We are stronger than we think. We have emotional, spiritual, and physical resources at our disposal. And we may get knocked down, but we don’t have to stay down.
Steve Goodier
Steve Goodier’s famous statement may sound like a line straight out of a self-help book. But, is this statement merely another self-help truism attempted to motivate someone in times of desperation? Or is there a more powerful truth to it? So powerful in fact, that it can help save and even shape your entire life. And if this is indeed a powerful truth, why do we still see individuals driven by desperation to make poor choices, like robbing, cheating, or worse? Why do we see individuals admit they are trapped in jobs or roles that they don’t find fulfilling or meaningful? A book published over 75 years ago gives us a deeper understanding of this matter.
Man’s Search for Meaning
Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl, which has sold over 12 million copies across the world, remains one of the best books that I’ve come across. One of the very few books that can change your perception about everything around you. And everything about yourself. It helps you understand what drives your actions. It can help you realise why two individuals from the same background and with the same resources can lead two completely contrasting lives. Why someone who lacks resources can build something that the world marvels at. And others with abundant resources at their disposal cannot. Although the specifics of the actions in each case are different, they are all guided by the same underlying psychological principle: Reason. A reason that lies at the heart of every action, however small or big.
Anyone with even a basic knowledge of world history would know that the Second World War was an agonisingly painful time for a large part of the world. The Jews especially, were at the receiving end of what was to be the defining act of Nazi cruelty and perversity. It’s not enough to say that they had their homes and everything that held any value taken from them. They in fact, had their entire existence ripped from them. Women, children, and anyone deemed ‘unfit to serve’ were immediately killed. Those who weren’t killed were shipped to concentration camps across Europe, of which Auschwitz was one of the most horrifying. So harrowing was the Nazi treatment of the Jews, it warranted a whole new term to describe it, The Holocaust, a word that even today evokes large degrees of horror across the world.
Viktor E. Frankl and the birth of Logotherapy
In one such group of prisoners was Viktor E. Frankl, a neurologist and psychiatrist from Vienna, Austria, who was deported to the Nazi Theresienstadt ghetto in 1942. Here he worked as a general practitioner before being assigned to the psychiatric ward. Eventually, Frankl was moved to work to Auschwitz in 1944 to work as a slave labourer.
Man’s Search for Meaning is Frankl’s own record of his days in a concentration camp. His experiences with fellow prisoners. And the ordeals he faced with them in a prison where life seemed to have absolutely no meaning. It’s perhaps ironic that the foundation for one of the most powerful books on humanity was born out of the experience in one of the most inhumane prisons in the world. A time that separated him from his wife and took away all his research prior to imprisonment. These were the conditions that gave birth to powerful philosophy, today known as ‘Logotherapy’.
‘Logotherapy’ (coined from the Greek word ‘logos’, meaning reason) explains how the biggest motivation to what you do in your life, comes from an inner search for the meaning of your life. It’s a guide that helps you understand the reason at the root of every action, big or small, professional or personal. It leads you to ask yourself one question, ‘What is the meaning of my life?’ Once you dig deeper, you realise how every act of yours is driven by one fundamental question, ‘Why?’.
Diving into Man’s Search for Meaning
Divided into two halves, Man’s Search for Meaning first takes us through his days of imprisonment and the horrors he faced every day. Horrors that were not limited to physical torture and abuse by the prison guards, but also the kapo – a prisoner in the concentration camp assigned by the SS guards to supervise forced labour – who would torture his fellow prisoners for his personal gain. It gives you a glimpse of just how gruesome it was to be a prisoner in a concentration camp. And through his experiences, he explains how some prisoners survived even the most traumatic days in this camp, where many others gave up.
His observations from a psychological point of view gave him certain insights into the mental states of others around him. What drove them and how it affected the behavioural patterns of these individuals. For instance, why would someone intentionally disobey or instigate a ruthless prison guard, fully aware of its severe consequences. Or why would someone willingly give up his priceless cigarettes to a fellow prisoner. Among other actions, these were signs of an individual who had given up on life under the brutal conditions. In other words, they no longer saw any meaning in their lives, and therefore lost their will to live.
Survival in the harsh conditions of a concentration camp was not merely about physical strength. It was about an individual’s inner mental strength. Frankl’s observations led him to believe that a majority of the survivors, were able to survive the concentration camp, not because of their physicality, but because they believed they had something to look forward to. There was an inner belief that the brutality they faced everyday would one day stop. It was this belief that gave them a reason to fight for their survival. For some, it was the hope of reuniting with their families after the war. For some it was about starting new lives. While for some others it was just the idea of witnessing a free world once again. For Frankl, it was the idea of meeting his wife, and professionally, the possibility of taking forward his theory.
Perhaps, this was the root of his theory and ‘Logotherapy’. His intention to observe, understand, and categorise how his suffering insulated him from the cruelties he faced every day. As a psychiatrist, he could understand the human mind and the human psychology. It’s possible that the desire to understand and record his experiences and his theory is what served as his salvation. It’s even possible that before observing the other prisoners, Frankl observed a meaningful reason to survive within himself, which he later observed among others. And this led him to the conclusion that even in the most difficult times, an individual’s life can still have meaning. That even suffering can be meaningful.
The actions of the prisoners – whether they gave in under the conditions of a concentration camp, or decided to soldier on, – were driven by a reason. An answer to ‘Why?’. But what’s equally important is ‘How?’. How was one individual able to endure and survive the same conditions that drove another individual to his death? This is when you realize why someone who knows he has a reason to live, can co go to any lengths, can face any difficulties and can endure any pain to ensure his survival.
He who has a why to live for, can bear almost any how
Friedrich Nietzsche
The second part of Man’s Search for Meaning introduces us to Logotherapy. And explains how he deployed Logotherapy or ‘psychological healing’ for years after his liberation to help individuals. Individuals who no longer believed there was any reason for them to carry on with their lives, including concentration camp survivors who found themselves in an ‘existential vacuum’. A state Frankl described as one where survivors psychologically found themselves in a state of meaninglessness or emptiness. He explains how finding something meaningful is not restricted to just doing something that has a large social significance. Even the simplest actions can answer your search for meaning. Like teaching a student Math for a few days, knowing that it can help him better prepare for school, and can eventually help open a range of career possibilities for him.
Perhaps, that is why we see individuals give up lucrative careers in their industries and take up teaching.
Logotherapy and a search for the meaning for our own selves.
This book, at some point will lead you to ask yourself a key question. ‘What is the meaning of my life?’ Or ‘What am I meant to do with my life?’ And even though the answers to these questions vary for every individual, the answers lie within us. At some level, we even know the answer to this question, without realising that we know it.
But can we use logotherapy to answer some of the questions we ask ourselves on a relatively smaller level every day? Are we just cogs in a large machine doing the same thing every day, without reason or ambition? Or is there a greater reason behind even our smallest actions? A reason that can potentially give a greater meaning to what we do. Can logotherapy help us understand these reasons behind our routine actions that we may not even think too much about
For example; in my own life, it’s of great comfort knowing I know the answers to a question like ‘Why do I work in advertising? Especially after spending four years studying Pharmacy.’
The answers to the big questions. And the small.
It’s quite common to realise that the answer to the big question is often linked to the smaller every day questions. For example, why does a doctor or a pharmacist running a pharmacy work over 15 hours a day? Is it just about survival? Is about earning more money? Or is it about ensuring the good health of someone who trusts you? For many doctors and pharmacists, ensuring good health is the answer to their big question, and possibly even their smaller questions. Logotherapy is about finding your own meaning for everything you do, finding out what inspires you to do what you do, and realising what you have to look forward to. And more importantly, knowing that there is a meaning to each and every individual’s life, even if they don’t know it yet.
Over 75 years young. But relevant as ever.
Published 7 decades ago, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ is not just a story of one man’s struggle and survival. It is a fascinating look into life in a concentration camp and its impact, from the eyes of a trained psychiatrist. More importantly, it tells us, based on first-hand experience, how endurance and the ability to look beyond a difficult phase of your life can potentially hold great meaning for your future. It tells us how times of desperation can allow a greater sense of appreciation of the good times that follow. Why it takes conflict to truly understand the value of peace and harmony. How a prolonged injury to an athlete can lead to a greater sense of gratitude towards the sport. How joblessness can build a greater sense of appreciation of our jobs. And how these difficult times can in fact reveal great meaning and purpose in our lives.
That leads you to another interesting question. Is ‘meaning’ always an outcome of ‘suffering’? Do things always have to be worse before they are better? Perhaps not. It’s quite possible, even common to find the reason to do what you do, without having to endure too many difficulties. But many who have been through a rather difficult phase may at some point accept that it was this phase that led them into a better direction. Eventually, you realise that ‘not giving up’ in a difficult environment itself stems from an underlying reason and a desire to move forward.
The last word
Millions of people who have read Man’s Search for Meaning will undoubtedly use different terms to describe their admiration for this book, each one accurate in its own sense. But the one that I personally prefer is ‘inspiring’. While we can consider ourselves fortunate not to have witnessed what Viktor E. Frankl went through, we all have our own challenges and sufferings. Made worse in the two years of the seemingly unending Covid-19 pandemic. And whether you have faced the full brunt of these difficult times or have been lucky enough to escape it, this is a book you absolutely need to get your hands on.
In fact, this is one book that I would recommend you read repeatedly, to not just understand, but to truly appreciate and extract its value.
