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The ancients once said that what should be noted in life is "rare confusion". Some people are deeply difficult about this, because there are too many things in the world that should be paid attention to.
The first is to maintain one's own livelihood so that one will not be overwhelmed by the problem of food and clothing; secondly, when you are in various social organizations and networks, you must also deal with the relationship between each other and be clear about your role and position in the group.
All in all, if you want to live your life, you will undoubtedly have to make a lot of effort.
So is this "rare and confused" outlook on life reasonable? It should be said that there are no absolutes in this view. The reason why the ancients thought so may be because the social environment at that time required people to make such decisions.
In today's society, if this is really the case, then your life is naturally incomprehensible. So is there any most critical point for the completion of life? Let's take a look at other people's perspectives.
Philosopher's thoughts
People in different fields and professions have their own unique views on the value and meaning of life.
Thinkers think that "I think, therefore I am"; economists may think that the greatest value of man is to create the greatest economic benefits at the least cost; sociologists may think that a valuable life should be based on the position and role of individuals in groups and organizations.
Zhou Guoping believes that in life, we must grasp such a number of contexts in order to truly "live and understand".
Who is Zhou Guoping? Zhou Guoping completed his undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs at Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and finally obtained a doctorate in philosophy, and then stayed in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to teach, including Western philosophical theory, life philosophy and life development education for minors.
In his book "Every Life Must Walk Together", Zhou Guoping, as a philosopher, discussed the value and meaning of life from various philosophical schools in ancient and modern China and abroad, the relationship between matter and consciousness, and the relationship between the real world and the spiritual world.
Zhou Guoping believes that the meaning of life is inseparable from such several key points.
Life has no meaning and needs to give yourself the meaning you want
The first is the value of life and the "fruit of wisdom". We know that in the biblical legends, the legend of the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve involves stories related to the "forbidden fruit", and Zhou Guoping also extends that the meaning of life originates from the "fruit of wisdom", or does it originally exist with life?
In our real life, it actually implies the pursuit of goals and ideals.
If life does not have a "wisdom fruit" general existence that can determine the direction of our life path, then people will be like headless flies, without any value and meaning of survival.
Secondly, Zhou Guoping analyzed the relationship between need and satisfaction for us with the title of "The Distance between Pleasure and Happiness".
Individuals maintaining their own lives in society will inevitably produce various needs, whether physical or psychological, and when these needs are met, it can actually be said to be a kind of "happiness".
However, for many people, they are not even sure in their lives what they want and how they should meet their needs.
It's like in today's life, all kinds of entertainment methods are very developed: games, episodes, short videos abound, people's lives are occupied by these things, and express a trend of "life can't live without them", but have you ever thought: do you really need these things? When you brush a short video until midnight, do you really feel satisfied?
Finally, there is another point mentioned by Zhou Guoping, that is, the relationship between the meaning of wealth and individual quality.
He quotes the famous sociologist Max Weber as saying: "Wealth can lead to greed, but it doesn't have to be." ”
In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, the same wealth, for individuals with different qualities, may have different values.
For a gambler, a hundred thousand dollars may not be enough for him to pay off his current gambling debts; but for a young scholar who urgently needs a sum of money for his scientific research tasks, this hundred thousand dollars may be enough to make him famous and realize the value of his life.
Therefore, in life, it is not impossible to have any desire for wealth, as long as you pay attention to the principle of "a gentleman loves wealth and has a way to get it".
In fact, throughout Zhou Guoping's discussion of the meaning and value of life from a philosophical perspective, it is not difficult to find that his focus is on the exploration of needs, satisfaction and perspective.
In the field of psychology, in fact, it coincides with Maslow and Erikson's theory of needs and satisfaction.
The psychological views of the two scholars are relatively well-known. Abraham H. Maslow proposed the "hierarchy of needs theory": a motivational theory in psychology that abstracts human needs into a pyramidal five-level model.
From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, they are: physiology (food and clothing), safety (job security), social needs (friendship), respect and self-actualization.
Erik Homburger Erikson divides life into different stages, delineating corresponding goals for each life stage, and when you "complete the task" at this stage, then your life is already worthwhile.
We can also learn from two theories: although psychology that emphasizes positivity and individual perspectives is different from philosophy that emphasizes speculation, in the field of psychology, when people face problems related to the value of life, they will always put their own perspective on needs and satisfaction, in short, roughly present a "lack-compensation" mechanism.
Therefore, in the course of our lives, the trends presented by these theories are also worth learning.
In life, there can be no great ideals for the time being, and it can also be temporarily bad, and even a short period of misdirection is difficult to avoid.
However, the premise of becoming a person who can live and understand is that you must have a clear understanding of your own life, and you must be very aware of what you need, what you can meet, and how you can meet these needs.
When you are confused and tired, when you lose confidence in life, please think seriously about this problem, as long as you can still find what you lack and desire, then there is still hope for "living and understanding" in life.
- The End -
Author | Tommy
Edit | Rain
The First Psychological Writing Group | A group of young people who like to look up at the stars
参考资料：Bruk, A., Scholl, S. G., & Bless, H. (2018). Beautiful mess effect: Self–other differences in evaluation of showing vulnerability. Journal of personality and social psychology, 115(2), 192-205