Dr. Forbush Thinks

When ever one spends a little time thinking about the “Meaning of Life,” one must eventually face the fact that it has a lot to do with the notion of “purpose.” The question could be rephrased, “What is the purpose of my life?” Or perhaps it could be asked, “What is the purpose of the species of homo sapiens?” Of course there are infinite variations on this simple question and perhaps knowing the right way to ask the question is the first obstacle in this quest we all should undertake.

One solution to this nagging question is to ask your elders what they think. After all, they have been around for a bit longer than you, so they have a bit more experience than you. But, even with their personal experience you may or may not be happy with their answer to the question.

We all know that every field has its group of experts, and there are some people who have studied this question quite extensively. Some of these people are called philosophers and others are called theologians. The point is that these people have come up with suggested solutions to the problem, but no one could claim to have the one true solution.

In fact, the idea that there is one true solution to the question may be a faulty assumption misleading people down the wrong path. But after all the searching and longing for someone to tell you what the meaning of life is, you will end up dissatisfied until you realize that it is all about your own personal purpose. And, you can’t really realize what your own personal purpose is until you sit down and honestly ask yourself to look at yourself and determine it for yourself.

You may come to the conclusion that your own personal purpose is rooted in religion, or philosophy. You may have a special insight into these things and you what to share them with the world. But the question you need to ask yourself is, “Is this my choice, or was I persuaded by someone else not to follow my true calling?” This is because taking someone else’s understanding of purpose is the easy way out. If you don’t spend the time and effort to think about this, then you will end up accepting someone else’s purpose and trying to make it work for you. This is how people get trapped in cults and gangs and other nasty situations. They somehow believe that the gang leader knows what their purpose is. Or, the cult leader creates a purpose for you.

But, people get sucked into other people’s life plans in other ways as well. Some parents want all the best for their kids, and they push their kids in the way they believe to be the best direction. And, if the child isn’t asking the purpose question honestly, that child will eventually find themselves trapped in someone else’s dream or purpose.

Finding your personal purpose is easy for some people and difficult for others. Not all people love an activity the first time they try it. Not all people know a wide selection of possible opportunities. In fact, the availability of opportunity may solidify a specific purpose, but purpose begins with a more general idea of purpose.

For example, I may believe that it is my purpose to hunt down terrorists and kill them. Based on my age, I would not likely be given the opportunity even if I signed up with the military and they accepted me. Even if I was able to use my physics and mathematics skills to hunt down terrorists in another way, the Bush administration would surely dislike my politics and the opportunity would never find the light of day. But my purpose could be reconfigured in a broader sense. Instead of hunting terrorists I could work to promote a better way to think about this situation. I could use my skills to show the flaws in the current War on Terror and promote a better approach. I could revise my purpose in a broader sense to protect America by drawing attention to the problems we face and propose the solutions to the dilemmas as they present themselves. Of course my revised purpose may be truer to my opportunities but it may not be the best fit. In fact, keeping your purpose general may actually be a key in this evaluation. For example, maybe with a new administration or a party change in the congress my politics wouldn’t matter and my skills actually could be used to fight terrorists.

Maybe you have seen that I have shifted between general purpose to specific purpose rather quickly. In American culture we do this all the time, and it may actually be a source of weakness in our culture. Someone may begin without thinking to proclaim a general purpose: “To make as much money as possible.” From that general purpose many decisions are made. Lawyers make a lot of money, therefore going to law school might be a good option. Businessmen make a lot of money, therefore business school might be a good option. Others may choose another general purpose: “To worship God with all my heart and devote my life to Him.” In this case one may become a preacher, nun or priest.

It turns out that there are many potential general purposes that one may determine for themselves. These ideas are known as “rules to live by.” These general rules are acquired from parents, friends, teachers and personal insight. Religions tend to spread these ideas, as do philosophers, cult leaders and gang members. These little pieces of wisdom are general assumed to have self apparent truth and not often questioned, but they become part of a person’s “world view.” It should be obvious that these little pieces of culture are more important than many people realize. And, it should be obvious that no one can declare authority over the dispersal of these little pieces of culture, but religion does its best to do this by citing God as the authority and using preaching to dispense the ideas. But like any powerful force it is human nature to use power for personal gain, so one should be wary.

After pointing out the inherent problems with the idea of answering the question, “What is the meaning of life?” I hope that everyone sees how important this question really is. If the American culture were to adopt some basic general purpose that the multitudes would adopt at all the various levels of influence such as: “Make the world a better place than you found it.” We would have a much different American society with this idea than if we adopted: “Make as much money as you can.”

But, in order to determine the society’s guiding theme we need to determine what the purpose of society should be. Should society promote tolerance, justice, fairness or personal gains at the cost of everyone else? Is the purpose of the human race to understand the Universe that God has created for us to live in, or is the purpose of the human race to support the few lucky humans who have acquired the most wealth and power? Or, is the purpose of the human race to praise God without curiosity or questioning?

It should be completely obvious by now that America with it’s various thoughts and ideas will never be made to conform to any particular agreement as to the “meaning of life.” Many parts of society will have their own personal views on this matter. The danger to the freedom that we currently have to examine these questions is at risk when one group is determined to impose its “world view.” And we are at even greater risk when we don’t even realize that a group is trying to do this without us knowing that it is happening.



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Don't forget what Stephen Colbert said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."


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Politics, World View, Philosophy, Religion, Meaning of Life