Iddo Landau is a professional philosopher, so his 2017 book Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World is mainly full of questions. That's good! – especially when dealing with a big, important topic. Landau's BLUF:

The Meaning of Life isn't binary – it has degrees, and can be nudged toward better and away from worse.

Yes, the world is far from flawless; our lives are finite, as is our civilization, our planet, and the universe itself. Yes, a few lucky people do amazing things; most of us don't. Yes, maybe "free will" is an illusion. Yes, stuff happens, seemingly at random. Yes, people (and cultures) disagree about what's most valuable and which goals are most worth pursuing. Yes, suffering seems almost ubiquitous. Yes, great Evils exist. Yes, we often judge ourselves harshly and feel regret over our mistakes.

Nevertheless, there is so much good in the world – beauty, kindness, and love. Landau suggests that we tend to overlook that good.

At the end of Chapter 4, Landau summarizes his antiperfectionism thesis:

Thus, alongside the perfectionist streak in Western culture and philosophy, there is also a powerful and interesting nonperfectionist streak. This book follows the latter streak, which finds great value in ordinary things. As I see it, a person who is decent; who is a good family member, friend, or neighbor; who is curious; and who can enjoy the sight of the trees through the window of the bus on her way to work has already made it. She has a meaningful life. She has passed the threshold. Perhaps Mother Teresa or Bach had even more meaningful lives, but her life is already meaningful. Meaningfulness can be found in growing and enjoying geraniums on the balcony, not only orchids in the conservatory. ...

And at the very end of the book Landau offers some "practical guidelines":

• Avoid perfectionism
  • If it is impossible to achieve something, do not try to achieve it and do not blame yourself for not achieving it
  • Do not ignore the good just because not everything is good
• Do not discriminate against yourself — treat yourself as you treat others, and as you would want others to treat you
• This is not a dress rehearsal — we have one opportunity to live a meaningful life, and it is a great pity to waste it
• Do not be cruel to yourself
• Work — only a few people can have a meaningful life without working

As Landau concludes, these are all incredibly obvious, and are all often ignored. His final thought: "The practice of recognizing may be useful here as well."

Hmmm, sounds like Mindfulness!

_{(cf Optimist Creed (1999-04-16), No Dogs or Philosophers Allowed (2003-10-13), Ethical Fitness (2000-12-15), Fallibilism (2013-05-14), So I Will See (2016-03-27), Mantra - Beliefs Are Knobs, Not Switches (2017-07-03), ...) - ^z - 2025-02-20}