in many cases excluded slaves and children. With new consciousness delivered by waves of feminism we are better off, but the achievements were not mainly lexical. Empirical work cited by Pinket shows lexical politics doesn’t work: today’s euphemism for the cognitively disabled will be tomorrow’s insult until we reconceive the value of non-neurotypical beings. ( think of something like our respect for dolphins extended to these unfortunate humans.). So Frankl is using the word for human then. Language changes.

[@dwen5065]

The meaning of life is the meaning you give it and, as Camus said, “You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” This isn’t putting down what many may think he is saying, rather it highlights that he is saying individuals must develop personal meaning for their lives. As far as finding common meaning for societies, that is a double edged sword. Camus again, “… a good reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying.” Nowadays you have the modern Republican Party in America demonstrating this, yet I don’t accept their meaning at all. So my meaning is to oppose them. It’s not like this gets us to a great place. His talk was given when people believed in the grand march of liberalism and progress. To me, those days are gone. We need a clear eyed and realistic view of how to manage ourselves on this planet in a sustainable fashion while practicing true tolerance. We are no where near that.

[@JoviBootlegs90]

Camus' philosophy was based on absurdism which is the ultimate stage of nihilism

[@jcantonelli1]

​@@JoviBootlegs90Funny you say that, as I came to comment that modern Republicans are nearly indistinguishable from nihilists.

[@noachphillips7439]

Anyone know where this interview aired, and who the interviewer was?

[@brucesekliar5824]

Tragedy to triumph. Predicament to achievement. Woh

[@pedrozaragoza2253]

Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

[@YouTubefan12121]

@ 2:30

[@sobankhalid8803]

encountered with an unchangeable 'face' lol 5:52 freudian slip, the lady certainly was giving him a poker face the whole time lol lol. great message ofcourse

[@JC-qz8dn]

I don’t see a poker or unchangeable face. He said face in the next sentence so he clearly mixed up fate and face, not a Freudian slip. Easy considering English is not his primary language. Each person colors the world with their past experiences though... an opportunity for reflection. 🤔

[@lotharlamurtra7924]

Yes, exactly. And after this moment, the interviewer having received the message becomes a little more expressive by smiling.

[@lotharlamurtra7924]

I mean I agree wlth Soban. I think that the interviewer is pretty pokerfaced until the end.

[@NorahsYarnArt]

He pronounced it face simply because there is no th sound in his native Austrian German and the closest intelligible match would be fais or fait which just happened to resemble face and fate!

[@sobankhalid8803]

@@NorahsYarnArt That is very interesting. you are probably right and I am wrong. it is also possible that more than one thing is happening at the same time.

[@ilqar887]

Anybody asked him ?what is the meaning of he's life?

[@germansanchez3471]

A very famous quote of his was something like "I found meaning in helping others find their meaning"

[@JoviBootlegs90]

If you read his books you'd figure on your own

[@themeaningoflifeexpert]

My free book has the answer to the actual meaning of life

[@Robert...Schrey]

meaning is, more or less, advertising to oneself. 😂

[@someonesomeone25]

But he never explains how to find or create meaning?

[@amandaevans1762]

This is because meaning is an individual pursuit with an individual answer, so each path towards finding/creating meaning will be individual as well. That being said, in Man's Search for Meaning he does recommend three courses of action in the pursuit of meaning: through deeds, the experience of values through some kind of medium (beauty through art, love through a relationship, etc.) or suffering. Suffering may not be necessary, but is an option in absence of the other two opportunities.

[@someonesomeone25]

@@amandaevans1762 I've had plenty of all three, but have not found meaning within any. How does one extract meaning from such stuff?

[@amandaevans1762]

@@someonesomeone25 I can only speak for myself, as again the search for meaning is a very individual pursuit. There have been times for me when finding meaning comes quickly and easily, there are other times where it's taken years for me to find meaning. After my grandma who raised me passed away, I blamed myself for over a decade for something stupid I did right before she died. I had to work through my depression and self blame before I could find meaning in the experience of her passing and the consequent suffering I experienced. Now that I'm older and more at peace with myself, I'm the kind of person who can look at a beautiful sunset and tear up because it reminds me of the impermanence of life, how our time on this earth is unique, beautiful, short and only experienced once like a sunset. I don't know if this is helpful to you, but I suppose the best answer I can give to you is time, guidance, and love has helped me find meaning.

[@someonesomeone25]

@@amandaevans1762 Thanks for your insights. I guess I'm looking for a purpose that gives me so.ething to strive for rather than a retrospective way of attributing meaning to past events. Take care :)

[@amandaevans1762]

@@someonesomeone25 I understand and from what research I have done on Viktor Frankl, I believe that he would say that both are necessary. Where you've come from is a part of where you're going, the meaning that you find in the life you've lived thus far can help tell you how you view the world around you and what you want to contribute. Pay attention to your interests, consider your virtues and your values. While you're at it though, throw away everything you think you have to do to have value in society and focus on your own definitions of value. This short lecture by Frankl summarizes his opinions on it well- kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZWQYnagnceMhrM

[@ckom0007]

If you have to ask what the meaning of life is you’re never gonna get it...

[@JeffaHensley]

Why?

[@someonesomeone25]

I can neither find nor create any purpose or meaning for myself.

[@ckom0007]

@@someonesomeone25 Well, good for you...I guess.

[@someonesomeone25]

@@ckom0007 Actually very bad for me.

[@ckom0007]

@@someonesomeone25 Sorry, I didn’t mean that! You’re life is important and I’m sure people love you. There are many things that could inspire you. Just put down the phone and go for a simple walk. Start small and never give up on yourself! Ckom

[@asier6734]

And meaning in sex is experiential which takes us back to freud: eros and thanatos

[@YouTubefan12121]

@ 2:23