Conversation with Eli Rios.

The conversation between the most informative and interesting person I "interviewed".

Summer friend from Camp Yomi. Currently attending Alfred University College.

srios92: Hey ! I’m writing a paper about the meaning of life and I was wondering if I could get your opinion.

Eli: heyy, sure

Eli: whatsup?

srios92: ok, so how do you define something to be meaningful?

Eli: something that has feelings/memories invested in it

srios92: well what do u mean by that?

Eli: like if someone has used something for a long time

Eli: or can associate memories or memorable experiences through the item

Eli: then it is essentially meaningful

srios92: so you’re talking about an object/item ?

Eli: yes

Eli: well a person is meaningful too

Eli: because you can associate memories or feelings with them

Eli: and have invested feelings in them

srios92: can you give me an example of both?

Eli: like someone you love

Eli: they are meaningful because the experiences you’ve had

Eli: that have made you closer

Eli: you have invested a lot of feelings into that one person

Eli: making them meaningful

srios92: what are the most meaningful parts of your life ?

Eli: the things that stand for something

Eli: those times in life where you’re as happy as can be

Eli: where you can sit back with that one person or with those people and feel like you life is good

Eli: like memories with friends

Eli: or family

Eli: or significant other

Eli: those memories

Eli: are maybe some of the best

Eli: or athletic moments where you do really good

Eli: i love those

srios92: haha yess! Me too, ok back to questions.. Can you describe a time in your life where you were “as happy as can be” and what exactly made you feel this way?

Eli: I guess getting into the college

Eli: i wanted to

Eli: made my parents proud

Eli: something to that effect

srios92: ok but what exactly is it about making your parents proud that made you happy when they were?

Eli: well it made me happy because I could like lift the pressure off

Eli: and my parents were proud

Eli: and like the way life was after

Eli: was really good because everyone was happy for me

Eli: lol

srios92: but why does your parents being proud of you make you happy?

srios92: *and try not to respond with "because it makes them happy" lol

Eli: lol well they treat me better

Eli: give me more money

Eli: more lenience

Eli: get away with more shit

Eli: lol

Eli: and I can ask for anything I want so it’s like a ‘I give them what they want and they give me what I want type of relationship.

Eli: with unconditional love

Eli: we fight and hate each other we still love each other

srios92: and why is that? What makes it so different for family that you love them no matter how fucked up they can be to you, you’ll still love them?

Eli: uhm they provide me with life

Eli: liberty

Eli: clothes money

Eli: I give them....the sense of accomplishment

Eli: that they birthed someone

Eli: who isn’t a fuckup in life

Eli: in all honesty

Eli: haha

srios92: on a scale of 1-10 how meaningful is your life ?

Eli: 10

Eli: lol

Eli: but like I care about my life at a 10

Eli: out of 10

Eli: but I don’t value my life over others

Eli: like if I had to pick to save myself

Eli: or someone else

Eli: I wouldn’t be a d-bag

Eli: lol alright kool.

srios92: im not done haha

Eli: oh, ok. lol

srios92: how do you classify something as more meaningful or less meaningful?

Eli: I guess how much you care for it

Eli: how much you’d rather have one over the other

srios92: ok makes sense

srios92: how does opinion affect a meaningful life?

Eli: my opinion

Eli: on my life

Eli: depending

Eli: on what I did

Eli: what I stood for

Eli: what I worked to

Eli: how I got there

Eli: if I lived up to my genetic potential

Eli: or not

Eli: anything more?

srios92: what makes you happy? Specifically

Eli: feeling like accomplished

Eli: or like reaching a goal

srios92: and this of course is meaningful to you I presume, yes?

Eli: yea

Eli: well other forms of happiness

Eli: aren’t meaningful

Eli: like falling

srios92: falling makes you happy?

Eli: no

Eli: hahaha oops

Eli: well like laughing

Eli: and having fun

Eli: is being happy

Eli: sometimes watching people fall is really funny

Eli: and it makes you happy

Eli: ahahah

srios92: ohh ok but not necessarily meaningful

Eli: exactly

Eli: so something that makes you happy

Eli: doesn’t have to be meaningful

srios92: oh ok

Eli: so whats been up ? miss youu

srios92: waittt ! haha ok what makes a life meaningful?

Eli: memories

srios92: elaborate

Eli: knowing what you did

Eli: had an impact on others

Eli: good or bad

Eli: you still had a meaningful life

srios92: so its meaningful even if your impact on someone changed them for the worse?

Eli: yea

Eli: because it impacted someone

Eli: your life had a meaning

Eli: whether it was good or bad

srios92: so a meaningful life is one that's made an impact on someone?

Eli: or people

Eli: or something

Eli: if you pretty much wasted your life

Eli: your life had no meaning

srios92: and exactly how do you "waste" your life?

Eli: by not doing anything productive

Eli: not living up to your near potential

srios92: and how do you know your own potential?

Eli: well you don’t know your potential

Eli: but if you clearly waste your life

Eli: or feel like you wish you could have done more

Eli: your life had less meaning and sometimes even no meaning at all

Eli: like if I didn’t go to a school because of a gf

Eli: I would always wonder

Eli: how thing would have been

Eli: or something

srios92: but don’t you agree that many people wish they could have done more, does that mean they didn’t live up to their potential?

Eli: well not much

Eli: those are the what ifs

Eli: but the real big ones are

Eli: like a huge life choice

Eli: where the person did not rise to the occasion

Eli: should be a breeze

srios92: hey , uhm if family is so important, how come people go away to college ?

Eli: its fun

Eli: and its an experience

Eli: that will mature you

Eli: and teach you independence

Eli: it’s your taste of the real world before it comes at you

srios92: ok, wonderful. now im done.