alt Hacker News> any assumed meaning of our existence only matters while we're alive.
What do you mean by this? It is obviously possible to have an impact that lasts after you die and that people view as meaningful long after you die.
If the meaning of your life is to raise your kids well, that still matters after you die. Or if you invented calculus, or general relativity, or conquered Egypt and Persia, or wrote an epic poem read for thousands of years.
The world will go on without you, but it will be different, and maybe meaningfully so to those left.
I understood it to be a self-centered statement (meant to explain, not judge). “Meaning” is something that exists in your head. You care about the state of the world because your cares are a state of your mind. Kill the mind, and there’s nothing left to do the caring.
The first objection is often “but I care about other people whom I will leave behind!” But yes, you care. Once you’re gone… there won’t be anyone left doing that caring.