Will to pleasure
A new era.
There has been god’s will, will to power, will to meaning, will to life/living and, the most modern one, the concept of free will. What’s next?
Sentences are like strings of woven meaning. Programmers have known the connection between written text and the variable type of strings for a long time.
Similar parts of sentences invoke associations. Language don’t create reality, but it interconnects reality through ideas. Thinking that the data type “string” in programming languages like C++, Python, TypeScript etc. is connected to the physical action of weaving a string made of a material like cotton or nylon might be ridiculous. But let’s roll with it for a moment. [→ Hypothesis!]
To see an application, let’s define “free” first. “Free” can mean many different things:
“free” as in “no financial cost”, which implicitly connects “provided for no monetary charge” to “freedom”
“free” as in “getting away”, like in “free as a bird”. Getting right into the symbology here.
“free” as in “land of the free”, expressing a sentiment of a certain nation
You get the idea: Many people understand many different things under the term “free” and, as a matter of fact, as we know from the news, often this also leads to conflict.
The opposite of such a general term is a technical term. By definition, it aims to be understood in the exact same way by everyone who knows the term. One of the first examples is “Cogito, ergo sum”, with which Descartes semantically connected the idea of “thinking” and the idea of “being.”
What I want to say is: Let’s think about our words more. So many arguments arise out of people having different associations for the same terms, which can be very much in the detail sometimes, but unchecked, it can lead to big emotions and big actions.
In what do we all differ? Is it our religion or anything substantial? Maybe. But most fundamentally, it’s what we perceive as pleasurable.
For one person, not knowing the language of the country they’re in might be highly anxiety-inducing. For other’s, it’s an awesome adventure. Quite logical: Different people have different things they like.
Then you get a choice every four years or so, where to make a cross, having to choose what’s most pleasurable between a very limited set of options. And you get to make choices for yourself everyday, always having the option to do yourself good.
What’s the next era of humanity?
When we don’t say “I think, therefore I am”, but instead “I am, therefore I am”.
If you think that life can have meaning, that’s just a fallacy. All meaning (German: “Sinn”) is just based in words, and words only lead to contradictions. Therefore, no string of words can bring actual meaning into anyone’s life.
The alternative is acknowledging our physical presence on this planet. To stop believing that the mind (including its search for purpose and meaning) is superior, but instead equal to the body. Mind and body are complementary.
Healthy (i.e. pleasurable) thoughts lead to a healthy body, and a healthy body can lead to healthier thoughts. I am continuously striving for mind and body to form unity instead of distinction.
Sisyphus is not only happy, but Sisyphus is experiencing intense waves of pleasure, all the time.