The Search That Defines Us

Caspar David Friedrich, The Monk by the Sea (Der Mönch am Meer), 1810, oil on canvas 

Around 100 billion people have ever existed in human history, as estimated by modern demography researchers. It may be far less or far, far more, but let’s just go with that number. 100 billion unique human minds have walked this earth, struggled to survive, dealt with pain, emotion, loss, and through it all have sought to find meaning. One thing that I believe is common to all men and women is this search for meaning. Innately, man searches for something beyond these four dimensions and three walls. Man also has an unshakable sort of paranoia that all there is in this world is that which we can see. I will seek to show that we know that there must be something more. If there were nothing more, then man would not be compelled to create or build, to find something worth living for or something worth dying for. And so throughout history we see humans coming together, accomplishing feats beyond what others say they are capable of and not only doing them, but doing them well. If there were nothing to stir the soul of humanity toward something beyond itself, then, I sense, it would not be too far of a stretch to argue that great things would never have been accomplished. The pyramids would have never been built, Roman leaders would have never sought to explore and to conquer the known world, the early modern Europeans would have never sailed to the Americas, and almost any other noteworthy historical accomplishment would have never been completed. There is something deeper than survival or comfort driving Man’s actions throughout history.

If there were no sense that there is more to our world, then to complete these great actions would not only be pointless, but the inherent danger to complete them would be so great that it would be an act of utter buffoonery to even try. In other words, the danger would so vastly outweigh the benefit of having done them in a world void of deeper meaning. The amount of time Egyptians must have spent to find true north and to build pyramids pointing perfectly in the northward direction would be so absurd if not for the feeling that there’s more to our world than the stones within it . Something drove them to create. The amazing things humans have done are always necessarily an expression of our belief, or at least our hope, in the idea that there is something more to our world—there must be something more. Whether we are seeking to give honor to Egyptian gods, the Christian God, or just to give honor to ourselves, we always act on the belief that there is more to our world and that this life we have must mean something greater than we can see.

When we think about why humans do what they do, the first reason why we do anything is to not die. In our modern world, we are not faced with death all that often, so this might be hard to grasp, but throughout history almost all of what man has done was for the sake of survival. The next reason is for bodily comfort, but meaning is clearly not found in seeking comfort. After these basic needs are met, we now have a desire to contemplate, to imagine, and to wonder. Our mind drifts off into the abyss. We can look into space, the ocean, the horizon and we contemplate. Whatever we do is always an attempt to find meaning or to run from it. Of the 100 billion people who have ever lived, many have dedicated their lives to this search. Those men and women built the pyramids, conquered empires, explored the world, and aspired to greatness. Others have ignored this pursuit, choosing distraction over discovery. I am not here to convince you of what gives meaning to your life, but only to challenge you to find that which does. This is the unique responsibility of Man.