Stop Making Meaning Matter

But the meaning you make is self-created and has no meaning other than the meaning you make.

Neill deGrasse Tyson, the American astrophysicist and writer, says,

“What is the meaning of life? I think people ask that question on the assumption that ‘meaning’ is something you can look for and go, ‘Here it is, I found it. Here’s the meaning I’ve been lo

But what you do for a living is just that. It doesn’t mean anything about who you are, your innate self.

Humans are meaning-making creatures. We live with biases that look real to us and cause us to make meaning, and we have brains that look for patterns, which is why you might see Jesus on a slice of toast.

Ethan Kross, a psychologist and the director of the University of Michigan Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory, says,

“We’re constantly trying to make meaning out of our experiences, and our mind is flexibly constructed to help us do so.”

People make emotion mean all kinds of things. They make certain physical symptoms indicate that they’re anxious or excited.