www.voicelessness.com
www.voicelessness.com
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit
of Meaning
of Meaning
Copyright © 2009 by Richard A. Grossman, Ph.D. · All Rights reserved · E-Mail: ragrossman@voicelessness.com
The point of life is to spread one’s genes. That’s what evolution has designed us to do. While I agree in principle, the answer doesn’t deeply satisfy, and it’s not exactly what one wants to tell a teenage hellion.
O.K. So how would I answer Claire’s question now? What is the point, if we’re all going to die? 6 weeks ago, my brother was called up to serve in Israeli military intelligence. He was escorting a CNN reporter to the northern border, when he spotted two Katyushas heading directly towards him on the highway. He stopped the car, threw it into reverse, and floored it. One of the missiles exploded a few hundred yards in front of him. Those missiles and the nearness of my brother’s death reminded me once again what the point of life is: it’s our aching attachments to those dearest to us—family, friends, and pets. When I experience those attachments, the existential question disappears: it no longer begs to be answered. And when I feel alone, I suffer the question the most. That’s what I would have told Claire if I had understood, and she could have listened.
O.K. So how would I answer Claire’s question now? What is the point, if we’re all going to die? 6 weeks ago, my brother was called up to serve in Israeli military intelligence. He was escorting a CNN reporter to the northern border, when he spotted two Katyushas heading directly towards him on the highway. He stopped the car, threw it into reverse, and floored it. One of the missiles exploded a few hundred yards in front of him. Those missiles and the nearness of my brother’s death reminded me once again what the point of life is: it’s our aching attachments to those dearest to us—family, friends, and pets. When I experience those attachments, the existential question disappears: it no longer begs to be answered. And when I feel alone, I suffer the question the most. That’s what I would have told Claire if I had understood, and she could have listened.
Voicelessness and Emotional Survival
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit
of Meaning
Pg. 3
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit
of Meaning
Pg. 3
Voicelessness and
Emotional Survival
Emotional Survival
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