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Comment by mihaic | Hacker News Reader

> Human needs purpose in life

Not sure if I agree with it in this form, as I think people can get by quite well without an explicit purpose. My grandparents were farmers, and I've never pictured them to feel any specific purpose. They were still content with their lives, as they simply didn't even considered the question of what their purpose was.

Modern success is all about fixating on a single measurable goal, and grinding that out. What if there is no single purpose but rather a diffuse set of meanings? Even worse, half the battle is you figuring out what this set of meaningful goals is, where before the goal was given to you (make lots of money).

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Sorry, as a farmer you have a very clearly defined purpose (and it might be more implicit than explicitly said out loud, but it's very clear nevertheless). And that's to make sure that you have enough to eat for your family and your animals, and enough to sell, and enough seed for next year.

That's why there's no ruminating for a purpose - it never comes up, because it's so clear. And that's why we're often quite rudderless once the basics are secured.

Can’t you say this for every activity that humans undertake? As a cleaner, you have a very clear purpose: to clean toilets so that you can make money to provide for your family. People can feel a sense of purpose for almost anything, but the fact the you theoretically could come up with a purpose for an activity doesn’t mean they automatically have the sense of it.

My grandmother lacked vocabulary that can be used to describe 'purpose' -- or mental issues. One word she would very rarely use was 'dharma' i.e. duty. Though I am not sure if she used it in this way.

There were only a few things she really cared about: the health and general well-being of her children and grandchildren and when her grandchildren will have children. It seems to me it was her 'purpose', at least she values these things so much that can be easily confused as purpose.

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