What Matters (& Meaning)

=== Philosophy ===

1. Things Matter
2. So, What Matters?
3. Related Posts

1. Things Matter

“What matters” determines what’s meaningful to you. “What you find important” determines what you do with your life.¹

Desires

Desires come from the things that matter.

Because your family matters to you, you want to protect them. Because football matters to you, you want to be the best at it. Because “pain” matters, you want to be comfortable.

(Most desires are absence-based; you want something you “don’t” have, now what you already have.)

Delight & Suffering

Delight & Suffering ultimately come from the things that matter.

You’re happy about getting hired, because “having a job” matters to you. That’s where the “desire to get hired” came from.

If nothing matters, you wouldn’t be delighted about anything; you wouldn’t suffer, either.

Nothing matter-ing ≈ Peace.

Peace is a state where all desires are fulfilled. When you get something, it doesn’t matter anymore (ironically). All moments of delight & suffering eventually fade.

Hence, the path to peace is disregarding the things that don’t (really) matter.²

2. So, What Matters?

Lots of things matter. Your family, friends, car, phone, job…they all matter.
…or do they?

Your car matters. Why? Because it takes you to places.
Can’t you take public transport? No. Because it’s slower. It’s uncomfortable.
So what actually matters? Time & comfort.
Why does time & comfort matter? … …

Dive deeper. Things matter from deeper reasons.

At some point, you can’t answer anymore. I call them, “root points”.³All that matters stem from root points.

Money matters. Why? Because it can buy things.
So is it: you just want to buy things? For what, survival?
If survival’s the only objective, why do people try to make millions?
What about luxury? People can’t even appreciate them fully.

…status. That’s what it buys.
…ego. That’s what it feeds.

What Doesn’t Matter

Many things matter to a lot of people, yet don’t actually matter.

Here’s one: your nation.

The rise & fall of your country means nothing. Conquering the world means nothing. “Your nation” is an arbitrary distinction, based on “minor”⁴differences in DNA and the location of birth.

The root point: (social) status.⁵

Being a superstar means nothing. Having your name in the history books means nothing. ⁶

We’ve been brainwashed by the ego.

(Opinion: Hierarchical relationships are evil. They’re zero-sum (emotionally) + conflicts.⁷)

What Truly Matters

Nothing matters absolutely.⁸Nothing lasts, everything goes back to 0. So, nothing “can” matter absolutely.

It’s all arbitrary. But who cares. It’s a simulation. It’s just fine. Whatever.

The real question is: what truly matters?⁹

It follows: “what’s the meaning of life?” In conclusion…all that matters is your peace & intrigue.

Peace(Freedom) & intrigue are the “root points”. If something matters to you, not from the standpoint of your peace & intrigue, it doesn’t truly matter. It’s fake.

(Perhaps peace matters a bit less than intrigue.)

Love

Love is a crazy thing. Love means someone else’s peace & intrigue matter to you. Someone else is part of you.

You’re caring about something other than yourself;
You don’t know if their experiences are real;
You don’t even know if they’re real!

“True” love is rare. Most of what we call “love” is selfish, not selfless.¹⁰Most relationships are transactional.¹¹

But true love exists…selfless and unbelievable.

3. Related Posts

Questions & comments are welcome!