Sigmund Freud believed the chief desire for all mankind is the desire for pleasure — that every one of our thoughts, actions, and dreams are a response to the question, “Will this bring me pleasure?”
Victor Frankl disagreed. He said what we want, more than anything, is a deep, experiential sense of purpose — that our thoughts, actions, and dreams are a response to the question, “Will my life have meaning as a result of this?”
When we don’t have a sense of purpose, Frankl argued, is when we numb ourselves with pleasure.
I’m with Frankl. How about you?
“The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters,
but one who has insight draws them out.”
— Proverbs 20:5
You have me convinced. I am thinking about all of the painful things people will do for a purpose: parents will wear themselves out for their children; people will run miles to finish a race; men and women will die for the cause of their country or their God. A sense of purpose is more satisfying than pleasure by far!
Where does that desire for purpose come from?
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Well said! Praises to God who “sets eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
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Perhaps the sense of purpose does bring us pleasure.I think they are both right!
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