Acharya Prashant responds to a question about why one feels bad when a crowd laughs at them, despite knowing the ego is false. He explains that this happens because you define yourself by what the crowd tells you. If the crowd calls you great, you start believing you are great. You have made your identity dependent on the crowd. If the crowd praises you, you become happy; if they insult you, you become sad, because you have linked your identity to what others say. You have made your image dependent on an external factor. Acharya Prashant further clarifies that relationships can have a different basis. He uses their current interaction as an example, stating that their relationship is not for him to decide the questioner's image. When the questioner suggests that a relationship is about giving and receiving, Acharya Prashant points out that not everyone who comes to him receives what is offered. If he held the expectation that everyone must understand, he would be in trouble. He distinguishes between being aware of whether someone is understanding and having the expectation that they must understand. Hope, he says, is a completely different thing. He concludes by questioning the need for everything to have a purpose or meaning. He asks, "What is the purpose of the air in this room?" The air doesn't think; it just is. Similarly, the sunlight has no purpose. The meaning is that some things have no meaning. You are searching for meaning where there is none. The sun has no meaning, the air has no meaning, and his being there does not necessarily have to have a meaning.