7 «Purposes of Life»: Our Primal Quests

Purpose = Meaning = Happiness

The Primal Quest system-RH', that governs our endeavours-RH, is located inside Purpose-RL6. So it must be constructed around a specific recognizable purpose. Because the meaning of any action is its purpose, all Primal Quests are about leading a meaningful life. So the Primal Quests can be called «The 7 Meanings of Life».

Be careful: One of the Quests says that the Meaning of Life is «to live a life of meaning»; or we can put it another way: «the purpose of life is to live a life of purpose». It's easy to get confused by this Quest-RH'L2.

For many, but not all, «happiness» is the core Ultimate Value-PH6L7 that powers this special nested system of Primal Quests. The ultimate value ensures that we view the Quest as intrinsically «Good». We can include «meaning», as another ultimate value—and then, because all ultimate values are forms of «goodness», these two values become interchangeable. Happiness gives meaning, and meaning gives happiness. This is not a tautology.

See Ch.4: Working with Values and
more discussion later in this Satellite.

Note: The focus here on Primal Quests does not reduce the significance or value of other answers to the «Meaning of Life» conundrum. These other answers relate to frameworks in other parts of the Taxonomy.

Recognize Each Quest

Now see the 7 formal names provisionally assigned to the Quests:

These Primal Quests are proposed as the special purposive types/systems whose ultimate value is happiness or meaning. It is inconceivable that these Quests have not been identified and described many times over in the millennia of human cultural history. So nothing in the list will be new to any reader. Still it is quite possible that the nature of the Primal Quests has never been fully perceived. This is because they can only be properly understood by a comprehensive overview that identifies similarities and differences.

More:►

This exposition broadly follows the path of my inquiries. (Of course, later findings, as always, led to adjustments of earlier formulations). To make each Primal Quest recognizable, this initial section: 7 «Purposes of Life» takes them one by one and for each:

Determines the function.
Notes the form of happiness and intrinsic purpose.
Provides clarification of common confusions.
Explains why the «Quest» label is appropriate.
Proposes the Quest's correspondence with one Root Level.

The next section: Initial Review provides the first summary review. Following this review, you should have a clear conception and some feeling for each of the Primal Quests, even those that seem alien. If there are not too many errors, this will serve as the foundation for further inquiry and discovery.