Why do Humans Crave for Meaning in Life?

 Last week, I learned about the philosophy of absurdism for the first time. This is a belief that all humans look for meaning in their life in an essentially meaningless world. I found this idea to be strangely agreeable, as I realized that all of us try to find meaning in life to keep us motivated, regardless of considering the world's meaning in general. That got me thinking, why do humans keep looking for meaning in life, even when confronted with the possibility that the world around them may not have one?

    It all lies in one fundamental idea: life has a clear end. Unlike other animals, we, as humans, are self-aware of our eventual demise. Therefore, each of us aspires to be part of something bigger than us and transcends our lifetime. We constantly look for something that can carry our legacy forward, whether by raising children or innovating ideas that can positively impact the world for generations to come. So, people constantly spend time figuring out how they can impact the world, which hopefully should outlive themselves. As this article so eloquently puts it, humans feel immortal by being meaningful to the world. Knowing that we will die one day, we find extreme satisfaction or even happiness, knowing that our ideas live on. This provides us with extreme motivation to keep going to achieve this goal. Ultimately, such an end goal provides humanity to keep growing in various areas, even if the world may be innately chaotic.