Victor E. Frankl: Man's Search for Meaning

Learnings from Victor E Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning Introduction Whilst many have given detailed reviews of Man’s Search for Meaning, I do not intend to do the same. Instead, I will reference points I personally found significant from the book, how this influenced me and what I took from it. Alongside this I will add viewpoints and thoughts that were provoked from such readings. Needless to say, the book is a masterpiece and one of the most influential books I have read. For this reason alone, I find it necessary to document and distil what I have learnt to cement such points into my own mind and influence yours.

The below references are from Victor E. Frankl: Man’s Search For Meaning, Revised and Updated Edition (1985) ISBN: 0-671-02337-3 https://isbnsearch.org/isbn/0671023373

Perspectives that Sparked Reflection Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target the more you are going to miss it (page 16 -17): I spent a fair amount of time processing Victor’s comment here. At first, I considered the intention behind success. I have to have a rough trajectory of where I want to go so I can take active steps in getting there. For instance, to become a lawyer someone has to get a degree before progressing - the same applies with medicine.

However, after rereading this several times it appears that Victor was referring to success in and of itself. To aim at success because you want to be successful – to aim at it because of what it brings; instead, the focus should be on serving a worthy cause, serving others and honing one’s own ability to be truly successful in their chosen field – then success will follow.

Emphasis is also placed on the long-term outcome of success: there is no quick road. The long road and the unwillingness of patience of many may lead them astray. Value has to be proven.

‘There was neither time nor desire, to consider moral or ethical issues’ (page 23): I like to imagine how I would react (although this cannot be known), the truth is I would likely be selfish too. If I knew the only way to see my loved ones again was to survive when survival is low, my level of compassion would be depressed and my ability to think beyond my own needs would be next to none-existent.

‘When seeing a comrade smoking his own cigarette, we knew he had given up faith in his own strength to carry on’ (page 26): Whilst this is by far the most extreme example of giving up, I drew some connections from this point.

By smoking one’s last cigarette (amongst the most valuable of all goods within Auschwitz) one indulged in their last comfort, their last bit of exchangeable equity. To hold off such consumption

reflects the hope each inmate had of surviving till some future point – whether that be the next day or the slim chance of surviving the camps remaining existence: by having something to look forward to you have a reason to live.

Even in privileged positions the role could be snatched away by the SS: This would only encourage such harsh behaviour. Even then a sense of desperation must have existed. This is backed up by the statement on page 29 that those employed to operate the gas chamber had limited time before being relieved by a new shift of men as they were demoted from executioner and became victims themselves. To me this reflects an extreme level of mental torment.

It would require a uniquely sinister personality to conjure such brutality. Torture by all intents and purposes was designed to destroy the mind as much as the body.

When all illusions were destroyed a grim sense of humour overtook the inmates (page 34): I have been lucky enough to work many different professions during the first part of my working life.

So far, I have worked in foundry and field, entertainment and leisure, and now in financial services. I can say with absolute certainty that a sense of humour is more easily found in professions where the environment is semi-depressive, dirty, dangerous and long in duration. In my times working in a foundry the sense of humour individuals possessed was unparalleled and was a breeding ground for interesting characters. Many of which were able to get by coping with a sense of humour.

The main difference I draw here is that no one had a situation where their life was truly threatened and, as a result, had little regard to those around them; however, there is a clear correlation between the difficulty and unpleasantness of a task and the selfishness of an individual putting his own comfort above fairness. When working inside a foundry, kindness was rarely reciprocated and was instead exploited – a good deed was simply taken advantage of to lessen the fortunate coworker’s burden. Once kindness breeds resentment towards other colleges and a culture of selfishness is easily cultivated. This is often the result of one or two workers destroying any sort of teamwork that would collectively make each and everyone’s job much more pleasant and easy to do. Selfishness paradoxically results in the workload staying the same or actually increasing – we all lose.

It is interesting that the author did not entertain illusions, even if it provided psychological relief.

He believed a danger must come with this (page 49): I was uncertain whether this is rational, it is not something I can link back to with any meaningful experience. Maybe there is some detrimental impact of such behaviour when times are as extreme as an inmate in a concentration camp. I am however conscious that to hope and focus on something that is neither real or will come to fruition nets out to be counterproductive.

Despite the primitiveness and hardship of prison life those of a less hardy constitution seemed to fair better. This likely stems from their more intellectual nature allowing them to turn inward and explore and experience more spirituality (page 55 & 56): From this, the power of the mind is revealed and how much impact it has on survival. To this day most people discount the impact of mindset of physical strength in modern society. Maybe this

comes down to the tangible, visible nature of strength in the physical form allowing anyone to more easily relate to it. Mental strength can remain, in large part, unseen and unappreciated by bystanders.

When human experience is reduced to pure survival and all that one can do is focus on the immediate task at hand, the ego is often destroyed and the individual no longer sees themselves outside of the group they find themselves in. Personality seems to be lost and the only focus is that of food in order to survive (page 70): Reminds me of the experiences of Yeonmi Park on the Joe Rogan Experience ep 1691. As everyone is so starved, they are more dependent on the government and subject their authoritarian controls.

People often turn on their neighbours in desperation and allow the government to exercise total control over its own citizens.

Emphasis is placed on the fact so little value was given to a human life in the camp (page 73): The very fact you become a number detracts from one of the few things each individual could carry with them – the one thing that could personalise their existence within camp.

Men where so desperately starved cannibalism broke out (page 76): To think of eating another person is disturbing enough, to think humans can become that desperate such actions take place is another. If such actions can happen to one man, it can happen to another; if it can happen to another it can happen to me. As much as I like to think I have fortitude I am unable to say whether this is so when pushed to the absolute edge of existence and straddling between life and death. Maybe I would act as those did here?

It must be said, that such desperation was not reverted to by the author so it is clear that many avoided such desperation whether through duration served or through mental fortitude.

However, it would have been far easier to avoid such desperation if you had only been in camp for a short duration of time versus those like Victor Fankl who spent years in there.

Sheer luck meant Victor survived. Just before liberation he was not included in trucks leaving the camp to supposed safety. It turned out they were locked in wooden cabins upon arrival and burnt alive by the SS (page 82 & 83): Reality is often less linear and more random that we like to believe. It is hard to imagine that someone who would have survived until liberation through hardiness both physically and mentally could fall on bad luck and die as the result of this. You could have both health and mental capacity to survive such conditions but fall because you were unlucky to get a bad SS guard or be chosen to do a more dangerous job resulting in your death on one particular day. That same person may well have survived for years after that if there was a way of comparing both realities all the way up to liberation. I like to think the linear path can be carved out, but in reality, the world is too random to make such outcomes a certainty.

In many ways, everyone has to act as though they can create certainty as this increases the odds such an outcome will occur. If everyone submitted to the uncertainty of things then it is unlikely many people would strive for anything – hopelessness may well set in a person’s heart and paralyse them from progressing.

An active life serves the purpose of giving man the opportunity to realize values in creative work, while a passive life of enjoyment affords him the opportunity to obtain fulfilment in experiencing beauty, art or nature (page 87-88): Think about how a normal job is not enjoyable because it does not evoke anything within us that we find creative; it does not allow us to create anything of tangible value. When I reflect on the normal jobs I have had over the years three things stand out as to what made them enjoyable: social interaction, creation of high-quality products and the creation of something unique to myself. For me, I loved working at a theme park because of the team I worked in and the social bonds I formed whilst working their; my job working inside a foundry allowed me to create ingots which afforded great satisfaction in being able to touch and see the products of my labour, and my personal pursuit of investing allows me to exercise my own way of thinking and find value within financial markets.

Whilst all three stand out as achieving part of what Victor holds as leading an active life, the latter stands out the most. I have found that ‘an active life’ comes from my own ability to exercise autonomy. Creating ideas based on my own thoughts and produce outcomes that, if correct, allow me to generate income in the free and open market is truly satisfying.

There may be times when external factors prevent someone from serving and ‘active life’. When you have to suffer, the way you accept such suffering allows someone to add more meaning to their own life. ‘Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete’ (Page 88): Suffering rarely comes to an extent where external factors prevent you from serving the ‘active life’ you want to lead. When assessing my own life, the only time external factors prevented me from pursuing an ambition occurred when I wanted to join the army. I wanted to join but my cashew nut allergy prevented me completely. I was informed that this was a blanket approach and there were no exceptions. However, new avenues opened up as I continued searching – avenues which I may not have developed a passion for should I have successfully navigated the prior. In retrospect, it is hard to tell whether I would have enjoyed serving in the army more than what I do now because I never experienced it. It did reveal that there is more than one way to lead an active life: we are not limited to one defined path.

On episode 2063 of the Joe Rogan Experience Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) highlighted that a path we thought was our calling end up not leading to what makes us successful. Instead, something different comes along that we thrive at and results in our success. He gives the example of football being his original passion but switched to wrestling like his father – here is where his initial success came from; since then, he has pursued an active career as an actor – arguably to even greater levels of fame and success. As with the above we are not limited to one defined path – this can change throughout our lifetime.

The second message I got from this was as follows: there are going to be times where suffering will enter your life in some shape or form. Instead of letting such suffering rule over you for a period of

time, try and deal with it in the best way possible is always the route one should take. There is a lot of meaning in suffering that I personally overlooked until reading this book – the reference of Dostoevski: ‘There is only one thing that I dread: not being worthy of my suffering’ (referenced on page 87) has been seared into my mind.

Due to each man not knowing how long his term of imprisonment would be he ceased living for the future, he ‘was not able to aim at an ultimate goal in life’. The unemployed worker, for example, is in a similar position. His life has become provisional and in a certain sense he cannot live for the future or aim at a goal (Page 91): How does this compare to those who lack ambition, not in the sense of becoming the best at something, but continually striving to do good: whether that being to improve one’s self or helping others in some shape or form. I often reflect on my own short comings here – for instance, when I am not productive or find myself consuming instead of producing, extracting or simply taking and not reciprocating. This can also be extended to my feelings when I act in a selfish way. A way I like to view each situation, for example, like consuming food or participating in an experience is to consider whether it is a debt or credit. Each good deed adds to the credits one accrues and each negative action deducts from them. To live in deficit is the easiest way to lead an unfulfilling or miserable life.

As someone who has straddled on both sides of this divide it is much better to live with credits piled high. It is also worth noting that to appreciate the credits one must experience the negatives of one’s own debts. From this a person is able to gain experience of life itself and move to live a truly fulfilling life. I don’t profess to have done anything of extreme worth as of yet with my life but I certainly aim to add value each day.

The prisoner who lost faith in the future – his future – was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he lost his spiritual hold. He let himself decline and become subject to mental and physical decay (page 95): Mental mindset has an unrecognised impact on the way we are able to deal with adversity.

The total meaninglessness of one’s life which plagues many a person in the 21 st century was prophetically predicted to increase due to the progress of automation. Many will not know what to do with their newly found free time (page 129): The term coined ‘Sunday neurosis’ By Victor Fankl is more prevalent now than ever, we are continuously distracted from action with the advent of social media and its easy access at any time via our smart phones. Knowing this does not make anyone immune to the pull of such applications.

Walking down any street and see how many people are actually paying attention to their surroundings and you will see just how bad this has gotten. Many will be glued to their mobiles mindlessly scrolling or focusing on something that does not add any real value – both from an economic or social prospective. Overloaded with options and ease of access actually makes many less productive and feel less fulfilled. For all the benefits the information age and automation has brought, the inability of those with newfound time to use it productively in a way that makes them feel fulfilled has created an issue larger than what it replaced.

‘Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!’ (page 132): For me this provided the most beneficial takeaway within the book: to imagine an old version of myself looking down upon me objectively, looking to see whether what I am doing is right or wrong and guiding me in the process. Realistically, I know, in the moment, whether what I am doing is productive, wasteful or just my own weakness giving into some kind of temptation; however, it helps to think about my own actions from an imaginary view of my life once lived. This way of interpreting the situation also allows me to more easily recognise the finite nature of my own existence and act more responsible in any given situation.

The more one forgets himself – by giving himself to a cause to serve or another to love – the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself (page 133): Essentially being selfless and passionate in the things one does in life results in self-actualisation, to focus on yourself is to act selfishly, to act selfishly will ultimately end in self-actualisation not being achieved. I have worked with many a person who acts in their own self-interest thinking they are getting one up over another. Whilst this may be true in the moment, in the long run this tends to work against you. You will find yourself no better off than if you had acted in a selfless way – the only difference being that you will feel no fulfilment, a sense of hollowness and the people around you no longer trusting you.

In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning (page 135): The easiest example I can relate to is physical exercise: in the moment it can feel like suffering.

Afterwards, I often feel the opposite: relaxation and anxiety fade and my body recovers slightly stronger than it did before. Do this enough and I can see and feel the results – I have become a stronger version of my former self. This outcome was achieved by applying the meaning of fitness to the suffering I endured.

To achieve most things in life that have significant meaning to me I have had to suffer or compromise in some way. Try and do everything you want and you will achieve little, focus on what really matters to you and do it to the best of your ability is something I aim at. Whilst the former is true it is not particularly easy (for me anyway) to live by: quite often I will find myself slipping somewhere. It is up to me and me alone to rectify any short-comings and self-correct to live a meaningful life. As I have gotten older, I have certainly become better at self-correcting instead of focusing on such shortcomings and letting them fill me: all this achieves is annoyance in myself and slows down my ability to get back on track.

The first thing that comes to mind when referring to the prior is diet: a bad day can turn into a bad week without course correction and many a time I have averted course correcting. A bad diet can then persist for longer, and any meaningful progress can be undone much easier. A bad day will have next to no noticeable impact on my body, a bad week will certainly mark a difference and a bad month will more than undo most of the progress I might have made.

The hardest part about suffering and compromise is the need to be consistent in what you apply it to.

Compounding works its magic the longer such a run is uninterrupted. No quick fixes just discipline is the hard truth here.

You often have to endure some kind of suffering in order to achieve great things in any walk of life.

Man is ultimately self-determining. What he ultimately becomes – within the limits of endowment and environment – he has made out of himself. In the concentration camps, for example, in the living laboratory and on the testing ground, we watched and witnessed some of the comrades behave like swine whilst others behaved like saints. Man has both potential within himself; which one is actualised depends upon decisions, but not on conditions (page 157): You and I are not subject to our surroundings and conditions; we are, however, influenced by such things. How we chose to interact with such things ultimately remains with us. Whilst the more inhumane environments allowed many an individual to conduct inhumanely themselves, free will still remain.

There (Auschwitz) the “individual differences” did not “blur” but on the contrary, people became more different; people unmasked themselves, both the swine and the saints (page 178): To me this is an uncomfortable realisation that I have learnt through this writing and not experience – to this I am thankful. In my naïve assumption I assumed and believed that all humans in dire straits would unite, and become more compassionate – particularly if their situation was helpless. Instead, one’s natural tendencies and personality is revealed – the mask is lifted and the true person revealed.

Civility actually results in each personality being hidden for the most part. Just think, how many people do you truly know where you work? It is a shame that comfort warps perspective of many a human being. I found myself conducting a thought experiment on how the actual world would look if true personality was easy to see? Would it even function, or would it collapse into chaos? Maybe the disguise enables modern civilization to function or maybe I am just overthinking this and the world would go on much the same.

We have already seen the impact the information age has had on many a person – an overload of information results in most people struggling to decipher fact from fiction. Conflict has intensified.

How would interaction change if everyone could see each other’s true-self? How many people would be more sinister than meets the eye and how would this impact social interaction? How would society continue to function in a structured way? Maybe too much information is the downfall of humans. Whilst communication speeds have increased the human brain will not have adapted to this newfound speed and nor will it be able to do so if evolution proceeds at its slow pace.

Overall It is clear from this writing that one’s chances of survival are underpinned on their way of thinking.

Helplessness seems to hasten death.

Quotes that need no explanation Here some of the most influential points are quoted. There is very little I can add here – the quotes speak for themselves and may highlight obvious realities that only needed to be uttered to be brought to the forefront of your own consciousness:     

Love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire (page 57).

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way (Page 86).

‘What you have experienced, no power on earth can take away from you’ (page 104).

No one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them (page 112 – 113).

One must have a reason to “be happy”. Once the reason is found, however, one becomes happy automatically (page 162).

Top Five points to take away     

The mind is incredibly powerful Man has the ability to inflict and endure horrendous things To love is the greatest of all human endeavours To live a life of purpose Horrendous high stressed environments elevate the nature of each human being

Alternative Book Review: After writing this piece I sort out alternative reviews. I purposefully avoided any of these until my own work was complete to prevent any influence on my own thoughts. I wanted my work to be a true reflection of what I had taken from the book.

The best review I have found comes from Blas.com and I highly recommend reading it.

Link: https://blas.com/mans-search-meaning/

Thank you for taking the time to read my foregoing text.