The search for intelligent life in the Universe on the road to Passaic, New Jersey

In trying to decide whether life has any meaning at all and if humankind is a vile and noisome parasite uselessly and absurdly struggling to survive and perpetuate its kind without any good reason for what it's up to, so pointless is its existence that mass suicide or a huge asteroid striking the planet could only be considered a favor to the universe, one should not look at natural disasters that cruelly and remorsely wipe out thousands of lives in the blink of an eye with no apparent detriment to the continuation of either the species or the earth, nor should one look at man-made disasters like wars, famines, accidents at nuclear power plants, and smaller-scale mayhem like car accidents and drive-by shootings which, though leaving behind lower body counts, are just as evil and senseless to the individuals involved.

No, all natural disasters prove is that Nature has different reasons and different ends in going about its business than do human beings.  That Nature wants a volcano where human beings wanted a city doesn't mean that it was pointless for human beings to want the city, only that Nature was more insistent.  Anyway, on the whole, in confrontations between human beings and Nature, human beings win most of the arguments, thanks to things like sun block, central heating, GORE-TEX, and bulldozers.

And man-made disasters---whether large scale, like wars, famine, economic catastrophies bankrupting whole nations; or small scale like murder, dinner at fast food restaurants, and a bad day at the track---are in fact the cause of the Question, and the thing that causes the question cannot, rhetorically, be its own answer.

We can't ask: Because there are wars, famines, economic catastrophes, etc., does that mean that life is pointless and human kind doomed to a meaningless and absurd existence?  And then reply, yes, life is pointless and human kind is doomed to a meaningless etc. because of wars, famines, economic catastrophes etc.

Rhetoriticians have technical terms to describe such an argument.

Rhetoriticians have entirely too much time on their hands.

On top of this, man-made disasters don't prove that man, or woman, is doomed to a pointless and meaningless existence; all they in fact prove is that man, and woman, make mistakes.  We aren't perfect.  We are weak, subject to temptation, often our attention wanders, and on a regular basis thoroughly rotten human beings come along to exploit our weaknesses and take advantage of our wandering attention.  Because we screw up or get screwed doesn't mean that life has no reason and humankind is an absurdity; it just means we need to try harder.

Which we can do.

The question then arises, why bother?

So I think that if one is going to ask the question---not the Why bother? question, but the first one, the What is the point, if there is even a point? question---one should look at things human beings have done deliberately that they are proud of.

Things that we put our minds and our talent and our skills to, intending to build or create an improvement.  Things we think have made life better.

Things like the New Jersey Turnpike.

I think I've answered the question.  Life has no meaning and humankind is absurd.

At least, that's how I felt driving north toward Passaic this afternoon in the rain.

Comments

[Earl Bockenfeld]

Ahh, the two deepest questions, "What is the meaning of life", and "Why am I here?" I once heard the answer to "What is the meaning of life" and fortunately remembered to write it down. "Wet birds don't fly at night!"

Looking at things that men/woman have done to make things better, none can surpass the following: In 1928, after twelve years of hard work, overcoming monumental obstacles along the way, Otto Frederick Rohwedder saw his dream perfected: packaged sliced bread. And everyone agrees that indeed, this was a truly great thing.

But what was the best thing before sliced bread? Or since sliced bread?

The following things need to be seriously considered. Freezer pops, grid paper, duct tape, the iPod, the eraser, the perfect machine - the bicycle, and last but not least - the VFW bullshit detecter earmuffs.

[Linkmeister]

There's always Bill Cosby's response to his wife the philosophy major when she asks "Why is there air?" He replies, "There's air to blow up basketballs, volleyballs and footballs!"

[harry near indy]

lance, seems as if you still have a bit of christian hangover about the meaning of the universe.

when i say christian hangover, i mean the belief of an all-good god that rules the universe.

this probably came when the closest things in the universe people could see with the naked eye were the planets jupiter and saturn. then, the idea of a god as a super-duper human made sense.

but now, with our knowledge of the vastness of the universe, i find it hard to believe in a personal god.

the universe is not for us or against it. it is indifferent to our fate just as a humpback whale is indifferent to the plankton through which is swims, and sometimes eats.

belief in some sort of divine impersonal force that either makes or powers or runs the universe -- i have that.

i'm not an atheist. that pretty much describes my deism.

so, we don't look for meaning. it's like the quest for the self. ultimately, a waste of time.

instead, let us make our meaning, instead of buying or accepting it from others. we have the intelligence for it. we might as well do it.

as for morality from divine revelations -- definitely keep it. the golden rule is golden for a reason.

i bet most of you reading this don't believe in santa claus any more. but i bet that hasn't made you not turn on the message of peace.

as clemenza said in the godfather, "leave the gun. take the canoli."

i say, "leave the bathwater. take the baby."

[Exiled in NJ]

Were you in the truck lanes or the passenger car lanes? Makes all the difference, you know. Next time, get off at Woodbridge and take the Parkway.

[Jennifer]

Life may have no meaning and humankind may be absurd, but it may be and probably is all we have. It's the journey, even if the journey is spent on interstates, turnpikes, etc. I spent hours more than I should have on the Skyway this holiday season, but I guess it makes me appreciate the times I zip through. I guess it's the small stuff... freezer pops and sliced bread indeed. I had a fruit this holiday season that smelled and tasted like Smarties, but with fruit texture! How fun is that! One not so small thing was seeing my brother once again seem like he had life in his eyes. He lost his wife suddenly and unexpectedly before the holiday season last year. He had already been planning for her 50th b-day, but instead had to switch to planning her funeral. This holiday was the first time I saw him start to seem a little more like himself and less like a hollow shell. So, traffic may suck and people may be assholes, but there is an awful lot good on this journey, but then you already know that.

[David W.]

I don't suppose you bothered counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike...

[Lance]

David,

That's part of what brought on my existential despair. What made it worse was that one of those cars had me in it and I had to admit I was contributing to the problem.

[Matt]

I tend to think that the ontological questions brought on by the NJ Turnpike are balanced, in the grand scheme of things, by the state's companion gifts of Bruce Springsteen, Long Beach Island, and fresh corn-on-the-cob.

If we were to look at Born to Run, I think we could say that the answers to both of your questions is: sex. That's both the point (procreation) and why we bother (fun).

As Bruce suggests, we live with sadness and love with madness. In the end, the journey itself is the place where we really want to go, even if we sometimes have to take the Turnpike to get there.

[cali dem]

What if existential crisis is contagious? It will spread throughout blogland...no more cat blogging...That does it. I'm cat blogging today.

Also, it's now clear that I've not *really* listened to "Born to Run."

[blue girl]

You guys are writing about my favorite lyrics ever.

"I'm empty and aching and I don't know why...."

And Cali Dem: "Together Wendy we can live with the sadness; I'll love you with all the madness in my soul."

Can my heart possibly hold more that that? I don't think so. It may burst.

[cali dem]

Blue Girl - That is a heart-tweaking lyric.

I'm a Dylanist and just this morning I heard a line by Bob that sums up what I tend to think when caught in traffic:

"People are crazy and times are strange."

[Exiled in NJ]

I doubt that there is any better definition of life versus the alternative than on the Parkway near Exit 144 when the six lanes slice through the middle of a cemetery. I suppose it is actually two stone farms, but for organizing my thoughts, I think of it as one.

It is then my lyrics kick in, "I'm here, you're there, and that's that."

[Stu]

Oh man. Back in college I once apparently, after a night of morose drinking, called a girl up at about 4am and sang that line (and I don't sing in public, ever).

"'kathy, I’m lost,’ I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why"

I think that line and that song is why the New Jersey Turnpike was created--that that lyric is good it can justify all the evil that Turnpike has brought about.

But I don't drive it myself regularly, so I can't say for sure.

[rameau's nephew]

...and the man in the gabardine coat was a spy, we now find out. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really out to get you.

[Anne Laurie]

I have been there, and now know that "Passaic" is an ancient Amerindian word for "fourteen-lane double-crossover turnpike for the creation of existential despair". One simply holds hard to the reality that there is more to life than New Jersey, unless you are a cast member of the Sopranos.

[Adorable Girlfriend]

Passiac? Dood. WTF?! Everyone knows nothing past Bergen, shop in Morristown, spa in Madison, go disco in Tenafly and go the farg home!

Good grief.