What does “meaninglessness” mean?
I kind of like this argument, but it depends on what “meaninglessness” means. And once I bring that question up, aren’t I then calling attention to the circularity of meaning? If “meaninglessness” refers to this circularity, then I agree. But it doesn’t have to, and I think most people would agree? Something is meaningful whether or not it is correct, and whether or not it corresponds to a supposed metaphysical truth.
It sounds to me like LJ is trying to say that unless something is permanent as in never changing it has no meaning, its as if it did not exist. In other words by the logic LJ is trying to say(I think) A mountain frozen in time has meaning while your life has none because you are not a fixture in existence. Only fixtures are worthy of meaning. Something that passes through has no worth.
Kind of a dismal outlook, I just bet Lj/ Colon leslie Dean are super fun at parties 
I think you might be onto something there, Kris. It’s like saying life is meaningless because it comes to an end. Which in a way is true. :-"
I think you’re being sarcastic though, about the parties? If so, I disagree. 
Poking fun is all at them. They seem to have such a dismal outlook on living.
Life has meaning even though it ends because it has an affect on environment. All life changes something in its environment. From the lowest form to the highest form of life. All life has meaning no matter how long it lives or how it dies. An aborted fetus is not without meaning, that fetus caused a change. A flower you unwittingly stepped on caused a change. That virus you are going to catch eventually causes a change. If there is change no matter how small that life had meaning.
Nicely put, I agree.
To declare all is meaningless is… well, meaningless. We’re here, we’re sentient, (some of us) and we make all the definitions as to what might be meaningful. If one chooses the very long view, then it’s true that the universe doesn’t care about our conjectures. We are free to say what is and isn’t “meaningful”. If you give it the least amount of thought, the fact that only we can say meaningful and therefore define meaningless, is the most meaningful thing the human mind can do. 
All of our constructs are predicated on our ability to say valued-not valued. To say all is meaningless is nothing more than sophmoric nihilism. OK. It’s all meaningless. Now what are you going to do? 
Not quite though. Ladyjane surely means something by it.
No she doesn’t - other than the ubiquitous constant reference to Dean. She was asked by me and others to explain her statements and did nothing but repeat herself. She is in over her head, or the thread is just an experiment in seeing how long inane statements can keep people responding. LJ may be very profound, but so far, has shown absolutely nothing that would suggest understanding beyond that of a 5 year old.
Are you suggesting that she can only mean something by it if it turns out to be absolutely true? Aren’t you then agreeing with her?
It isn’t a matter of it being true, but the perspective behind that. She is absolutely correct that the universe doesn’t give a shit what humans do or don’t do. Eventually, entropy wins. That’s one perspective. What is meaningful or meaningless is a product of the human mind, and to the best of our knowledge is the only arbitor of what may be considered meaningful or meaningless. To say that all is meaningless is saying nothing unless one is denying humaness. I see nothing in her statements suggesting any profundity in this regard. And no, there is no absolute “truth”, and there is nothing to agree with. From my perspective, we are the creators and the measure of ourselves. Something is meaningful because I say it is. LJ has come as close as possible to saying absolutely nothing.
Perhaps she sees nothing in yours or mine suggesting any profundity either. Perhaps she’s holding a mirror up to us.
Perhaps to say that “something is meaningful because I say it is” comes “as close as possible to saying absolutely nothing” though.
It means that we are totally unconscious, unaware of the gifts that we have been given. Perhaps it means that we have no consciousness.
The children that we give birth to, that cause us joy, and that we give joy to, the drugs/medicine that have been created to prolong life, the wonderful friendships and acts of love, agape and sexual that we have created within our lives, the beauty that we have seen that causes our spirits to soar, the laughter that we have experienced, the wonderful books that we have read that slow life down to a peaceful halt, the awesome courage which we see in children struggling with cancer…ad infinitum…
Simply because we are going to die…we may be on our deathbeds…life suddenly becomes meaningless, all of this fades away into nothingness, into dust?
Meaninglessness is the state of living a super- unconscious (not passed out) Life. Consciousness is like the eagle’s eye capable of seeing all of it, from ‘above’.
Well, we can play with the conjecture BS as long as we like. The hall of mirrors is always inviting, but it doesn’t do one damned thing to help us make this life “meaningful”. I’m not here to say, “woe is me, it’s all meaningless.” I’m here, life is here to create meaning - period. There is only so much mental masturbation that has any usefulness.
Agreed, and that is the inaneness of the whole “meaningless” -vs- meaning argument. At some point, we still have to get through each day. Playing with navel fuzz doesn’t get it.
If meaning is in the eye of the beholder, then why are you so sure that LJ is saying nothing meaningful? Why not just leave it alone if it doesn’t float your boat? Is her message dangerous? I think you’re basically saying she has no message at all. If this is the case, then why respond? If her posts touch a nerve, then they surely have meaning for you.
These are nice thoughts, and I have nothing against them. But I wonder if meaninglessness might imply freedom (or something else with positive connotations) rather than “unconsciousness”, as you put it.
I have said before I sincerely doubt English is LJ’s first language, this person seems to struggle with it.
Could be true, I really don’t know.
well niether do I but, it seems like the best explanation. She/he does seem to get into something and just does not have the right words to get out of it or around it or mostly just really explain it. I have asked her but recieved no response. I must also guess that she is sensitive about her ability.
If that is not the case then the other explanations are far less complimentary. I would prefer giving her this benifit of the doubt until she states otherwise.
I’m a big fan of benefit of the doubt.
I’m not so sure that I would apply ‘freedom’ to meaninglessness. A sense of meaninglessness can stem from a lack of those chemicals in the brain that can turn us on to life and find ‘meaning’ in it.
If you’re speaking of the will to allow ourselves to flow through those moments when we honestly see life as meaningless, and struggle with that, in order to grow from it, to transcend that, then that for me has a positive connotation. There is self-consciousness in that or a higher consciousness.
For those who want to see only meaninglessness, they get off on that woe-is-me attitude and do not try to see anything else, that’s living unconsciously. We can choose how long we want to exist in that darkness before we turn on that light (consciousness) or continue to live unconsciously.
We can choose to be a shipwreck or we can choose to be the little caboose that struggles all the way up the hill, all the while saying "I can, I can, I can, I can. 