The meaning of life is self-actualization. Tearing apart the self and realization. The ego can be called self-awareness, while realization is the process and result of the satisfaction of self-needs.
The development of self-awareness has three stages, namely the physical self, the social self, and the psychological self.
The physiological self is the most primitive form of self-consciousness, which is the individual's understanding of his own body, including his own height, physical appearance, etc., as well as a sense of possession, dominance and love. These realizations enable individuals to realize that their existence is pinned on their own bodies, and the essence of their realization is the physiological sensibility of satisfaction, such as hunger and desire to eat, cold and warm, labor and desire to rest, and their seven passions and six desires are satisfied.
The social self refers to the individual's consciousness of belonging to a certain era, country, nation, class, and class in the macro aspect; in the micro aspect, it refers to the position and reputation of the individual in the group. The degree of respect and acceptance, the awareness of family, relatives and friends, and their economic and political status. It also manifests itself in emotional experience as pride or inferiority. The pursuit of honor and status, interaction with others, competition with others, and striving to gain the favor and recognition of others, the essence of its realization is the realization of social roles, such as filial piety to parents, raising young children, work due diligence, fulfillment of civic obligations, etc.
Psychological self refers to the individual's understanding of the psychological characteristics of his own intelligence, interests, hobbies, temperament, personality and other aspects. Emotional experience manifests as pride, self-esteem or inferiority, self-deprecation. Concern for upward mobility is manifested in the pursuit of wisdom, the development of ability and the pursuit of ideals and beliefs, and the attention to behavior in line with social norms. The essence of its realization is the recognition and realization of its own mission and ideals, such as having a proper understanding of itself, having a clear ideal and belief, and constantly striving to achieve the ideal ambition step by step.
The above three are both interrelated and distinct, and they are an organic part of the individual's self-awareness.
The meaning of life, that is, the realization of the self, is not absolutely good or bad, only relative weight. This depends on the choice of reference coordinate system. We use the public order and good customs of society as a reference standard to evaluate the meaning of life.
To this end, we have designed two models to more vividly illustrate the way and result of self-realization, so as to evaluate whether the meaning of life is heavier than Taishan or lighter than Hong Mao, and then find the meaning of life for readers and friends. The first is the self-realizing trigonometric model, and the second is the self-realizing trichromatic model.
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Self-implementing trigonometric models
Self-implementing tricolor model
The self-realization triangle model expresses the degree of realization and importance of the physiological self, the social self, and the psychological self in scales and lengths, with 10 scales being all realized, while 0 scales being unrealized at all, 4 being passing values, and 8 being excellent values. The length of each scale indicates the importance of self-realization, and according to public order and good customs, the importance of physiological self-realization is lower than that of the other two, so we will set the weight corresponding to the realization degree of the physiological self to 1, that is, the length of each scale of the physiological self is set to 1, and the weight corresponding to the other two degrees of realization is set to 2, that is, the length of each scale of the social self and the psychological self is 2.
Thus the 3 axes starting from the center of the self-realization triangle are given scales of different sizes, where the scale of the physiological self ranges from 0-10 and the length range from 0-10; the scale range of the social self is 0-10 and the length range is 0-20; and the scale range of the mental self is 0-10 and the length range is 0-20.
The ideal state is that each self is fully realized, forming a large isosceles triangle.
Because the three selves are organic wholes, the connection of each self-realization scale forms the actual triangle of meaning in life, and its area forms the weight of meaning in life. For the sake of argument and understanding, we use the summation of self-realized lengths to analogise the relative weight of the meaning of life.
In order to analyze the weight meaning of the meaning of life more graphically, we combined the limits of self-actualization to form a three-primary color model of self-realization. There are 7 different limit combinations of self-actualization, each with different characteristics and results.
serial number
Self-actualization status
peculiarity
outcome
The weight of meaning in life
1
The full realization of only the physiological self
Focus only on the sensibility and satisfaction of the flesh. Pay attention to appearance and the satisfaction of food, clothing, shelter and transportation, the meaning of life is to eat, drink and have fun. For example, the self-sufficient life of individuals in primitive society.
Manipulated by the desires of the body
light
(Although it is assumed here that only the physical self is realized, in fact, as long as people are alive, they should have a certain degree of psychological self-realization and social self-realization, and the realization of the two is set here to be close to 0)
2
Only the full realization of the social self
The result is to focus on the realization of social roles and the evaluation of others, and there are fewer examples of such cases, such as "cutting meat to save the mother" and "lying on the ice to ask for carp".
Suffer from gain and loss, and live for others
(Although it is assumed here that only the social self is fully realized, in fact, as long as people are alive, they should have a certain degree of physical self-realization and psychological self-realization, and the realization of the two is set here to be close to 0)
3
Only the full realization of the psychological self
That is, have their own ideal ambitions and sense of mission, have a clear understanding of themselves, pay attention to the pursuit of the spirit, and do not consider their social roles and physical enjoyment. For example, hermits, or self-sacrificers for cults
Puritans who had no desires, no demands, and were detached from reality
(Although it is assumed here that only the psychological self is realized, in fact, as long as people are alive, they should have a certain degree of physical self and social self realization, and the realization of the two is set here to be close to 0)
4
The full realization of only the physical self and the social self
For example, migrant workers work around to earn money in order for their children to receive a good education, usually shrink their clothes and food, occasionally eat a good meal is very satisfied, and may work hard for a lifetime to pull their children to grow up, without their own psychological pursuits
The desires of the body are satisfied and can fulfill social responsibilities. But confused about life
middle
(Although it is assumed here that only the physical self and the social self are realized, in fact, as long as people are alive, they should have a certain degree of psychological self-realization, and the realization of the psychological self is set here to be close to 0)
5
The full realization of only the physical self and the psychological self
Combining one's mission and life goals with the sensibility of the body, taking one's own physiological realization as one's life goal, and taking the experience of a certain physical feeling to the extreme. For example, in ancient times, the cultivators who abandoned their families and abandoned their sons to live in seclusion in the mountains refined various elixirs, looking forward to a certain day of soaring and enjoying bliss. Or some ancient emperors, such as the King of Shang, took the enjoyment of the wine pond meat forest as their life goal, regardless of the lives of their people; the carpenter emperor Ming Xizong, who had a strong interest in carpentry work and had high achievements, but left the national affairs behind
The desires of the body are satisfied, and they have their own mission in life, but they cannot fulfill their social responsibilities.
(Although it is assumed here that only the physical self and the psychological self are realized, in fact, as long as people are alive, they should have a certain degree of social self-realization, and the realization of the social self is set here to be close to 0)
6
The full realization of only the social self and the psychological self
Combine your ideal ambitions and life mission with the realization of social roles, and there is no pursuit of materialism and enjoyment. For example, the revolutionary martyrs of the older generation were not afraid of sacrifice, and they were determined to change the face of poverty and backwardness in China. Or Jiao Yulu, Lei Feng, a comrade who serves the people as an ideal and goal, and some contemporary teachers who are committed to practicing education for all, go to the most arduous mountainous areas to support teaching, so that children in poor areas can be educated
They have their own life mission and fulfill their social responsibilities, but their physiological needs are not met
Heavier
(Although it is assumed here that only the psychological self and the social self are realized, in fact, as long as people are alive, they should have a certain degree of physiological self-realization, and the realization of the physiological self is set here to be close to 0)
7
The physical self, the social self, and the psychological self are fully realized
Physiological needs are fully met, social roles and social responsibilities are fully realized and fulfilled, and life goals and missions are fully realized. For example, in communist societies, where human beings are able to develop in an all-round way, this may be the case.
The meaning of life is fully realized
heavy
With the evaluation mechanism of the meaning of life, everyone can find the meaning of life that suits them and is relatively heavier according to their own characteristics. In the future, we will also design evaluation tools for physical self, social self and psychological self-realization to help everyone assess the degree of self-realization, so as to find gaps and find directions and ways to improve the degree of self-realization.