# The Will to Meaning Author: [[Viktor Frankl]] ## Review In the past, religion and traditions provided values to live by and a purpose to fulfill. Now there is an increase in neurosis stemming from a lack of meaning in people's lives. Frankl cites evidence that around 20% of neurosis (mental health problems) are due to a feeling of meaninglessness or confusion about our purpose. He calls this noogenic neurosis. The motivation of logotherapy is to help people discover a personal meaning to their life, and is the solution to noogenic neurosis. It is a method for curing mental distress, and is agnostic to belief systems. Unlike Freud's belief that the meaning of life is to seek happiness, Frankl believes that happiness is an outcome of a meaningful life. Humans, above all, seek meaning and a purpose. Once they find this they look to fulfill whatever they believe their purpose is. With the decline in religion and universal values it is up to educational institutions to develop people's ability to find meaning. While committing fully to the search for meaning and to eventually fulfilling it, we need to accept the limits of our capacity to find and pursue our meaning. Have faith that there is a meaning and the courage to keep looking for it. Questioning your purpose in life is not a sign of mental illness. It is simply being intellectually honest, but patience with finding personal meaning is important. Meaning can be found in three different outlets: creative, experiential, attitudinal. Most people find meaning by creating something. Others find it through the experience of loving and caring for someone. These two sources of meaning are familiar to most people with passions for art or their careers (creative), and for those who have families (experiential). The overlooked source of meaning is through the attitudinal. We can find meaning in the way we conduct ourselves when we face pain, guilt and death. Once we find our meaning of life it is our responsibility to fulfill our meaning in passing opportunities. Frankl imagines a future full of religion, but one that is increasingly personalized. Each person will have faith in their own interpretations of meaning and create their own values to reflect their meaning. the fact that humans get anxiety about lack of meaning is a sign of Frankl that meaning exists, in the same way that thirst indicates the existence of water. ~ I enjoyed many of the ideas Frankl has on how to find meaning and that we each have to make our own meaning. It was inspiring to read that it is intellectually honest and necessary to question meaning, and to have faith that meaning eventually comes. But I am not convinced that finding meaning must exist or that fulfilling it is the only things that people live for. There seem to be people who are content chasing happiness and pleasure, for its own sake, without regard for a larger purpose. They are simply making the most of the human experience, and don't seem to experience existential frustration which he claims is the indicator that there is a larger meaning to life. To me, this frustration is not a sure sign of the existence of meaning. The sense of meaninglessness comes from not knowing how we should orient our behaviour over the long term, or what the objective of our behaviour is. Our belief system informs our behaviour. The brain is wired to create and acquire beliefs, and the type of anxiety is probably more likely a sign that we either have a hole in our belief system (uncertainty) or a conflict in our belief system. So existential frustration, to me at least, indicates a deficiency in the belief system of the individual or an incoherence. The most enjoyable aspect of reading this book was that it reignited my interest in philosophy as a way of understanding what it means to be human. ## Key Ideas - A sense of meaninglessness is a common source of mental distress - Questioning meaning is intellectually honest. Have faith you will find it, and the courage to keep looking. - Finding meaning requires learning and thinking, but recognize that you will err; the human mind has limits. - find meaning in creative, experiential or attitudinal ways - Actualize your potential and fulfill your meaning through passing opportunities ## Related - [[Man's Search For Meaning]] - [[Finding a sense of purpose]] - [[Resources/Kindle Quotes/The Will to Meaning]] - [[Belief Formation]]