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Something Larger: An Evolutionary Account of the Meaningfulness of Life by Derrick Carpenter

This paper explores the origins of a subjective sense of meaning in life from the perspective of cultural group selection within evolutionary theory. Philosophical underpinnings are discussed, as are the origins or morality and social groups. It is argued that a subjective meaning acts as a motivator of cultural transactions which allowed pre-human groups possessing meaning to survive over groups of individuals lacking meaning. In other words, meaning in human life is grounded upon a desire and need for interpersonal connection.

Meaning, as defined by positive psychology, is the subjective sense of a connection to something larger than oneself. Through an exploration of evolutionary origins, the following points about meaning are argued: (1) The meaningfulness of human life can be reduced to subjective meaning. (2) Connection to a larger social group was adaptive to the survival of (or naturally selected for in) pre-human organisms including single-cell organisms. (3) Social group connections are modulated by morality which was also shaped by natural selection and evolved alongside the origination of social groups. (4) Along with these adaptations, humans evolved via culture allowing metaphysical concepts of meaning, such as religion, that survived as a result of their benefits for group survival. (5) The subjective feeling of meaning and purpose associated with this connection was an adaptive result of cultural group selection in human groups that motivated individuals to seek out and share cultural knowledge. (6) Meaning, therefore, evolved to encourage an enhanced and deeper pursuit of social connection.

The upcoming field of positive psychology defines meaning as an individual’s connection to something larger than itself. However, much of the research on happiness and meaning show that interpersonal relationships play a highly significant role in life satisfaction and the pursuit of meaning. There exists, however, no framework in positive psychology to understand this phenomenon.

Leveraging philosophical arguments about the potential for ultimate, objective meaning in the universe, the construct of meaning can be reduced to a subjective meaning defined and experienced by the individual. This places meaning squarely in the domain of psychological investigations rather than limiting it to theology or philosophy. While philosophical traditions have relied on an intellectualized pursuit of meaning, human life tends to persist with meaning in purpose even without a concerted effort to systematically understand its existence. Thus, the meaning we seek to understand is subjective and an innate human quality.

An overview of natural selection theory is discussed, providing a framework for understanding arguments of origination. Theories about the origins of the universe are included to present the history of connection—that is, the benefits of stability to things that come together and can therefore persist beyond things with less of an affinity to connect. An interlude into altruism and social policing mechanisms yields a foundation for understanding the origination of morality in social groups of both pre-human animals and humans.

Social groups, ranging from bacterial to bee hives, that work together en masse help us to understand wide-spread cooperation and the benefits to both an individual and the group of an individual sacrificing for the good of the whole. These systems of social survival manifest in humans alongside the hive emotions—feelings that brought humans together and make them feel a sense of wanting to sacrifice for others. Evolution describes the benefits to survival of these emotions and the mechanisms by which they operate (e.g., the hormone oxytocin).

Finally, cultural group selection theory is utilized to develop a theoretical understanding of human beings deep desire to connect with one another. As communication between humans improved over an evolutionary timeline and language formed, groups of individuals that could teach and learn from one another were most likely to survive. A sense of meaning in human life is hypothesized to motivate this connection, which evolved along with other human connection emotions such as compassion.

Download the PDF of this entire paper here.

Sculling lessons allow anyone to row the Schuylkill for a day

Whenever I traveled to Philadelphia on the Schuylkill Expressway and approached the Philadelphia Art Museum, I kept a sharp lookout for scullers skimming across the Schuylkill River nearby. I always found it a challenge to steal glances at their beauty and grace while negotiating the heavy trafcc on the expressway at the same time. I was drawn to the rowers’ precision and dance, and something inside me longed to one day be inside one of those long shells sliding gracefully down the river.

Now that day has arrived. Dan Lyons,president of Team Concepts, a Philadelphia leadership development and team building company, recognizes that there are others like me who have gazed at Boathouse Row, wishing that they could be inside the houses, see the boats up close, and try theirhandat rowing. In the past, the sport has been limited to elite private clubs and teams. But now, Team Concepts offers a rowing experience for anyone coming in off the street (or, as inmy case, off the expressway). To take advantage of this unique opportunity to go inside Boathouse Row, I have brought my two teenagers, Sierra and Bryce,withme.We are about to experience on of the world’s best rowing operations on the river that is considered to be the Mecca of rowing in theUnited States.

Our day begins with a tour of two boathouses on the Schuly kill--Vespers and Penn Athletic Club Rowing Association. Each clubhouse has its own trophy room, full of gleaming trophy cups, plaques, photos, and flags.

We learn that rowing, one of the oldest sports in history, dates back to Ancient Greece and Egypt.Modern rowing began as a blue-collar profession in the 15th and 16th centuries when the road system in England was so inadequate that water taxis became the favored way to travel. These taximen evolved into professional rowers, and eventually races were held, and teams and clubs sprang up. By the end of the 18th century, rowing had made its way into Oxford and Cambridge universities and was no longer a sport of the working class.

In the training room on the second floor of one of the clubhouses, we hop onto an ergometer, a simulated rowing machine that measures our physiology.Teams train on this equipment all winter long, often working out two times a day. On this machine, we are taught the complicated rowing procedure of sliding forward in our seats, hanging back on the oars and straightening our arms.We have to actually thinkabout eachstep, anditdoesn’t feel as second nature as Iwould have expected.Whenever I’vewatched the rowers on the river, the athletes seemtomake one fluidmovement, but nowI knowthey had to learn howto coordinate this synchronization.

Outside at the river, our instructors, JasonCaldwell and Rob Fallahnejad, show us two types of rowing boats--sculling, in which each rower has two oars, one for each hand, and sweep rowing, which uses only one oar per person. The most common sculling boats are eight-person and cancost up to $40,000 a piece. For our lesson today,we will learn on a 'barge-type' sculling boat, a stable variety that is nearly impossible to tip and is worth much less.

"When you come to Philadelphia to observe a race, the eight-rower shells are the most fun to watch," Jason says. "They are the bull-riding event of rowing and provide the fastest times."

A classical Olympic race is 2,000 meters, and teams rowing 13 to 14 miles per hour (12 knots) can cover this ground in cve to eightminutes.Our teamof novices won’t be approaching speeds anywhere close to that.

See a copy of the original article in PDF format here. [boathouserow:PDF]