"In any street corner, the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face" - Albert Camus
For any number of reasons, in any moment, we can find ourselves questioning everything
A moment where the fabric of our existence splits open
and even the simpliest and normal-seeming of things become strange and confusing
A tree, a chair, the conditions of the world
Other people's behaviors
Our own behaviors
Our job
Our purpose
Our life
Our death and so on
Might all come in the question as to what they are and why they are
For many this moment becomes more than just a moment
It becomes an inescapable perspective
Arguably If anyone is to experience this
and is to considerate the essence of human existence
with honesty and debt
They will inevitable reach the conclusion of how little we know about said essence
The conclusion would be meet with the realization
That the world and our life within it, is currently without any clear ultimate meaning, purpose or answer
In the current age, these conclusions seems to be met rather easily and frequently
As information spills under the individual
and reveals how apparently chaotic and contradictory
this world really is
Unfortunately, however, this conclusion could lead to a bleak sense of life
A sense of hopelessness, pointlessness and alienation
In the past, mythical or religious narratives and doctrines would be look towards in order to resolve this confusion
of purpose and meaning.
Notions of a benevolent god, ultimate divinity and an after life would provide structure, comfort, purpose and reconciliation
However, in regards to modern life, starting in the early 20th century,
traditional religious principles would begin to degrade in popularity as new conditions of the world would unfold
and render the modern individual, increasingly skeptical, of assumed religious narratives of the past
This degradation continues to work its course today as the world move past supposed narratives methods in ideologies
and seeks new ways of understanding the universe and finding our purpose within it
Science, technology and logic having continue to become increasingly popular areas of focus
in the modern world
However, regardless of logic, science and technology's fast speed and capabilities,
for many of us, we remain only to be further confused, anxious and alienated from life
In the modern era, the world seemingly reveals itself as a new shade of colour every other day
as conflicting ideas, conclusions and understandings come in and out of consensus
making it hard to hold down to or care about any sort of mathematically formulated understanding of our life
Perhaps then, the complexity and meaning of human experience cannot be contorted into any rational and universal box
or perhaps it can and we just have yet to figure out the proper packaging
In either case, if we find ourselves in the position where neither religion nor reason is able to help us find some meaning to our life
We are still left, right now, in need of some resolution
In attempt to deal with the elusive problem of finding meaning and purpose and a life that appears to have none
We'll look to the 20th century french algerian writer and philosopher
Albert Camus
Camus is associated with the the existential school of thought
A school of thought that was an early advocate of the idea that life is without any ultimate meaning or truth
More specifically, Camus is a proponent of the idea that our relantionship with the universe is completely and fundamentaly absurd
However, what makes Camus insight highly unique and helpful is the way in which he wrestles with this notion
and arguably, came out victorious.
What makes something absurd in the mind of Camus can best be described with the following analogy
"If a see a man armed only with a sword attack a group of machine guns, I shall consider his act to be absurd.
But It is so solely by virtue of the disproportion between his intention and the reality he will encounter,
of the contradiction I notice between his true strength and the aim he has in view...
From the simplest to the most complex, the magnitude of the absurdity will be in direct ratio to the distance between the two terms of my comparion...
The absurd is essentially a divorce; It lies in neither of the elements compared; It is born of their confrontation." - Albert Camus
In other words, neither the human nor the universe are necessarily absurd on their own but rather the relantionship is absurd
As humans, we exist with an innate desire for meaning, reason and order
Yet we simultaneously exist in a universe that appears to lack all of the above
Rather, so far as we can tell, the universe is completely indifferent
Thus, what we want and expect from the universe is fundamentally in contradiction with what we get
In this conflict, the absurdity and despair of human experience is found
Based on this idea, we are in fact without any granted meaning beyond ourselves.
We can not create any utopic order out of this universe and we lack access to any end game purpose or truth
That would give us a sense of finality and consolation
However, despite the realisation of our meaninglessness or at least our inability to find true meaning
Camus rejects the nihilistic hopelessness that might sound like reasonable conclusion
but rather provokes the absurdity of life as a means of finding worthy and potent experiences within it
For Camus, to become aware of and accept the absurdity of life is to transcend it
We may live strange absurd lives in an indifferent universe but rather than hopelessness, despair or worst of all...
suicide
We should accept life absurdity, make it our own and overcome it
In his profound essay, the myth of Sisyphus, Camus references the famous greek history of Sisyphus
as a powerful allegory in teaching to overcome life futile meaninglessness
In the story, as a result of trying outsmart the gods, the greek king Sisyphus is condemned, as punishment, to roll a giant rock up a hill
As part of the punishment however, everytime sisyphus gets to the top of the hill, the rock rolls back down to the bottom
forcing Sisyphus to start again over and over for all of the eternity
For absolutely no reason other than the process itself, Sisyphus rolls this rock up the hill only to watch it roll back down again and again
In this Camus draws connection between the tiresome and futile fate of Sisyphus and the fate of the human experience
However, also in this comparison, Camus writes "One must imagine Sisyphus happy"
With this, Camus poses the hopeful yet reasonable assertion that even in the ordinary, repetitive and likely futile experience of our everyday life
We can and should still find worthy experience and happiness
For Camus, there are plenty of tremendous reasons to endure the potential absurdity and pointlessness of rolling the rock up and down the hill
All of the things that existed around the rock that tend to seem as though they are less important than getting the rock to the top of the hill
The sun, the trees, the refreshing breeze, the friends, the relationships, the family, the art, the self exploration
and anything else we can find interesting and wondrous are, for Camus, all there is and all there needs to be
Furthermore, It is only in the absurdity of life that any of these things can have the potential for intrigue and wonder
and It is up to us to be conscious of this and bring meaning out of them
Unlike anything else in the known universe, we are able to consciously observe, consider, reason and act in this life
As a result of our exclusive abilities, we ask ourselves... Why?
We desperate try to find the answers, we get increasingly clever in our attempts.
Yet every answer, just like that of the rock in the myth of Sisyphus, at some point returns to the bottom of the hill
leaving us to start again
As a result of this constant inability to satiate our desire for ultimate meaning and truth
We can often find ourselves judging over the seeming absurdity and futility of it all
However, Camus felt that even in the conflict of absurdity, we can be okay and still live happy lives
So long as we accept the absurdity
In the acceptance of our absurd human experience, we realize that the point is not to eliminate absurdity
or find in defense some ultimate truth
But rather, It is to be conscious and appreciative of the things within the absurdity
to look for, find and create things that are interesting and personally meaningful
Furthermore, Camus suggested that in the recognizing of our absurdity, we can better accept and share value with the people around us
Because we understand that we are all struggling victims of this absurd life
For Camus, continuing on in life and using its absurdity as a means of virtue. exploration, art and unique experience
It is perhaps the highest and most worthy achievement in human life
When referencing the predicament of Sisyphus' fate, Camus writes
"The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a mans heart."
Transcription made by Christian Aranguiz