Do you want to know the meaning of life?

Humans find great meaning in transcending our physical and mental limitations and tapping into enhanced states of consciousness. When we do so we are expressing an impulse that has been inherent in the evolutionary process from the big bang onwards.

Evolution has continually transcended its limitations, breaking free from the determinism of blind laws and mechanisms. But what does that have to do with consciousness?

Creativity is one of the enduring mysteries of the universe. How does something more keep coming from something less?

From cosmological to biological to cultural evolution the universe appears to be getting more and more creative as it evolves, and human creativity is just the latest example of that trajectory.

Can this explain why humans find creativity meaningful?

We’ve been taught that evolution is a cruel and vicious struggle in which only the ruthless survive. But if you look a little more closely, the natural world is teeming with cooperation.

Not only that, but from single celled organisms right the way through to human civilisation, the scale of cooperation has been steadily increasing.

Can this shed any light on why humans find cooperation meaningful?

The pursuit of happiness is one of the founding American ideals. But evidence from psychology research points to the conclusion that pursuing happiness for its own sake doesn't actually work.

What can work, however, is to cultivate a meaningful life, because in doing so, happiness tends to follow as a by-product.

What do humans find meaningful? How do they differ from simple hedonism? And what does this tell us about life?

For much of human history, most people have been far too pre-occupied with the question, "How can I stay alive?" to have any time to think about the question "How should I live?"

But as billions of people have been raised out of poverty, and, particularly in the Western world, living standards have improved, more and more people have found themselves confronted with the question, how should I live in order to be happy?

I think it's about time we had an answer.