I think existence is ultimately meaningless, but I could be wrong, and there might in fact be some kind of meaning to existence that I simply haven't yet encountered. As near as I can tell, though, my state after I die will be exactly like my state before I was born (or concieved). Since I see no reason to expect any kind of life after this one, I try to live each moment as happily as I can manage. That doesn't mean that I just party hearty all the time, only that whatever situation I find myself in, I try to stay in a positive mood. I realize that I can't change the past, so there's no sense in regretting any part of it. I also realize that I might not be alive five minutes from now, so I don't worry too much about the future, either. As Clarence Darrow once said, "We are born and we die; and between these two most important events in our lives more or less time elapses which we have to waste somehow or other. In the end it does not seem to matter much whether we have done so in making money, or practicing law, or reading or playing, or in any other way, as long as we felt we were deriving a maximum of happiness out of our doings."
Even with this way of looking at life, I still can never be truly happy, because I'm aware of the vast amount of misery in the world, human and otherwise. But knowing I can do nothing about it, I try not to let it depress me.
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The need for critical thinking is becoming critical, I'm thinking.
"If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal."
Carl Sagan
"Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt."
Clarence Darrow( 1857-1938) American Lawyer |