120 philosophical essays you must read in your life

Chapter 41

Chapter 2 Chapter 19 Life is meaningless

Bi Shumin

I've given several talks where I've spoken candidly about issues to people ranging from MDs to ghetto kids.In my memory, one experience is very unforgettable.It was a very prestigious university and asked me out several times, saying that the students were looking forward to having discussions with me.I kept saying no, I don't like speeches in my blood.Whenever I agree to such a tolerance, I will be inexplicably nervous for several days.But the school is very persistent, and said at the nth invitation: "The students in this school are even more active than Peking University, and they will ask very sharp questions to the speakers, which often makes people unable to get off the stage. Sometimes the speakers are simply Leave school disheartened."

Listening to what he said, my curiosity was aroused, and I said that I am willing to accept the challenge.So, we agreed on a date.

That day, the auditorium of the university was packed. When I walked through the dense crowd to the podium, I felt a strange feeling in my heart, as if it was a criticism venue during the "Cultural Revolution". I don't know what kind of scene will appear today. .Sure enough, from the moment I started speaking, notes kept coming up, and in a short while, a thick pile was accumulated at hand, like fallen leaves swept up by cleaners in late autumn.While I was giving a speech, I was full of guesses, not knowing what kind of thought bomb was lurking in the leaves.The speech came to an end and I entered the stage of answering questions. I couldn't wait to open the pile of papers and read them one by one.At that moment, the audience became dead silent, and the huge auditorium seemed to be empty.

I finished reading the note and said: "There are some words of praise for me, I will not read it. Besides, the most frequently asked question on the note is-what is the meaning of life? Please be sure to tell the truth, because we I've heard too many insincere lies."

After I finished reading this note, there was applause from the audience.I said, it's good for you to raise this issue today, and I will tell the truth.On the snow-capped mountains in Ngari, Tibet, facing the vast sky and the glaciers standing on the walls, like a primitive man drinking blood, I thought about this question repeatedly.I believe that when a person is young, he will ask himself countless times-what is the meaning of my life?I thought about it countless nights and days, and finally got an answer.Today, here, I will tell you very responsibly that the result of my thinking is: life is meaningless!

After saying this, there was a brief silence in the audience, like a wilderness.But then there was a storm of applause.

That was the loudest applause I've ever received for a speech.In the past, I never believed that there was such a thing as "stormy applause", and thought it was just a clumsy metaphor.But this time, I believed it.I quickly made a "pause" gesture with my hand, but the applause lasted for a while.

I said, everyone, don't applaud me, I haven't finished my words yet.I said that life is meaningless, which is good, but each of us must establish a meaning for ourselves!

Yes, discussions about the meaning of life are all around us.Many sayings, due to familiarity and repetition, have made us turn a blind eye to boredom.However, this is not the essence of the problem.The truth is that no matter how correct the meaning others impose on you, if it has never entered your psychological structure, it will always be outside of you.For example, we have been instilled by our parents with the answers to the meaning of life since we were young.In the long years since then, earnest teachers and various types of education have also continued to wholesale supplementary versions of the meaning of life to us.However, how many people regard this external framework as their own internal benchmark, and make a determination to fight for it all their lives?

After the lecture that day, I heard a classmate say that he felt that the biggest gain was to hear a real middle-aged man say that life is meaningless, but you have to establish a meaning for it.

【Together with you】

Indeed, life itself has no meaning. Every life is an accident. To make it wonderful and fulfilling, we need to establish a meaning for it. This meaning is the goal of life.We must persevere in fighting for this goal, never compromise, never give up, and move forward bravely.Only in this way can we gradually move towards the locked goal and reach the pinnacle of life.Life has no name, so you might as well take a deep breath of the fresh air around you, chew the grass on the side of the road carefully, and let the nameless life be calm and content.

(End of this chapter)