Biological imperative or Prescribed meaning

February 2023

First, a definition for “meaning”: a purpose as constructed by the human consciousness.

Does meaning exist in nature? Does the question why? or its answer exist in nature? Is it something that we feed our brain so that it stops thinking?

The final question is answered by Ernest Becker in his book Denial of Death. Or maybe it’s Worm at the Core by Sheldon Solomon. Either way, the answer provided is that we feed ourselves an answer to the question of meaning so that we can stave off our fear of death. Death is imminent, and if we embrace it all day, every day, we will be paralyzed by it.

That could be the same reason that animals act. They too live in a constant state of avoidance. They migrate, they hunt, the forage.

But perhaps they feel sloth. Perhaps they feel pointlessness. We wouldn’t know because we do not understand them. Perhaps an animal in a zoo is a place to look for the answer. How much does its behavior change? Can we learn what it feels?

I go to animals because I think they may hold the answer to my original thought.

Do we act on the basis of biological imperative or prescribed meaning?

Maybe animals have a prescribed meaning as well. I think by observing their changed behavior in a zoo, we may be able to detect that. Perhaps there is also a resignation in their will to live and that is what results in their changed behavior.

Meta question: is defining meaning a sort of biological imperative?

Perhaps humans have done this because we needed a will to live. We became too satiated with food. We became too secure in our shelter. We became too clothed. We became too social. We became too sexually fulfilled. We became too safe.

That is my hypothesis. By “we”, I refer to homo sapiens. On an individual basis (i.e. each individual person), this is obviously not too. People do go hungry and people do lack shelter. But as a whole, homo sapiens are safe. We are not at risk of being defeated by anyone but ourselves. Short of becoming an inter-galactic species, we have done everything we can to fight nature.

And so, since it is no longer difficult to avoid death, we flirt with it. We do dangerous acts that get our adrenaline pumping.

But more broadly, we define a different imperative. One that is not biological. One that is spiritual or of the conscious.

My intrigue comes from a wonderment about its effectiveness. For me, I struggle with it daily. I struggle to be motivated by my prescribed human meaning. And by “my prescribed human meaning”, I broadly mean the purpose of living that I have defined by myself.

It’s possible that I have messed up the details. Maybe my meaning is too specific? Maybe it is too difficult to achieve? Maybe it is too far abstracted from the core nature of humans? Or maybe, it is simply not the right approach.

I wonder if the answer is to eschew everything. That is how it feels. That is what Buddhism teaches. It is enough to be. You don’t have to strive for anything. There does not need to be a purpose or meaning. You simply live and die.

I wonder about the compatibility of that with a Western lifestyle. I wonder about the compatibility of that with my fear. I think the latter is even more important. To fully embrace a Buddhist-style life would be to eschew all possessions, both physical and mental. It would mean to get rid of the very laptop that I am using to write this writing. It would be to get rid of the clothing that I am wearing and exchange them for something less consumerist. It would be a radical alteration of my life. How would I make money? How would I feed myself? Where would I live? How would I survive? What about my family? What would they think? What about my friends? How would I visit them if I don’t have money to buy a plane ticket?

It would be the act of dumping everything. That is daunting. And I say that as someone that packed up all of their belongings and moved to a foreign country. By comparison, moving is a miniscule step. It is a step in the direction of Buddhism but still far from it.

Let me ask a related but tangential question; can Buddhism be compatible with a “normal” lifestyle?

I will define “normal” lifestyle. Normal would be a lifestyle that consists of a person making money via a job. Saving money to secure their future. Paying rent or a mortgage. Possibly a life that involves marrying or having children. A life that involves going out to eat with friends. A life that involves shopping at a store. A life that involves going on vacations.

I don’t see anything in there that is expressly counter to Buddhism or living a simple biological imperative lifestyle. I added the latter because I don’t want this to become an argument for Buddhism. While I do think Buddhism is an interesting path, I would not say it is the path. It simply has many interesting parts to it that align with my thinking on biological imperatives.

Back to the normal lifestyle comparison.

My impression is that what matters most is the purpose behind each action. If you work to earn an excessive amount of money so that you can be extravagant objects, you are living incompatibly with a simple biological imperative lifestyle. The argument underneath there is that you can accumulate too much and that becomes unproductive to the preservation of your life. Going deeper into that, you develop bad personal characteristics that actually make it more difficult to survive. You become slothful. You overindulge which damages your health. You develop personality traits that are undesirable for social compatibility. There is a balance, and you far exceed that.

The essence of this comparison is that you do things in a “pure” way. You work enough to pay for your needs and possibly the needs of your tribe. You do this, not so that you gain status amongst them, but to prolong yours and their survival.

Another comparison would be that you exercise not for vanity, but for vitality.

I find these comparisons to be freeing. This feels obvious, to me.

Our thoughts are fleeting and our memory is fragmented, so the most difficult part of this conversation is remember to act in accordance with it every day.

How do I remember these thoughts when I am working? How do I remember these thoughts when I am purchasing something? How do I remember these thoughts when I am feeling stressed or tired or overworked?

Do I write them down? Do I tattoo them on myself? Do I remind myself every single morning? Do I pay someone to tell me?

This is an area where I respect what organized religion has accomplished. They have outlined a set of beliefs, just as I have done above, and they have lived them out. They meet in a regular cadence to discuss these beliefs. They discuss them in depth. They have writings that remind them of these beliefs. They have created a community around these beliefs. Do I not seek the same?

I’m afraid that in the absence of community, these beliefs may never stick.

I have found some support in a friend. We have discussed these concepts at length and he feels similarly. It is not something we discuss weekly, but it is often an undertone of our discussions. We embody these beliefs. And because of my relationship with him, I have sustained a baseline level of “belief” in these ideas.

But, unfortunately, he lives far away. It is not a conversation that we can have every week. It is also not reasonable to expect him to want to discuss these things every week. Even a small divergence from these concepts could cause him to become disinterested (and that is likely where the various sects of a single religion come from). These are spiritual beliefs, and small divergences seem to create gigantic, irreconcilable rifts. That’s fascinating to me. To look at all religions and say “you are all the same” is to be ignorant of spirituality. I don’t know if that can be taught, but it can be felt. I feel my understanding of it right now.

And so, here I am. Sitting in my chair, typing this writing out. I must go out into the world with nothing but my memory. That’s too fragile. I must do more to support that.

Now is a good time to take from organized religion.

I will write these feelings down. I will read them every morning. I will act in accordance with them and when I do not, I will confess my failure. I will discuss them, even if only with myself. When I act, I will ask myself, does this align with my beliefs?

The last is so incredibly illuminating to me. I remember being in school as a child and having “What Would Jesus Do?” repeated to me every day. WWJD. At the time, I didn’t understand why it mattered. What does this guy have to do with me? Who is he? But I understand the purpose of the statement now. It’s not about Jesus in particular, it’s about the belief system. It’s a way to ask yourself, am I living in accordance with my beliefs?

I think there is a worthy doubt to be had about “living in accordance with my beliefs”, and that is, if I do something naturally, such as want a new and larger home, is that not part of my natural beliefs? It is a feeling within me that I have. I can feel my desire for that home. But I think the counter to that question is that you must ask yourself where that desire truly comes from.

Is it because you truly need that house? Is it because you will be viewed positively if you own that house? Is it because you feel insecure about your current house? Is it because you grew up in a small home and so having a large home is a sign of success to you?

Is it because your current home is in disrepair and it is no longer safe to live in? Is it because your current home is far too small for your family? Is it because your current home is far away from your friends and family? Is it because your current home is in a dangerous area? Is it because your current home is in an area that does not contain people with similar beliefs?

The first set are answers not aligned with a pure biological imperative. The second set are more closely aligned with one (and perhaps perfectly aligned).

It’s important to question the source of your desire. If you understand it, you can work with it. Sometimes the conclusion will be, no, this is not aligned with my beliefs. And sometimes the conclusion will be, yes, this is aligned with my beliefs.

I am going to move into a discussion about the practical ramifications of these thoughts.

How do you decide what to do on any given day?

Well, I don’t think you necessarily decide. If you have a job, you have that job because it provides you with money. That money is how you acquire resources. You need resources (food, shelter, clothing) to survive, and so you must work. That is basic.

The conclusion there is that when it is time to work, you work.

When you are not working, what do you do? Well, for starters, you do not work more.

Quick definition: “work” means to labor for money. “For money” is important. That’s what separates exercising or hobbies or other labors from work.

When you are not working, you do not find more work to do. Something nuanced in here is that you could assign all time as work time and find an excuse to work extremely long hours. But I would go back to our interrogation of buying a larger home; why are you working more? Is it for resources? Is it for something else? You must go deep into that desire to answer whether or not working long hours is an acceptable part of your belief system.

When you are not working, truly not working, what do you do?

You exist. I don’t have an answer beyond that. You do the other vital aspects of life such as eat, bathe, exercise, and socialize. The final is likely the answer. You socialize. Video games, going out to eat, dancing, watching sports. The common activities for people. I think you can look at mass behavior and find yourself. It’s not a question that is unique to this belief system; many people implicitly ask this question and act on it without much thought.

You do whatever might spark that light inside of you that makes you feel alive and secure. Take a walk through nature. Go sit on the beach. Call your mom. Whatever it is for you, you do that.

When you are working, what do you not do?

That may be easier to answer. You do not work more. You do not seek pleasure. You do not do thinks that are counter to your beliefs. You do not seek social status. This is hard to nail down exactly. You can do anything so long as it aligns with your beliefs. Freediving is fine if you’re doing it to enjoy the water. If you’re doing it so that you can post the videos on Instagram to get famous, not so much. If your work consists of posting videos on Instagram, that’s a different thing. For starters, you shouldn’t be doing that because you aren’t working right now. Save that for work time. And when you’re doing it for work, that’s fine.

There is not a single answer for this question. There is only a principle. Do that which is aligned with your beliefs. Do it purely. Avoid slothfulness. When you feel a desire, question where it is coming from. Trust pain. Trust suffering. They often point to slothfulness or spiritual misalignment.

Another note to release some stress for myself; it is okay to spend time questioning these feelings. This discussion is long. It has taken up much of my time. But it is worthwhile. This is a vital discussion. This is part of self-discovery. This is the essence of these beliefs. Seeking to understand them for the pure purpose of understanding your biological imperatives. It is the biological imperative. To be conscious.

Feb 4th - Follow up thought

To have everything satiated is to transcend your biological imperatives and in a way, become beyond-human. You take on an entirely different reason for existing. You are no longer concerned about basic necessities. Think billionaires - what becomes important to them? I could make guesses, but they would be ignorant guesses. I won't know unless I reach that point.

I think this mindset can be reached if you have >$10M.

Feb 17th - Follow up thought about Buddhism's compatibility with modern lifestyles

I realized that is is not compatible with a modern, normal lifestyle. In the above writing, I am viewing it as a tool for controlling my biological impulses so that I may live a socially successful life.

Buddhism was never intended to be used as such. The end-game of Buddhism is trascendence. Nirvana. It was never meant to live compatibility with a materialistic society. There is a reason that monks live far from cities in unique communes where their basic necessities are taken care of by one another.

I will always feel a tug-of-war with myself so long as I deny this realization. I don't want to give everything up because I am afraid of it. At the end of the day, Buddhism is one point of view amongst many. I am not comfortable trusting it with a full commitment of my life. That is largely a feeling of fear.

Perhaps, I can mold it into my own. That will likely be my battle until the day that I die. Thus far, it is sent me in the right direction. I am happier than I have ever been. I am more content than I have ever been. I am more introspective, more expressive, more creative, and generally more free. I am better for having gone down this pathway. I will continue to travel along this road.