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Argues that meaning is a psychological construction influenced by evolution and societal factors, implying a need for critical awareness.
The Illusion of Meaning: Evolution, Consciousness, and the Conditioned Human Mind argues that life possesses no intrinsic or cosmologically grounded meaning and that the human search for meaning is a cognitive product of evolutionary processes. Drawing on cosmology, evolutionary biology, existential philosophy, cognitive science, and social psychology, the paper defends a naturalistic thesis: meaning is not an ontological feature of the universe but a psychological construction generated by layered neural processes. It further critiques educational and socio-political systems for prioritizing belief formation, identity consolidation, and obedience over metacognitive awareness. In contemporary environments saturated with algorithmic influence and ideological conditioning, sustained awareness becomes psychologically demanding, reinforcing illusion over reflective autonomy.
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Mayank Singh (2026) studied this question.
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