What’s the Point?
The title of this piece could very easily be construed as cynical, defeatist, and ultimately darkly existential in its nature. And to some degree it is, but not entirely. I would like to believe that each member of humanity acts in the best interests of our species as a whole. In other words, what is best for the group (all of us) is also best for the survival of the individual. Being inclusive, kind, thoughtful, considerate, and community oriented just makes sense with regard to that survival.
But for whatever reason we continue making the same self-destructive mistakes over and over. Either allowing egocentric megalomaniacs to gain power over how our societies function or by creating a culture that encourages greed and reactionary tendencies. None of this makes any rational sense. I want to ask these people: What’s the Point? Of course they would never have a salient answer since their motivations and justifications are based on irrational emotions, not thought through reasoning. When pressed, they may attempt to offer a basis for their actions, but these always fall well short of the truth.
Unfortunately, this type of behavior is not just relegated to the powerful and wealthy. The desire to act without thinking is rampant throughout the world. All I have to do is open one of the many social media websites to find AI generated videos meant to trick the observer into believing that a landslide buried an entire town or that a FedEx truck jackknifed on an icy road or that a giant wave washed away a beach full of people. Again, I go back to my question: What’s the Point? Do the people who create these monstrously dystopian videos consider the consequences of their actions or is it just fun for them to make people feel that the world is crumbling around us? Do they believe it gives them some sort of power over others or is it a desperate cry for attention?
Whatever the motivations of gamers, tech junkies, or just bored and mindless people might be, I’m really incredibly tired of the constant barrage of disinformation blasting us from every angle. What the F#%k is Their Point? Why is it so difficult for someone to think about what they’re doing before they act? Can’t they at least attempt to figure out why they’re doing something and what might be the outcome, intended or not? Apparently not, for this kind of idiotic deep fake development is everywhere since it takes a brainless moron less than 2 minutes to enter a 40 word “script” into an AI engine and come up with the garbage they disseminate.
Based on the last paragraph, I suspect it’s quite clear this type of behavior bothers me no end. During lunch with a friend of mine today I told him that my cynicism about humanity grows exponentially every day. And even though I continue to do what I can to mitigate the issues we are all facing, my work seems more and more like a fool’s errand. I look around at the people I pass on the street and wonder if any of them even remotely care about the state of the world or are they only focused on whether their sports team wins or if it’s going to rain tomorrow.
My attitude in this is incredibly judgmental. I get that. I’m a self-admitted arrogant snob when it comes to assessing most of those who I pass by when purchasing something at Home Depot or buying groceries at the local supermarket. It’s not fair of me. Especially if I stopped to talk to someone, which I do on occasion, I might find a kindred soul who is just as frustrated with the state of affairs throughout the planet as I am. So my apologies to those others who know what I’m railing about.
But there are many others who don’t have a clue. People who shrug their shoulders when I mention global warming or gun control or income inequality. In fact most folks not only don’t care, they don’t want to know about this kind of stuff. It’s just too much information and I get that as well. We are inundated on a daily basis with tons of seemingly superfluous data thrown at us from every conceivable angle. I know many friends, including myself, who just want to scream, “STOP!!” But somehow that doesn’t work so well. The dystopian insanity continues to flow over, around, and through us regardless of what we try to do to mitigate the insanity.
And so I have an urge to go up to people and ask, “What’s the Point?” or “What Do You Want?” There is a part of me that wants to get in their faces, shake them, and shout “Wake Up!” like some crazy person makes cross the street to avoid being confronted by the nut case. I sometimes wonder if I don’t have that character, dressed in a robe and standing on a corner with a “The End is Near” sign, deep inside me, waiting to emerge.
I began last week’s offering with the phrase, “I feel lost.” Is it me who is lost or is it that I’m viewing my fellow humans from a clearer perspective shared by only a few others? During my lunch today, my friend and I both wondered this very thing. This is good. And even though I at least I know I’m not alone in all of this, I have to stop and ask myself, “What’s the point?”
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I hear you, Tobin. I do think most people sincerely share your concerns about the world, even if they at least appear to move through life without it burdening them as much. but I don’t know, I feel lost too
Hi Yoni – Thank you for your thoughts on this!!!! There is no doubt in my mind that you are a person who cares deeply about the world, life, humanity, and how we treat our planet. I have known this since we first met and have had a great deal of admiration for your work and for your moral compass. You have always been more of an optimist than I have been. This has been apparent in our too infrequent but always enlightening conversations. And I know there are millions of others who feel much the same as we do, but the tsunami of dysfunctional behavior by the highly vocal portion of our species tends to mitigate rational thoughts and actions. Add to that the ego factor on both the right and the left, and we become mired our own morass of infighting. As noted in this week’s post, regardless of my own depressive and pessimistic nature, I will continue to work towards a better world. I’m not sure what else I can do. Thanks again!
I read your essays, even though I rarely comment.
Part of the reason is that I often don’t know what to say. You’re usually taking on huge questions about humanity, society, and where we’re headed, and I don’t always have answers to those things.
What I do see is that these issues matter deeply to you, and that comes through in your writing.
I may not always agree with your conclusions, and sometimes I come away with a different perspective, but I do read them and think about them. I just don’t always know how to enter the conversation.
I agree that I tackle some things that are fairly esoteric but mostly what these posts come down to is my personal and emotional take on what I view as the subjects that are ripping apart the fabric of human culture. I’m both very saddened and really pissed off that the world continues to spiral downwards (at least from my perspective). And what I want, as I noted in What’s the Point? is for people to wake up, to understand that cooperation is in the best interest of all of us, and that ego, greed, and entitlement are driving us towards the precipice of our own extinction. I truly wish that I could just not care anymore. I would like to spend whatever time I have left traveling, reading, digging in my garden, and just not giving a damn about whether we survive or not.
Unfortunately I continue to remember all of the wonderful and amazing things our species has accomplished. The music, art, literature, science, and the awe we can feel when looking at a magnificent sunset. And then I care if we throw it all away, which I believe we are doing. So I write these useless essays deluding myself that they may make a difference. Every time I write one of these I know I am being naive about what their impact and yet, here I am, still writing and still giving a damn. Ultimately, What’s the Point?
Ok, ready or not, here goes a dive into the deep end of the pool.
Of course some of us keep making the same mistakes over and over. Many, perhaps most of us are damaged goods, we have recurring symptoms from what happened when you or I were children, absent the adult protection that every child needs. We do not know why we do what we do because the disconnect from reality is buried deeply in our psyche. There is no shame in being a helpless victim. Still how severe must the pain become before one recognizes that adults are indeed responsible for what they do, no matter the reason? We do not live in the dark ages, when one could only resort to prayers, and to confession.
You referenced cultures that actively encourage greed and reactionary tendencies. I get that you are referring to patriarchy. Capitalism as we know it must simply be replaced by a shared alternative in our commercial relationships. Capitalism as a neo-liberal dogma is eating us alive. Capitalism is a male dominated game. Let’s aggressively advocate for conceiving what’s next.
What is the point of existence, of any single life? That is a good question. Asking it is kindness even if in all sincerity one can never be certain that the answer is in one’s grasp. We are language enabled mammals and as such reason has exponentially more potential for us. Still reason as I understand it, is the ability for making complex calculations. Such an ability works well enough for knowing that two packets of splenda are right for my cup of dark roast, or for figuring number of bags of paver-base that I need for constructing a paver-stone patio. Reason as is commonly understood is different from good taste, from “seeing” the possibilities for arranging a selection of cut flowers. Those kinds of judgments are felt with the body, a sense of what is right. Morals are a mix of calculation and taste.
Manifestly it is crucial to care, to refuse capitulation to hopelessness. “What do I want?” is in fact the most important question of all. The question echos Socrates, as well as the post WWII Existentialist of Europe. To tightly grasp what I care deeply about allows me to formulate a horizon of significance in discussion with you.
Or so it seems to me.
Jerry, thanks as always. I believe my biggest issue is with myself and the reason I am so incredibly frustrated is the specter of Expectation. I expect that people will, or at least should, be able to grasp our own short-sightedness and subjectivity. If we could only understand that we don’t have the answers. If we could open up, listen, place our collective egos on the shelf, and question our own motivations, we really could be great. It’s not that difficult, our at least it seems that it shouldn’t be that difficult, but apparently it is.
Every single day I feel this immense sadness well up in me. I break down internally and find my only respite is to curl up on the couch and escape into sleep. This is not particularly productive, especially when I have an overwhelming amount to accomplish as I move out of my Mundelein studio. And yet I give into the call of slumber because I cannot take any more. Is that weakness of character? Probably. But that understanding doesn’t preclude me from indulging in from eluding life and responsibility. Oh well.
Tobin, I agree that at the level of logic, we’d often quickly recognize our uncertainty, the gap in our knowledge. As it stands though, we are accustomed to lying to ourselves and to being lied to. The truth is not a simple matter most of the time, added to our inclination to desire something else besides the truth. It isn’t difficult and it is… Human beings are fundamentally irrational animals, which are intermittently capable of reason, as I see it.
I take comfort to consider how, in past historical eras, our ancestors have lived under regimes as incompetent as the one now in Washington, and much worse. At such times not everyone succumbed to “drinking the koolaid”. Certainly they are, as are we, embedded within the ethos of their day, they still managed to leave record of resistance to genocide and mayhem. Marcus Aurelius, Camus, Wendell Berry immediately come to mind. We must press on and take care of ourselves too.
We humans do seem to have an overly strong desire to be correct regardless of facts. Truth takes a backseat to being able to convince ourselves that our version/vision of reality is the correct one and that everyone else is off base. I readily admit that I feel that way, though I’m well prepared to be shown that my perspective is skewed. And that’s the main difference between those of us seeking to come as close as possible to universal truth and those who are satisfied living in a make believe world. The issue that precludes us ever finding true common ground are those who believe they’ve found the true nature for the reason humans exist. There isn’t one. No god who created us in his/her own image. No son of god died for our sins. No Mohammed ascended to heaven. No Noah, no Adam or Eve, no Job, or Methuselah. No Zeus, Odin, Apollo, or any other mythical omniscient being. We are here, during this one lifetime, this singular moment in the epic journey of all that will ever be, at least in this iteration of the universe. Our species has such enormous potential and yet we are stymied by our own ignorance and blatant stupidity. What a damn shame.
Yes, I agree – “We are here, during this one lifetime…” is an against-the-odds outcome and I believe that we can do something good with our time here. Be an outlier of our species I say!
The old gods were always metaphors in any case. To think otherwise was and is to be mistaken.
I was just introduced to Canadian writer Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity. Taylor attributes our modern malaise to 1) individualism 2) disenchantment 3) restricted choice in our institutionalized society which all results in a rampant subjectivism. Still Taylor believes that we can and ought to reclaim authenticity, instead of throwing it out as simply self-indulgent egoism. I like Charles Taylor a lot. He is a retired Emeritus professor at Mcgill University.