even within a particular culture the search for meaning can represent different things for different people. For those in the upper socio-economic status, meaning is perceived differently in comparison to the understanding by those in the lower socio-economic ranks. Even Frankl (2000, 1992, 1969) acknowledged that there is no one universal definition of the construct of meaningfulness. Rather, meaning is embedded in the concrete engagement in tasks that help individuals achieve specific goals, particularly transcendental missions in life, or to create desired legacies which are intended to continue once their lives are over (Frankl, 1969).
One complication when considering how people maintain a meaningful existence in the modern world is that technological gains appear to have eliminated many of the evolutionary challenges which gave meaning and purpose to life. For example, people no longer need to walk because they can get around by driving; they don’t need to climb stairs because they can use a lift; and they do not even need to retain and recall information because they can access the internet through their phones. Many tasks that in the past made people feel competent (one of the ways in which people experience meaning in life) have disappeared. Instead of dealing with the challenges of survival, the problem facing the modern human being has become the question of what to survive for. The paradox is that people have an unprecedented ability to survive and to stay alive even in cases of severe injury or illness, but have ‘nothing to live for’ (Frankl, 1978, p. 21).
Creating meaning and happiness by not actually pursuing either
Throughout history, the nature of human action was often determined by social and cultural factors that ensured that achievements were recognized by an individual’s peers and often more significantly, met the demands of the gods. Frankl (2000) argued that these motivations for action were always present even if they were not always recognized. The way to address the urge to achieve was to desist from merely striving to win for the sake of winning, for happiness, or for other gains. Striving to achieve happiness often led to loss of happiness. Such efforts resulted in aggression and were often unsuccessful. A better attitude in life, he suggested, was to adopt a philosophy of doing one’s best while paradoxically maintaining self-detachment. Success and happiness would naturally follow (Frankl, 1978). He described a ‘will to meaning’ (p. 15) as a determination to achieve an end despite everything that may stand in the way of one’s objective. He frequently referred to the idea of heroism which he argued pertained to finding meaning even in suffering (Frankl, 1978, 1969), making it possible to rise above pessimism and fatalism in the face of the inevitability of failure or death. If individuals could recognize that their past achievements could not be taken away from them, they could gain a sense of value, purpose, and meaning, and realize the potential for change, despite death or loss.
In occupational therapy, do Rozario (1994, p. 46) agreed with Frankl’s position by asserting that the profound ‘human longing for ritual and meaning’ was expressed through spiritual pursuits. It is important to point out though that forms of spirituality may have actually originated from practical concerns about the necessity to organize society and to structure communal tasks in order to ensure human survival in particular environments (Mair, 1962; Pryor, 2004). Spirituality thus became important in imbuing humanity with a sense of meaning, yet also served to both uphold and sometimes challenge the status quo throughout the development of human societies. However, though people subscribed to religious beliefs, they tended not to be involved with the deeper discussion of the significance of such beliefs. Such discussion occurred amongst intellectuals concerned with sacred discourses (Berger, 1973).
Frankl’s writings link the quest for human meaning with spirituality and imply that the spiritual crisis of meaning is rather a modern phenomenon. These views appear consistent with a wider recognition of the effects of loss of spirituality and the ritual that comes with it. For example Marr (2009, p. xi) and Dorling (2011, p. 24) suggest that a feature of modern society is that people have abandoned a purposeful [spiritual] ideology and are ‘shopping’ for new guides to a deeper significance to their lives, be it popular astrology, feng shui, angels, crystal therapy or Mayan prophecy (Redfield, 1994). Many of the traditional religions have also at times been rejuvenated to become part of the spiritual bazaar of our times (Berger, 1973).
The development of meaning
In his exploration of a history of truth, Fernandez-Armesto (2001) suggested that the initial ways in which humans understood the world around them was through the senses and the interpretation of feelings and emotions. In her analysis of African social systems during the early to mid-20th century, Mair (1962) extended this notion of meaning through interpretation of experiences by describing how social and political relationships were determined by the resources (that provide environmental experiences) available to particular communities. The development of communal ways of living, the use of ritual to mark key events in these societies and the systems of government necessary for distribution of goods and to ensure social survival were all determined by what was available to the people in the environment around them. Mair’s analysis supports Wilcock’s (2006) suggestion that the nature of human occupation, doing, being, becoming and belonging, is determined by the way in which the environment itself is occupied.
These commentaries suggest that many aspects of the meaning of human life are rooted in the everyday and ordinary, as they are encapsulated in the environment and the resources that it affords, than the pursuit of profundity. Putnam’s (2000) discussion of social capital, for example, suggests that the introduction of television in the last century replaced communal activities with a form of entertainment which encouraged social isolation. The invention of television marked a significant stage in human development. The television itself depended on access to a wide range of resources in order to manufacture the complex components of the device from raw materials. The effect of television, however, was compounded by the dislocation of places of work from the community. The production of commodities such as the television required large scale and specialized industries needed to manufacture the components, and these factories required larger forms of organization and infrastructure such as transport networks. Small communities no longer offered adequate resources to support the growing population of people involved in these industries. Cities and towns grew and people increasingly commuted to work. The effect of introduction of the television was similar to that of the train earlier. In both cases, the production of affordable material commodities impacted on the nature of human occupation.
Prior to the onset of rapid urbanization, people shared in communal sports, talked together on the front porch, attended activities together, and thus formed part of the fabric of a socially engaged way of life. Putnam (2000) contended that it was through these activities that people recognized each other as members of the same community. The spread of television entertainment marked the point where this form of community ceased to exist in many parts of modern America and elsewhere in the world. Today, Putman observes, people invest more time with friends at work and home has become just a dormitory-like facility in the suburbs which only serves as a place to sleep. They have little to do with the locales in which they live, and the urban planning of communities reflects this altered way of life.
However, there are some grounds for skepticism about this view. One of the iconic examples of urban planning in the UK, which is an example of the separation of home from work, is the new city of Milton Keynes. Much of the vilification of this city and the many post war towns or urban developments which arose in the post war period, such as Stevenage, Crawley, or Swindon, has tended to be based in a form of snobbery rather than an examination of the quality of the lives of people there. To be sure there are people who live in social isolation in badly planned housing developments, but a sense of community, and therefore of the meaning associated with these developments is often evident (Clapson, 2004).
Other criticism comes from the strong indications of nostalgia for the lost sense of community and its supporting environment in modern times, combined with some rebellion against the nature and content of popular culture.
